ES1103 Tutorial 8

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ES1103

English for
Academic Purposes

TUTORIAL 8

Centre for English Language Communication

Module Coordinator:
Dr Abdel Halim Sykes
The Essay Writing Process (2)

Tutorial Learning Outcomes


By the end of this tutorial, you should be better able to:

• derive an essay outline from the essay prompt

• search for appropriate sources of information

• plan the structure of an essay

Introduction

As you saw in Tutorial 7, the writing process does not begin with
sitting at a keyboard and thinking about what to write. You saw
how important it is to analyse and understand the prompt that
guides the essay or other kinds of academic paper. Also, you were
shown how essential it is for a piece of writing to be anchored
around a well-constructed thesis.

In this tutorial, we will build upon and proceed from these steps in
the essay writing process by focusing on how to gather and
organise information from different sources, and by planning the
most appropriate structure before putting words onto a page.

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Steps in Writing an Essay

Previously, we identified six steps in the writing process. Tutorial 7


focused on the first two steps. In this tutorial, we consider the
remaining steps in the writing process. By making it a habit to
follow these steps, you will be on your way to producing well-
planned and well-written academic papers.

Key Steps in Writing an Essay

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Step 3: Searching for Sources and Constructing a Sources Grid
After determining what is required of the prompt and formulating a
working thesis, the next step is to do some research and make
sense of the information you collect from your reading.

Researching your Essay


The keywords in the essay prompt should give you some ideas for
keyword searches. Although Google seems like a good place to
start, consider also other sources of information such as Google
Scholar and the NUS library, which have a huge resource of
journals and research articles.
It is not necessary to read every source listed in the search results
because it is very time-consuming. Instead, quickly scan through
the search results and click on items that seem credible, such as
those from reputable publications and websites.

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Google Scholar is more reliable and will provide better support for
your essay than a Google search.
Compare these sample pages for an online search on the term
‘commodification’. What differences do you notice between the
Google and Google Scholar pages?

A Google search on
‘commodification’
makes these
suggestions.

A Google Scholar
search on
‘commodification’
makes these
suggestions.

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A Google search on
‘commodification of
culture’ makes
these suggestions.

A Google Scholar
search on
‘commodification of
culture’ makes
these suggestions.

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Task 1

• Do a Google search for social media effects.


• Do a Google Scholar search for social media effects.
• What do you notice about the two search pages?
• How are the two search pages different?
• Which search page is better as a source of information for
an academic paper?

Searching for and Evaluating Sources


It is essential for you to be extremely discerning in your choice of
sources. This means scanning through the search results and
selecting sources that seem credible, then evaluating how suitable
and useful they might be for inclusion in your writing.
However, to be selective in your choice of sources requires making
careful and informed decisions about what you read. These are
skills that take time to master.
So, let’s consider some ways to identify and choose appropriate
sources for good academic writing. First, view a very useful video
via the link given below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyMT08mD7Ds

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Now that you have a useful set of criteria to help in your choice of
sources, try to apply it to a range of sources of information.

Task 2

Consider the following list of sources.


• How reliable is each of these sources of information?
• Categorise them according to the table below.

a research report a forum page

a wiki an academic journal

a book a personal blog

a newspaper article a government report

a professional journal a discussion board

Reliable sources Potentially reliable Unreliable sources

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It is essential that you read sources critically. One key skill in the
selection of sources is to identify and determine whether a
potential source is presenting facts or offering opinions. Always
consider how much evidence a source provides to support the
statements that are made.

Task 3

Read each of the following statements and decide which


information is fact and which is opinion.

1. ASEAN has ten member states and Timor Leste is likely to become the
eleventh.
2. Paris, the most romantic city in the world, is the capital of France.
3. China’s population is larger than India’s.
4. Cancer can take many forms and affects people of all ages.

5. Experts say house prices will rise by 12%.


6. The English Channel, which separates Britain from France, is 20.3 miles
wide at the narrowest point.
7. Video games are popular with teenagers and lead to violent behaviour.
8. Gandhi led India’s independence movement and was loved by all.
9. The best Olympics were held in Beijing.

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Grouping Information

Once you have selected relevant information from credible sources,


you need to make sense of all the information you have. There are
several ways to do this. The key is to organise the information in a
way that is clear and logical to both you and your readers.

Let’s consider three of the most common and most effective


techniques for grouping information in preparation for including it
in an essay.

Graphic organisers are effective techniques for arranging


information. The best method is to prepare a graphic organiser so
that you have the key points from each source in the form of a
table or graph.

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Synthesis Grid

A synthesis grid allows you to enter information and evidence into


a table which you can quickly scan to identify initial relationships
between the information from different sources.

The synthesis grid below shows the categories of information


selected to take notes for an essay. The prompt is on the causes of
‘communication apprehension’ and its impact on individuals.

https://writesite.elearn.usyd.edu.au/m3/m3u1/m3u1s3/m3u1s3_2_popa.htm

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Mind Map

A mind map allows you to record information and evidence in a


more free-flowing way by positioning your prompt or topic in the
centre and drawing lines radiating out into points and sub-points or
arguments and sub-arguments.

https://writesite.elearn.usyd.edu.au/m3/m3u1/m3u1s3/m3u1s3_2_popb.htm

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Concept Map

A concept map allows you not only to record relevant information


and evidence, but also to organise it hierarchically, beginning with
the more general concepts at the top and working down to the
more specific concepts at the bottom.

https://writesite.elearn.usyd.edu.au/m3/m3u1/m3u1s3/m3u1s3_2_popc.htm

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Task 4

Consider these questions.


• Which of the suggested ways of organising information
(synthesis grid, mind map, concept map) do you think is
better for you?
• Can you suggest some other ways to group information
from the sources you have gathered?

You will see from the three techniques for organising information
from sources that they provide you with a structure around which
you can build your essay. Having a lot of information is not
sufficient to ensure the writing is of an acceptable academic
standard. You must show your understanding of the source
material by grouping it in such a way that it is clear, logical and
purposeful in meeting the requirements of the essay prompt.

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Step 4: Planning the Structure in Detail

In Step 1-3, by reading and analysing the prompt, constructing a


working thesis, and selecting and organising appropriate sources,
you should already have a rough idea of the main parts of your
essay.

However, after gathering additional sources and fine-tuning the


thesis, the initial rough structure may change. It is at this point that
you should plan the overall structure of the essay in more detail.

Analysing the Prompt

Remember that by reading and analysing the prompt, you should


have a general idea of the main sections of your essay. So, let’s
remind ourselves of the essay prompt for ES1103.

CA2 CA3, CA4, CA5 Problem Solution Essay

Using your disciplinary content (or any other theme you choose),
describe ONE specific problem connected with an issue of
interest to you, explaining what, in your view, the problem is.
Your problem should focus on a particular community or country.
Where possible, evaluate one or more existing approaches which
address your chosen problem and suggest one or more new or
improved measures which may further mitigate it.

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Allow the words in the prompt to suggest how the essay might be
organised.

CA2 CA3, CA4, CA5 Problem Solution Essay

Using your disciplinary content (or any other theme you choose),
describe ONE specific problem connected with an issue of
interest to you, explaining what, in your view, the problem is.
Your problem should focus on a particular community or
country. Where possible, evaluate one or more existing
approaches which address your chosen problem and suggest
one or more new or improved measures which may further
mitigate it.

content words instruction words scoping words

Here’s one possible structure for the essay responding to the


prompt above.

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Step 5: Drafting the Essay

Once you have completed Steps 1-4, you are ready to work on your
introduction. After that is written and your thesis and scope are
finalised, you will be ready to proceed with the rest of your first
draft. At any point beyond this step, it is possible and advisable to
revise the structure and the content if you notice gaps in the logical
development or the quality of the points or arguments in your
writing.

The remaining tutorials in this module will focus specifically on


different aspects of crafting the content, structure and flow of your
academic essays. These aspects include:
• writing cohesive texts
• writing introductions
• logical relations and complex sentences
• noun groups and nominalisation
• evaluating, recommending and concluding

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Step 6: Revising the Drafts

Reviewing and revising writing are essential parts of the writing


process. They deepen your understanding of the paper you are
writing and make you think more about the readers and what sense
they make of your writing. They also improve the accuracy and
precision of expression and strengthen the structure and flow of
the writing.

While you must become skilled in reviewing and revising your own
written work, it is also important for you to adopt the habit of
sharing your drafts with trusted peers, who can provide valuable
and meaningful feedback. Listening to and accepting feedback on
your work is an integral part of good academic writing.

For these reasons, throughout this module, you will have your
drafts reviewed and you will review your peers’ draft essays. Also,
you will receive detailed review and feedback from your tutor,
who will provide advice based on experience and good knowledge
of the requirements of good academic writing.

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In this tutorial, we have considered the key steps in the process of
writing a good academic essay. By following these steps for all of
your academic writing, you will be able to develop the skills you
need to produce written work that is focused, informative, clearly
directed, well-structured and accurate.

In subsequent tutorials, we will address more specific techniques


and skills to develop your abilities and boost your confidence to be
a competent, independent academic writer.

All still images in these notes are used under the Creative Commons License.

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