The concept of "ethic of exigence" reminds me of Katz's article that we learned from week three. Understanding this concept would be extremely important for students learning theory of professional writing. Professional writers must consider specific cultural aspects before they write when pursuing effective communication.
The concept of "ethic of exigence" reminds me of Katz's article that we learned from week three. Understanding this concept would be extremely important for students learning theory of professional writing. Professional writers must consider specific cultural aspects before they write when pursuing effective communication.
The concept of "ethic of exigence" reminds me of Katz's article that we learned from week three. Understanding this concept would be extremely important for students learning theory of professional writing. Professional writers must consider specific cultural aspects before they write when pursuing effective communication.
After
reading
Wards
article,
The
Ethic
of
Exigence:
Information
Design,
Postmodern
Ethics,
and
the
Holocaust,
the
concept
of
ethic
of
exigence
reminds
me
of
Katzs
article
that
we
learned
from
week
three,
which
is
the
concept
of
ethic
of
expediency.
I
wonder
if
there
are
some
aspects
that
these
two
concepts
are
similar
or
different
from
each
other.
My
purpose
for
choosing
the
concept
of
ethic
of
exigence
is
to
understand
why
this
concept
is
important
for
technical
communicators,
to
explain
what
Ward
tries
to
tell
technical
communicators
to
do
through
this
concept,
and
to
explore
the
relationship
between
different
concepts
in
Wards
and
Katzs
articles.
But
why
do
we
have
to
understand
the
concept
of
ethic
of
exigence?
Understanding
this
concept
would
be
extremely
important
for
students
learning
theory
of
professional
writing.
This
would
help
us
to
design
the
information
in
a
more
acceptable
and
effective
way
that
could
be
applied
in
the
workplace.
This
concept
is
also
significant
to
professional
writers
because
they
need
to
understand
that
the
users
perspective
is
more
important
than
their
own
when
designing
information.
Additionally,
professional
writers
must
consider
specific
cultural
aspects
before
they
write
when
pursuing
effective
communication.
Ward
uses
Millers
quote
to
address
the
definition
of
ethic
of
exigence
in
his
article,
which
is
a
social
knowledge
that
has
a
mutual
construing
of
objects,
events,
interests,
and
purpose
(Ward
63).
Reading
through
this
article,
I
understand
that
this
concept
emphasizes
the
idea
of
engaging
in
a
communal
conversation
between
designers
and
users
to
reach
a
valid
and
rational
agreement.
As
Ward
states,
coordinated
construction
of
meaning
by
designers
and
users
(63)
would
contribute
to
truly
effective
communication
between
both
sides
and
thus
they
could
fulfill
their
common
goalmutual
satisfaction.
Thinking
further,
the
concept
of
ethic
of
exigence
collapses
the
hierarchical
relationship
between
designers
and
users.
Designers
must
submit
their
absolute
power
and
consider
users
perspective
and
cultural
background
when
designing
the
information.
Otherwise,
a
lack
of
understanding
or
interest
would
render
the
information
meaningless
and
useless.
But
in
what
way
can
technical
communicators
co-construct
the
information
with
users
in
order
to
have
effective
communication?
Does
the
co-construction
process
need
both
designers
and
users
to
sit
together
and
co-construct
the
information?
If
so,
how
much
participation
is
needed
from
the
users?
I
found
these
questions
really
confusing
when
I
read
the
article
for
the
first
time.
After
I
revisited
the
article
again,
the
quote
coordinated
construction
of
meaning
by
designers
and
users
(63)
helped
me
to
understand
these
questions
better.
It
is
not
a
process
of
discussing
how
to
design
information
between
designers
and
users;
rather,
it
is
a
process
of
how
designers
construct
information
in
a
way
that
can
be
understood
by
users.
In
Wards
article,
he
emphasizes
that
cultural-based
perspectives
and
social
knowledge
play
significant
roles
when
technical
communicators
are
designing
the
information.
As
Ward
suggests,
the
study
of
information
design
is
a
task
that
requires
the
analyst
not
only
to
consider
text
but
to
examine
why
a
particular
arrangement
of
textural
and
graphic
elements
has
symbolic
potency
with
a
given
institution
or
organization
culture
(63).
This
means
when
analyzing
a
task,
technical
communicators
should
consider
the
relationship
between
the
design
of
the
documents
and
the
culture
of
an
organization.
These
designs
should
represent
a
certain
organizational
culture
that
is
appropriate
and
ethical
for
a
certain
discourse.
This
is
also
a
rhetorical
process;
technical
communicators
have
to
immerse
themselves
into
a
certain
culture
and
share
common
knowledge
with
people
who
are
in
the
same
culture.
Understanding
and
considering
the
culture,
politics,
economics,
ideology,
mutual
interests
and
purpose
elements
would
help
technical
communicators
to
better
construct
the
common
meaning
or
knowledge
for
the
readers
to
understand.
In
the
sense
of
technical
writing,
Ward
and
Katz
seem
to
be
on
opposite
spectrums.
For
Katzs
ethic
of
expediency,
information
design
is
an
instrumental
task
of
making
data
clear
and
understandable
and
easy
to
use
in
an
effective,
efficient,
and
attractive
manner
(67).
This
is
saying
that
to
get
the
job
done
efficiently
is
the
priority
obligation
for
professional
communicators,
rather
then
thinking
of
their
own
personal
ethical
issues.
For
example,
writers
who
work
for
cigarette
companies
have
to
compose
attractive
advertisements
whether
they
agree
or
are
comfortable
with
the
content
or
not,
because
their
job
is
to
use
attractive
language
to
gain
more
profits.
They
need
to
ignore
their
own
personal
emotions
and
ethics
in
order
to
get
the
job
done
effectively.
For
Ward,
ethic
of
exigence
means
information
design
is
given
seemingly
rational
meaning
only
through
the
agreement
of
the
designer
and
user
to
co-construct
this
meaning
(67).
This
means
the
priority
of
a
technical
writer
is
to
know
your
audience,
whether
culturally,
institutionally,
or
socially.
Knowing
the
information
of
the
audience
will
allow
writers
to
effectively
communicate
with
them.
Both
Ward
and
Katz
have
different
opinions
when
interpreting
Justs
memo.
While
Katz
focuses
more
on
the
ethical
problem
in
general
of
Justs
memo,
Ward
approaches
Just
memo
as
a
bigger
picture,
which
emphasizes
the
social,
culture,
and
historical
context.
Ward
claims
that
technical
communication
ethics
depends
on
the
consideration
of
the
social
knowledge
of
a
certain
culture,
rather
than
whether
this
task
is
ethical
or
not
in
a
universal
sense.
Justs
memo
might
seem
absurd
or
irrational
in
our
perspective.
Since
we
usually
read
technical
documents
based
on
our
social
context
and
knowledge,
we
would
probably
engage
in
an
ethnocentric
reading
of
the
memo
because
we
never
experienced
the
Nazi
time
period.
But
when
we
consider
the
historical
background
and
the
social
knowledge
of
the
memo
at
that
time,
we
would
probably
understand
why
this
is
rational
and
ethical
given
the
Nazi
party
agenda.
In
the
process
of
understanding
the
concept
of
ethic
of
exigence,
and
exploring
its
effect
on
technical
communicators
as
well
as
the
differences
between
ethic
of
exigence
and
ethic
of
expediency,
I
have
a
clear
idea
of
what
a
contemporary
technical
writer
should
do
in
order
to
have
an
effective
communication
with
users.
While
I
gained
a
deeper
understanding
of
this
concept,
I
still
have
some
questions.
Is
there
any
way
for
a
technical
writer
with
ethic
of
expediency
to
adopt
the
idea
of
ethic
of
exigence
without
losing
any
effectiveness
while
making
technical
writing
more
ethical?
Would
technical
writers
loose
their
own
value
if
they
constantly
immerse
themselves
in
users
culture?
How
can
they
balance
their
own
perspective
and
the
users
while
maintaining
the
effectiveness?