English for Academic &

Professional Purposes
Quarter 1 – Weeks 1 - 4
English for Academic and
Professional Purposes
Quarter 1 – Module 1
Differentiating Language Used in
Academic Texts from
Various Disciplines
English for Academic and Professional Purposes
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 1 – Module 1: Differentiating Language Used in Academic Texts from Various
Disciplines
Second Edition, 2021

Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: No copyright shall subsist in any work of the
Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government agency or office
wherein the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of such work for profit. Such
agency or office may, among other things, impose as a condition the payment of royalties.

Borrowed materials (i.e., songs, stories, poems, pictures, photos, brand names, trademarks, etc.)
included in this module are owned by their respective copyright holders. Every effort has been
exerted to locate and seek permission to use these materials from their respective copyright
owners. The publisher and authors do not represent nor claim ownership over them.

Published by the Department of Education-Schools Division of Makati City

OIC-Schools Division Superintendent: Carleen S. Sedilla CESE
OIC-Assistant Schools Division Superintendent and OIC-Chief, CID: Jay F. Macasieb DEM, CESE

Development Team of the Module

Writer: Rowena Dimas-Bunagan

Editor: Eden F. Samadan

Reviewers: Gizelle V. Laud

Layout Artist: Rowena Dimas-Bunagan

Management Team: Jay F. Macasieb, EdD

OIC-Chief Education Supervisor, Curriculum Implementation Division

Neil Vincent C. Sandoval

Education Program Supervisor, LRMS
Gizelle V. Laud
Education Program Supervisor, English

Printed in the Philippines by the Schools Division Office of Makati City through the
support of the City Government of Makati (Local School Board)

Department of Education – Schools Division Office of Makati City

Office Address: Gov. Noble St., Brgy. Guadalupe Nuevo

City of Makati, Metropolitan Manila, Philippines 1212
Telefax: (632) 8882-5861 / 8882-5862
E-mail Address: [email protected]
 What I Need to Know

This module was designed and written to meet the needs of the grade 12 students with
regard to English related skills. It is here to help you master the English for Academic &
Professional Purposes which aims to teach the students to communicate effectively in
diverse academic and professional situations.
Module 1 which is entitled, “Differentiating Language Used in Academic Texts from Various
Disciplines”, aims to enhance the students’ skills in reading academic texts which is very
vital for grade 12 students of all strands.
After going through this module, you are expected to:
1. differentiate language used in academic texts of various disciplines;
2. acquire knowledge of appropriate reading strategies for a better understanding of
academic texts;
3. produce a detailed abstract of information gathered from the various academic texts;
4. understand the role of language in communication;
5. determine the meaning of words used in context;
6. analyze sample texts; and
7. illustrate the use of the English language in various disciplines.

What I Know

Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter on a separate sheet of paper.
1. This is a well-developed verbal skill with sensitivity to the sounds, meanings and
rhythms of words.
a. Visual-spatial Intelligence
b. Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence
c. Verbal-Logical Intelligence
d. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence
2. It is when you have the capacity to tackle deep questions about human existence.
a. Naturalist Intelligence
b. Intrapersonal Intelligence
c. Interpersonal Intelligence
d. Existential Intelligence
3. This is the capacity to think images and pictures to visualize accurately and
abstractly.
a. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence
b. Naturalist Intelligence
c. Visual-Spatial Intelligence
d. Intrapersonal Intelligence
4. It is the ability to think conceptually and abstractly or to discern logical and
numerical patterns.
a. Mathematical-logical Intelligence
b. Verbal-Linguistic Intelligence
c. Musical Intelligence
d. Interpersonal Intelligence
5. This is the ability to produce and appreciate rhythm, pitch and timber.
a. Naturalist Intelligence
b. Existential Intelligence
c. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence
d. Musical Intelligence
6. This is the ability to control one’s body movements and to handle objects skillfully.
a. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence
b. Interpersonal Intelligence
 c. Naturalist Intelligence
d. Existential Intelligence
7. This intelligence involves the capacity to detect and respond appropriately to the
moods, motivations, and desires of others.
a. Interpersonal Intelligence
b. Intrapersonal Intelligence
c. Naturalistic Intelligence
d. Existential Intelligence
8. It is the capacity to be self-aware and in tune with your inner feelings, values and
beliefs.
a. Naturalist Intelligence
b. Intrapersonal Intelligence
c. Verbal-linguistic Intelligence
d. Interpersonal Intelligence
9. This intelligence involves skills in recognizing one’s strengths and weaknesses and
even being aware of your inner feelings.
a. Naturalist Intelligence
b. Intrapersonal Intelligence
c. Verbal-linguistic Intelligence
d. Interpersonal Intelligence
10. This is having the ability to care, recognize and categorize plants, animals and other
objects.
a. Interpersonal Intelligence
b. Intrapersonal Intelligence
c. Naturalistic Intelligence
d. Existential Intelligence

What’s In

And the word began…

In this fast-changing world where language is vital for communication and understanding
one another, have you ever asked yourself how the words you’re using came to be? Are the
words we are using right now really rooted from far way back? If so, who started these first?
Curious….. Are we? Then, let’s take a quick look from how language originated.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE?
5 THEORIES
1. The Bow-Wow Theory - This theory states that language began when our ancestors
imitated the natural sounds around them such as moo, meow, splash, cuckoo and bang.
2. The Ding-Dong Theory - This is the theory supported by Plato and Pythagoras which
states that speech happened when we respond to the objects in our environment and made
harmony with them.
3. The La-La Theory- This emphasizes that language came to life from sounds associated
with love, play and songs.
4. The Pooh-Pooh Theory- Pooh-Pooh theory conveys that language began with
interjections from spontaneous cries, surprise and other emotions.
5. The Yo-He-Ho Theory - According to this theory, language developed from the grunts,
groans and snorts caused by heavy physical labor.
What can you say from these theories? Do they appear reliable? What about the English
language, do you know how these words came to be? Let’s travel back time tracing the history
of the English language.
HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
The history of the English language began with the arrival of three Germanic tribes
who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and
the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern Germany. At

2
that time the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. But most of the Celtic speakers
were pushed west and north by the invaders – mainly into what is now Wales, Scotland and
Ireland. The Angles came from “Englaland” [sic] and their language was called “Englisc” –
from which the words “England” and “English” are derived. The invading Germanic tribes
spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed into what we now call Old English.
Old English did not sound or look like English today. Native English speakers now
would have great difficulty understanding Old English. Nevertheless, about half of the most
commonly used words in Modern English have Old English roots. The words, strong and
water, for example, derive from Old English. Old English was spoken until around 1100.n
1066 when William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy (part of modern France), invaded
and conquered England. The new conquerors (called the Normans) brought with them a
kind of French, which became the language of the Royal Court, and the ruling and business
classes. For a period, there was a kind of linguistic class division, where the lower classes
spoke English and the upper classes spoke French.
In the 14th century English became dominant in Britain again, but with many French
words added. This language is called Middle English. It was the language of the great poet
Chaucer (c13401400), but it would still be difficult for native English speakers to
understand today. Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in
pronunciation (the Great Vowel Shift) started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and
shorter. From the 16th century the British had contact with many peoples from around the
world. This, and the Renaissance of Classical learning, meant that many new words and
phrases entered the language. The invention of printing also meant that there was now a
common language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Printing
also brought standardization to English. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect
of London, where most publishing houses were, became the standard. In 1604 the first
English dictionary was published.
The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was the period of the Early modern English.
This is also known as the period of the English Renaissance since people developed a keen
interest in the past and a more daring and imaginative view of the future. New ideas
multiplied which meant new languages too. Englishmen had grown accustomed to
borrowing words from French as a result of the Norman conquest; now they borrowed from
Latin and Greek. The greatest writer of the Early modern period is of course Shakespeare,
and the best-known book is the King James version of the Bible published in 1611.
Since 1700, the history of English is filled with many movements and counter
movements mostly on regulating and controlling the English language or to polish, prune
and restrict English. A product in the desire to fix and establish the English language was
the development of the dictionary. The first dictionary was published in 1603 with 2500
words. In 1775 Samuel Johnson published his dictionary followed by Noah Webster in 1828
until finally the twelve volume Oxford English Dictionary.

What’s New

Also, in the 18th century the invention of English grammar was very noticeable as
English replaced Latin. Hence, the most important development in the modern period has
been the tremendous expansion of English-speaking people from a language spoken in a
small island to the greatest language of the world.
English may not be the most spoken language in the world, but it is the official language of
53 countries and spoken by around 400 million people across the globe. Learning English
is important as it enables you to communicate easily with your fellow global citizens. So,
let’s start learning English then with this lesson….

3
What is text?
In Literary theory, a text is any object that can be read whether this object is a work of
literature, a street sign, an arrangement of buildings on a city block or styles of clothing. It
is a coherent set of signs that transmits some kind of informative message.
For Literary criticism, text also refers to the original information content of a particular piece
of writing. It is concerned with distinguishing of the original information content from what
has been added to or subtracted from that content as it appears in a given textual document.
Text as a noun is a book or other written or printed work, regarded in terms of its content
rather than its physical form.
Text in Linguistics includes the original words of something written, printed or spoken or
any coherent stretch of language.
In the Information Technology world, text is a human readable sequence of characters and
the words they form that can be encoded into computer readable formats.
What is Academic Text?
Academic text is defined as critical, objective, specialized texts written by experts or
professionals in a given field using formal language. It is always linear since it has one
central point or theme with all its part contributing to the main line of argument, without
digressions or repetitions. Its main purpose is to inform rather than entertain. Also, this is
in the standard written form of the language.
Features of Academic Texts
Complex – language used is longer, it is lexically denser and with a more varied vocabulary.
Texts are shorter with more grammatical complexity including more subordinate clauses
and passives.
Precise – facts are given accurately and sharply.
Objective – its main emphasis is on the information to be shared and the arguments to be
made rather than the personal interest of the writer.
Explicit – It is the responsibility of the writer to make it clear to the reader how all the parts
of the texts are connected and related.
Accurate – most of the words used have narrow specific meanings.
Hedged – making it necessary to make a stance on the arguments and claims you used in
your writing.
Organized – Each paragraph leads to the development of the other logically. A good way of
starting your academic text is by deciding on the genre after which the structure follows.
Well-planned – it is well planned; it involves research and evaluation of the specific purpose
of your text.
What is Academic Language?
Academic language is the language needed by students to do the work in schools. It is
generally found in textbooks, used in the classrooms or even those printed in the tests and
documents. It is composed of discipline and specific vocabulary, grammar including
punctuations and applications of rhetorical conventions and devices that are typically used
for a content. Well-diverse academic language skills mean better comprehension and
speaking skills.
Formal language –is used for professional and academic purposes, no colloquialism and
contractions involve and no using of personal pronouns, too. It is also less personal as
compared to informal.

4
 What is It

Informal language – is used when communicating, writing or having conversations with

family and friends. It is more casual and spontaneous and unlike formal language, informal
language is more personal.
Directions: Read the following texts:
As you go through these texts, identify what kind of academic text is each of the
following and determine whether the language used is formal or informal.
The Sob Sister’s story
The dead girl, beautiful and peaceful in death, her scarlet lips slightly parted as though
whispering a caress to her lover, her blue eyes gentle and unquestioning as a baby, lay in
the murderer’s arms like a child who has been rocked to sleep. Her golden hair falling in
profusion about her shoulder all but concealed the cruel welt of red about her throat. The
murderer clutching is still burden to him, like a mother holding an infant, appeared dazed.
As the police came in, he rose to meet them, still carrying his precious burden in his arms.
The officers had almost to force him to relinquish her. He could not answer questions – could
merely clutch the closer to his breast all that remained of the girl he loved better than life,
and mutter, “I love her, I love her,” like a man in a dream. A few hours later when I saw him
in the sordid surroundings of the 10th Precinct Station House, so different from the cozy
cottage which had been the abode of a tragic love, he was still dryeyed, though his face wore
a ghastly pallor. But when tried to question him, I became aware of terrific strain under
which he suffered, and showed all signs of a man on the verge of hysteria. When I tried to
draw from him the motive for the pitiful tragedy, he could only rely, his pale boyish face like
a mask. “I killed her, but God didn’t say a word, a word.”
At last he managed pitifully to say: “I killed her so that she would be mine alone for
always!” And this is the irony of fate! The very greatness of his love made him strangle her.
Separated as they were wealth, social position, and all that implies, it was only in death that
they could be united.
Who are we to pass judgement on such love?
Local Girl Found Slain by Rejected Lover
Ms. Porphyria Blank, 21, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. R.J. Blank, of Barton Park, was
found strangled this morning in the cottage owned by John Doe, 25, who was apprehended
on the scene of the crime by officers Bailey and Hodge. Doe was found holding the body in
his arms, and appeared to be stupor, his only reply to repeated questioning being, “I killed
her because I loved her.”
According to the members of the Blank family, Doe had paid attention to Miss Blank
for the last several months, though it was strenuously denied that his regards for Miss Blank
was returned. Miss Blank’s engagement with Mr. Roger Weston was announced last month.
Mr. Weston could not be reached for a statement. Mrs. Blank was prostrated by the news
of her daughter’s death.
The slain girl vanished last evening at approximately eleven o’clock from dinner party
given at her parent’s home in honor of the approaching wedding. The family became alarmed
when it was discovered that she was not in her room, and instituted a search for her about
midnight. The police, who were promptly notified, in the course of their search knocked at
Mr. Doe’s cottage, a building some quarter of a mile from the Blank estate, at five in the
morning. Receiving no answer, they forced the door and discovered Doe sitting with the
dead girl in his lap. She had apparently been strangled. Dr. A. P. Reynolds, Autopsy Surgeon
for the country, state that, from the condition of the body, death must have occurred about
midnight.

5
 Legal Indictment
State of ___
Country
TWENTY-FIRST JUDICIAL
DISTRICT COURT

THE GRAND JURORS of the State of ___ duly impaneled and sworn, in and for __
Country in the name and by the authority of the said State upon their oath, find and present:
That one John Doe late of ___Country, on the 23rd of January in the year of our Lord
One Thousand Nine Hundred and Twenty-Four, with force and arms, in_Country, aforesaid
and with jurisdiction of the Twenty First Judicial District Court of _ for the _Country, did
unlawfully, feloniously, with malice aforethought kill and slay one Porphyria Blank by
strangulation. Contrary to the form and the Statutes of __, in such cases made and
provided and against the peace and dignity of the same.
………………………………………………………
District Attorney for the 21st
Judicial District of ___
From the Autopsy Surgeon’s Report
Death occurred from the effects of asphyxia, cerebral anemia, and shock. The victim’s hair
was used for the constriction ligature. Local marks of the ligature were readily discernible:
there were some abrasion and a slight ecchymosis in the skin. But I found no obvious lesion
in the blood vessels of the neck.
Cyanosis of the head was very slight and there were no pronounced hemorrhages in the
galea of the scalp. I should judge that very great compression was effected almost
immediately, with comprehension of the arteries as well as of the vein, and that the superior
laryngeal nerve was traumatized in the effect of throwing the victim into profound shock…
The lungs revealed cyanosis, congestion, over aeration, and sub pleural petechial
hemorrhages…

What’s More

Let’s test your understanding!

How then do you distinguish the differences of each academic text? Below is a table that will
help you answer this question. Reread the four texts and fill out this table based on your
evaluation of the texts.
TEXT A TEXT B TEXT C TEXT D
What is the text about? (subject/focus)
What is the writer’s goal in writing the text?
Who is the target reader or audience of the
text?
What is the point of view of the text? Is it first
person, second person or third person?
Did the writer write in formal or informal
manner?
How did the writer choose the words and
organize the sentences? Was the language
formal, informal, casual?
What kind of academic texts are they?

What feature of academic text is used in the

passage?

6
 What I Have Learned

This is the Honesty corner:

Without looking back to the above-mentioned texts, define, explain in your own
understanding the following:
A living thing reacts to a stimulus, which is a change in the environment, by producing a
response.
1. Text Reproduction 2. Academic Text 3. Academic Language 4. Essay
5. Articles 6. Thesis 7. Dissertation
8. Technical Report 9. Informal language 10. Formal Language

This time, identify the features of academic text described in the sentences that follow. But
wait there’s more…… don’t look back on the previous pages, okay?
________________11. Written texts are shorter and the language has more grammatical
complexity, including more subordinate clauses and more passives.
________________12. It is the responsibility of the writer in English to make it clear to the
reader how the various parts of the texts are related.
________________13. In any kind of academic text, it is necessary to make decisions about
your stance on a particular subject or the strengths of the claims you are making.
________________14. Most subjects have narrow specific meanings.
________________15. Facts and figures are exact and accurate. Living things need energy for
metabolism. The primary source of energy for all living things is the sun.

What I Can Do

Let us put our learning into practice.

Directions: Read the article and answer the questions that follow. Always bear in mind the
lessons you learned from Module 1.
Competition and Cooperation

(1) Explanations of the interrelation upon rewards inadequate primarily because

between competition and cooperation have definitions of these two concepts based upon
evolved over the time. Early research into rewards depict them as opposite. In current
competition and cooperation define each understanding, competition is not viewed as
of them in terms of the distribution of opposite of cooperation, instead, cooperation
rewards related to each. Competition was is viewed as integral component of
defined as a situation in which rewards competition. Cooperation is necessary
are distributed unequally on the basis of among team members, perhaps in a sporting
performance, cooperation on the other event or in a political race, in order to win the
hand was defined as a situation in which competition, it is equally important to
rewards are distributed equally on the understand that cooperation is of great
basis of mutual interactive behavior importance between teams in that same
among individuals. By this definition, sporting event or ground rules of the game or
requires at least a competitive situation election in order to compete.
requires at least on competitor to fail for (3) Interestingly, the word competition is
each competitor that wins, while a derived from a Latin verb which means “to
cooperative situation offers a reward only seek together.” An understanding of the
if all members of the group receive it. derivation of the word competition supports
(2) Researchers have found definitions the understanding that cooperation, rather
of competition and cooperation based than evoking a characteristic at the opposite

7
extreme of human nature from 5. What point of view is used by the writer?
competition, is in reality a necessary factor 6. Why do you think the writer gave the
in competition. etymological definition of competition in
Comprehension Check: paragraph 3 but not that of cooperation?
1. What genre is used in this academic 7. Define cooperation based on your
text? understanding of this academic text.
2. What features of academic text are 8. Define competition based on your
visible in Competition and understanding of this academic text.
Cooperation? Support your answer. 9. Why do you think the writer compare the
(You can write as many as you can) two by using rewards?
3. Is the language used formal or 10. If you were to choose, which is better,
informal? Why? competition or cooperation?
4. Who is the target audience or reader of
this article?

Assessment

Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter on a separate
sheet of paper.
1. This theory emphasizes that language came to life from sounds associated with love,
play and songs.
a. The Bow-Wow Theory
b. The Pooh-Pooh Theory
c. The La-la Theory
d. the Ding-Dong Theory
2. The following are the three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th
century AD except for one.

a. Jutes c. Saxons
b. Angles d. Celts
3. This is the best known book of the early modern period
a. King James Bible c. Shakespeare’s Works
b. Oxford English Dictionary d. Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary
4. It is defined as critical, objective, specialized texts written by experts or professionals
in a given field using formal language.
a. Academic Writing c. Academic Reading
b. Academic Text d. Academic Language
5. It is the responsibility of the writer to make it clear to the reader how all the parts of
the texts are connected and related.
a. Precise c. Explicit
b. Accurate d. Hedged
6. Its main emphasis is on the information to be shared and the arguments to be made
rather than the personal interest of the writer.
a. Objective c. Precise
b. Organized d. Well-planned
7. Academic texts that may be completed for a long time and it offers an original
contribution to the research area.
a. Essay c. Reports
b. Thesis d. Articles
8. This is the language needed by students to do the work in schools. It is generally
found in textbooks, used in classrooms or even in those printed tests.
a. Academic Writing c. Academic Reading
b. Academic Text d. Academic Language
9. It is used when communicating, writing or having conversations with family and
friends because it is more casual and spontaneous.
a. Formal b. Informal c. Textual d. Poetica
10. It is a longer essay involving Library research usually with 3000 to 6000 words
a. Articles c. Research Paper
b. Journals d. Technical Report

8
English for Academic &
Professional Purposes
Quarter 1 – Module 2
Academic Writing
English for Academic and Professional Purposes
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 1 – Module 2: Academic Writing
Second Edition, 2021

Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: No copyright shall subsist in any work of the
Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government agency or office
wherein the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of such work for profit. Such
agency or office may, among other things, impose as a condition the payment of royalties.

Borrowed materials (i.e., songs, stories, poems, pictures, photos, brand names, trademarks, etc.)
included in this module are owned by their respective copyright holders. Every effort has been
exerted to locate and seek permission to use these materials from their respective copyright
owners. The publisher and authors do not represent nor claim ownership over them.

Published by the Department of Education-Schools Division of Makati City

OIC-Schools Division Superintendent: Carleen S. Sedilla CESE
OIC-Assistant Schools Division Superintendent and OIC-Chief, CID: Jay F. Macasieb DEM, CESE

Development Team of the Module

Writer: Rowena Dimas-Bunagan

Editor: Eden F. Samadan

Reviewers: Gizelle V. Laud

Layout Artist: Rowena Dimas-Bunagan

Management Team: Jay F. Macasieb, EdD

OIC-Chief Education Supervisor, Curriculum Implementation Division

Neil Vincent C. Sandoval

Education Program Supervisor, LRMS

Gizelle V. Laud
Education Program Supervisor, English

Printed in the Philippines by the Schools Division Office of Makati City through the
support of the City Government of Makati (Local School Board)

Department of Education – Schools Division Office of Makati City

Office Address: Gov. Noble St., Brgy. Guadalupe Nuevo

City of Makati, Metropolitan Manila, Philippines 1212
Telefax: (632) 8882-5861 / 8882-5862
E-mail Address: [email protected]
 What I Need to Know

This module was designed and written to meet the needs of the grade 12 students with
regard to English related skills. It is here to help you master the English for Academic &
Professional Purposes which aims to teach the students to communicate effectively in
diverse academic and professional situations.
Module 2 which is entitled Academic Writing aims to enhance the students’ skills in writing
by putting more emphasis on content, structure, purpose and mechanics rather than just
merely putting words into a composition.
This is the focus of module 2. Upon knowing what academic text is in the previous module,
this module 2 will now glean the students to write critically, structurally and purposively.
Good writing, which covers a myriad of goals, objectives and purposes, is also an important
skill that translates into any career field.
After going through this module, you are expected to:
1. define academic writing and distinguish it from other kinds of writing;
2. identify the structure, purpose, audience, and style of academic writing;
3. analyze sample texts using the standards of academic writing; and
4. write an academic text using the standards of academic writing.

What I Know

Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter on a separate sheet of paper.
1. The period when English became dominant in Britain again, but with many French
words added.
a. 13th century
b. 14th century
c. 15th century
d. 16th century
2. This is also known as the period of the English Renaissance.
a. Early Modern English
b. Late Modern English
c. Modern English
d. Middle English
3. The year when King James Bible was published.
a. 1511
b. 1632
c. 1775
d. 1611
4. This refers to the original information content of a particular piece of writing.
a. Text
b. Academic Text
c. Academic Writing
d. A and B
5. This is when facts are given accurately and sharply.
a. Complex
b. Precise
c. Objective
d. Explicit
6. Most of the words used in academic texts have narrow specific meanings.
a. Hedged
b. Organized
c. Accurate
d. Well-planned

1
 7. It is necessary for the writer to make a stance on the arguments and claims used.
a. Well-planned
b. Accurate
c. Explicit
d. Hedged
8. It is an argumentative text, usually short, with 1500 to 6000 words.
a. Essay
b. Research paper
c. Articles
d. Dissertation
9. It describes the ideas for an investigation on a certain topic.
a. Technical Report
b. Research Paper
c. Thesis
d. Articles
10. Language used when communicating, writing or having conversations with family
and friends. It is more casual and spontaneous.
a. Formal
b. Informal
c. Poetical
d. Both A and B

What’s In

Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, “In preparing for a battle, I have always found that
plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” This also holds true in writing, without
a plan, is like a voyager without his compass, definitely not knowing where to go.
Good writing is a skill that must be acquired by every student. It translates into any
career field. Now that you are about to finish Senior High School, it is a must that you
acquire a good writing skill. However, it is noticeable that students nowadays don’t enjoy
writing much. Whenever tasked to do so in school, they are more in compliance rather than
examining first what to write and how to do it right. Writing must also follow a certain step
if one wishes to hone a competitive skill in writing. The first thing you have to do is to know
the kind of academic text you are required to write. Ask yourself what are you being asked
to do and how long the paper should be. Then proceed with the Pre-Writing Process. Pre-
writing is the first stage of the writing process which pertains to the different techniques
that will help you discover ideas before writing the first draft of your paper. In here, you use
variety of strategies to find out all the things connected to the topic you are about to write.
To write effectively, it is always best to assume that you are writing to be read, therefore you
really have to do it right.
One of the strategies of pre-writing is Brainstorming. What is brainstorming? Listing
down everything that comes to mind as fast as you can in a certain amount of time is
brainstorming. We use this for increased awareness and searching for deeper and clearer
understanding. Then, after listing down all your ideas, browse through them and pick the
one that best appeals to you or the one that you know best. Listing is the other term for
brainstorming. The next strategy is “Clustering or Mapping”. How do you do this? Start by
writing a word or phrase at the center of your paper and encircle it. This is your main topic.
Then, think of other words or phrases related to that main topic, write them down and
connect them to your main topic. These become your subtopics. From there, you can now
branch off the subtopics with other supporting ideas. Now you are ready for the third
strategy which is the freewriting. This is writing down your thoughts nonstop. Write as
quickly as you can to create constant momentum for your thoughts to keep on flowing
spontaneously. Finally, the fourth stage of the pre-writing process is Journalistic Questions.
Here, you will ask yourself questions that will help you clear out some words or scenarios
in your freewriting which are not so clearly written or discussed with. The answers to these
questions should then be added before you finally come up with your next draft or final
paper.
Pre-writing is often scorned and deprecated by most student-writers, but this is the
stage that everyone must and always do if and only if we want a commendable academic
text.

2
 What’s New

What is Academic Writing?

Often confused and associated with Academic Text, Academic Writing is a particular style
of expressions used in formal essays and other assessments to come up with an academic
form of writing. It requires formal language, a logical structure and is supported by evidences
to define the intellectual boundaries of their specific areas of expertise.
There are four main types or purposes of Academic Writing. Each of these types is used to
express specific language features and purposes. These are: Descriptive, Analytical,
Persuasive and Critical. Now, is it possible to find more than one type of academic writing
in one academic text? Yes. Take for example an empirical thesis where descriptive type is
used in summarizing details and methods but analytical as well in reporting the data
collected. Likewise, you can find persuasive type of writing in the interpretation of findings.
This scenario is an example of an academic text where various types of academic writing is
used. Let’s analyze thoroughly these four types of writing. Descriptive is the simplest of
the four as its purpose is to provide facts and information. You can find this in a summary
of an article or a report of the results of an experiment. This can easily be figured out in
instructions such as identify, report, record, define or summarize. The second type is
Analytical. Most academic writing is also analytical, but don’t be confused with the first
type since analytical includes descriptive writing when you re-organize the facts and
information you describe in categories, groups, parts, types and relationships. This type is
said to be used for instructions such as analyze, compare, contrast, relate and examine.
Persuasive is the third type. What is this type of writing? Persuasive has all the features of
analytical writing with an addition of your own point of view, but always remember that each
claim you make needs to be supported by evidence. Clue for a persuasive writing lies in
instructions such as argue, evaluate, discuss and take a position. Finally, the fourth type is
Critical Writing which is very common for research and scholarly writing. It has all the
features of persuasive writing with the addition of two points of view including your own.
The kind of instructions for this type are critique, debate, disagree and evaluate. After you
have thought about the purpose, it is now time to focus on the structure of your academic
writing. Structure is how the parts or the elements of something complex are put into one
great arrangement or composition. Just like any academic text, when doing an academic
writing you have to bear in mind these three parts: Introduction, Body, and Conclusion.
These are the parts of an academic essay which can be used in different discipline but most
academic texts in the sciences adhere to the model called IMRAD which is Introduction,
Methods and Materials, Results and Discussion.
Academic writing is thinking; you cannot just write anything that comes to mind. We have
to abide by the set rules and practices in writing. Remember, a well thought of writing is a
text worth reading.

What is It

This is an excerpt of the Speech of His Excellency, Jose P. Laurel, President of the Republic
of the Philippines, delivered over Station PIAM Manila, on February 29, 1944, addressed to
the Filipino youth.
YOUTH OF MY BELOVED LAND:

In this critical period of our history, we need Filipino youth and that the Filipino youth is
the heart, the soul and the vigor of the youth now on the march. The question is: Where
of our land to help us build our country on is it going? Is it marching with irresistible
the most enduring basis of brotherhood and will and determination toward progress and
solidarity of all Filipinos. I am, therefore, civilization, peace and order, and the
happy to know of the integration of the prosperity and happiness of the Fatherland?

3
If it is, I, as the chosen head of our nation
and our people, heartily welcome it and bid
it Godspeed.
What criteria of an attention-grabbing introduction is evident here?
It is trite saying that the future belongs to toast. He expressed the fervent hope that
youth, especially to those dynamic, the worthy and commendable examples of
aggressive and self-confident young men Juan Luna, and Resurrection, another
and women who have foresight. Thus, they famed Filipino painter, will be imitated or
have the bounden duty to ensure it. So emulated by the Filipino youth. In the
much faith the greatest Filipino patriot and course of a few years that youth had
hero, Rizal, had in the youth of the land become to him more than the “fair hope of
that while he was still in his teens, he my fatherland”; it had become the “sacred
dedicated to it his prize-winning poem hope of my Fatherland.”
entitled “To the Filipino Youth,” and he
Rizal’s fair and sacred hope is represented
called the Filipino youth not without reason
by the young men and women of today, by
and justification “Fair hope of my
you, the Filipino youth on the march, you
Fatherland.”
who will be either the leaders and masters
Several years later, when Rizal was in of your country and your country’s fate
Madrid, he thought again of the Filipino tomorrow or the hewers of wood and
youth. On the occasion of the signal honor drawers of water for other people more
and distinction conferred upon the famous ambitious and far-seeing than you, men
Filipino painter Juan Luna when one of his with vision, with courage, and with an
paintings was awarded the highest prize in indomitable will to succeed whatever be the
the artistic world, Rizal offered a touching obstacles.
Based from your learning of academic writing, what key points of a well- crafted main
body are present in here?
I thank you for this opportunity of strong factor in supporting this government
addressing the youth of the land on this and in making this Republic an enduring
memorable occasion. I shall be happy to nation but also so that with the help and
say a few words to you later in connection cooperation and loyalty of the Filipino
with the integration movement of the youth, we may be in a position to transmit
Filipino youth not only in the public and as a heritage to future generations a
private schools but of all Filipino young country, a people, compact and united in
men and women all over the islands so that the bonds of a common affection. I thank
the youth of the land may be not only a you.
How was the speech concluded?

What’s More

Read with understanding.

Mother Tongue (An Excerpt)
Amy Tan
(1) I am not a scholar of English or (3) Recently, I was made keenly aware
literature. I cannot give you much more of the different Englishes I do use. I was
than personal opinions on the English giving a talk to a large group of people, the
language and its variations in this country same talk I had already given to half a
or others. dozen other groups. The nature of the talk
was about my writing, my life, and my
(2) I am a writer. And by that definition,
book, The Joy Luck Club. The talk was
I am someone who has always loved
going along well enough, until I
language. I am fascinated by language in
remembered one major difference that
daily life. I spend a great deal of my time
made the whole talk sound wrong. My
thinking about the power of language -- the
mother was in the room. And it was
way it can evoke an emotion, a visual
perhaps the first time she had heard me
image, a complex idea, or a simple truth.
give a lengthy speech, using the kind of
Language is the tool of my trade. And I use
English I have never used with her. I was
them all -- all the Englishes I grew up with.

4
saying things like, "The intersection of evidence to support me: the fact that people
memory upon imagination" and "There is in department stores, at banks, and at
an aspect of my fiction that relates to thus- restaurants did not take her seriously, did
and-thus'--a speech filled with carefully not give her good service, pretended not to
wrought grammatical phrases, burdened, it understand her, or even acted as if they did
suddenly seemed to me, with nominalized not hear her.
forms, past perfect tenses, conditional
(7) My mother has long realized the
phrases, all the forms of standard English
limitations of her English as well. When I
that I had learned in school and through
was fifteen, she used to have me call people
books, the forms of English I did not use at
on the phone to pretend I was she. In this
home with my mother.
guise, I was forced to ask for information or
(4) Just last week, I was walking down even to complain and yell at people who
the street with my mother, and I again had been rude to her. One time it was a call
found myself conscious of the English I was to her stockbroker in New York. She had
using, the English I do use with her. We cashed out her small portfolio and it just so
were talking about the price of new and happened we were going to go to New York
used furniture and I heard myself saying the next week, our very first trip outside
this: "Not waste money that way." My California. I had to get on the phone and
husband was with us as well, and he didn't say in an adolescent voice that was not very
notice any switch in my English. And then convincing, "This is Mrs. Tan."
I realized why. It's because over the twenty
(8) And my mother was standing in the
years we've been together I've often used
back whispering loudly, "Why he don't send
that same kind of English with him, and
me check, already two weeks late. So mad
sometimes he even uses it with me. It has
he lie to me, losing me money.
become our language of intimacy, a
different sort of English that relates to (9) And then I said in perfect English,
family talk, the language I grew up with. "Yes, I'm getting rather concerned. You had
agreed to send the check two weeks ago,
(5) Lately, I've been giving more thought
but it hasn't arrived."
to the kind of English my mother speaks.
Like others, I have described it to people as (10) Then she began to talk more loudly.
'broken" or "fractured" English. But I wince "What he want, I come to New York tell him
when I say that. It has always bothered me front of his boss, you cheating me?" And I
that I can think of no way to describe it was trying to calm her down, make her be
other than "broken," as if it were damaged quiet, while telling the stockbroker, "I can't
and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a tolerate any more excuses. If I don't receive
certain wholeness and soundness. I've the check immediately, I am going to have
heard other terms used, "limited English," to speak to your manager when I'm in New
for example. But they seem just as bad, as York next week." And sure enough, the
if everything is limited, including people's following week there we were in front of this
perceptions of the limited English speaker. astonished stockbroker, and I was sitting
there red-faced and quiet, and my mother,
(6) I know this for a fact, because when
the real Mrs. Tan, was shouting at his boss
I was growing up, my mother's "limited"
in her impeccable broken English.
English limited my perception of her. I was
ashamed of her English. I believed that her How well you understand Module 2.
English reflected the quality of what she After reading the article with
had to say that is, because she expressed understanding, figure out the detail
them imperfectly her thoughts were asked in this table.
imperfect. And I had plenty of empirical
Questions Your Answers

What is the purpose of the writer in writing

this text? Cite evidences ?

Who is the target audience of the text?

What is the point of view used in this text?

What is the tone depicted by the writer?

What type of academic text is this?

What academic language is used?

5
 What features of academic text/writing are
used?

What can you say about the introduction?

What about the body?

How would you like this text to conclude or

end?

What I Have Learned

Complete the table below by giving definition or explaining the terms that follow.
Academic Writing

Structure

Point of View

Tone

Audience

Pre-writing

Brainstorming

Mapping

Freewriting

Journal Questioning

Descriptive
Analytical

Persuasive
Critical
Connotation

What I Can Do

RUBRICS FOR GRADING

Content including the catchy title 40%
Organization (Structure & Purpose) 30%
Adherence to the mechanics (words, point of view, tone, language, etc.) 20%

Overall quality and impact of the output 10%

6
Directions: Choose one topic from the topics listed below. Then do some research about the
topic. Determine the purpose of your academic writing. Make some prewriting before you
make the final draft. Remember that the prewriting process draft will also be submitted with
your final draft.
Points to remember:
1. Catchy title
2. Well-planned content
3. Well-organized structure
4. Well-thought of purpose
5. Carefully checked mechanics and choice of words
6. Be creative.
7. Make this your original work so no copy paste!
Topics:
1. Global Pandemic – COVID 19
2. Social Media effect to the youth
3. Addicting internet games
4. Frontliners – New Heroes
5. Bayanihan in the Philippines during this pandemic season
Enjoy Writing!

Assessment

Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter on a separate
sheet of paper.
1. This purpose in writing is evident when you evaluate a journal article or a literature
review that identifies the strengths and weaknesses of an existing research.
a. Descriptive
b. Analytical
c. Persuasive
d. Critical

2. This has all the features of analytical writing with the addition of your own point of
view.
a. Critical
b. Persuasive
c. Analytical
d. Descriptive

3. It includes descriptive writing, but also requires you to re-organize the facts and
information you describe into categories, groups, parts, types and relationships.
a. Descriptive
b. Analytical
c. Persuasive
d. Critical

4. The conclusion should contain the following except for one:

a. It is a logical windup to what has been previously discussed.
b. It contains new information to end the conclusion with a bang.
c. It is usually the shortest part of the essay.
d. It adds to the overall quality and impact of the essay.

5. All of the following contains everything about writing the main body except for one:
a. It contains techniques and methodologies used.
b. It has definitions of words and concepts.
c. It should not answer major issues and questions raised about the topic.
d. Use major theories to answer questions about the topic.

7
6. It is to write as quickly as possible to create constant momentum with our thoughts
so it will keep on flowing.
a. Brainstorming
b. Mapping
c. Clustering
d. Freewriting

7. This is thinking words and phrases related to the main topic, writing them down,
encircling them and connecting them to the main topic.
a. Freewriting
b. Clustering
c. Questioning
d. Listing

8. This is the attitude or feeling the writer wants his writing to reflect towards the
purpose, topic, audience and to himself.
a. Mood
b. Point of View
c. Tone
d. Academic Writing

9. This is the implied meaning of the word, oftentimes the meaning is based on how the
writer used it in his writing.
a. Connotation
b. Denotation
c. Synonym
d. Antonym

10. This is the subject or the specific issue that your writing will discuss.
a. Tone
b. Theme
c. Language
d. Topic

8
English For Academic &
Professional Purposes
Quarter 1 – Module 3
Techniques in Summarizing a
Variety of Academic Texts
English for Academic and Professional Purposes
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 1 – Module 3: Techniques in Summarizing a Variety of Academic Texts
Second Edition, 2021

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Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government agency or office
wherein the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of such work for profit. Such
agency or office may, among other things, impose as a condition the payment of royalties.

Borrowed materials (i.e., songs, stories, poems, pictures, photos, brand names, trademarks, etc.)
included in this module are owned by their respective copyright holders. Every effort has been
exerted to locate and seek permission to use these materials from their respective copyright
owners. The publisher and authors do not represent nor claim ownership over them.

Published by the Department of Education-Schools Division of Makati City

OIC-Schools Division Superintendent: Carleen S. Sedilla CESE
OIC-Assistant Schools Division Superintendent and OIC-Chief, CID: Jay F. Macasieb DEM, CESE

Development Team of the Module

Writer: Rowena Dimas-Bunagan

Editor: Eden F. Samadan

Reviewers: Gizelle V. Laud

Layout Artist: Rowena Dimas-Bunagan

Management Team: Jay F. Macasieb, EdD

OIC-Chief Education Supervisor, Curriculum Implementation Division

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Education Program Supervisor, LRMS
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Education Program Supervisor, English

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support of the City Government of Makati (Local School Board)

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City of Makati, Metropolitan Manila, Philippines 1212
Telefax: (632) 8882-5861 / 8882-5862
E-mail Address: [email protected]
 What I Need to Know

This module was designed and written to meet the needs of the grade 12 students with regards to English
related skills. It is here to help you master the English for Academic & Professional Purposes which aims to teach the
students to communicate and write effectively in diverse academic and professional situations.
Module 3 is entitled TECHNIQUES IN SUMMARIZING A VARIETY OF ACADEMIC TEXTS. Alongside in knowing
and mastering these techniques is developing critical reading and thinking skills that are vital in improving the
comprehension and reasoning of the readers.
This is the focus of module 3. Upon knowing what academic writing is in the previous module, this module will
now hone students to become active and critical readers and thinkers by evaluating the author’s purpose, style, choice
of words, and argumentation.
After going through this module you are expected to:
- Explain what critical reading is as looking for ways of thinking;
- Determine the differences of annotation, questioning, summarizing and paraphrasing;
- Use various techniques in summarizing a variety of academic texts;
- Define fallacy and identify the kinds of fallacy;
- Evaluate whether an argument is logical or not;
- Analyze a text by applying the different ways in reading critically; and
- Critique a text by pointing out the different logical fallacies.

What I Know

Before going to the next module, let’s see how well you understand Module 2.
Match column A with Column B. Write the chosen letter on a separate sheet of paper.
COLUMN A COLUMN B

1. It is how the parts or the elements of something complex are put into one A. Classification Division
great arrangement or composition. B. Complex Structure
2. This is the implied meaning of the word, oftentimes the meaning is based C. Critical
on how the writer used it in his writing. D. Persuasive
E. Analytical
3. This purpose in writing is evident when you evaluate a journal article or a F. Freewriting
literature review that identifies the strength and weaknesses of existing G. Point of view
research. H. Tone
4. It is the first stage of the writing process which pertains to the different I. Connotation
techniques that will help you discover ideas before writing the first draft of J. Topic
your paper. K. Introduction
5. It includes descriptive writing, but also requires you to re-organize the facts L. Conclusion
and information you describe into categories, groups, parts, types and M. Academic writing
relationships. N. Pre-writing
6. This is the subject or the specific issue that your writing will discuss. O. Structure
P. Academic Text

7. This has all the features of analytical writing with the addition of your own Q. Simple
point of view.
8. This is a particular style of expressions used in formal essays and other
assessments.
9. It is to write as quickly as possible to create constant momentum with our
thoughts so it will keep on flowing.
10. It has to tie together the various issues enclosed in the body of the paper
and to comment on the meaning of the whole writing.
11. This is thinking words and phrases related to the main topic, writing them
down, encircling them and connecting them to the main topic.
12. This is the attitude or feeling the writer wants his writing to reflect towards
the purpose, topic, audience and to himself.
13. It is attention-grabbing and can give a glimpse about how the writer is
going to support his thesis.
14. This uses complex sentences. Sentences embedded with clauses make a
text more difficult to comprehend.
15. It is sorting information into topics and categories.

What’s In

What is critical reading?

Now that we are beset with the world-wide pandemic, Covid 19, and we have no choice but to stay home so we
can save lives, reading becomes but a habit for many of us; whether through printed materials of through the net. For
sure, many have been victims of false news or believing the widespread of some fake news; this is a manifestation that
at times Filipinos tend to believe at once because many are not critical readers.
Critical reading involves evaluating and analyzing any information that you read or hear. It is not believing
easily any offered text or articles to you, as Francis Bacon said, “Read not to Contradict and confute; nor to believe and
take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but weigh and consider.”
When you read something and you scrutinize claims, seek definitions, judge information, demand proof and
question assumptions, you are not just reading critically but thinking critically as well. Therefore, to read critically means
you are conveying an active process of discovery that is to think critically. By reading critically, you determine the author’s
point of view on something, ask questions, weigh the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments made by the writer,
after which, you can decide to agree or disagree with it.
You need to become a critical and active reader just so you can arrive at a justifiable interpretation of a text. To
non-critical readers, texts provide facts. Readers gain knowledge by memorizing the statements within a text while to
the critical reader, any single text provides but one portrayal of the facts or one individual’s point of view on the subject
matter. Needless to say, a critical reader understands not only what a text says, but also how the author conveys the
message.
Critical reading is an active process of discovery. It has goals to follow. To recognize the author’s purpose is the
number one goal. It involves inferring a basis for choices of content and language. Second is to understand tone and
persuasive elements which involves classifying the nature of language choices. Third is recognizing bias that includes
classifying the nature of patterns and choice of content and language. To fulfill the goals, you have to utilize the tools of
critical reading – analysis and inference. A critical reader knows what to look for by analyzing the academic text while
knowing how to know what to find is inferencing. The first tool – what to look for – involves analyzing those aspects of
discussion that controls the meaning of content. The second tool – how to know what to find – caters to the process of
inferencing or the interpretation of data from within the text.

What’s New

MANILA, Philippines — Among 79 participating countries and economies, the Philippines scored the lowest in reading
comprehension in the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), according to the results released
December 3, 2019.
This was the headlines in the Philippine Star of their December 3, 2019 issue. Very alarming indeed. Reading was the
main subject assesses among 15-year old students in the 2018 PISA – a worldwide study by the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development. They examine students’ knowledge in reading, mathematics and science.
One need not to comprehend thoroughly the content of the news to understand that we have a problem with regards to
the reading skill of the Filipino learners. The Department of Education devised means and ways on how to solve this
problem and called out to all educators to do their fair share. Teaching students to read isn’t enough, we have to make
them active readers just so thinking progress follows too.
Here are some techniques to develop Critical reading skills:
1. Keep a reading journal – in here, you can write your feelings and ideas in reaction to what you are reading. This
process will hone your understanding of the text and associate them to your personal experiences, which in turn will
allow you to connect to the author’s ideas and purpose.
2. Annotating the text – annotation is making notes on your copy of the reading material. You may highlight, underline,
box or circle important passages, then write notes, comments, questions and reactions on the margins. This process
will appear as if you are having a dialogue with the author and not just passively reading the text. There are no clear and
definite guidelines to annotating a text, you can create your own style. Likewise, annotation makes it easy to find
important information quickly when you go back and review a text. It helps you familiarize yourself with both content
and organization of what you read. Annotating is an integral first step in the writing process apart from making your
reading an active process.
Here is an example for you.

“How Come the Quantum”

BY John Archibald Wheeler Greatest mystery
in physics is
What is the greatest mystery in physics today? Different nature of
physicists have different answers. My candidate for greatest quantum
Intro of mystery is a question now century old, “How come the
topic quantum?” What is this thing, the “quantum”? It’s a bundle of
energy, an indivisible unit that can be sliced no more. Max Plank
Historical
showed us a hundred years ago that light is emitted not in a perspective
smooth, steady flow, but in quanta. Then physicists found
definition
quantum jumps of energy, the quantum of electric charge and
more. In the small-scale world, everything is lumpy.

uneven

3. Outlining the text – It is locating the thesis statement, claims, evidences and plotting them into an outline. This will
help you see the writer’s structures, and the sequencing of the author’s ideas. This way you will be able to better evaluate
the quality of writing. Outlining will be thoroughly discussed in Module 4.
4. Summarizing the text – It is getting the gist of the text and writing it down in your own words. Summarizing is a useful
skill. This will test how much you have understood the text and will help you evaluate it critically.
Generally, a summary should be around one quarter the length of the original piece, so if the original piece is
four pages long, your summary should be no more than one page. A good summary has three basic characteristics:
conciseness accuracy and objectivity. A summary condenses information unlike paraphrasing. The degree of density
can vary while you can summarize a two-hundred paged book in fifty words, you can also summarize a twenty-five-page
article in five hundred words. So, a summary has no specific limit and ways of doing it, we will probably write our
summaries in our own different ways. Just remember, a summary should not include your opinions about the subject
matter or the author’s argumentative strategy. Even if you disagree with the text’s content, you must rely on its factual
elements.
What about a plot summary, which is what students often do for their short story assignment? This is where
the 5 elements of a plot take in; first you comment on the exposition – the start of the story which the author sets the
stage for the events to come. Define the inciting incidents or the rising of the action; discuss the climax or the highest
point of interest; finally, tie it up by discussing the falling of the action and the resolution.
However, do not confuse summarizing with paraphrasing. When you paraphrase, your objective is to rewrite a
statement with a different structure and using different words without altering the original meaning and organization of
the content. It aims to provide most of the information in a slightly condensed form. Summaries are much shorter than
the original passage, while paraphrasing can be shorter, longer or the same length. Paraphrasing is often used to avoid
plagiarism.
Study this example of a summary. This is the summary of the story – The Necklace by Guy De Maupassant
Mathilde Loisel borrows a necklace from her friend Madame Forestier. Mathilde’s
husband has secured an invitation to a party hosted by his boss, the Minister of Public
Instruction. When Mathilde worries that she doesn’t have anything to wear, her
husband agrees to buy her a new dress. Thanks to her new dress and Madame Forestier’s
diamond necklace, Mathilde has a wonderful time at the party. All the me think she’s the
prettiest woman at the party, and she dances until four in the morning. Upon returning
home, Mathilde notices that the diamond necklace is gone. Her husband retraces their steps
to no avail. Embarrassed, the couple spend their entire inheritance and take out loans to
pay for a replacement necklace. Mathilde and her husband spend the next ten years
scrimping and saving to pay off their debt. The menial housework ages Mathilde
prematurely to the point where Madame Forestier doesn’t even recognize her. Finally,
Mathilde tells her friend about replacing the necklace, only to learn that it was a fake.

Now, let’s take a look at some examples of paraphrasing. This is an example of paraphrasing a sentence and a paragraph.
Original: Her life spanned years of incredible change for women as they gained more rights than
ever before.
Paraphrase: She lived through the exciting era of women's liberation.
Original passage:
In The Sopranos, the mob is besieged as much by inner infidelity as it is by the federal
government. Early in the series, the greatest threat to Tony's Family is his own biological family.
One of his closest associates turns witness for the FBI, his mother colludes with his uncle to
contract a hit on Tony, and his kids click through Web sites that track the federal crackdown in
Tony's gangland.
Paraphrased passage:
In the first season of The Sopranos, Tony Soprano's mobster activities are more
threatened by members of his biological family than by agents of the federal government. This
familial betrayal is multi-pronged. Tony's closest friend and associate is an FBI informant, his
mother and uncle are conspiring to have him killed, and his children are surfing the Web for
information about his activities.
5. Questioning or evaluating the text – Questioning the text involves asking specific questions on points that you are
skeptical about. These may be topics that do not go along with your personal views. That’s why it is best to take notes of
things that you found impressive while reading. The most challenging part in critical reading is to question or evaluate
the text. This is also the part where the other techniques – keeping a journal, annotating, outlining, summarizing- will
be helpful as you question the author’s purpose and intentions, as well as his assumptions in the claims he made. To
evaluate a text, you must also check if the arguments are supported by evidences and if these evidences are valid and
from credible sources. Usually, evaluating texts is a mostly subjective task, which relies on a person’s personal
experiences, biases, and personal feelings about the text. Oftentimes, evaluations discuss how the writer likes or dislikes
something. Unlike summaries, which attempt to be unbiased, an evaluation allows the writer to inform the audience
about good or bad qualities of a text or other medium being evaluated.
These five techniques in reading critically are not isolated process that are independent of each other; they are
overlapping processes that you can use simultaneously as you engage in a dialogue with the writer of the text your
reading.
Likewise, an active reader must not just be equipped in using these techniques, but also, a critical reader must
be able to evaluate an academic text to spot the flaws in reasoning and argumentation of the author. This is where a
knowledge of logical fallacies will be an advantage for a critical reader.

What is It

Now that you already know the importance of critical reading, and that you already knew the techniques on how you can
become a critical reader and thinker, let us now try to put these thoughts into practice.
Read with understanding the story that follows. Carefully evaluate the text by:
1. making an annotation and write down important points
2. forming questions and clear views of the author which you do not conform with;
3. writing a short summary
4. evaluating the author’s purpose and structure.
Max Shulman: Love is a Fallacy
Cool was I and logical. Keen, calculating, perspicacious, acute and astute—I was all of these. My brain was as
powerful as a dynamo, precise as a chemist’s scales, as penetrating as a scalpel. And—think of it!—I only eighteen.
It is not often that one so young has such a giant intellect. Take, for example, Petey Bellows, my roommate at
the university. Same age, same background, but dumb as an ox. A nice enough fellow, you understand, but nothing
upstairs. Emotional type. Unstable. Impressionable. Worst of all, a faddist. Fads, I submit, are the very negation of
reason. To be swept up in every new craze that comes along, to surrender oneself to idiocy just because everybody else
is doing it—this, to me, is the acme of mindlessness. Not, however, to Petey.
 One afternoon I found Petey lying on his bed with an expression of such distress on his face that I immediately
diagnosed appendicitis. “Don’t move,” I said, “Don’t take a laxative. I’ll get a doctor.”
“Raccoon,” he mumbled thickly. “Raccoon?” I said, pausing in my flight. “I want a raccoon coat,” he wailed.
I perceived that his trouble was not physical, but mental. “Why do you want a raccoon coat?” “I should have
known it,” he cried, pounding his temples. “I should have known they’d come back when the Charleston came back. Like
a fool I spent all my money for textbooks, and now I can’t get a raccoon coat.”
“Can you mean,” I said incredulously, “that people are actually wearing raccoon coats again?” “All the Big Men
on Campus are wearing them. Where’ve you been?” “In the library,” I said, naming a place not frequented by Big Men on
Campus.
He leaped from the bed and paced the room. “I’ve got to have a raccoon coat,” he said passionately. “I’ve got to!”
“Petey, why? Look at it rationally. Raccoon coats are unsanitary. They shed. They smell bad. They weigh too much.
They’re unsightly. They—”
“You don’t understand,” he interrupted impatiently. “It’s the thing to do. Don’t you want to be in the swim?” “No,” I said
truthfully. “Well, I do,” he declared. “I’d give anything for a raccoon coat. Anything!”
My brain, that precision instrument, slipped into high gear. “Anything?” I asked, looking at him narrowly.
“Anything,” he affirmed in ringing tones.
I stroked my chin thoughtfully. It so happened that I knew where to get my hands on a raccoon coat. My father
had had one in his undergraduate days; it lay now in a trunk in the attic back home. It also happened that Petey had
something I wanted. He didn’t have it exactly, but at least he had first rights on it. I refer to his girl, Polly Espy. I had
long coveted Polly Espy.
Let me emphasize that my desire for this young woman was not emotional in nature. She was, to be sure, a girl
who excited the emotions, but I was not one to let my heart rule my head. I wanted Polly for a shrewdly calculated,
entirely cerebral reason.
I was a freshman in law school. In a few years I would be out in practice. I was well aware of the importance of the right
kind of wife in furthering a lawyer’s career. The successful lawyers I had observed were, almost without exception,
married to beautiful, gracious, intelligent women. With one omission, Polly fitted these specifications perfectly.
Beautiful she was. She was not yet of pin-up proportions, but I felt that time would supply the lack. She already
had the makings.
Gracious she was. By gracious I mean full of graces. She had an erectness of carriage, an ease of bearing, a
poise that clearly indicated the best of breeding. At table her manners were exquisite. I had seen her at the Kozy Kampus
Korner eating the specialty of the house—a sandwich that contained scraps of pot roast, gravy, chopped nuts, and a
dipper of sauerkraut— without even getting her fingers moist.
Intelligent she was not. In fact, she veered in the opposite direction. But I believed that under my guidance she
would smarten up. At any rate, it was worth a try. It is, after all, easier to make a beautiful dumb girl smart than to make
an ugly smart girl beautiful.
“Petey,” I said, “are you in love with Polly Espy?”
“I think she’s a keen kid,” he replied, “but I don’t know if you’d call it love. Why?”
“Do you,” I asked, “have any kind of formal arrangement with her? I mean are you going steady or anything like that?”
“No. We see each other quite a bit, but we both have other dates. Why?”
“Is there,” I asked, “any other man for whom she has a particular fondness?”
“Not that I know of. Why?” I nodded with satisfaction. “In other words, if you were out of the picture, the field would be
open. Is that right?” “I guess so. What are you getting at?”
“Nothing , nothing,” I said innocently, and took my suitcase out the closet.
“Where are you going?” asked Petey. “Home for weekend.” I threw a few things into the bag.
“Listen,” he said, clutching my arm eagerly, “while you’re home, you couldn’t get some money from your old man, could
you, and lend it to me so I can buy a raccoon coat?”
“I may do better than that,” I said with a mysterious wink and closed my bag and left.
“Look,” I said to Petey when I got back Monday morning. I threw open the suitcase and revealed the huge, hairy, gamy
object that my father had worn in his Stutz Bearcat in 1925.
“Holy Toledo!” said Petey reverently. He plunged his hands into the raccoon coat and then his face. “Holy Toledo!” he
repeated fifteen or twenty times. “Would you like it?” I asked.
“Oh yes!” he cried, clutching the greasy pelt to him. Then a canny look came into his eyes. “What do you want for it?”
“Your girl.” I said, mincing no words. “Polly?” he said in a horrified whisper. “You want Polly?”
“That’s right.” He flung the coat from him. “Never,” he said stoutly.
I shrugged. “Okay. If you don’t want to be in the swim, I guess it’s your business.”
I sat down in a chair and pretended to read a book, but out of the corner of my eye I kept watching Petey. He
was a torn man. First he looked at the coat with the expression of a waif at a bakery window. Then he turned away and
set his jaw resolutely. Then he looked back at the coat, with even more longing in his face. Then he turned away, but
with not so much resolution this time. Back and forth his head swiveled, desire waxing, resolution waning. Finally he
didn’t turn away at all; he just stood and stared with mad lust at the coat.
“It isn’t as though I was in love with Polly,” he said thickly. “Or going steady or anything like that.”
“That’s right,” I murmured. “What’s Polly to me, or me to Polly?” “Not a thing,” said I.
“It’s just been a casual kick—just a few laughs, that’s all.” “Try on the coat,” said I.
He complied. The coat bunched high over his ears and dropped all the way down to his shoe tops. He looked like a mound
of dead raccoons. “Fits fine,” he said happily.
I rose from my chair. “Is it a deal?” I asked, extending my hand.
He swallowed. “It’s a deal,” he said and shook my hand.
I had my first date with Polly the following evening. This was in the nature of a survey; I wanted to find out just
how much work I had to do to get her mind up to the standard I required. I took her first to dinner. “Gee, that was a
delish dinner,” she said as we left the restaurant. Then I took her to a movie. “Gee, that was a marvy movie,” she said as
we left the theatre. And then I took her home. “Gee, I had a sensaysh time,” she said as she bade me good night.
I went back to my room with a heavy heart. I had gravely underestimated the size of my task. This girl’s lack of
information was terrifying. Nor would it be enough merely to supply her with information. First she had to be taught to
think. This loomed as a project of no small dimensions, and at first I was tempted to give her back to Petey. But then I
got to thinking about her abundant physical charms and about the way she entered a room and the way she handled a
knife and fork, and I decided to make an effort.
I went about it, as in all things, systematically. I gave her a course in logic. It happened that I, as a law student, was
taking a course in logic myself, so I had all the facts at my fingertips. “Poll’,” I said to her when I picked her up on our
next date, “tonight we are going over to the Knoll and talk.”
“Oo, terrif,” she replied. One thing I will say for this girl: you would go far to find another so agreeable.
We went to the Knoll, the campus trysting place, and we sat down under an old oak, and she looked at me expectantly.
“What are we going to talk about?” she asked. “Logic.”
She thought this over for a minute and decided she liked it. “Magnif,” she said. “Logic,” I said, clearing my throat, “is the
science of thinking. Before we can think correctly, we must first learn to recognize the common fallacies of logic. These
we will take up tonight.”
“Wow-dow!” she cried, clapping her hands delightedly.
I winced, but went bravely on. “First let us examine the fallacy called Dicto Simpliciter.”
“By all means,” she urged, batting her lashes eagerly.
“Dicto Simpliciter means an argument based on an unqualified generalization. For example: Exercise is good. Therefore
everybody should exercise.”
“I agree,” said Polly earnestly. “I mean exercise is wonderful. I mean it builds the body and everything.”
“Polly,” I said gently, “the argument is a fallacy. Exercise is good is an unqualified generalization. For instance,
if you have heart disease, exercise is bad, not good. Many people are ordered by their doctors not to exercise. You must
qualify the generalization. You must say exercise is usually good, or exercise is good for most people. Otherwise you have
committed a Dicto Simpliciter. Do you see?”
“No,” she confessed. “But this is marvy. Do more! Do more!”
“It will be better if you stop tugging at my sleeve,” I told her, and when she desisted, I continued. “Next we take up a
fallacy called Hasty Generalization. Listen carefully: You can’t speak French. Petey Bellows can’t speak French. I must
therefore conclude that nobody at the University of Minnesota can speak French.”
“Really?” said Polly, amazed. “Nobody?”
I hid my exasperation. “Polly, it’s a fallacy. The generalization is reached too hastily. There are too few instances
to support such a conclusion.”
“Know any more fallacies?” she asked breathlessly. “This is more fun than dancing even.”
I fought off a wave of despair. I was getting nowhere with this girl, absolutely nowhere. Still, I am nothing if not persistent.
I continued. “Next comes Post Hoc. Listen to this: Let’s not take Bill on our picnic. Every time we take him out with us,
it rains.”
“I know somebody just like that,” she exclaimed. “A girl back home—Eula Becker, her name is. It never fails. Every single
time we take her on a picnic—”
“Polly,” I said sharply, “it’s a fallacy. Eula Becker doesn’t cause the rain. She has no connection with the rain. You are
guilty of Post Hoc if you blame Eula Becker.”
“I’ll never do it again,” she promised contritely. “Are you mad at me?”
I sighed. “No, Polly, I’m not mad.” “Then tell me some more fallacies.” “All right. Let’s try Contradictory Premises.” “Yes,
let’s,” she chirped, blinking her eyes happily.
I frowned, but plunged ahead. “Here’s an example of Contradictory Premises: If God can do anything, can He make a
stone so heavy that He won’t be able to lift it?”
“Of course,” she replied promptly. “But if He can do anything, He can lift the stone,” I pointed out.
“Yeah,” she said thoughtfully. “Well, then I guess He can’t make the stone.”
“But He can do anything,” I reminded her. She scratched her pretty, empty head. “I’m all confused,” she admitted. “Of
course you are. Because when the premises of an argument contradict each other, there can be no argument. If there is
an irresistible force, there can be no immovable object. If there is an immovable object, there can be no irresistible force.
Get it?” “Tell me more of this keen stuff,” she said eagerly.
I consulted my watch. “I think we’d better call it a night. I’ll take you home now, and you go over all the things
you’ve learned. We’ll have another session tomorrow night.”
I deposited her at the girls’ dormitory, where she assured me that she had had a perfectly terrif evening, and I went
glumly home to my room. Petey lay snoring in his bed, the raccoon coat huddled like a great hairy beast at his feet. For
a moment I considered waking him and telling him that he could have his girl back. It seemed clear that my project was
doomed to failure. The girl simply had a logic-proof head.
But then I reconsidered. I had wasted one evening; I might as well waste another. Who knew? Maybe somewhere
in the extinct crater of her mind a few members still smoldered. Maybe somehow I could fan them into flame. Admittedly
it was not a prospect fraught with hope, but I decided to give it one more try.
Seated under the oak the next evening I said, “Our first fallacy tonight is called Ad Misericordiam.” She quivered with
delight.
“Listen closely,” I said. “A man applies for a job. When the boss asks him what his qualifications are, he replies
that he has a wife and six children at home, the wife is a helpless cripple, the children have nothing to eat, no clothes to
wear, no shoes on their feet, there are no beds in the house, no coal in the cellar, and winter is coming.” A tear rolled
down each of Polly’s pink cheeks. “Oh, this is awful, awful,” she sobbed. “Yes, it’s awful,” I agreed, “but it’s no argument.
The man never answered the boss’s question about his qualifications. Instead he appealed to the boss’s sympathy. He
committed the fallacy of Ad Misericordiam. Do you understand?” “Have you got a handkerchief?” she blubbered.
I handed her a handkerchief and tried to keep from screaming while she wiped her eyes. “Next,” I said in a
carefully controlled tone, “we will discuss False Analogy. Here is an example: Students should be allowed to look at their
textbooks during examinations. After all, surgeons have X-rays to guide them during an operation, lawyers have briefs
to guide them during a trial, carpenters have blueprints to guide them when they are building a house. Why, then,
shouldn’t students be allowed to look at their textbooks during an examination?”
“There now,” she said enthusiastically, “is the most marvy idea I’ve heard in years.”
“Polly,” I said testily, “the argument is all wrong. Doctors, lawyers, and carpenters aren’t taking a test to see how much
they have learned, but students are. The situations are altogether different, and you can’t make an analogy between
them.” “I still think it’s a good idea,” said Polly.
“Nuts,” I muttered. Doggedly I pressed on. “Next we’ll try Hypothesis Contrary to Fact.” “Sounds yummy,” was Polly’s
reaction.
“Listen: If Madame Curie had not happened to leave a photographic plate in a drawer with a chunk of pitchblende, the
world today would not know about radium.”
“True, true,” said Polly, nodding her head “Did you see the movie? Oh, it just knocked me out. That Walter Pidgeon is so
dreamy. I mean he fractures me.”
“If you can forget Mr. Pidgeon for a moment,” I said coldly, “I would like to point out that statement is a fallacy. Maybe
Madame Curie would have discovered radium at some later date. Maybe somebody else would have discovered it. Maybe
any number of things would have happened. You can’t start with a hypothesis that is not true and then draw any
supportable conclusions from it.”
“They ought to put Walter Pidgeon in more pictures,” said Polly, “I hardly ever see him any more.”
One more chance, I decided. But just one more. There is a limit to what flesh and blood can bear. “The next fallacy is
called Poisoning the Well.” “How cute!” she gurgled.
“Two men are having a debate. The first one gets up and says, ‘My opponent is a notorious liar. You can’t believe a word
that he is going to say.’ … Now, Polly, think. Think hard. What’s wrong?”
I watched her closely as she knit her creamy brow in concentration. Suddenly a glimmer of intelligence—the
first I had seen—came into her eyes. “It’s not fair,” she said with indignation. “It’s not a bit fair. What chance has the
second man got if the first man calls him a liar before he even begins talking?”
 “Right!” I cried exultantly. “One hundred per cent right. It’s not fair. The first man has poisoned the well before
anybody could drink from it. He has hamstrung his opponent before he could even start … Polly, I’m proud of you.”
“Pshaws,” she murmured, blushing with pleasure.
“You see, my dear, these things aren’t so hard. All you have to do is concentrate. Think— examine—evaluate. Come now,
let’s review everything we have learned.”
“Fire away,” she said with an airy wave of her hand.
Heartened by the knowledge that Polly was not altogether a cretin, I began a long, patient review of all I had
told her. Over and over and over again I cited instances, pointed out flaws, kept hammering away without letup. It was
like digging a tunnel. At first, everything was work, sweat, and darkness. I had no idea when I would reach the light, or
even if I would. But I persisted. I pounded and clawed and scraped, and finally I was rewarded. I saw a chink of light.
And then the chink got bigger and the sun came pouring in and all was bright.
Five grueling nights with this took, but it was worth it. I had made a logician out of Polly; I had taught her to
think. My job was done. She was worthy of me, at last. She was a fit wife for me, a proper hostess for my many mansions,
a suitable mother for my well-heeled children.
It must not be thought that I was without love for this girl. Quite the contrary. Just as Pygmalion loved the
perfect woman he had fashioned, so I loved mine. I decided to acquaint her with my feelings at our very next meeting.
The time had come to change our relationship from academic to romantic.
“Polly,” I said when next we sat beneath our oak, “tonight we will not discuss fallacies.” “Aw, gee,” she said,
disappointed. “My dear,” I said, favoring her with a smile, “we have now spent five evenings together. We have gotten
along splendidly. It is clear that we are well matched.” “Hasty Generalization,” said Polly brightly. “I beg your pardon,”
said I. “Hasty Generalization,” she repeated. “How can you say that we are well matched on the basis of only five dates?”
I chuckled with amusement. The dear child had learned her lessons well. “My dear,” I said, patting her hand in
a tolerant manner, “five dates is plenty. After all, you don’t have to eat a whole cake to know that it’s good.” “False
Analogy,” said Polly promptly. “I’m not a cake. I’m a girl.”
I chuckled with somewhat less amusement. The dear child had learned her lessons perhaps too well. I decided
to change tactics. Obviously the best approach was a simple, strong, direct declaration of love. I paused for a moment
while my massive brain chose the proper word. Then I began:
“Polly, I love you. You are the whole world to me, the moon and the stars and the constellations of outer space.
Please, my darling, say that you will go steady with me, for if you will not, life will be meaningless. I will languish. I will
refuse my meals. I will wander the face of the earth, a shambling, hollow-eyed hulk.” There, I thought, folding my arms,
that ought to do it. “Ad Misericordiam,” said Polly.
I ground my teeth. I was not Pygmalion; I was Frankenstein, and my monster had me by the throat. Frantically I fought
back the tide of panic surging through me; at all costs I had to keep cool. “Well, Polly,” I said, forcing a smile, “you
certainly have learned your fallacies.”
“You’re darn right,” she said with a vigorous nod. “And who taught them to you, Polly?” “You did.”
“That’s right. So you do owe me something, don’t you, my dear? If I hadn’t come along you never would have learned
about fallacies.” “Hypothesis Contrary to Fact,” she said instantly.
I dashed perspiration from my brow. “Polly,” I croaked, “you mustn’t take all these things so literally. I mean this is just
classroom stuff. You know that the things you learn in school don’t have anything to do with life.” “Dicto Simpliciter,”
she said, wagging her finger at me playfully.
That did it. I leaped to my feet, bellowing like a bull. “Will you or will you not go steady with me?” “I will not,” she replied.
“Why not?” I demanded.
“Because this afternoon I promised Petey Bellows that I would go steady with him.”
I reeled back, overcome with the infamy of it. After he promised, after he made a deal, after he shook my hand! “The rat!”
I shrieked, kicking up great chunks of turf. “You can’t go with him, Polly. He’s a liar. He’s a cheat. He’s a rat.”
“Poisoning the Well ,” said Polly, “and stop shouting. I think shouting must be a fallacy too.”
With an immense effort of will, I modulated my voice. “All right,” I said. “You’re a logician. Let’s look at this thing logically.
How could you choose Petey Bellows over me? Look at me—a brilliant student, a tremendous intellectual, a man with an
assured future. Look at Petey—a knothead, a jitterbug, a guy who’ll never know where his next meal is coming from. Can
you give me one logical reason why you should go steady with Petey Bellows?” “I certainly can,” declared Polly. “He’s got
a raccoon coat.”

What’s More

Let’s check your understanding:

Go back again to the story Love is a Fallacy by Max Shulman. Some of the fallacies listed below can be found
there. Pick out the fallacies in the story by stating the examples listed by the author.
Logical Fallacies are errors in reasoning that invalidate the argument. All fallacies are no sequiturs - means
arguments in which a conclusion doesn’t follow logically what preceded it. To spot logical fallacies, look for bad proof,
the wrong number of choices, or a disconnect between the proof and the conclusion. A bad proof can be a false
comparison. Also, Logical fallacies are bad, not only because they are errors in reasoning, but because they often lead to
false conclusions. Though at times, conclusion might be coincidentally true despite the invalid reasoning.
1. Ad Hominem – Argument against the man
This is unfairly attacking a person instead of the issue or attacking the character or reputation of a position’s
supporters. It is like becoming guilty by your association.
Ex: We cannot listen to Ramon’s opinion on global warming because he is a tree hugger.
2. Begging the Question - The opinion to be proven is given as if it were already proven.
Ex: Global warming doesn’t exist because the earth is not getting warmer.
3. Cause and Effect - This is citing a false or remote cause to explain a situation
Ex: The increase in global warming in the past decade is because more houses have air-conditioners.
4. Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc or False Cause - Assuming that because two things happened, the first one caused for the
second one to happen.
Ex: Every time my sister Xena uses hairspray, it is an extremely hot day.
5. Either or Fallacy - This is when you are discussing an issue as if there are only two alternatives. This fallacy ignores
any other possible alternatives.
Ex: We either use mask or we will all die of corona virus.
6. Evasion - This is when we are ignoring or evading the questions
Ex: Mommy: “How’s your test?” Son: I’m tired Mom, I want to rest.”
7. False Analogy - False analogy is making a comparison between two subjects that have more dissimilarities than
similarities.
Ex: Using hairspray every day is like launching a nuclear weapon.
8. Oversimplification - It is making a complicated issue seem very simple by using simple terms or suppressing
information
Ex: Global warming is caused by using hairspray and other beauty products.
9. Rationalization - It is giving incorrect reasons to justify your position
Ex: I don’t believe in global warming because I like using hairspray.
10. Red Herring - This is presenting an argument unrelated to your subject in order to distract the reader
Ex: In order to really look at the problem of global warming, we must first consider how the homeless suffer
when it is cold.
11. Slippery Slope - It is implying that one small step in the wrong direction will cause catastrophic results
Ex: If we use just one more can of hairspray every month, earth as we know it will no longer exist.
12. Two wrongs make a right - It is defending something wrong that we did by citing another incident of wrong doing
Ex: Filipinos do not need to regulate pollution because China is producing more pollution than we are.
13. Hasty Generalization - It is an inference drawn from insufficient evidence
Ex: It is warmer this year in Las Vegas as compared to last year; therefore, global warming is rapidly
accelerating.
14. Straw Man - It is an argument in which an opponent’s position is represented as being more extreme than it actually
is.
Ex: Pres. Duterte feels that all companies are irresponsible and should be punished for allowing emissions
which causes global warming.
15. Equivocation - This is a juvenile tricks of language
Ex: If there really is global warming, how come it is cooler in Baguio this year?
16. Non Sequitur - “It does not follow”
These are argument in which claims, reasons, or warrants fail to connect logically.
Ex: We should stop using hairspray because it is snowing in New York.

Now, it’s your turn. Pick out the examples cited by Max Shulman in his story Love is a Fallacy and identify what kind of
fallacy did he use.

What I Have Learned

Show how much you understand the lesson. Give your own example of the logical fallacies listed herein.
FALLACIES YOUR ORIGINAL EXAMPLE
Ad Hominem
Begging the Question
Cause and Effect
Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc
Either or Fallacy
Evasion
False Analogy
Oversimplification
Rationalization
Red Herring
Slippery Slope
Two wrongs make a right
Hasty Generalization
Straw Man
Equivocation
 Assessment

Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter on a separate sheet of paper.
1. What fallacy is used in this example? We should eat rats and exotic insects for long life.
A. Straw Man B. Rationalization C. Non Sequitur D. Oversimplification
2. It involves asking specific questions on points that you are skeptical about. These may be topics that do not go along
with your personal views.
A. AnnotationB. Summarizing C. Outlining D. Evaluating
3. It is getting the gist of the text and writing it down in your own words. This will test how much you have understood
the text and will help you evaluate it critically.
A. AnnotationB. Summarizing C. Outlining D. Evaluating
4. Technique where your objective is to rewrite a statement with a different structure and using different words without
altering the original meaning and organization of the content. It aims to provide most of the information in a slightly
condensed form.
A. Questioning B. Annotating C. Paraphrasing D. Summarizing
5. It is an argument in which an opponent’s position is represented as being more extreme than it actually is.
A. Strawman B. Equivocation C. Red Herring D. Rationalization
6. Argument against the man
A. Slippery Slope B. False Analogy C. Ad Hominem D. Non Sequitur
7. It is making notes on your copy of the reading material. You may highlight, underline, box or circle important passages,
then write notes, comments, questions and reactions on the margins.
A. AnnotationB. Summary C. Outline D. Journal
8. This process will hone your understanding of the text and associate them to your personal experiences, which in turn
will allow you to connect to the author’s ideas and purpose.
A. Annotating a text C. Questioning the author’s purpose
B. Summarizing and Paraphrasing D. Keeping a journal
9. A kind of reading that involves evaluating and analyzing any information that you read or hear. It is not believing
easily any offered text or articles to you
A. Evaluative B. Critical C. Analytic D. Creative
10. It is locating the thesis statement, claims, evidences and plotting them into a structure. This will help you see the
writer’s structures, and the sequencing of the author’s ideas.
A. Outline B. Summary C. Paraphrase D. Annotation
English For Academic &
Professional Purposes
Quarter 1 – Module 4
Outlining Reading Texts in
Various Disciplines
English for Academic and Professional Purposes
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 1 – Module 4: Outlining Reading Texts in Various Disciplines
Second Edition, 2021

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 What I Need to Know

This module was designed and written to meet the needs of the grade 12 students with
regard to English related skills. It is here to help you master the English for Academic
& Professional Purposes which aims to teach the students to communicate and write
effectively in diverse academic and professional situations.
Module 4 is entitled, “Outlining Reading Texts in Various Disciplines”. Outlining is one
of the techniques in reading critically. It was already mentioned in Module 3 but will be
comprehensively discussed in Module 4 along with the discussion in determining the
Thesis statement of an academic text. The types, purpose, parts and the steps on how
to create an outline will also be tackled in this module.
With the discussion of critical reading and thinking in module 3, this module will provide
us a vast understanding of outlining which can be a vital use in helping you evaluate
and comprehend with ease an academic text apart from making your writing easier and
well-organized.
After going through this module you are expected to:
a. outline reading text in various disciplines;
b. state the thesis statement of an academic text;
c. develop a strong thesis statement;
d. explain the two types and the ways to create an outline; and
e. share opinion about Covid-19 by making an outline then use it to write an essay.

What I Know

Before going to the next module, let’s see how well you understand Module 3.
Directions: Determine what is being described in the following sentences. Encircle the
letter that corresponds to the correct answer.
For nos. 1–5
Either or Fallacy Red Herring Hasty Generalization
Begging the Question False Analogy Cause and Effect

1. We either use mask or we will all die of corona virus.

2. In order to really look at the problem of global warming, we must first consider
how the homeless suffer when it is cold.
3. It is warmer this year in Philippines as compared to last year; therefore, global
warming is rapidly accelerating.
4. Using hairspray every day is like launching a nuclear weapon.
5. The increase in global warming in the past decade is because more houses have
air-conditioners.

For nos. 6–15

6. It involves asking specific questions on points that you are skeptical about. These
may be topics that do not go along with your personal views.
A. Annotation B. Summarizing C. Outlining D. Evaluating
7. Which is not true about critical reading?
A. It has goals to follow.
B. It ain't an active process of discovery.
C. It involves inferring a basis for choices of content and language.
D. It shows the tone and persuasive elements of the author.
 8. These are errors in reasoning that invalidate the argument.
A. Techniques B. Critical reading C. Fallacies D. Text
9. It is locating the thesis statement, claims, evidences and plotting them into an
structure. This will help you see the writer’s structures, and the sequencing of
the author’s ideas.
A. Outline B. Summary C. Paraphrase D. Annotation
10. This process will hone your understanding of the text and associate them to your
personal experiences, which in turn will allow you to connect to the author’s ideas
and purpose.
A. Annotating a text C. Questioning the author’s purpose
B. Summarizing and Paraphrasing D. Keeping a journal
11. Argument against the man
A. Slippery Slope B. False Analogy C. Ad Hominem D. Non Sequitur
12. It is making notes on your copy of the reading material. You may highlight,
underline, box or circle important passages, then write notes, comments,
questions and reactions on the margins.
A. Annotation B. Summary C. Outline D. Journal
13. A kind of reading that involves evaluating and analyzing any information that you
read or hear. It is not believing easily any offered text or articles to you
A. Evaluative B. Critical C. Analytic D. Creative reading
14. Technique where your objective is to rewrite a statement with a different structure
and using different words without altering the original meaning and organization
of the content. It aims to provide most of the information in a slightly condensed
form.
A. Questioning B. Annotating C. Paraphrasing D. Summarizing
15. It is sometimes called topic.
A. Summary B. Title C. Thesis Statement D. Outline

What’s In

The Thesis Statement

After you have brainstormed and did the necessary pre-writing process, you are
now ready to put into words the ideas crowding your mind. With proper format and
techniques being a major aspect of academic writing, it is essential for students to
understand the importance of a well-crafted thesis statement.
What is a thesis statement? Look at these two examples:
• Why do I want to be a teacher?
• Being a teacher is a great profession, because it allows me to work with
students be creative.
Which of these two is a strong thesis statement?

A strong thesis statement usually contains an element of uncertainty, risk, or

challenge ( Ramage, Bean & Johnson 2006:34 ) This means that your thesis statement
should offer a debatable claim which you can prove or disprove in your text and that
your readers can willingly agree or disagree with.
A thesis statement is the claim or stand that you will develop in your paper. It is
a complete sentence that contains one main idea. This idea controls the content of the
entire essay that will give your readers idea of what your entire paper is all about. A
thesis statements that contains sub-points also helps a reader know how the essay will
be organized.
Look at this introductory paragraph, see if you can identify the thesis statement and
sub-points.

Psychologists have argued for decades about how a person’s character is formed.
Numerous psychologists believe that one’s birth order (i.e. place in the family as the
youngest, oldest, or middle child) has the greatest influence. I believe birth order can
have a significant impact in the formation of a child’s character based on my own
experience growing up in a family of four children. Birth order can strongly affect
one’s relationship with parents, relationships with others, and how one views
responsibility as an adult.

Thesis statement: _________________________________________________________

Sub-points: _______________________________________________________________
How do we develop a strong thesis statement? First – State the main idea in a
complete sentence, not in a question form. Since the thesis statement is the main idea
of the entire essay, it should express a complete thought. It is asserting an opinion or
idea, needless to say, it should never be in a question form. Second – Readers like to
know what an essay will be about even before finishing the entire essay, this is why
thesis statement is often found at the end of the introductory paragraph. Third – Thesis
statement often expresses a writer’s opinion or attitude on a particular topic. Fourth –
You can make your thesis statement more specific by including sub-topics or supporting
ideas. By doing this, you give the reader a clear idea of what will follow in the body
paragraphs of your essay. Finally – Don’t state the obvious. In your thesis statement,
you should avoid using phrases like, “This essay will discuss…” or “I’m going to write
about…” Write a thesis statement that captures your reader’s interest without
announcing your main topic and stating the obvious.
Hence, in the discussion of the thesis statement, it would be impossible not to
talk about topic sentence too. Don’t confuse a thesis statement with a topic sentence.
The former is the main point of the whole essay while the latter is the main point of a
paragraph, though they are similar in some ways. Thesis statements need to be more
broad and leave room to expand on further points to support the paper's argument.
Always remember that a thesis driven essay is comprised of an initial thesis
statement that defines the purpose of your essay and ensuing topic sentences that
support and develop what you will prove and argue. Ideally, a critical reader would be
able to read only the thesis statement and topic sentences of your text, and still be able
to understand the main ideas and logical progression of your argument. Constructing
a compelling written argument requires proper use of both topic sentences and thesis
statements.

What’s New

Making an Outline:
Before you begin writing the first draft of your essay, it is best to make an outline.
It is the plan that makes up an essay. An outline is a general plan or a blueprint of what
you are going to write. You can compare making an outline to an architect drawing plans
to build a house. Remember that before one begins to build a house, it is best to draw
up plans to make sure that a house is built in the way you envision it. The same holds
true with outlining and writing.
Why make an outline? Creating an outline before writing your paper will make
organizing your thoughts a lot easier. It also shows the hierarchical relationship or the
logical ordering of the various topics listed in the text. In research, an outline will help
you keep track of large amounts and bulk of information; while for creative writing, it
helps you organize the various plot threads and trace character traits.
How do we make an outline? Most analytical, interpretative, descriptive or
persuasive essays tend to follow the same basic pattern and three basic parts no matter
how long the essay is. The parts of an outline are: Introduction and the thesis statement,
the body and the conclusion. The introduction is the first paragraph of your outline
which talks about the topic of your text and it usually ends with the thesis statement
or the purpose of your paper. Your outline should begin with a thesis statement. The
body is made up of several paragraphs. It is where the topics and subtopics are written.
The topic sentence for each body paragraph should support the thesis statement. The
topic sentences need to agree with the main idea or the thesis statement. Then the
conclusion which summarizes the paper. Here are the steps in creating an outline:
1. Identify your main topic or establish the thesis statement
2. Search and analyze the details of your topic
3. Determine what kind of outline you want to use
4. Identify your main categories and its subcategories.
5. Organize the details in an outline form.
Now, what are the four main components of an effective outline?
1. Parallelism - It is making sure that the topics and subtopics are parallel in
structure.
2. Division – outline has structure and parts to follow. In a formal outline, roman
numerals can be used to represent paragraphs while capital letters represent supporting
details for the paragraphs.
3. Coordination – This is making sure that all the parts are related and significant
to all the other parts. Heading one is connected to heading two or subheading one to
subheading two.
4. Subordination – The information in the headings should be more general, while
the subheadings should be more specific.
What are the types of outline? There are only two types: Topic and sentence
outline.
Topic outline summarizes the main topics and subtopics of the article in words
or phrases. Here is an example:

Thesis Statement: Effects of alcohol and drugs

I. Economical effects ( main idea )
A. Alcohol ( heading 1)
1. Cost of alcohol purchases ( sub-heading 1)
a. By bulk purchase ( detail of sub-heading 1)
b. By single purchase ( detail of sub-heading 1)
2. Cost of DUIs ( sub-heading 2)
B. Drugs ( heading 2)
1. Cost of drug purchases
II. Psychological effects
A. Alcohol
1. Mental impairment
2. Mental addiction
B. Drugs
1. Mental impairment
2. Mental addiction
III. Physical effects
A. Alcohol
1. Liver disease
2. Alcohol poisoning
B. Drugs
1. Brain damage
2. Drug overdose

Second type of outline is Sentence outline. Basically the same with topic outline
with regards to parts, the only difference is that it uses complete sentences for each
topics and subtopics. Here is an example:
Thesis Statement: Alcohol and drugs have vast effect on humans.
I. Alcohol and drug abuse can affect one economically.
A. The cost of alcohol abuse is high and is getting higher.
1. The cost of DUIs can be enormous.
a. The price of alcohol when purchased by bulk is also higher.
B. The cost of drug abuse can be high
II. Alcohol and drug abuse can have severe psychological effects.
A. Alcohol abuse can damage a person psychologically
1. Alcohol is depressant and can alter the personality of anyone.
Remember that the length and parts of an outline varies to the length of the text
or to the number of paragraphs. Only that parts of an Alphanumeric outline are
represented by Roman Numerals for major topics divisions ( I ), Capital Letters ( A ),
Arabic Numerals ( 1 ), and lower case letters ( a ).
An outline is what you need to organize the information and not miss anything
while writing. When you know how to write an outline, you create papers better and
faster. You just keep in mind all the components of an academic text, develop critical
thinking and so you become a better writer.

What is It

Curious about Corona virus? Here is the history of this world-wide pandemic root. Read
this thoroughly and draft an outline. Remember the parts and the way on how to create
an outline. Don’t forget also to state the thesis statement of this article.

The history of human coronaviruses began in 1965 when Tyrrell and Bynoe found
that they could passage a virus named B814. It was found in human embryonic tracheal
organ cultures obtained from the respiratory tract of an adult with a common cold. The
presence of an infectious agent was demonstrated by inoculating the medium from these
cultures intranasally in human volunteers; colds were produced in a significant
proportion of subjects, but Tyrrell and Bynoe were unable to grow the agent in tissue
culture at that time. At about the same time, Hamre and Procknow were able to grow a
virus with unusual properties in tissue culture from samples obtained from medical
students with colds. Both B814 and Hamre's virus, which she called 229E, were ether-
sensitive and therefore presumably required a lipid-containing coat for infectivity, but
these 2 viruses were not related to any known myxo- or paramyxoviruses.
In the late 1960s, Tyrrell was leading a group of virologists working with the
human strains and a number of animal viruses. These included infectious bronchitis
virus, mouse hepatitis virus and transmissible gastroenteritis virus of swine, all of which
had been demonstrated to be morphologically the same as seen through electron
microscopy.5,6 This new group of viruses was named coronavirus (corona denoting the
crown-like appearance of the surface projections) and was later officially accepted as a
new genus of viruses. Ongoing research using serologic techniques has resulted in a
considerable amount of information regarding the epidemiology of the human
respiratory coronaviruses. It was found that in temperate climates,
respiratory coronavirus infections occur more often in the winter and spring than in the
summer and fall. Data revealed that coronavirus infections contribute as much as 35%
of the total respiratory viral activity during epidemics. Overall, the proportion of adult
colds produced by coronaviruses was estimated at 15%.
In the 3 decades after discovery, human strains OC43 and 229E were studied
exclusively, largely because they were the easiest ones to work with. OC43, adapted to
growth in suckling mouse brain and subsequently to tissue culture, was found to be
closely related to mouse hepatitis virus. Strain 229E was grown in tissue culture
directly from clinical samples. The 2 viruses demonstrated periodicity, with large
epidemics occurring at 2- to 3-year intervals. Strain 229E tended to be epidemic
throughout the United States, whereas strain OC43 was more predisposed to localized
outbreaks. As with many other respiratory viruses, reinfection was common. Infection
could occur at any age, but it was most common in children.
Epidemiologic and volunteer inoculation studies found that respiratory
coronaviruses were associated with a variety of respiratory illnesses; however, their
pathogenicity was considered to be low. The predominant illness associated with
infections was an upper respiratory infection with occasional cases of pneumonia in
infants and young adults. These viruses were also shown to be able to produce asthma
exacerbations in children as well as chronic bronchitis in adults and the elderly.
While research was proceeding to explore the pathogenicity and epidemiology of
the human coronaviruses, the number and importance of animal coronaviruses were
growing rapidly. Pathogenesis of this disease states was various and complex,
demonstrating that the genus as a whole was capable of a wide variety of disease
mechanisms.20 Human and animal coronaviruses were segregated into 3 broad groups
based on their antigenic and genetic makeup. Group I contained virus 229E and other
viruses, group II contained virus OC43 and group III was made up of avian infectious
bronchitis virus and a number of related avian viruses.

What I Have Learned

An outline is a tool used to organize written ideas about a topic or thesis into a logical
order. Let’s see how well you absorb the content of outlining. Complete this outline.
Look back at the discussion of Outlining in What’s New. You can decide to make it
topical or sentence type.

Thesis Statement: _______________________________________________________________

I. ______________________________________________________________________________
A._________________________________________________________________________
B. ________________________________________________________________________
C. ________________________________________________________________________
D. ________________________________________________________________________
II.______________________________________________________________________________
A. ________________________________________________________________________
B._________________________________________________________________________
C._________________________________________________________________________
III.______________________________________________________________________________
A._________________________________________________________________________
B._________________________________________________________________________
C._________________________________________________________________________
D._________________________________________________________________________
E._________________________________________________________________________

VI. Conclusion: __________________________________________________________________

 Assessment

Multiple Choice. Choose the letter of the best answer. Encircle the letter that
corresponds to the correct answer.
1. Which of the following is a strong thesis statement?
A. Violent video games are harmful for young people to play.
B. Violent video games are harmful to young people, and it should be stopped.
C. Violent video games are harmful for young people to play because it promotes
a sedentary lifestyle, encourages violence, and can cause children to become
desensitized to death.
D. Violent video games are harmful for young people because they should be
reading a book.
2. Which of the following is a strong thesis statement?
A. I would like to become a chef when I finish school because I like to cook.
B. Although both chefs and cooks can prepare fine meals, chefs differ from
cooks in education, professional commitment, and artistry.
C. Both chefs and cooks prepare meals but are different in several ways.
D. A career in the culinary arts is a good choice for many reasons.
3. This is the blueprint or plan of your paper. It shows the order of the various topics,
the relative importance of each, and the relationship between the various parts.
A. Academic text C. Summary Text
B. Outline D. Academic Essay
4. Which topic sentence DOES NOT belong with the thesis below?
The best kind of pet is a cat because they are friendly, low maintenance, and
have great personalities.
A. First, cats are affectionate creatures.
B. Next, cats are inexpensive.
C. In addition, it is not hard to take care of a cat.
D. Finally, every cat has a unique personality.
5. Which topic sentence DOES NOT belong with the thesis below?
Schools should start later in the day because it would give children more sleep,
help achieve better nutrition, and convenient for both students and
parents.
A. To begin, if school started later, it would also get out later.
B. Also, teens would be able to sleep longer and feel more rested before the start
of the day.
C. Furthermore, it will be easier to eat a healthy breakfast if there is more time
to do so.
D. Most importantly, a later start time would be easier for parents and students
to plan around.
6. Most analytical, interpretative or persuasive essays tend to follow the same basic
pattern
A. True B. False C. Sometimes D. Never
7. Which is the correct order?
A. Roman Numeral, Alpha Numeric, Capital Letter, Lower case letter
B. Capital Letter, Roman Numeral, Alpha Numeric, Lower case letter
C. Alpha Numeric, Capital Letter, Roman Numeral, Lower case letter
D. Roman Numeral, Capital letter, Alpha Numeric, Lower case letter
8. Pick the best thesis statement.
A. The relationship between the feminist movement and the use of sexist language
B. What is the relationship between the feminist movement and the use of sexist
language?
C. By raising public awareness of careless language habits and changing the
image of women, the feminist movement has helped to bring about a decline
in the use of sexist language.
D. The feminist movement is largely responsible for the decline of sexist language.
9. Pick the best thesis statement.
A. How has the use of mood-altering drugs affected patients in state mental
hospitals?
B. State mental hospitals use mood-altering drugs in treatment.
C. It is the development of psychotropic drugs, not advances in psychotherapy,
which has made possible the release of large numbers of patients from state
hospitals into the community.
D. Large numbers of patients have been released after treatment during stays at
state mental hospitals.
10. Which of the following is not a function of a thesis statement?
A. To announce the topic of your paper to your reader
B. To reflect a perspective on a topic
C. To leave a final impression on your reader
D. To provide a blueprint of your essay to the reader