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The Comp Codex: Planning, Drafting, & Revision

DSC-UCF Writing Center

THE COMP CODEXA BRIEF OVERVIEW OF COMMON PROBLEMS

The purpose of this document is to explain common structure of academic essays in a tangible and accessible way. From planning to final revisions, there are often steps that trip writers into self-doubt. Each section provides notes and details that lead to building a successful paper.

Contents of this packet

Outlining

Paragraph Structure

Thesis Statements

Rhetoric Defined

Understanding Citations

Transitions

The Revision Process

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Outlining Once you have an assignment for an essay, prior to coming up with content for it, it’s important to critically think about the assignment at hand. Who is the intended audience? What’s the purpose? Keep these under consideration as you organize the ideas that result from brainstorming initially. As you develop your arguments and sub-topics, one question to always keep in the back of your mind is: Does this support my thesis? Below are a few methods and ideas that can help you outline the essay.

Formal Outlines: Using headings and subheadings (either with bullets or numbers) write out a basic structure of the essay you have in mind. You can put on paper what arguments and sub-arguments you will have, and you can see boundaries between your ideas. Don’t marry yourself to the way in which it’s initially structured, because it may change once you draft, but formal outlines are great for getting a visual on ideas and relationships within the paper’s topic.

Story-telling: We sometimes ignore how we first learned reading and writing skills: through story-telling. Sometimes the best way to approach an academic paper is to think of it in terms of ‘beginning-middle-end,’ Where does your topic begin? Where do you want it to end? How can it have a ‘happily ever after’ so it sums up nicely? By thinking in terms of chronological storytelling, you give your mind a method of writing that everyone has had a lifetime of experience in. We encourage you to format this in a structured outline style, but this focuses on the entirety of the essay rather than go paragraph to paragraph.

Full Sentence Outlining: The outlining structure for full sentence outlining is essentially combining the story-telling aspects of outlining with formal outlines. Rather than jotting down ideas for content, some students prefer to write the basic sentences they will eventually include in the essay. If it helps your mind to write down outlines in full sentences, use whatever method works!

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Paragraph Structure While we like to think that every paper and piece of writing is a unique little flower, they all have a general format of beginning, middle, and end. This holds true for academic papers; they require an introduction, body, and conclusion paragraphs. Keep in mind this is not an exact formula, but serves as a means of organization.

Introduction

Your introduction serves the function of introducing your topic, contextualizing your topic, and presenting your main argument in a thesis. It is usually one paragraph, and generally follows the ‘funnel’ effect of the topic: starting broad and becoming narrowed. Stay away from writing cliches like asking rhetorical questions or putting quotes in the introduction paragraph. Introduction: Papers usually begin by broadly

presenting the idea or topic of the paper. (2-3 sentences) . The next part of your introduction

will move from the broad statement to more specific context. (2-3 sentences) 

This almost always comes at the end of your introduction, and it states very concisely what your main argument is and why. (1-2 sentences)  

Body Paragraphs

The number of points you have in your argument determines how many body paragraphs you will have in your paper. Remember, every body paragraph only needs to be arguing one point or aspect of your paper. If you find that you are trying to prove two or three things per paragraph, you may need to break that paragraph.   Body Paragraph: The topic sentence provides a transition

that shows the relationship between the previous paragraph and your new paragraph. It also gives the argument or main idea of this particular paragraph. (1 sentence).

Here, you include any outside source, statistic, piece of logic, or whatever you are looking at to prove your argument. (2-3 sentences).

After giving your evidence, you must provide explanation of that evidence in your own words. Explain, describe the significance of, and connect your evidence back to your

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thesis. This should be the longest part of your paragraph. (3-4 sentences) 

Conclusion

At the end of your paper, you will need a conclusion paragraph that wraps up your main argument and leaves your reader thinking about what you’ve written. Conclusion: Along with a transition, remind the reader

of your thesis by rephrasing your main argument. (1-2 sentences)  Remind the reader what evidence you

gave in support of your thesis. (2-3 sentences) 

Different papers will vary in how provocatively, or thought provokingly, you can end your paper. You may want to consider answering the question, “So what?” Why does this discussion/argument matter? How does it connect to the larger world?  

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Thesis Statements The textbook way students tend to approach thesis statements is to say, “this paper will be about,” without saying it quite so crudely. But when papers lack aim, or arguments get disorganized in the body paragraph, a poorly formed thesis statement is often to blame. While the thesis statement provides the overall topic for a paper, without creating an arguable position to support the observations and facts on the subject, writing content for an essay becomes increasingly harder. Creating a thesis statement PRIOR to drafting is essential to determining the essay’s real focus. Thesis statements guide the writer through the paper’s development. While different areas of study require thesis statements to work in different ways, approaching it in an analytical statement can help you begin to organize it into a beginning draft.

In general, a thesis statement follows the structure of an analytical statement There are two parts to an analytical statement:

) Fact (or facts) about X, where X is whatever topic you’re discussing. ) Your claim (or claims) based on the fact(s).

Let’s imagine you’re writing an argumentative thesis statement about The

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Example:

Part one is inarguable and part two (underlined) is arguable. Throughout the essay, it is your job to prove the argumentative claim using evidence from the primary source, your own analysis, and in some cases research.

Note: Use analytical words to tie the fact + claim (ie: demonstrates, symbolizes, illustrates, etc.) when creating a thesis. But make sure you’re using the best word for your rhetorical stance.

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Note: Your claim may vary based on the type of assignment or topic, but will often fall into one of these categories: 1. Claim of

definition to argue whether something is a true fact.

2. Claim of cause and effect that one thing causes another to occur

3. Claim of solution to argue ideas in approaching a problem

4. Claim of value to define something of worth and how we should rate it.

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Rhetoric Defined Rhetoric Defined: This term refers to any set of circumstances that involves at least one person using some sort of communication to modify the perspective of at least one other person. In brief, “rhetoric” is any communication used to modify the perspectives of others . We call these three elements, (ethos, pathos logos) rhetorical appeals. In academic writing, ethos and logos are given more respect than pathos. Below, each of these appeals is explained in more detail.

Three Rhetorical Appeals

The use of ethos is called an "ethical appeal." Note that this is very different from our usual understanding of the word "ethical." "Ethos" is used to describe the audience's perception of the rhetor's credibility or authority. The audience asks themselves, "What does this person know about this topic?" and "Why should I trust this person?” Ethos: The rhetor is perceived by the audience as credible.

Pathos is used to describe the rhetor’s attempt to appeal to an audience’s sense of identity, their self-interest, and their emotions. Pathos most often refers to an attempt to engage an audience’s emotions. The audience responds to a feeling (love, fear, hatred, etc.) evoked by the writer. Pathos: The rhetor attempts to persuade the audience

by making them feel certain emotions.

The use of logos is called a “logical appeal.” Logos is the use of strategies of logic to persuade the audience by making a reasonable claim and offering proof of support of that claim. Strategies of using a logos appeal includes cause or consequence, testimony, and use of examples.

Logos: The rhetor attempts to persuade the audience by the use of arguments that they will perceive as logical.

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Note: Rhetoric is a tool for writers and orators which empowers them to convince their readers and listeners about their point of view. Often, we find rhetoric examples in religious sermons and political speeches. They aim to make comparisons, to evoke tender emotions, to censure rivals and all this is done to persuade listeners.

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Understanding Citations Gaining a quick familiarity of the importance of citations will help writers consider the structure of the papers and work with the arguments students choose to prove their thesis. Students are often very familiar with the section of the syllabus addressing plagiarism. It often contains strong and sometimes intimidating language - but fear not! Plagiarism and correct citations are important concerns, but a rhetorical understanding of citations will create a better sense of use for every source a paper needs. The reason we use and create a means (in whatever format is required) to cite outside sources is to: Establish Credibility: When conducting any sort of

research and writing, students are responsible for learning new materials and applying it to their studies.

Credit the Original Author: In order to become an expert, students must first learn from the experts and apply their own analysis. If students take credit for another author’s work, it reflects poorly on the entirety of the work itself.

There are several ways in which students can source materials in a paper. The distinctions between each are important for doing different jobs for an essay. No matter how the sources are implemented, citations are a must.

Quotation: This is copied directly from the source and must appear with quotation marks to indicate reference. This is most easily used to support or counter-argue with the author’s ideas or words.

Paraphrase: In order to paraphrase, writers need to successfully change the wording and structure. Paraphrasing is useful for explaining a point or statistic where exact wording isn’t vital.

Summary: When a main idea is shortened in summary. This gives the reader essential information without using all the original material.

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Note: Writers are often unsure or u n f a m i l i a r w i t h implementing citations into a research paper. The DSC-UCF Writing Center often deals with making sure in-text and works cited/reference pages are used correctly and make cohesive sense. And while this normally involves using the standards by style guides, the question of WHY we cite research and WHAT it does for research papers isn’t always asked by writers, and it absolutely should be!

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Transitions Transitions help create cohesion between ideas in papers. They thread ideas and thoughts between sentences, paragraphs, and throughout an essay. Using the following can build connections and help readers connect ideas.

ADD: and, again, and then, besides, equally important, finally, further, furthermore, nor, too, next, lastly, what's more, moreover, in addition, first (second, etc.)

COMPARE: whereas, but, yet, on the other hand, however, nevertheless, on the contrary, by comparison, where, compared to, up against, balanced against, vis a vis, but, although, conversely, meanwhile, after all, in contrast, although this may be true

PROVE: Because, for, since, for the same reason, obviously, evidently, furthermore, moreover, besides, indeed, in fact, in addition, in any case, that is

EXCEPTION: yet, still, however, nevertheless, in spite of, despite, of course, once in a while, sometimes

TIME: immediately, thereafter, soon, after a few hours, finally, then, later, previously, formerly, first (second, etc.), next, following this, at this time, now, at this point, after, afterward, subsequently, finally, consequently, previously, before this, simultaneously, concurrently, thus, therefore, hence,

EMPHASIZE: definitely, extremely, obviously, in fact, indeed, in any case, absolutely, positively, naturally, surprisingly, always, forever, perennially, eternally, never, emphatically, unquestionably, without a doubt, certainly, undeniably, without reservation

EXAMPLE: for example, for instance, in this case, in another case, on this occasion, in this situation, take the case of, to demonstrate, to illustrate, as an illustration, to illustrate

CONCLUDE: in brief, on the whole, summing up, to conclude, in conclusion, as I have shown, as I have said, hence, therefore, accordingly, thus

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Note: Good transitions can connect paragraphs and turn disconnected writing into a unified whole. Instead of treating paragraphs as separate ideas, transitions can help readers understand how paragraphs work together, reference one another, and build to a larger point

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The revision process When the drafting process is over, word count has been reached, and spell check has been glossed over - many students assume that this is the end of the work and hand in a paper that is still unfinished! Editing papers is an essential part of writing. Getting the grade requires time for editing and revision. Revising is not just about grammar mechanics. There are bigger elements of the paper that should get attention. These bigger picture revisions are often referred to as HOC or “Higher Order Concerns” and address the following questions: Thesis: Does the writing have a clear thesis/statement of purpose

that gives the paper focus? Intro: Does the first sentence and introduction create interest

in the topic?

Ideas: Are the supporting ideas tied to the main focus? Connection: Do sentences and paragraphs follow logically from one

to the next? Cohesion: Are more examples or specifics needed? Assignment: Does the essay cover the topic at hand? Once these areas are covered, LOC or “Lower Order Concerns” can be covered in revision. Look through our Comp Codex Grammar and Mechanics Guide to read into more in depth areas of grammar concerns.

Common Errors: A ll writers tend to have errors that they commonly make and are usually aware of. Are there problems that occur frequently?

Variation: Is there sentence redundancy? Voice: Is active voice mostly used?

Clarity: When read aloud, is the writing clear? Watch for areas where a reader stumbles,; it most likely may need restructuring.

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