Draws on theories of situated learning in a study that compared novices learning written genres in two different institutional settings within similar disciplines: university students in public administration, and graduate student interns in government agencies. Concludes when students move from the university to the workplace, they have to learn…

Describes Carolyn R. Miller's article "A Humanistic Rationale for Technical Writing" as a main source for many ideas about the nature and function of scientific and technical writing. States that Patrick Moore disagrees with Miller, and supports Moore's position by presenting arguments using the meanings of "objectivity" in…

Reviews recent studies of legal discourse and nonacademic writing and presents the results of a historical case study on an environmental public policy. Finds that a dynamic discourse community changed writing roles among government employees, lay members of the audience, and water pollution control board members. States that controversial…

Explains that in the study of law, postmodernism's interpretive turn has given rise to a wealth of scholarship analyzing the relationship of law's rhetoric to its social, cultural, and political contexts. Argues that legal writing professors must learn to grow beyond their narrow conception of rhetoric to help students become adept at the…

States that computer-mediated communication on the Internet offers new challenges and opportunities for technical communication. Describes the cases of Lotus "MarketPlace" and the Clipper chip to illustrate the specialized nature of technical communities on the Internet. Suggests that when technical messages are not overly complex,…

Explores the relationship among forensic, deliberative, and epideictic modes of rhetoric in the cold fusion controversy. Shows the interactions between three modes of rhetoric. Examines the ways in which the modes have shaped the emerging scientific consensus. Supports Robert Sanders' contention that rhetorical practices interact with scientific…