UU-ENG-1002-MW

ACADEMIC WRITING

Developing Organizing and Revising

Week 4
Part 1
TOPIC GOALS
 Learn ways to develop and organize your ideas
 Acquire the skills to draft and revise your work

TASK – FORUMS

1. For this forum discussion you are kindly requested to think of a thesis
statement for a topic you are interested in and post it on the forum:

For example, if your topic is 'Leaders are born and not made" you will have
to provide the thesis for this particular topic. Then you have to write on
your classmate’s posts commenting their thesis statement and the style of
writing you think their thesis would belong to.

For example, one thesis statement on the given topic would be 'In my
opinion, leaders are born but if they don't get the opportunity to lead they
lose their leadership qualities' and a response to that would be that 'this
statement can form a persuasive or narrative essay explaining the qualities
of a leader.'
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“For essays, thinking means connecting the knowledge you have

amassed about the subject, shaped and adapted by your own
thoughts and ideas, to the demands of the topic. Planning means
making your thinking effective: putting what you have to say in logical
order, with clear connections between the parts so that you achieve
unity and coherence. In practice, you are thinking and planning
simultaneously, but giving extra attention to the more creative
approach – finding ideas – or to the more analytical approach –
putting the ideas in order, when required.”
(Hennessy, 2010, Pp. 48)

The planning process requires allot of thinking and deciding. This, at

some point, may be challenging. When deciding about which topic to
use and what major parts of interest to use and which points you
want to analyze you should be careful not to be abstract. During this
process you will need to be very careful in presenting all the specifics
and major points of interest. Your essay needs to have a logical order
so you don’t lose the reader’s attention.
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There are some strategies you can follow in order to overcome

these difficulties and begin thinking effectively.
These strategies are:
1. Thesis statement your thesis statement might be suggested by
the essay title and so you can start planning your thoughts based
on that. Otherwise, it’s helpful before you start planning or note-
taking, to decide on what matters you will focus your essay and
that is why the thesis statement is important.
2. Brainstorming brainstorming for ideas is the best way to
unclutter your thoughts. A brainstorming activity involves with the
associations that come up with just from the title.

For example, you can write down the title of the essay and try to find
ideas that connect to the subject. This is useful when you don’t know
much about the topic or when you have random thoughts and want
to see them down on paper in order to start making the connections.
An example of a brainstorming activity:
Comfortable learning environment Flexibility

Lower cost Benefits of online learning No

commuting

Career advancement Convenient

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3. Placing your thoughts in order Forming your introduction,

body and conclusion is very important. In order to do so you will
need to put your thoughts in a coherent order.
4. Turn your points into paragraphs Each point you come up with
makes a point for development. For example, flexibility was one
point mentioned in the previous brainstorming activity. We can
form a whole paragraph out of the word flexibility and it can
constitute the first body paragraph in our essay.
5. Examine your plan Create a checklist covering all the basic
steps you need to follow and tick off each one you have covered.
For example, one question on your checklist might be Is every
point necessary? or Is the introduction and conclusion connected?

“An essay must keep to the point. Be as simple and direct as the
subject and the purpose allow. Your essay must have unity and
coherence. The parts should be in orderly, logical sequence adding up
to one theme, and they should be clearly linked.”
(Hennessy, 2010, pp. 75)
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Your essay must have a coherent order, in order to do this, you need
to form your thoughts into a logical sequence, linking them together
so they make sense. To achieve this there are some connectives you
need to use.

For instance, you need to present your key-words and ideas in a way
that you don’t repeat yourself.

For example:
When studying online, you have the flexibility to work, whenever you can at
any given time.

Studying online can be very elastic in regards to your schedule and every day
chores.

Also you need to use different pronouns, demonstratives, articles and

comparative words to have variety.
For example:
He, she, this, that, bigger, smaller, former, latter.

Linking words and phrases are very important.

For example:
Addition: and, furthermore, moreover

Contrast: but, however, nevertheless, on the other hand

Consequence: so, therefore, hence, consequently

Example: for example, for instance, to put this more clearly

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Linking Words

Function Coordinators Subordinators Transitions

Link Link an independent clause with a Link independent clauses within a

independent dependent clause or phrase sentence.
clauses within a within a sentence.
sentence. Link sentences within a paragraph.

Use a comma When the dependent clause is at When the transition begins the
before a the beginning of the sentence, it sentence, it should be followed by a
coordinator: should be followed by a comma: comma:
I researched the After I researched the topic, I First, I researched the topic.
topic, and I created the presentation. Then, I created the presentation.
Punctuation created the Do not use a comma when the When the transition connects two
presentation. dependent clause is at the end of independent clauses, a semi-colon
the sentence: comes before it and a comma
I created the presentation after I follows it:
researched the topic. I researched the topic; afterwards, I
created the presentation.

And Before Afterward(s)

As At first
As long as Initially
At the same time (as) Meanwhile
Every time Meantime
Showing
Since Simultaneously
time,
So long as Eventually
beginning,
The first/second/next/last Finally
during, time
ending When
Whenever
While
By the time
Till
Until
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And After Next

As soon as Subsequently
Ever since Then
Following Thereafter
Later First
Once Firstly
Initially
Showing a To begin

sequence Next
Second
Secondly
Then
Third
Thirdly
Finally
Last
Lastly

So In all
Showing
In summation
conclusion In conclusion
To conclude

But Although By comparison

Either … or Despite By contrast
Yet Even though Conversely
In spite of However
Showing Instead of In contrast

contrast Though Instead

Whereas Nevertheless
While Nonetheless
On the contrary
On the other hand
Otherwise

Showing Neither … nor In other words

similarity Either … or Likewise

Similarly
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And Additionally
Also
Adding Besides

information Further
Furthermore
In addition
Moreover

Adding For example

example For instance

In particular

For As a result of …
Because …
Showing Due to (the fact that)
cause In order to …
Resulting from …
Since …

So (If) … then Accordingly,

… resulting in As a result,
Showing
So …that Consequently,
effect … then Hence,
Therefore,
Thus,

Even if
If … then
Showing In case

condition Provided that

Providing
Unless
Whether or not
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Examples:

1. Even if I don’t get the job I will still be happy for you.

2. Mary took my favourite jacket saying it is hers. In addition, she also took
my book and my red shoes and said she will return them next week.

3. Since I met Tom I feel more confident than I have ever felt.

4. She was stressed to finish the report before Friday. As a result, she is now
home resting from an anxiety attack.

5. Neither pasta nor rice as I am on a diet this month.

6. Every time I talk to him on the phone he always scolds me about the car
even though I got it fixed.

7. Firstly, you need to have a meeting and then you will need to have the
test.

8. Your work is very polished, however, you will need to add more
evidence.

9. Finally, I can be free now and do whatever I want.

10. So you bought a house that you can use as a beauty parlour too?
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References:

Bailey, S. (2011). Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students (Third ed.).
London and New York: Routledge.
Cottrell, S. (2003). The study skills handbook (Third ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Davis, T. (2017). How to Write a 5-Paragraph Essay: Outline, Example, Rubric | EssayPro.
Retrieved 2017, from https://essaypro.com/blog/5-paragraph-essay/
Finegan, E. (2008). Language: Its Structure and Use (Fifth ed.). Thomson Wadsworth Gillett,
A. (n.d.). Genres in academic writing: Essays. Retrieved February 01, 2017, from
http://www.uefap.com/writing/genre/essay.htm
Hennessy, B. (2010). How to write coursework and exam essays: an accessible guide to
developing the skills needed to excel in written work and exams (Sixth ed.). Oxford: How To
Books.
Hyland, K. (2003). Second language writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kane, B. (n.d.). Media Library of teaching skills for adult learning and literacy. Retrieved 2017,
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Langan, J. (2013). College Writing Skills with Readings (Sixth ed.). New York: Mcgraw Hill
Higher Education
Maimon, E. P., & Peritz, J. H. (2003). A Writer's Resource A Handbook for Writing and
Research (MLA Update). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Stein, S. (1998). Walch Toolbook: Grammar, Mechanics, and Usage. Finegan, E. (2008).
Language: Its Structure and Use (Fifth ed.). Thomson Wadsworth

Straus, J. (2008). The blue book of grammar and punctuation: the mysteries of grammar and
punctuation revealed.

Whatcom Literacy Council – Opening Doors. Changing Lives. (2016). Retrieved 2017,
http://whatcomliteracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/5-Paragraph-essay-colored-
coded.pdf