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last.updated 1.22.06

Institutions & Writing

Purpose

Writing rarely occurs in a vacuum. Most writing is written for specific audiences who have specific expectations, especially writing done in professional and academic contexts. As a result, writers should understand how the institutions that they write for and write within operate. This understanding will help them be successful writers in this context, and, as Grabill argues, create change within these seemingly monolithic structures.

Discussion–Grabill

We will begin by addressing the following questions...

• What questions do you have about Grabill's article?
• In Grabill's article, how does an "institution" get defined? What is the institution being described? What does this institution do? What goals is it trying to achieve? What barriers prevent the realization of these goals?
• What is Grabill's position in this institution? What work is he trying to accomplish? How does/can the problem that the institution faces involve writing?
• What other institutions does Grabill have to negotiate to accomplish his work? How do these other institutions help and/or hinder the work that he is trying to accomplish?
• While describing the research that he does, Grabill explains,

  "Even researchers who intend to conduct descriptive or explanatory studies of writing in the workplace must now consider the fact that their work is always already political and ethical, that it serves the interest of some (and not others), and therefore that they are caught in a relation of power that can both benefit and harm others (and that they can't avoid and so must deal with in some way)" (p. 33).

  What does Grabill mean by this? What responsibilities do institutions have in this situation? What responsibilities do writers have in this situation?

• According to Grabill, how does one change an institution?

Exercise

Develop a set of heuristics that a professional should consider when s/he tries to solve a problem or achieve a goal within an institutional framework. In other words, develop a list of points that you would use to advise a writer to consider when trying to solves an institution's problem or achieves its goals.

Discussion–Scenario

As a class, we will discuss how we might apply the heuristics we created to the following two scenarios:

Scenario #1

You have taken a job at Symantec in Newport News, VA writing software documentation for their products . Your first assignment is to write the documentation for the beta version of the virus scanning software they have just developed (i.e., your goal). The only materials they have given you is a disk with the virus scanning program on it. What do you need to learn to achieve your goal?

Scenario #2

You have chosen to pursue graduate studies at the Master's level in your field of study. Your goal is to get your Master's degree. What do you need to learn to achieve your goal?