Chapter 8 is a good review chapter. While it did bring up some points that were new, most of the items it discussed were things I have been using in writing for awhile. Saying a writing should have a introduction, a body, and a conclusion is mostly common sense by now. As well as stating you should outline a document before writing it. However it did bring up some new things, and also discussed some things in ways I hadn't considered before.
The concept of different genres of technical writing seems obvious after reading that chapter. Even though I have used many of the genres like proposals or specifications, I never really considered the different styles of writing that way before. By considering what genre your document is going to be in, it can give you and effective template to start your outlining and planning. Also by considering previous readings and taking into consideration who your audiences are, it can help you shape the template for your genre specifically for your readers.
The one point that intrigued me the most in this chapter was using a presentation tool like power point to write your outline. In other english classes I never liked making outlines for a paper and usually I would write them after I wrote the actual paper. However one time I had to write a research paper and do a presentation on it, and I remember writing my presentation first from all the information I had gathered, then realizing what an effective outline I had just made for my paper. So I was very surprised when this weeks reading mentioned doing exactly that to help write an outline.
Overall the chapter was a good refresher for how to organize and develop a document. The chapter focused on all the important parts to organizing and outlining a document, and when you combine that with the earlier readings about knowing your audience, it can enable you to write a very well organized effective and efficient document.
High-Tech Outlining
I also thought the section on using Power Point and other "high-tech" programs as outline creation tools was very insightful. In the past, I have rarely actually created outlines, but when I did it was usually with paper and pencil. I believe this was pushed on me throughout grade school, because of the scratch and erase nature of actually constructing one. I found this concept of using Power Point so interesting because its something our generation has grown up with, and thus relatively experienced and comfortable with. Whenever I've created Power Point presentations in the past, they were always created in a simple, broad nature, so it only seems natural and most efficient that I take advantage of this tool for actually creating outlines.
Structure in Writing
Like grfnpt stated most of the reading that involved the structure of a paper ie: intro, body, and conclusion, is all common sense to most of us by now considering that was one of the first things we learned in English class. Even though those three things are like first nature to us when writing, the chapter also helped give guidelines to what should be in those different sections of the paper you are writing. The reading helped me think about how the body is broken down into sections and each section acts as a “mini-document” which is how it was stated in the reading. This helps visualize what style of writing you should include into your body.