Week 1
Planning:
Determine your rhetorical goal what do you want to achieve with your text?
Determine your target audience how much background knowledge do they have?
What are their interests?
Formulate a unifying statement (thesis statement) this guides the focus of your
essay.
Writing phases:
Thinking and researching:
o Topic, thesis statement, literature
o Discover your own ideas & opinions first brainstorm, free-write
Planning and organizing:
o Outline, mind map, list, cluster, notes
Writing for yourself:
o Writing just to write, no editing or rewriting
Writing for the reader:
o Read your text, re-think, re-organize, re-write
Revising and editing:
o Address spelling, grammar, punctuation, style, register, formatting,
referencing, etc.
What is an academic text?
An academic text…
…has a clear purpose:
o Objective arguing, explaining, describing, reports, discussing, …
o Sharing knowledge (research findings, conceptual understandings)
…has an audience:
o Addresses fellow academics (your peers and instructors); general public;
business, government
…has a certain shape:
o Clearly distinguishes between facts and opinions
o Reports information accurately, clearly, precisely:
emphasizes logical progression of data
correctly attributes source material
adheres to conventional structures for academic writing (linear, clear
progression, subsections)
has a complex, formal style and register; ‘logical’ according to the
Western eye
,Types:
Essays
Research reports
BA/MA/MPhil/PhD dissertations
Journal articles
Books and book chapters
Book reviews
Conference abstracts
Popular science articles
Lectures, presentations, workshops
Grant proposals
Many research publications follow the IMRAD structure; either explicitly or implicitly:
Introduction
Method
Results
Analysis
Discussion/conclusion
Based on data collection
A good writer...
…does not trust their intuitions but can explain why they are making certain choices.
…can kick old habits.
…knows which rules should be applied religiously and which should not.
Week 2
Punctuation:
. full stop; period
; semi-colon
, comma
- hyphen
-- dash
? question mark
! exclamation mark/point
() (round) brackets, parentheses
[] (square) brackets
… ellipsis
“ quotation marks
‘ apostrophe
Full stop; period:
, Ends of sentences
Abbreviations:
o 1290 College Rd.
o E.B. White
o Ms. White
o Dr. Atchley
Words/terms made up of capital letters: NATO and WWF:
o Generally, no full stops in between letters.
o Treat an acronym like a word: NATO’s members.
Colon:
Announcement, specification:
o The author always disliked his critics: “If they can’t write, they become
critics!”
o The report makes recommendations in three vital areas: security, building
maintenance and warden salaries.
Semi-colon:
Linking: a semicolon links independent clauses (parts of a sentence that could
function as sentences):
o He loved that car; it was his greatest treasure.
o The opposition parties have very weak arguments; in fact, one might say that
they have no policy at all.
Elaboration and enforcement:
o She’s tall; in fact, she’s taller than I am.
Contrast:
o I’m tall; she’s not.
Bulleted lists: use semicolons at the end of the items if these are full clauses and the
bulleted list is not proceeded by a colon:
o In your introduction, you should in any case explain
why your topic is interesting or problematic;
what other researchers have written about your topic;
what your research question is;
how your thesis is organized.
Listing if the items listed contain commas themselves:
o Three leaders in particular should be mentioned here. Hitler, of course, who
committed suicide at the end of WW2. Then there was Benito Mussolini, who
also died in 1945. Joseph Stalin, who is said to have died of natural causes in
1953, should be mentioned as well. This refers to 3 leaders in particular:
Hitler; who committed suicide at the end of WW2; Benito Mussolini, who also
died in 1945; and Joseph Stalin, who is said to have died of natural causes in
1953.
Do not use a semi as a colon:
o Some celebrities can barely even make a meal for themselves; the
Kardashians, Jersey Shore’s Snooki, and Lindsey Lohan. *
Beware of comma splices; don’t use a comma to connect 2 main clauses:
o Your body needs rest; this can be achieved by alternating activity and rest.
This mistake is often made between independent clauses that start with transition
words accordingly, however, hence, …
Planning:
Determine your rhetorical goal what do you want to achieve with your text?
Determine your target audience how much background knowledge do they have?
What are their interests?
Formulate a unifying statement (thesis statement) this guides the focus of your
essay.
Writing phases:
Thinking and researching:
o Topic, thesis statement, literature
o Discover your own ideas & opinions first brainstorm, free-write
Planning and organizing:
o Outline, mind map, list, cluster, notes
Writing for yourself:
o Writing just to write, no editing or rewriting
Writing for the reader:
o Read your text, re-think, re-organize, re-write
Revising and editing:
o Address spelling, grammar, punctuation, style, register, formatting,
referencing, etc.
What is an academic text?
An academic text…
…has a clear purpose:
o Objective arguing, explaining, describing, reports, discussing, …
o Sharing knowledge (research findings, conceptual understandings)
…has an audience:
o Addresses fellow academics (your peers and instructors); general public;
business, government
…has a certain shape:
o Clearly distinguishes between facts and opinions
o Reports information accurately, clearly, precisely:
emphasizes logical progression of data
correctly attributes source material
adheres to conventional structures for academic writing (linear, clear
progression, subsections)
has a complex, formal style and register; ‘logical’ according to the
Western eye
,Types:
Essays
Research reports
BA/MA/MPhil/PhD dissertations
Journal articles
Books and book chapters
Book reviews
Conference abstracts
Popular science articles
Lectures, presentations, workshops
Grant proposals
Many research publications follow the IMRAD structure; either explicitly or implicitly:
Introduction
Method
Results
Analysis
Discussion/conclusion
Based on data collection
A good writer...
…does not trust their intuitions but can explain why they are making certain choices.
…can kick old habits.
…knows which rules should be applied religiously and which should not.
Week 2
Punctuation:
. full stop; period
; semi-colon
, comma
- hyphen
-- dash
? question mark
! exclamation mark/point
() (round) brackets, parentheses
[] (square) brackets
… ellipsis
“ quotation marks
‘ apostrophe
Full stop; period:
, Ends of sentences
Abbreviations:
o 1290 College Rd.
o E.B. White
o Ms. White
o Dr. Atchley
Words/terms made up of capital letters: NATO and WWF:
o Generally, no full stops in between letters.
o Treat an acronym like a word: NATO’s members.
Colon:
Announcement, specification:
o The author always disliked his critics: “If they can’t write, they become
critics!”
o The report makes recommendations in three vital areas: security, building
maintenance and warden salaries.
Semi-colon:
Linking: a semicolon links independent clauses (parts of a sentence that could
function as sentences):
o He loved that car; it was his greatest treasure.
o The opposition parties have very weak arguments; in fact, one might say that
they have no policy at all.
Elaboration and enforcement:
o She’s tall; in fact, she’s taller than I am.
Contrast:
o I’m tall; she’s not.
Bulleted lists: use semicolons at the end of the items if these are full clauses and the
bulleted list is not proceeded by a colon:
o In your introduction, you should in any case explain
why your topic is interesting or problematic;
what other researchers have written about your topic;
what your research question is;
how your thesis is organized.
Listing if the items listed contain commas themselves:
o Three leaders in particular should be mentioned here. Hitler, of course, who
committed suicide at the end of WW2. Then there was Benito Mussolini, who
also died in 1945. Joseph Stalin, who is said to have died of natural causes in
1953, should be mentioned as well. This refers to 3 leaders in particular:
Hitler; who committed suicide at the end of WW2; Benito Mussolini, who also
died in 1945; and Joseph Stalin, who is said to have died of natural causes in
1953.
Do not use a semi as a colon:
o Some celebrities can barely even make a meal for themselves; the
Kardashians, Jersey Shore’s Snooki, and Lindsey Lohan. *
Beware of comma splices; don’t use a comma to connect 2 main clauses:
o Your body needs rest; this can be achieved by alternating activity and rest.
This mistake is often made between independent clauses that start with transition
words accordingly, however, hence, …
