Advice on Academic Writing

1. Advice on
Academic Writing
ISFD N°41
Subject: Language and Written Expression IV
Professor: Stella Saubidet
Student: Julieta Dattoli
Date: May 29th, 2020

2. INDEX

3. 1.
General
Advice on
Academic
Writing
➔ Make sure yourself it has an argument
➔ Your essay should prove something
By reasoning (see 2.) giving examples and
evidence.
➔ Formulate questions to answer
➔ Develop a hypothesis
As well as possible counterpart arguments
➔ Plan an organization of the essay

4. 1.a General advice on
academic Essay Writing:
Method of composing
➔ Start writing early
Writing will give you more ideas to write about
➔ Try to keep a purpose and organization in mind
➔ Revise extensively
◆ By making drafts and redrafts attending the whole
essay
◆ By putting the essay aside for few days allowing
the mind working subconsciously
◆ By revising diction and economy of words

5. 2.
Understanding
Essay
Topics
Reasoning
Writing a essay doesn’t only has to do with collecting
facts but also with developing and displaying your
powers of reasoning.
BUT HOW?
➔ Note which concepts or methods the topic asks
you to use
➔ Note the key terms that define the reasoning
used:
◆ Analyse (recognition of cause and effect)
◆ Compare (find differences as well as similarities)
◆ Evaluate (judge the results of your analysis)
◆ Argue (agree or disagree)
➔ Ask yourself questions and look for
controversies in the material, to generate ideas.
➔ Formulate a tentative thesis statement

6. 3.
Organizing
and Planning
an Essay
3.a. Organizing
The best time to think about how to organize
your paper is during the pre-writing stage. To
well organise your essay take into account this:
➔ The structure of an essay should not be
determined by the structure of its source
material
➔ Advance YOUR argument and NOT
reproduce the argument of the source
➔ Built up your own outline to call reader’s
attention
➔ Consider using reverse outline which is
used to check your essay’s organization.
Summarize each paragraph and If the
essay is well-organized, you should have
one point in the margin for each
paragraph. These points have to form a
coherent argument

7. 3.b. Planning
➔ The earlier you begin planning, the
better.
➔ Do a tentative plan as soon as ideas start
to appear in your mind.
➔ Evaluate your evidence and if it’s
necessary, modify your essay’s plan.
➔ When you begin planning, ask the
following questions:
What type of essay am I going to be writing?
Does it belong to a specific genre?
3.C. Some techniques for
integrating note-taking and
planning
Method 1:
Index
cards
Method 2:
The
Computer
Method 3:
The circle
method
write down
every idea,
fact, quotation,
or paraphrase
on a separate
index card
collect your
points just as
you would on
paper but
without using
the computer
write your
ideas down on
paper and
circle them
These ideas
have to
support to
each other and
tie together

8. 3.D. Using Thesis
Statements
It is expected a clear statement of your position.
Typically, this statement goes in the first paragraph of your essay.
Characteristics of Good Thesis Statements
◆ It makes definite and limited assertion that needs to be explained and
supported by further discussion:
◆ It shows the emphasis and indicates the methodology of your argument.
◆ It shows awareness of difficulties and disagreements.

9. 4. Introductions
and conclusions
➔ Introductions and conclusions play a special role in
the academic essay, and they frequently demand
much of your attention as a writer.
➔ There is no single formula that automatically
generate an introduction and conclusion for you. But
the following guidelines will help you to construct a
suitable beginning and end for your essay.

10. 4.A. Introductions
A good introduction should :
1) identify your topic,
2) provide essential context
3) indicate your particular focus on the
essay.
4) It also needs to engage your readers’
interest.
4.B. Some general advice
about introductions
➔ Be aware of the dangers of sinking too
much time into the introduction.
➔ The introductions for most papers can
be written in one paragraph occupying
a part of the first page.
Your introduction may be longer than
that BUT NOT EXTEND IT TOO MUCH.
➔ Get to the point as soon as possible.
Avoid generalizations.
➔ Your thesis statement will typically
appear at the end of your introduction,
even though that is not a
hard-and-fast rule.

11. 4.C.How to write an
interesting and
effective introduction
➔ Find a startling statistic that illustrates the
seriousness of the problem you will
address
➔ Quote an expert
➔ Mention a common misperception that
your thesis will argue against.
➔ Give some background information
necessary for understanding the essay.
➔ Use a brief narrative or anecdote that
exemplifies your reason for choosing the
topic.
➔ In a science paper, explain key
scientific concepts and refer to
relevant literature. Lead up to
your own contribution or
intervention.
➔ In a more technical paper, define
a term that is possibly unfamiliar
to your audience but is central to
understanding the essay.

12. 4.D Conclusions
➔ Reflect upon the significance of
what you’ve written.
➔ Leave your reader with something
to think about.
➔ One well-developed paragraph is
sufficient for a conclusion. Though,
two-or-three paragraph conclusion
may be appropriate.
A strong conclusion will provide
1) a sense of closure to the essay
2) in some instances, a stimulus to
further thought.
A.E. Some general advice
about conclusions

13. Keep in mind that
Genre may affect
your introduction and
conclusion. As well as
your Essay’s Planning

14. 5.
Paragraphs
What is a paragraph?
It is a serie of related sentences developing a central iea, called
the topic
How do you unify your ideas in a paragraph?
To achieve unity, it is needed to express the central idea of the
paragraph in a Topic Sentence. A topic sentence is the main
point of the paragraph, so it has a unifying function.
A paragraph is unified if all the sentences relate to the topic
sentence.
Opening and closing sentences may not have topic sentences
An essay is unified if all
the paragraphs relate
to the thesis and if all
the sentences relate to
the topic sentences

15. 5.A. How to develop your
ideas in a paragraph
There are a number of useful
techniques for expanding on topic
sentences and developing your ideas in
a paragraph.
The analysis or classification
paragraph:
It develops a topic by distinguishing its
component parts and discussing each
of these parts separately.
The comparison or a contrast
paragraph
It is based on different or similar
positions or ideas This is to make your
idea clearer.
The qualification paragraph
It acknowledges that your ideas are
not absolutely true or always
applicable.
The process paragraph involves a
description. Process description often
follows a chronological sequence.
illustration
It supports a general statement by
means of examples, details, or relevant
quotations (with your comments).
The definition paragraph
It defines a term, often by drawing
distinctions between the term and other
related ones.

16. Strategic use of
pronouns
To keep the focus on the
ideas announced at the
beginning of the paragraph
Show connections
To clarify your idea and
thereby communicate your
intended logic
Specialized linking
words can also be
powerful tools for pulling
ideas together
Deliberate repetition
of key words will
help
To develop a clear flow
throughout the paragraph.
Try not to repeat the same
idea
Estas citas son solo para fines ilustrativos.
5.B. How to flow your ideas in a paragraph
“Flow” is the movement that occurs both within the paragraph and between in
paragraphs. There are some strategies to carry out this.

17. 6.
Critical
reading
towards
Critical
Writing
6.a. What is Critical Reading?
To read critically is to make judgements about how
a text is argued. To develop this skill is needed to
look for ways of thinking about the subject matter
BUT HOW?
➔ First determine the central claims or purpose
of the text.
➔ Begin to make some judgements about
context
➔ Distinguish the kinds of reasoning the text
employs
➔ Examine the evidence
➔ Evaluate your own work and source
Critical writing depends on
critical reading.

18. 6.B. Some
Practical Tips
➔ Begin by skimming research materials, in order
to strategically choose where to focus your
critical efforts.
➔ Try to highlight the argument of the text you’re
reading.
➔ When you quote directly from a source, use the
quotation critically making judgements about it.
➔ Critical reading skills are also critical listening
skills. In your lectures, listen not only for
information but also for ways of thinking.

19. No es de extrañar que Marcos utilice a
menudo el Traductor de Google en su tienda.
En la Unión Europea,
hay.
6.D Taking Notes from Research Reading
➔ Know what kind of ideas you need to
record
Focus your approach to the topic before you start
detailed research. Then you will read with a purpose in
mind, and you will be able to sort out relevant ideas.
➔ Don’t write down too much
Compress ideas in your own words and paraphrase
them.
➔ Label your notes intelligently
Whether you use cards or pages for note-taking, take
notes in a way that allows for later use.

20. You may know that the purpose of
any paper is to show your own
thinking, not create a patchwork of
borrowed ideas.
6.E. How to not
Plagiarize
➔ Integrate your acknowledgements
into what you’re saying. Give the
reference as soon as you’ve
mentioned the idea you’re using.
➔ Keep mentioning authors and pages
and dates to show how your ideas
are related to those of the experts.
➔ If you don’t know anything about the
subject, you can cut down the clutter
by recognizing that some ideas are
“common knowledge” in the field.
You have to document:
● Quotations, paraphrases, or
summaries.
● Specific facts used as evidence
for your argument or
interpretation.
● Distinctive or authoritative ideas,
whether you agree with them or
not

21. Keep in mind that there are
Specific Types of Writing
and this fact will determine
your way of writing and
thinking.

22. 7. Revising and
Editing
It gives you the chance to:
➔ preview your work on behalf of the eventual
reader.
➔ transform a mediocre first draft into an excellent
final paper.
➔ check details

23. 7.A Start Large,
End Small
Revision may mean changing the shape and reasoning
in your paper.
Here some techniques to do it:
➔ First check whether you have fulfilled the
intention of the assignment.
➔ Then look at overall organization.
➔ Polish and edit your style by moving to smaller
matters such as word choice, sentence structure,
grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

24. 7.B What to revise?
➔ Faulty Agreement
◆ Subjects and verbs must agree in number
◆ Nouns and pronouns must agree in number
◆ Pronouns must agree with each other
➔ Sentence Fragments have to be complete and well-
formed. A sentence fragment is a group of words that
is punctuated to look like a sentence
➔ Run-on [fused] Sentences: A sentence should express
only one central idea:
➔ Avoid the Overuse of Passive Voice
➔ Faulty Parallelism: make sure that they are
grammatically the same
➔ Vague Pronouns: make sure that pronouns such as “it”
and “this” refer to something specific.

25. 7.B What to revise?
➔ Dangling Modifiers: make sure that a modifying phrase
or clause doesn’t “dangle” without the subject it is
intended to modify
➔ Mixed or Dead Metaphors: recognize the literal
meanings of your metaphors. Avoid cliché
➔ Faulty Diction: use a dictionary to check words whose
meaning you are not sure of.
➔ Wordiness: Use the minimum number of words to
express your idea.
➔ Comma Splices. Try to avoid them.
➔ Misuse of Comma, Semicolon, and Colon.
➔ Incorrect Comparison
➔ Double Constructions

26. Bibliography
Website:
Advice on Academic Writing. Retrieved from University of
Toronto. Last visited: 29th May. Available at:
https://advice.writing.utoronto.ca/