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Let's stop screaming and be critical for a moment.
Are the essays well organized? Did she cite her sources properly? Has
she demonstrated the ability to do focussed research, organize her
material, coherently present her arguments? I don't care what the topic
is, that's what good writing is about. I know some people on this list
don't think technical writing has much to do with writing at all, but I
say if she has done all those things well, then she can be a good tech
writer if she wants to, and her essays, on whatever topic, should
demonstrate that (or not). If they don't, she won't be a good tech
writer either.
I went from writing essays on John Stuart Mill and 19th Century
Liberalism to documenting vacuum chambers and electronic control
systems, and did a pretty good job at both, thank you very much. Sure I
had to look at a few samples and templates to get a feel for a typical
format for the technical documentation, but the essential problem for
either task is the same:
Can you trust your sources?
Do you know how to assess the quality of your source and test any
assumptions?
Can you take your findings and present them in a way that makes sense,
and is useful to others?
Now, if her essays don't demonstrate those skills, then please continue
screaming. But if they do, then give her a chance.
