10/13/2020--Please pick one of the strategies for negotiating consensus listed by McIntyre and Le Van. Describe the strategy and then explain how you might use it in a debate or discussion with someone who has very different beliefs about a controversial issue.
Elaborate on the value of opposing positions: One needs to decide if the issue is worth taking a stand over. If you are a big fan of John Wayne and one of your lifelong friends hates him with a passion, someone has to give ground. The Duke (Capt. Nathan Brittles) says "never apologize, mister, it's a sign of weakness." (She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, 1949) How anyone could not admire the legendary actor is just not negotiable. The best thing to do is forget the topic for a few years, after you have unfriended that person from your Facebook page, delete the post that upset the person, then, as Capt. Brittles said in the movie;
“Keep it up, and you’ll make a fine corporal, in three or four years."
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Choose one of the following...
1) In recent readings, we've learned about various kinds of shortened versions of longer documents: summaries, abstracts, and "executive" summaries. What have you learned (from the readings or elsewhere) about the differences among these kinds of concise treatments? Write briefly about your team's definition...
2) Now that you've worked on a process description and on a technical definition (with expansions), what have you learned about this particular kind of non-fiction professional writing? What do you have to keep in mind as a writer assigned to do such writing? Make your own list of reminders...
3) Write for a little while about the organization you're developing for your analytical report: what sections will you be including, and why? Are there some sections that you don't think you'll need--and if not, why not?
1.) Docs, summaries, abstracts, memos: The difficulty with technical writing is how quickly the inertial frame evolves into a non-inertial one. For an example, a mere three centuries passed between Newton's and Einstein's vastly different accounts as to the mechanics of space and time. By comparison, the original "treatment," or informal proposal, by the time feedback was given and the formal proposal submitted, the idea itself had already evolved from static to accelerated. The components of the informal proposal have in many ways become obsolete and irrelevant as new data necessitates the project to be rewritten, for the final draft, from the ground level.
2.) On process description & technical definition: "What we've got here is failure to communicate," the famous line spoken by "The Captain" ( Strother Martin) in "Cool Hand Luke" (1967). First, the line has been misquoted many times, showing how easy it is to miscommunicate. Second, without audience input on the process description, taking into consideration the "usability" of the process, then the results will be anything but a success. This was clearly demonstrated earlier in the semester with the gap that existed between the directions and the outcome for some of the presentations.
3.) Organization: The single most valuable tool in formally crafting the final draft is to be fluid, be flexible. Look over the notes of the two prior submissions and see where that process went from Newton to Einstein. Don't just look at the velocity, but focus on the acceleration.