ACADEMIC WRITING

UNIVERSIDAD PONTIFICIA BOLIVARIANA

NANCY GÓMEZ TORRES2014

WHAT IS ACADEMIC WRITING?

PREWRITING

Good writers prewrite or plan, write the first draft, revise, edit, and proofread.

The writing process is not as simple and as straightforward as this.

Writing is personal; no two people go about it exactly the same way.

In prewriting you select your subject and topic, gather ideas and information, and determine the thesis and organizational patterns available to you.

CHOOSE A SUBJECT AREA , AND FOCUS ON A TOPIC.

Subjects that interest you. Select several likely subjects, and let your

minds explore their potential for interesting topics.

A topic is the specific part of a subject on which a writer focuses.

GET IDEAS AND COLLECT INFORMATION

Ask questions about yor topic. Brainstorm Cluster Research Think creavitely

ESTABLISH YOUR THESIS

The thesis of an essay is its main idea, the point the writer is trying to make. The thesis is often expressed in one or two sentences called a thesis statement.It shoul be:• The most important point you make

about a topic• More general than the ideas and facts

used to support it,

• Focused enough to be covered in the space allotted for the essay.

Ex:

The thesis statement should not be confused with your purpose of writing. Your purpose is what you are trying to do in the essay (Explain, argue or express)

THESIS STATEMENT

First sentence.

«One of the most potent elements in body language is eye behavior».

Flora Davis

«Americans can be divided into three groups-smokers, nonsmokers, and that expanding pack of us who have quit.»

Franklin E. Zimring

THESIS STATEMENT

At the end of the first paragraph.

«It is common to find teachers and learners that have not been exposed and immersed within the culture of the foreign language, therefore; it is impossible to learn a language well if you do not understand its culture. Intercultural competence is necessary when teaching students a foreign language”.

Nancy Gómez

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

Your attitude toward your topic,your tone, your sentece structure, and your choice of words are just some of the important considerations that rely on your awarenessof audience.

Audience Questions:• Who are my readers?• Is my audience specialized?

• What do I know about my audience?• What do my readers need to know that I

can tell them?• Will my audience be interested,open-

minded,resistant, objective or hostile to what I am saying?

• Is there any specialized language that my audience must have to understand my subject or that I should avoid

• What do I want my audience to do as a result of reading my essay?

DETERMINE YOUR METHOD OF DEVELOPMENT

MAP YOUR ORGANIZATION 

Block Pattern Point-by-Point Pattern

 

I. Introduction Explanation of the issueThesis statement

  

II. Body  

Block 1 

A. Summary of other side’s arguments

B. Rebuttal to the first argumentC. Rebuttal to the second argumentD. Rebuttal to the third argument

   Block 2  

E. Your first argumentF. Your second argumentG. Your third argument

  

I. Conclusion

 I. Introduction

Explanation of the issue, including a summary of the other side’s argumentsThesis statement 

II. Body 

A. Statement of the other side’s firstargument and rebuttal with yourown counterargument

B. Statement of the other side’s secondargument and rebuttal with your own counterargument

C. Statement of the other side’s third argument and rebuttal with your own counterargument

  

I. Conclusion-may include a summary of your point of view

INTRODUCTION

  1st cause  

  2nd cause  

  3rd cause  

Transition paragraph

  1st effect  

  2nd effect  

Conclusion

CUASE AND EFFECTA

CUASE AND EFFECTB

Introduction

  1st cause  

Transition paragraph

 2nd cause

 

  3rd cause  

  4th cause  

  Effects  

Conclusion

CUASE AND EFFECTC

Introduction

 Effects

 

Transition paragraph

 1st cause

 

 2nd cause

 

 3rd cause

 

Conclusion

CUASE AND EFFECTD

Introduction

 

1st effect 

 

2nd effect 

 

3rd effect 

 

4th effect 

Conclusion

Run-on sentence

A sentence in which two independent clauses are run together (or "fused") without an appropriate conjunction or mark of punctuation between them.

• Comma Splice : Two independent clauses separated by a comma instead of a period or semicolon.

Ways of Correcting Comma Splices

Here are some comma splice errors:

Wrong: We hiked for three days, we were very tired.Wrong: The television is too loud, the picture is fuzzy.

There are five ways to correct a comma splice:

1. Change the comma to a period and capitalize the next word.Correct: We hiked for three days. We were very tired.

2. Change the comma to a semicolon.Correct: We hiked for three days; we were very tired.

Ways of Correcting Comma Splices

3. Change the comma to a semicolon and add a conjunctive adverbCorrect: We hiked for three days; hence, we were very tired.

4. Add a coordinating conjunction before the second independent clause.Correct: We hiked for three days, so we were very tired.

5. Change one independent clause to a dependent clause.Correct: Because we hiked for three days, we were very tired."

PARTS OF AN ESSAY

• INTRODUCTION

• BODY

• CONCLUSION

Parts of an essay.pdf

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY

THESIS OF AN ESSAY: is its main or controlling idea, the point the writer is trying to make.Question: Do men and women have different conversational speaking styles?

1. Men and women appear to have different objectives when they convers.

« Very often, conversations between men and women become situations in which the main gives a mini-lecture and the womwn unwittingly turns into a captive audience.»

RESEARCH PAPER

Arial 11 Single space MLA 8 pages(references)

Daeadline: August 10th,2013

BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS

BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS

ADVICES• Wait until the writing process is well under way or almost

completed before focusing on you lead.

• Once you actually see how essay develops, you will know better how to introduce it to your reader.

• A good beginning usually introduces your thesis and either suggests or reveals the structure of the composition.

• Keep in mind that best beginning is not necessarily the most catchy or the most shocking but the one most appropiate for the job you are trying to do.

Effective ways of beginning an essay.

• Anecdote• Analogy and comparison• Dialogue/Quotation• Facts and Statistics• Irony or Humor• Short Generalization• Strong Proposition• Rhetorical Questions

BEGINNINGS TO AVOID

• Apology

• Complaint

• Webster’s Dictionary

• Reference to title.

ENDINGS

An effective ending does more than simply indicate where the writer stopped writing.

A conclussion may summarize; may inspire the reader to further thought or even action; may return to the beginning by repeating key words, phrases, or ideas;or may surprise the reader by providing a particularly convincing example to support your thesis.

You might consider concluding with a restatement of your thesis, with a prediction, or with a recommendation.

ENDINGS TO AVOID

It’s usually a good idea to avoid such overworked expressions as «In conclusion», «In summary»,»I hope I have shown»,or «Finally».

RESEARCH PAPER

The research paper is an important part of a college education. The goal is to analize, evaluate, and synthesize the materials you research and thereby learn how to do so with any topic. The student learns how to view the results of research from your own perspective and to arrive at an informed opinion of a topic.

STAGES

1.Determine what you want to write about.2.Decide on a purpose3. Consider your audience,4.Develop a thesis,5.Collect your evidence6. Write a first draft7.Revise and edit8.Prepare a final copyWhat differentiates the research paper from other kinds of paper is your use of outside sources and how you acknowledge them.

AVOID PLAGIARISM

«In an instructional setting, plagiarism occurs when the writer deliberately uses someone else’s language,ideas, or other material without acknowledging its source.»(The Council of Writing Program Administrators)

You must acknowledge and document the source of your information whenever you do any of the following:

• Quote a source word for words;• Refer to information and ideas from another source that

you present in your own words as either a paraphrase or summary;or

• Cite statistics,tables,charts,graphs, or other visuals

You do not need to document the following types of information:

• Your own observations,experiences,ideas,and opinions;

• Factual infromation available in many sources;or

• Proverbs,sayings,or familiar quotations.

DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY

Writing any description requires, first of all,that the writer gather many details about a subject, relying not only on what the eyes see but on the other sense impressions-touch, taste, smell, hearing- as well. From his catalog of details, the writer selects those that will most effectively create a Dominant Impression- the single quality, mood, or atmosphere the writer wishes to emphazise.

DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY

PATTERNS OF ORGANIZATION

The pattern of organization must fit the subject of the description logically and naturally and must be easy to follow.Example: Visual details can be arranged spatially-from left to right, top to bottom, near to far.

Other patterns include smallest to largest, softest to loudest, least significant to most significant, most unusual to least unusual.

ILLUSTRATIVE ESSAY

Illustration is the use of examples -facts, opinions,samples, and anecdotes or stories – to make ideas more concrete and to make generalizations more specific and detailed.

A writer uses examples to clarify or support the thesis in an essay and the main ideas in paragraphs.

ILLUSTRATIVE ESSAY

Things to watch for:

•Examples without a point do not help your essay. A long anecdote from your personal experience isn’t necessarily relevant just because it’s an essay written about you; make sure that your example has a point, and that the point is the one you’re trying to make.

•Beware of piling on too many examples.

ILLUSTRATIVE ESSAY

Things to watch for:

•Lack of an initial thesis statement to give the example or examples some sense of purpose can make a paper self-destruct before you begin. Remember that your thesis statement is not so much arguing a position in the example essay as arguing that a certain condition or phenomenon exits.

•Beware, too, of lack of transitions between examples. Be particularlywary of the phrase, “For example.” How many times can you reasonably use this phrase in an example essay before it becomesrepetitive or redundant? That’s up to you—but repetition is often an indication of a lack of imagination, and it certainly won’t endear you to your reader.

NARRATIVE ESSAY

To narrate is to tell a story or to recount a series of events. Whenever you relate an incident or use an anecdote to make a point, you use narration.

Good narration has five essential features- a clear context; wellchosen and thoughtfully emphasized details; a logical,often choronological organization; an appropiated and consistent point of view; and a meaningful point or purpose.

CAUSE-EFFECT ESSAY

Many phenomena, events, situations and trends can be better understood by describing their causes and effects. The cause and effect essay explains what happens and why it happens.

Obesity is a cause of / a reason for premature death.

Media coverage affects / influences voting patterns.

CAUSE-EFFECT ESTRUCTURE

While writing a cause / effect essay, the order of the main points given in the thesis statement is followed in body paragraphs. The following example is an outline for a cause essay about the reasons for cities becoming overcrowded.

Thesis statement: There are two main reasons why these and other cities are becoming so crowded; one economic, the other socio-cultural. 1st body: Economic reasons 1. Cities are engines of development.

2nd body: Socio-cultural reasons 1. Education 2. Urbanization

CAUSE-EFFECT ESTRUCTURE

This example is an outline for an effect essay about the effects of the computer on life.

Thesis statement: The two main areas in which computers have brought about a profound change in our lives are in the economic field and in the field of communications. 1st body: Economic effects 1. Computers in business 2. Computers and national economies

2nd body: Effects on communication 1. E-mail 2. Globalization