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Scott Hale

Technical Writing

ENGL 3153

Visual Aids / Graphics

Introduction: Graphics / Illustrations

• represent reality, what the components look like

• place the graphic after the introduction, which gives an overview

• graphics must complement the text

• graphics can “take over” a document because of their power—don’t overuse

• graphics can vary depending on their purpose

6. More general to simply illustrate appearance

7. Very specific, a cross-section, for construction

• graphics for this assignment can be of several types

9. computer-generated (use a drawing tool)

10. pen-and-ink (or a xeroxed pencil drawing)

11. copied out of a text or manual (cut & paste or scanned in)—cite source

12. copied from the Internet—cite source

• should present only one type of information in a graphic—don’t label materials and measurements in the same graphic.

• should keep terminology consistent between the graphic and the text

• specify scale when appropriate

• place lettering and labeling horizontally

• give it a title and assign it a sequential number—Figure 1: TITLE

• call everything (except a table with numbers in rows) a “figure”—pie charts, graphics, maps, etc.

• refer to the figure in the text by its number, not by its title

• the graphic should be as close as possible to the text which describes it—avoid page breaks when possible

• allow adequate white space around the figure

• Acknowledge all “borrowings”—cite

EXAMPLE:

| | |

| |Your text should begin at the far left margin, and continue to the normal right margin. You |

| |should single-space within the text and double-space between paragraphs. |

| | |

| |When you need to incorporate a graphic, it is often best to have a phrase which leads into and |

| |another phrase which leads out of the graphic—very much as you had sentences which bracketed |

| |tables. Here is an example of a graphic: |

| |two blank spaces |

| | |

|Two blank spaces between the |[pic] |

|text and graphic |put the figure name right at the left margin |

| |Figure 1: VASE GRAPHIC |

| |one blank space |

| |Microsoft Office 95, version 6.0 |

| | |

| |two blank spaces |

| |After the graphic, you can shift back to normal text, with the first line right on the left hand|

|There is no regularized spacing|margin and the right margin justified normally. This will help to visually group the text and |

|or punctuation for figure |graphic as separate elements. |

|titles—unless one is writing a | |

|chapter in a book and the | |

|chapter has multiple figures, | |

|in which case, use chapter | |

|number: Figure 1.3 | |

HARDWARE DESCRIPTION

Remember: The sentence definition at the beginning of the piece is different from the partitioning statement. The sentence definition focuses on placing the object in a class of like objects (a tool, a laboratory instrument) and then separating it from all the others in that class (by discussing its function, origin, appearance, material). The partitioning statement simply breaks the object down into its major parts, major components.

When you get to the part-by-part description, the one-sentence definition of each part should begin the description of that part—not of the whole apparatus.

| | |

|All margins 1” |Title |

| |Your Name |

|text is single-spaced | |

| |The text should be single-spaced, as usual. Also as usual, you should use no paragraph indent, |

|double-space between paragraphs|but you should double-space (leave one blank line) between paragraphs. When you want to add a |

| |graphic, triple-space (leave two blank lines) between the text and the graphic, like this: |

|no tab indents |two blank spaces |

| | |

|Center the title: it should be |[pic] |

|clear who the audience will be |Figure 1: COMPUTER MONITOR AND DRIVE |

| | |

|Put your name under the title |two blank spaces |

| |Center the graphic, and be sure to leave a triple-space (two blank lines) between the figure’s |

|page numbers at the bottom of |title (or citation) and the text. Do not indent the paragraph below the graphic, format the |

|page, centered |paragraphs the same, no matter where you break your text before the graphic (you’ll note that, |

| |in this example, the sentence at the end of the last paragraph ended with a colon instead of a |

|graphics centered |period, but I began the next paragraph flush with the left margin). |

| | |

| |1 |

HEADINGS

You will probably use headings in this document unless the document is very short—only two parts, for example. Headings divide the text into readable chunks. They signal main topics and topic changes. They allow for easier reference.

Creating Headings:

1. Make headings informative

• use one word or a simple phrase

• use a noun or noun phrase (Production or Part-By-Part Description)

4. Keep headings with the text they correspond to

• don’t put heading on the bottom of a page and start the text on the next page

• if the text does run over onto the next page (at least three lines appear on the same page as the heading), do not put a heading--“Production: continued”--with the additional text.

Page two Page three

| | |

|Begin the text at the left hand margin, just as we normally do. |If you have to continue text on the next page, do not add a heading at|

|Continue sections by single-spacing within and double-spacing between |the top of that page which says something like, “head, continued.” |

|the paragraphs. When you want to have a heading, only double-space |Just use page numbers to keep the text in order. |

|(leave one blank line). |one blank line |

|one blank line |Head |

|PART-BY-PART DESCRIPTION |one blank line |

|one blank line |Keep single-spacing within paragraphs, double-spacing (one blank line)|

|Handle |between the text and headings, and triple-space (two blank lines) |

|one blank line |around graphics. |

|Use main headings and secondary headings as necessary. Be certain to | |

|double-space both before and after all headings. |CONCLUSION |

| | |

|Don’t worry about using multiple paragraphs under a secondary or even |If you want more information, look in Lannon on pages 369 to 371. |

|a tertiary heading—any heading can have multiple paragraphs underneath| |

|it, as many as are necessary. | |

Varieties of Headings (see Lannon 369-71):

Headings should be formatted differently, but consistently, within the same document (use font size, bold facing, italics, underlining). The title is the first “heading”—everything else in the document falls under it, so it should be the most prominent. Headings under which large chunks of material fall are MAIN headings; Secondary Headings divide the chunk of material under a main heading; Tertiary Headings would divide material which falls under the secondary heading. All headings are flush (right up against) the left margin.

• Title of Document

• MAIN HEADINGS

• Secondary Headings

• Tertiary Headings

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