- ACADEMIC WRITING AND STRUCTURE -
Academic writing is clear, concise, focused, structured, and backed up by evidence. Its purpose is to
aid the reader's understanding.
It has a formal tone and style, but it is not complex and does not require the use of long sentences
and complicated vocabulary. Each subject discipline will have certain writing conventions,, and types
of discourse that you will become familiar with over the course of your degree. However, there are
some general characteristics of academic writing that are relevant across all disciplines.
Is generally quite formal, objective (impersonal), and technical.
EXAMPLES OF ACADEMIC WRITING
Academic Texts
Essays
Concept Papers
Reaction Papers
Position Papers
Reports (Educationa)
Kesearch Fapens
Non-Academic Texts (Professional Writing)
Resolutions
Contracts
Application Papers
Business Documents
Oath/Pledges
Journalistic Articles
Editorials/Cartoons
Science Feature
Non-Academic Text - Uses casual and informal language. This text might
aiso use siana words.
Academic Text - This kind of text usually includes a list of references on which authors based their
information.
text Structure is the way in which all the information in text is organized.
In other words, authors use text structure to convey their main intent and ideas in text. It is important
that language learners acknowledge different text structures to comprehend different texts in English.
Further on, the main text structures are mentioned and explained in detail
1) sequence or process structure
1. time order or chronology structure
2. cause and effect structure
4) compare and contrast structure
1. definition structure
2. inductive and deductive structure
3. problem and solution structure.
Academic language refers to the oral, written, auditory, and visual language proficiency required to
learn effectively in schools and academic programs-i.e., it's the language used in classroom lessons,
books, tests, and assignments, and its the language that students are expected to learn and
achieve tuency In.
How does the language used in academic texts differ from other
disciplines?
- Academic language Includes language used in textbooks, classrooms, tests, and each discipline. It is
different in vocabulary and structure from the everyday spoken English of social interactions. Each
type of communication (both academic and social) nas its purpose, and neither is superior to the
oTher.
What is the 4 features of language used in academic texts?
- The
characteristics of academic texts are simple, concise, objective, and logical.
The four characteristics of the text, linguistically, are able to reveal to the reader the level of scholarly
and academic text.
Quotations are exact representations of a source, which can either be a written one or spoken words.
Quotes imbue writing with an authoritative tone and can provide reliable and strong evidence.
However, quoting should be employed sparingly to support and not replace one's writing.
Quotations must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match
the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author,
How Do You Quote?
Ensure that direct quotes are provided within quotation marks and properly cited
A Long quote of three or more lines can be set-off as a blockquote (this often has more impact)
Short quotes usually flow better when integrated within a sentence
Paraphrasing is the manner of presenting a text by altering certain words and phrases of a source
while ensuring that the paraphrase reflects a proper understanding of the source. It can be useful for
personal understanding of complex concepts and explaining information presented in charts, figures,
and tables.
Paraphrasing involves expressing a passage from the source material into your own words. A
paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is usually shorter
Than the original passage,
Taking a somewnat broad segment of the source and condensing it sligntly.
How Do You Paraphrase?
- While aligning the representation with your own style (that is, using synonyms of certain words and
phrases), ensure that the author's intention is not changed as this may express an incorrect
interpretation of the source ideas
- Use quotation marks it you intend to retain key concepts or phrases to errectively pardonrase
- Use paraphrasing as an alternative to the abundant usage of direct quotes in your writing
summarizing involves presenting an overview or a source by omitting superfluous details and
retaining only the key essence of the ideas conveyed.
summarizing involves expressing the main ideats) in your own words, including only the main point‹s).
Once again, it is necessary to attribute ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly
shorter than a paraphrase because they consider a broader overview of the source
material
How Do You Summarize?
- Note key points while going through a source text
• Provide a consolidated view without digressions tor a concrete and comprehensive summary of a
source
- Provide relevant examples from a source to substantiate the argument being presented
Thesis statement is a sentence in a paper or essay (in the opening paragraph) that introduces the main
topic to the reader. It helps your reader understand the greater context and scope of your topic, plus
it lets your readers know what to expect from the rest of the work.
How to write a thesis statement in 3 steps
1.) Brainstorm the best topic for your essay <.) Phrase your topic as a question and then answer
3.) Add some polish
An outline is a map of your essay. It shows what information each section or
paragraph will contain, and in what order. Most outlines use numbers and/on bullet points to arrange
information and convey points.
Why create an outline?
- vutlining is a tool we use in the writing process to nelp organize our ideas, visualize our paper's
potential structure, and to further flesh out and develop points. It allows the writer to understand
how he or she will connect the information to support the thesis statement and the claims of the
paper.
An outline provides the writer with a space to consider ideas easily without needing to write complete
paragraphs or sentences.
4 Ways to Organize Your Thoughts
1.) Do some reconnaissance reading.
Reconnaissance-preliminary surveying or research.
1. ) Write down your objective.
2. ) Create a list of all the main points you want to make.
3. ) Organize, revise, and eliminate.
- FACTS AND OPINION -
A fact is a statement that can be tested by experimentation, observation,
or research and shown to be true or untrue
An opinion is a person's belief, feeling, or judgment about something. It is a subjective or value
judgment, and it cannot be proven.
WRITING THE REACTION PAPER/ REVIEW/ CRITIQUE
Critical Thinking - is evaluative thinking.
To evaluate means to carefully weigh any idea, action, decision, or a piece of work (like a painting or a
research paper) to consider its merits or demerits.
Thus, to criticize and to evaluate both mean to judge;
Judgements - contrary to popular beliefs - can be both positive and
negative
What is a critical writing sample?
an essay that aims to analyze, Interpret or evaluate a text or any otner media is termed as a "critical
essay."
Critical Approaches -used to analyze, question, interpret, synthesize and evaluate literary works, with
a specific mindset or "lenses".
New Criticism -contend that literature needs little or no connection with the authors intentions, life,
or social/historical situation.
Literary Criticism - The analysis of a literary text through various lenses that highlight authorial stance,
purpose, and perspective.
TRADITIONAL CRITICAL APPROACHES
Historical-Biographical
This approach sees a literary work as a reflection of the author's life and times or the life and times of
the characters in the work. Critics using this school of thought investigate how plot details, settings,
and characters of the work reflect or are representative of events, settings, and people in the author's
life or a direct outgrowth of — or reaction to- the culture in which the author lived.
Moral-Philosophical
This approach takes the position that the larger function of literature is to
Tecen morality ana prode onliosoonica issues, such as ethics. reliaion, or the nature of humanity.
Literature is interpreted within the context of the philosophical thought of a period or group, such as
Christianity, existentialism, Buddhism, etc. Often critics will see in the work allusions to
other works, people, or events from this perspective, or see the work as allegorical.
Formalistic Criticism
Using this type of criticism, a reader would see the work as an independent and self-sufficient artistic
object. This approach is also sometimes referred to as the "New Criticism,"
Formalistic critics assume that everything necessary for analyzing the work is present in the work
itself and disregard any connection to possible outside influences such as the author's own life or
historical times. This criticism considers what a work says and how it says it as inseparable issues.
It focuses on close reading, with sensitivity to the words and their various meanings, It searches for
structures, patterns, imagery and motits, and figurative language along with the juxtaposition of
scenes, tone, and other literary techniques in order to come to conclusions about the meaning of the
work.
DECONSTRUCTION/ DECONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM posists (to dispose or set firmly) the undecidability
of meaning for all texts.
Ine text has
intertwined and contradictory discourses, gaps, and
incoherencies, since language itself is unstable and arbitrary. The critic doesn't undermine the text;
the text already dismantles itself.
Marxists Criticism
Places a literary work within the context of class and assumptions about class.
Marxist criticism thus empnasizes class, socioeconomic status, power relations among various
segments of society, and the representation of those segments.
reminisT Criticism
Concerned with "they ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or
undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women" (Tyson 83).
Structuralist Criticism
Analyzed
material
underlying
STIUCTurCS
such as
characterization or plot, and attempted to show how these patterns were universal and could thus be
used to develop general conclusions about both individual works and the systems Trom which they
emerged.
NEWER APPROACH TO LITERARY CRITICISM
Psychological Criticism
This approach deals with a work of literature primarily as it is an expression
- in fictional form - of the author's personality, mindset, feelings and desires. It also requires that we
investigate the psychology of the characters and their motives in order to figure out the work's
meanings.
This school of criticism got its start with the work of Sigmund Freud, which incorporated the
importance of the unconscious or subconscious in human behavior.
Some typical "archetypal" Freudian interpretations include rebellion against a father, id versus
superego, death-wish forces, or sexual repression.
Dreams, visualizations, and fantasies of characters in modern works usually
Stem from reudian concepts.
Feminist / Gender Criticism
This approach asks us to use a wide variety of issues related to gender,
concerning the aurnor, the work itselt, the reader, and the societies of the author and reader, to
determine the stance of the work on the feminist
Feminist critics look for the development of male and female characters
and their motives to see how the author and his or her times aftected the
gender roles in the work.
Sociological / Marxist Criticism
nis viewboint considers barticular aspects of the bolitical content of the text; the author; the
historical and socio-cultural context of the
the cultural, political, and personal situation of the reader in relationship to the text.
Critique is a somewhat formal word that typically refers to a careful judgment in which someone gives
an opinion about something.
Critique is an alteration of an archaic word that is referred generally to as
criticism
CRITIC (Noun) -someone who says that they do not approve of someone or something. Is someone
whose job is to give their opinion about something, especially movies, books, music, etc.
Criticism usually means "the act of criticizing" or a "remark or comment that expresses disapproval,"
but it can also refer to the activity of making judgments about the qualities of books, movies, etc. (as
in "literary
criticism
Review can refer to an essay analyzing a literary or artistic work, but can also sometimes imply a more
casual or personal opinion.
CONTENT AND STRUCTURE OF THE CRITIQUE/ REACTION PAPER
1. Accurate. It provides an accurate description of the work being evaluated by giving its summary
and/or background derails, like answers to basic reporter questions of who, what, when, where,
and why.
2. Evaluative. It gives the writer's overall judgment of the work. It makes This judgment convincing
by giving Three or more (depending on The length of the paper) supporting evaluations of
selected analytical elements of the work being evaluated.
3. Balanced. The writer shows balance by pointing out weaknesses of a work, if the overall
judgment is positive, or the other way around, by recognizing strong points of a work for which
the overall judgment is negative.
•A conce paper is a short document written by a researcher before starting their research project,
with the purpose of explaining what the study is about, why it is important and the methods that will
be used.
- POSITION PAPER -
A position paper is an essay that expresses a position on an issue. It gives arguments that support the
opinion of the writer based on the Tacts
collected
How to organize your position paper?
Introduction
You have to introduce the topic, and then provide history or background of the issue. You may also
describe the issue on-hand so do your research.
Body
You have to state the opposing argument by briefly describing them.
You note mit their me agent i enge your
argument and give your point of view.
Provide evidence that supports your claim. Now you state your second argument followed by your
third argument.
Make sure to provide details that support the argument given.
Conclusion
Now, you can restate both sides of the argument, and summarize the three arguments made in your
essay. Lastly, provide a call for action.
- REPORT -
A report is a concise piece of writing that uses facts and evidence to look at issues, situations, events,
or tindings. keports are intormative texts that aim to analyze different topics with a specific purpose
and audience in mind.
Report is for the guidance of higher authorities including company
executives and directors.
Report facilitates timely decisions and follow up measures.
Reports are a form of non-fiction and aim to be as objective as possible, focusing on facts. This
ditterentiates them from other forms of non-fiction, such as essays, that are heavily opinionated
(though they may use statistics and factual information to persuade).
survey report - is a document that demonstrates all the important information about the survey in an
objective, clear precise, and fact-based
mariner
Field report - The purpose of a field report in the social sciences is to describe the observation of
people, places, and/or events and to analyze that observation data in order to identify and categorize
common themes in relation to the research problem underpinning the study.
Lab reports - are written to describe and analyze a laboratory experiment that explores a scientific
concept.
Technical report - A Technical report is described as a written scientific cocument That conveys
inTormation about Technical research in an ob lective and fact-based manner. This technical report
consists of the three key features of a research i.eprocess, progress, and results associated with it.
business report • A business report is an intormative document that contains important data such as
facts, analyses, research findings, and statistics about a business with the goal to make this
information accessible to people within a company.
