Re: PB&J--not just for lunch anymore (was: Getting Experience --was Volunteer TW Services) -Reply

[Lisa Comeau <COMEAUL -at- CSA -dot- CA>]

Deborah Ray wrote:

"...I use making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to introduce instructions in TW classes that I teach. ... ask for a victim--er, um--volunteer to read his/her instructions while I follow them....they usually forget to include steps like opening the PB jar (at which point, I'm sitting there stabbing the lid with a knife) or mentioning how much PB to put on the bread (at which point I pile, say, half a jar of PB on the bread). 
Good exercise. Students remember the lessons, that's for sure.


I agree, Deborah, it is a good exercise that the students will remember, *but* (like a certain Physics discussion) I believe it's unrealistic.

I think the *most important part* of this post is the following phrase
"including appropriate details based on audience needs, and so on".

Think about this. A writer *has* to make certain assumptions. If writing for an English speaking audience in a country where the minimum-wage workers can afford a jar of Peanut Butter (and that's tough sometimes), it can be *assumed* that the reader will *already know* that they have to open the jar to get the peanut butter out.

I did a similar exercise once, but the topic was boiling an egg. We were instructed to *assume* that the reader was not an alien, and knew what an egg, a stove, a pot, a tap, and a burner were, and where they would find them. Then we had to redo the exercise, and *assume* that the reader had *no idea* what those items were. This way we got *both* sides of the coin, how to get rid of extraneous information, and how to add in what might be considered "obvious" to a more "seasoned" individual.

(and in concurrence with the "anonymity" post...)
Lisa Comeau
IS Super-User/Trainer
Certification and Testing Division
Canadian Standards Association
Rexdale, ON
comeaul -at- csa -dot- ca