A holistic case can encompass the whole of technical writing by allowing the student to experience the total communication act in which the technical task and data are fully integrated into the rhetorical situation. The salient components of a holistic case are the persona of the technical professional, the facts about the technical problem and the real company, the fiction created on the basis of those facts, and the form of the case itself adapted for students. Four major steps relate directly to the development of these components: (1) design the case--plan the goals and objectives for the students who will assume the persona, and establish the real world source of information; (2) collect the facts--conduct the interviews, and research the technical and rhetorical information about a specific problem in a real organization; (3) create the fiction--transform the facts into a realistic fiction that could have happened to a technical professional on the job; and (4) construct the case--recast the fiction into a functional instrument for students to write professional documents. This approach gives students the opportunity to perform in a realistic context, using all of the skills and knowledge required in communication on the job. (HOD)