Writing From a Technical Standpoint

Writing From a Technical Standpoint

At first, I didn’t really understand the concept of this assignment. I thought, this is going to be pretty easy. I’ll just get some glue, and write some words on a piece of construction paper. After all, glue is just sugar and water, and paper is just a tree—sounds natural enough! However, after I sat down and thought about it, glue and paper are far from natural. Someone mixed the glue, put it into a container, and shipped it to the store. The paper was made from a tree; but technology, machinery, and people were essential to its existence. Therefore, I needed to put my brain to work and find something untouched by man, technology, or machinery. How about grass, cement, dirt, and water? All of these elements seemed pretty natural to me, so I ventured into my front yard and started making words out of water from my hose onto the driveway. Then I realized someone mixed that cement and laid it—unnatural. The water has been channeled to my hose from some type of technology—unnatural. My dad planted the grass; the dirt was bought from the store, and laid in front of my house by my mother; man planted all the trees.

I realized my project had to be conducted where humans had not interfered. For example, if I used water, I would have to travel to a natural source of water like a lake or ocean. If I wanted to use trees or grass, I would have to find them in a natural setting like a forest or woods. And that’s just what I did. I went to the woods not far from my house, and I searched around looking for an easy way to create something as simple as a word. I then came upon them—dandelions. Man has not planted these “weeds”; rather, they have grown out of the ground “naturally”. Not only were the dandelions quick and easy to use, they were also kind of pretty!

Although the woods would be considered a natural setting, the grass I use for my project was not necessarily the most “natural” substance. It seemed to me that someone had planted that grass, and mowed it frequently, because it was very short and level. But the dandelions worked out wonderfully.