STORYTELLING EG 1003 RECITATION 5 CHOOSING WORDS Storytelling

STORYTELLING EG 1003 | RECITATION 5

CHOOSING WORDS • Storytelling has one goal • To tell a story • When writing, consider who is reading • What compels your reader? • The reader wants to see • The reader wants to learn what’s possible • The reader wants to try it later… and do it better 1

HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH? • One sentence depicts events • A bowling ball landed on the bridge to test its strength. • Another sentence hovers above events • Placing the bowling ball, a round object with finger holes, was important because it showed what would happen when an object such as a ball was placed on an object that spans a distance such as a bridge: in this case the bowling ball was able to rest on the bridge and so the experiment was a success. 2

WHAT PERSPECTIVE DO YOU NEED? • One paragraph turns into a mirror • Running the robot was difficult because of the lack of time. Attempts were made to solve the issue, but solving the issue proved impossible. • Another paragraph guides future experimenters toward an outcome • Four runs of the robot produced four results in which the robot failed to move. Attempts were made to lock in the transistor, then to rewrite software instructions, and last to unplug the robot and then reset the electrical connection. On the last attempt, the robot moved backward. 3

ACRONYMS • No acronyms in the Abstract • Spell out words on first reference and introduce the acronym in parentheses • e. g. Virtual Instrument (VI) • Once an acronym is introduced, do not spell it out again • There are cases where you do not need to spell out the acronym • e. g. LED, radar, sonar, scuba 4

CAPITALS • Proper nouns • e. g. names, places, organizations • First word of a sentence or first word on a line in a slide • Acronyms or trademarks, Boolean operators • e. g. Lab. VIEW, MATLAB, LED, AND, OR, NOT • “Important words” of a title (title case) • Capitalize a, and, the, or only at the beginning of the title 5

NUMBERS • Any numbers below 10, spell them out • This includes rank, e. g. first, second, third • If the number is 10 or above, use the digits • Exceptions • Titles: Lab 1, Figure 1, Table 1 • Measurements: 0. 05, 1. 5 • Ratios: 1: 2, 2: 1, 1: 2: 2: 1 • In this class, round to two decimal places 6

RESOURCES EG 1003 Student Manual: • EG 1003 Writing Style Guide • Sample Lab Report Writing Center: • Schedule an appointment online: nyu. mywconline. com • Entirely virtual this semester Writing Consultants: • Available during recitation to answer questions 7

QUESTIONS?