This document provides general advice on academic writing and essay composition. It discusses key elements such as having an argument, formulating a thesis statement, organization, successful writing methods like outlining and revising. It also covers organizing an essay, developing a thesis statement, writing introductions and conclusions. Additional topics covered include paragraphs, topic sentences, critical reading skills, research methods, summarizing, using sources, quoting and paraphrasing, specific types of academic writing, and revising and editing. The overall document offers a comprehensive overview of the essay writing process and common elements of academic writing.

1. University of Toronto
Panzardo , Melisa - LEE4 – ISFD 18 – Teacher: Stella Saubidet

2. Some General Advice on Academic Essay-Writing
 An Essay
Should have an argument and prove something
Formulate the question(s) you will seek to answer in your essay
and develop a provisional thesis or hypothesis
May be well presented and have an organization (how it begins , develop and ends)
It should be designed to present your argument clearly and persuasively
Successful
methods of
composing
start writing early
writing what seems readiest to be written
(Not from
beginning to end)
keeping the essay’s overall purpose and
organization in mind (Outline)
Extensive revision
Revision of sentences (Special attention to
transitions , diction and economy)
Proofreading the final copy

3. Organizing an essay
Organize your paper is during the pre-writing stage
Ask the following questions
What type of essay am I going to be writing?
Does it belong to a specific genre?
Planning provides the following advantages:
-Helps you to produce a logical and orderly argument that your readers can follow
-Helps you to produce an economical paper by allowing you to spot repetition
-Helps you to produce a thorough paper by making it easier for you to notice whether you have left
anything out
-Makes drafting the paper easier by allowing you to concentrate on writing issues such as grammar,
word choice, and clarity
Overplanning poses the following risks:
-Doesn’t leave you enough time to write and revise
-Leads you to produce papers that try to cover too much ground at the expense of analytic depth
-Can result in a writing style that lacks spontaneity and ease
-Does not provide enough opportunity to discover new ideas in the process of writing

4. Thesis Statements
Clear statement of
your position.
Typically, this summary statement comes in the first
paragraph of the essay, though there is no rigid rule
about position
Some myths about them:
Every paper requires one
Essays of literary interpretation
often want you to be aware of
many effects rather than
seeming to box yourself into
one view of the text
It must come at the end
of the first paragraph
This is a natural position
for a statement of focus,
but it’s not the only one
must be one sentence in
length, no matter how
many clauses it contains
Clear writing is more
important than rules like
these
You can’t start writing an essay until you
have a perfect thesis statement
It may be advisable to draft a hypothesis or
tentative thesis statement near the start of a
big project, but changing and refining a thesis
is a main task of thinking your way through
your ideas as you write a paper
A thesis statement must give three points of
support
It should indicate that the essay will explain and
give evidence for its assertion, but points don’t
need to come in any specific number.

5. Introductions and Conclusions
play a special role in the academic essay
A good introduction identify your topic, provide essential context, indicate your particular
focus in the essay ,engage your readers’ interest
A strong conclusion provide a sense of closure to the essay while again placing your concepts
in a somewhat wider context ,add a stimulus to further thought
In a interesting
and effectiveIntroduction
-Find a startling statistic that illustrates the
seriousness of the problem
-Quote an expert
-Mention a common misperception
- Give some background information
- Use a brief narrative or anecdote
-In a science paper, explain key scientific concepts
- In a more technical paper, define a term that is
possibly unfamiliar to your audience
Conclusion
-Warn readers of the possible consequences of not
attending to the problem
- Recommend a specific course of action
- Use an apt quotation or expert opinion
- Give a startling statistic, fact, or visual image
-Illustrate your concluding point with a relevant narrative
drawn from your own life experiences
- Return to an anecdote, example, or quotation
- In a science or social science paper, mention
worthwhile avenues for future research on your topic

6. Paragraphs
a series of related sentences developing a central idea, called the topic
Probably the most effective way to achieve paragraph unity is to express the central idea of the
paragraph in a topic sentence Forecasts the central idea or main point of the paragraph
-The body paragraph demonstrates and develops your topic sentence through an ordered, logical progression
of ideas.
-Illustration in a paragraph supports a general statement by means of examples, details, or relevant
quotations
The definition paragraph does exactly what you would expect: it defines a term, often by drawing
distinctions between the term and other related ones
The analysis or classification paragraph develops a topic by distinguishing its component parts and
discussing each of these parts separately.
A comparison or a contrast paragraph zeroes in on a key similarity or difference between, for instance,
two sources, positions, or ideas
A qualification paragraph acknowledges that what you previously asserted is not absolutely true or
always applicable
The process paragraph involves a straightforward step-by-step description. Process description often
follows a chronological sequence
To make my
ideas flow
Show connections
Repetition of key words Strategic use of pronouns
Specialized linking words
Paragraphs vary in length
depending on the needs of the
paragraph. Usually, paragraphs
are between one-third and two-
thirds of a page double spaced.

7. Topic sentences
States the main point of a paragraph: it serves as a mini-thesis for the paragraph ,help to
protect your readers from confusion by guiding them through the argument, and can also
help you to improve your essay by making it easier for you to recognize gaps or weaknesses
in your argument.
Usually appear at the very beginning of paragraphs but sometimes a transitional
sentence or two will come before a topic sentence
Relating your topic sentences to your thesis can help strengthen the coherence of
your essay. If you include a thesis statement in your introduction, then think of
incorporating a keyword from that statement into the topic sentence
No every paragraph need a topic sentence but most do. Sometimes a paragraph
helps to develop the same point as in the previous paragraph, and so a new
topic sentence would be redundant

8. Critical reading
To read critically is to make judgements about how a text is argued. This is a highly reflective skill
requiring you to “stand back” and gain some distance from the text you are reading
The key is:
-Don’t read looking only or primarily for information
-Do read looking for ways of thinking about the subject matter
Students often think they need to read fast so they can get through all the material they’re asked to
deal with. But there’s no point reading and not understanding or remembering what you’ve seen. A
more important skill is to read with comprehension and memory
Taking notes from
Research Reading
Know what kind of ideas
you need to record
Review the commonly known
facts about your topic, and also
become aware of the range of
thinking and opinions on it
Don’t write down too much
Your essay must be an
expression of your own
thinking, not a patchwork
of borrowed ideas.
Compress them in your own
words
Label your notes intelligently
Whether you use cards or pages for note-taking,
take notes in a way that allows for later use

9. Dealing with New Words
1) Sound it out 2)Examine the structure 3) Look at the context 4) Check the dictionary
5) Write a usable brief definition or synonym in the margin of your reading
Research Using the Internet (few basic guidelines to remember)
- Don’t rely exclusively on Net resources
- Narrow your research topic before logging on
- Know your subject directories and search engines
- Keep a detailed record of sites you visit and the sites you use
- Double-check all URLs that you put in your paper
To evaluate specific resources you find on the Net, and avoid many errors and problems,
you may pay attention to:
-Authority
-Affiliation
-Audience Level
-Currency
-Content Reliability/Accuracy

10. Previewing
Basic method which can
be applied to many texts
-Read the title
-Think about the subject matter
-Who wrote the text?
-Where was this text originally published?
-When was this text originally published?
-Read the chapter titles or the headings
that break up the chapter or article
-Why has your professor assigned this
text?
Skimming and Scanning
By skimming a text, you can get a sense of its
overall logical progression. It can also help you
make decisions about where to place your greatest
focus when you have limited time for your reading.
Scanning is basically skimming with a more
tightly focused purpose: skimming to locate a
particular fact or figure, or to see whether this text
mentions a subject you’re researching. It is
essential in the writing of research papers, when
you may need to look through many articles and
books in order to find the material you need.
Summarizing
A summary has two aims:
(1) to reproduce the overarching ideas in a text, identifying the general concepts that run through
the entire piece
(2) to express these overarching ideas using precise, specific language. When you summarize, you
cannot rely on the language the author has used to develop his or her points, and you must find a
way to give an overview of these points without your own sentences becoming too general. You
must also make decisions about which concepts to leave in and which to omit, taking into
consideration your purposes in summarizing and also your view of what is important in this text

11. Using sources
How not to Plagiarize
Plagiarism is against the rules.The purpose of any paper is to show your own thinking, not create a patchwork
of borrowed ideas. If you use the author’s exact words, enclose them in quotation marks, or indent passages of
more than four lines.
Documentation (Different disciplines use their own systems to set out information about sources)
Traditional Endnotes or Footnotes with Superscript Numbers (humanities)Some humanities and
science disciplines use systems with small raised numbers matching footnotes or endnotes, followed by a
bibliography
MLA System: Parenthetical Author-Page References (humanities)
Author, Title of Source. Title of Container, Other Contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication Date,
Location.
APA System: Parenthetical Author-Date References (social sciences)The social sciences, management
studies, and many sciences emphasize the author and date as the most important information about a source
Numbered Note Systems (sciences)
Many sciences and applied sciences use a citation-sequence system. They give numbered notes in the text of
the paper that match a numbered list of sources at the end–given in the sequence the sources were mentioned,
not in alphabetical order as in most other systems
Electronic Sources
giving author, title, and date, though you may not be able to give the equivalent of publisher or page numbers

12. The focus of your essay should be on your understanding of the topic. If you include too much quotation in your
essay, you will crowd out your own ideas. Consider quoting a passage from one of your sources if any of the following
conditions holds:
1)The language of the passage is particularly elegant or powerful or memorable.
2)You wish to confirm the credibility of your argument by enlisting the support of an authority on your topic.
3)The passage is worthy of further analysis.
4)You wish to argue with someone else’s position in considerable detail
- Short Quotation: When you introduce a quotation with a full sentence, you should always place a colon at the end
of the introductory sentence. When you introduce a quotation with an incomplete sentence, you usually place a
comma after the introductory phrase
-Long Quotation: you should almost always introduce it with a full sentence that helps capture how it fits into your
argument. If your quotation is longer than four lines, do not place it in quotation marks. Instead, set it off as a block
quotation
If you remove text, then replace the missing text with an ellipsis—three periods surrounded by spaces
Quotation
•You must provide a reference.
•The paraphrase must be in your own words. You must do more than merely
substitute phrases here and there. You must also create your own sentence
structures.
Paraphrasing
Few basic principles:
-Refer explicitly to the author in your paraphrase
-Don’t just paraphrase. Analyze
-Not all of the details from the original passage need to be included in the paraphrase
-You don’t need to change every word.
Summary moves much
further than paraphrase from
point-by-point translation.
When you summarize a
passage, you need first to
absorb the meaning and then
to capture in your own words
the most important elements
from the original passage. A
summary is necessarily
shorter than a paraphrase

13. Specific types of writing
An annotated bibliography gives an account of the research that has been done on a given topic. Like any bibliography, an
annotated bibliography is an alphabetical list of research sources. In addition to bibliographic data, an annotated
bibliography provides a concise summary of each source and some assessment of its value or relevance.
A literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers
1)information seeking: the ability to scan the literature efficiently, using manual or computerized methods, to identify a
set of useful articles and books
2)critical appraisal: the ability to apply principles of analysis to identify unbiased and valid studies.
Abstracts are important because they give a first impression of the document that follows, letting readers decide whether to
continue reading and showing them what to look for if they do
They answer these questions:“Why did you do this study or project?” , “What did you do, and how?” “What did you find?”
“What do your findings mean?”
A comparative essay asks that you compare at least two (possibly more) items. These items will differ depending on the
assignment. You might be asked to compare: positions on an issue ,theories ,figures , texts, events.
-A primary source is a document that was created at the time of the event or subject you’ve chosen to study or by people
who were observers of or participants in that event or topic.
-Books written by historians are called “secondary” sources
When writing about literature, avoid plot summary, master the art of the analytical thesis, let the structure of your argument
determine the structure of your paper, opt for analysis instead of evaluative judgments, don’t confuse the author with the
speaker and Integrate quotations fully into your argument.

14. Admission Letters while writing them you should be focussed , coherent,interpretive , specific , personal. When you
organize them you have three options: to be narrative , analytic or technical
Application letters and résumés may be the most important documents you write during your time at university. Use your
application package to demonstrate these qualities.Keep the reader’s interests in mind, balance facts and claims and write
concisely.
An academic proposal is the first step in producing a thesis or major project and is expected to contain these elements
a rationale for the choice of topic, a review of existing published work (“the literature”) that relates to the topic and
an outline of your intended approach or methodology
Lab reports are the most frequent kind of document written in engineering and can count for as much as 25% of a course yet
little time or attention is devoted to how to write them well. A good lab report does more than present data; it demonstrates
the writer’s comprehension of the concepts behind the data.Typical Components:title page,abstract,introduction,methods
and materials (or equipment),experimental procedure,results,discussion,conclusion,references,appendices,further reading.
Oral presentations become easier with preparation and practice. Some tips are: Sign up early, it helps to know what’s
expected of you ,choose your topic carefully, define the scope of your research, organize your talk as you would an essay, try to
make use of supplementary media to illustrate or illuminate aspects of your talk, leave time to rehearse your presentation , it’s
important to feel comfortable about the way you look, and to be relaxed and confident, during your presentation , treat your
presentation like a well-planned performance, handle questions with confidence , and after your seminar, take time to assess
your “performance.”
A science paper should be written in a clear and concise style, its paragraphs should be coherent, and its ideas should
be well organized. Particular attention should be paid to audience , titles , headings , jargon ,passive vs active voice ,
tenses and references
In studying philosophy, students aim to do the following:
•understand such philosophical questions and the concepts, arguments, and theories that philosophers use to address them
•think critically about such arguments and theories
•develop their own answers to philosophical questions

15. Revising and editing
Revising gives you the chance to preview your work on behalf of the eventual reader
First check whether you have fulfilled
the intention of the assignment
-Have you performed the kind
of thinking the assignment sheet
asked for?
-Have you written the genre of
document called for?
-Have you used concepts and
methods of reasoning discussed in
the course?
-Have you give adequate evidence for
your argument or interpretation?
Organization
-Does your introduction make clear where the rest of
the paper is headed?
-Is each section in the right place to fulfill your
purpose?
-Have you drawn connections between the sections?
-Would a person reading your conclusion know what
question you had asked and how you had arrived at
your answer?
Polish and edit your style
Read passages aloud
Be sure to use spell check
Don’t depend on a thesaurus
Don’t depend on a grammar checker
These are
the basic
expectations for
any type of
assignment
Include a cover page
Number your pages
Double-space your text
Use a standard font in
twelve-point size
Put the reference list or
bibliography on a separate
page at the endStaple your pages

16. To avoid common errors , pay attention to faulty agreement , sentence fragments , run-on [fused]
sentences , overuse of passive voice, faulty parallelism, vague pronouns, dangling modifiers , squinting
or misplaced modifiers, mixed or dead metaphors , faulty word choice [faulty diction], wordiness and
comma splices
Unbiased Language
-Many standard wordings seem to
assume that every individual is
male. Alternatives as using plural
rather than singular, or avoiding a
pronoun altogether can help to avoid it.
-Don’t confuse the group and the
individual
Terms that label people simply on the
basis of their sex have often gathered
negative overtones
-Terms that label people simply on the
basis of their sex have often gathered
negative overtones
Wordiness
Edit your writing for conciseness , recognize
unnecessary words and edit them out.
-Doubling of Words (choose one)
-Intensifiers, Qualifiers (omit or give specific
details)
-Formulaic Phrases (use a one-word
form or omit)
-Catch-all Terms (can sometimes omit)
-Padded Verbs (use a one-word form)
-Unnecessary “to be” and “being” (omit)
-Passive Verbs (change to active voice, if
possible with a personal subject)
-Overuse of Relative Structures (“Who,”
“Which,” “That”) (omit when possible )

17. PunctuationCommas ,
-Commas after many introductory phrases are optional
-When joining two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction
-When joining mere phrases, you usually do not provide a comma
-Place commas between each element of a list of three or more parallel words, phrases, or clauses.
-Surround interrupting or parenthetical clauses or phrases with commas
Semicolons ;
-To combine two closely related independent clauses into one sentence
-To separate list elements that are long or complex
Colons :
They offer a way of urging your reader forward. The words preceding the colon create an expectation
Dashes —
They serve some of the same functions as commas and colons, but they assert themselves more
forcefully
Parentheses ()
They offer a third way of introducing interrupting material. A pair of commas supplies the standard,
matter-of-fact way of doing so. If dashes provide a more forceful alternative to commas, parentheses
offer a tentative and modest one
A comma splice occurs when you use a comma to join two complete sentences without placing an appropriate
joining word between them

18. Faulty Parallelism
The clauses or phrases joined by the conjunctions do not have similar grammatical structures
Active sentences: The person or thing responsible for the action in the sentence comes first.
Passive sentences: the person or thing acted on comes first, and the actor is added at the end,
introduced with the preposition “by” .
-When to use it: The actor is unknown or irrelevant, to vague about who is responsible, You are
talking about a general truth, to emphasize the person or thing acted on and in lab reports and
scientific research papers
-Passive sentences can get you into trouble in academic writing because they can be vague about
who is responsible for the action
Dangling modifier refers to a word or phrase, usually at the start of a sentence, that does not
connect properly to the rest of the sentence
How to Improve Your Spelling: Use a (good) dictionary , be consistent about using British or
American spellings in your writing, always check certain “troublesome” suffixes in your dictionary,
create your own “difficult-to-spell” lists , learn the standard pronunciations for frequently
misspelled words, watch out for homophones, near-homophones, and other easily confusable
words, use your computer spellchecker, but with caution , become familiar with English spelling
rules
Attention to Plurals must be paid , they have three categories regular, irregular and special cases.

19. Subject-Verb Agreement
Making sure your verbs agree with your subjects is not just a question of grammatical correctness; it
is a question of clarity. But to be clear, you will need to get the grammar right.The two essential parts
of a complete sentence are the subject and verb.
verb refers to the main action in a sentence, and the subject refers to the person or thing
responsible for the action.
Subjects can consist of a single word—a noun—but more typically they contain several words that,
together, form a noun phrase
Sentence fragments
It is a sentence fragment lacks a main—or independent—clause. Put more informally, a sentence
fragment doesn’t make a statement that can stand on its own.
Possessives
A noun can be made possessive when it could also have of a or of the preceding it
Singular: Usually made possessive by adding ’s to the end of the word.
Plural: A plural noun that ends in s can be made possessive either by adding only ’ to the end of the
word (the preferred method), or by adding ’s to the end of the word.
Possessive Pronouns: generally do not use an apostrophe to indicate possession. This rule also
applies to the possessive form of it, which is its.

20. Articles are special modifiers that appear before nouns or noun phrases. Like other adjectives, they
help clarify the meaning of the noun in your sentence. There are only two articles in the English
language: the and a.
Articles belong in front of all other modifiers preceding a noun.There are other special modifiers
called determiners or markers that may appear in front of a noun phrase
Expressions of
Quantity: Special
Cases of Subject-
Verb Agreement
With fractions, percentages and indefinite quantifiers, the verb
agrees with the preceding noun or clause
The words majority and minority are used in a variety of ways
Expressions of time, money and distance usually take a singular
verb
Adjectives preceded by the and used as plural nouns take a plural
verb
Expressions using the phrase number of depend on the
meaning of the phrase

21. Gerunds and infinitives
Gerunds and infinitives are verb forms that can take the place of a noun in a sentence
-Following a verb (gerund or infinitive)
-Following a preposition (gerund only)
-Following an indirect object (infinitive only)
Verbs for Referring to Sources
You can indicate your attitude to the sources you cite by choosing specific verbs to refer to
them. Don’t just keep repeating “Smith says.”
Pattern 1: reporting verb + that + subject + verb (admit , agree ,argue , claim)
Pattern 2: reporting verb + somebody/something + for + noun/gerund (applaud, blame,
censure, criticize)
Pattern 3: reporting verb + somebody/something + as + noun/gerund/adjective (appraise,
assess, characterize , classify)

22. University of Toronto. Advice on Academic Writing , Toronto. Retrieved
from http://advice.writing.utoronto.ca/
Bibliography: