ADVICE ON ACADEMIC WRITING

SOME GENERAL ADVICE:

✓ An essay should have an argument.✓ Try to formulate an hypothesis.

✓ Present your argument clearly and persuasively.✓ Revise it.

ESSAY TOPICS✓ Note the key terms.

✓ Use specific concepts and methods.

✓ Ask yourself questions.

✓ Look for controversies in the material.

✓ Formulate a tentative thesis statement.

PLANNING AND ORGANIZING

✓ Help you to organize a logical and orderly argument.✓ Make easier for you to notice whether you have left

anything out.✓ Allow you to concentrate on writing issues such as

grammar, word choice and clarity.

USING THESIS STATEMENTS✓ It makes a definite and limited assertion

that needs to be explained and supported.

✓ It shows the emphasis and indicates the methodology of your argument.

✓ It shows awareness of difficulties and disagreements.

INTRODUCTIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

INTRODUCTIONS:

✓ Quote an expert, give some background information.

✓ Find a statistic that illustrates the problem.

✓ Get to the point as soon as possible.

CONCLUSSIONS:

✓ Try to convey some closing thoughts.

✓ Recommend a specific course of action.

✓ Use a quotation or expert opinion.

PARAGRAPHS✓ Express the central idea in a topic

sentence.

✓ Repeat key words or synonyms.

✓ Use pronouns and specialized linking words.

TOPIC SENTENCES✓ They state the main point of a paragraph.

✓ They usually appear at the very beginning of paragraphs.

✓They can help strengthen the coherence of the essay.

READING AND RESEARCHING

✓ Know what ideas you need to record✓ Don’t write down too much

✓ Label your notes intelligently

DEALING WITH NEW WORDS

✓ Sound it out and examine the structure.

✓ Look at the context.

✓ Check the dictionary.

✓ Write a brief definition or synonym.

✓ Try writing a sentence using the word.

PREVIEWING✓ Read the title.

✓ Think about the subject matter.

✓ Look for information about the author.

✓ Check where and when the text was originally published.

✓ Try to find the facts and ideas that you are expected to retain from the reading.

SKIMMING AND SCANNINGSKIMMING:

✓ Read carefully the introductory paragraph and try to make predictions.

✓ Read carefully the topic and concluding sentence of each paragraph.

✓ Try to avoid looking up unfamiliar words.

SCANNING:✓ Skimming to see whether

the text mentions a subject that you’re researching.

✓ Keep a specific set of goals in mind.

SUMMARIZING✓ Include the title and identify the author.

✓ State the author’s thesis or central concept.

✓ Divide the article into sections.

✓ Omit minor details, examples and ideas that are not really central to the text.

✓ Avoid writing opinions.

✓ Avoid plagiarism.

USING SOURCES✓ Try to avoid plagiarism.

✓ Quote appropriately✓ Paraphrase in your own words, providing a reference

✓ Summarize capturing in your own word the most important information

SPECIFIC TYPES OF WRITING

✓ Book review, article critique

✓ Literature review

✓ Comparative essay

✓ Admission letter, application letter

✓ Lab report

STYLE AND EDITING✓ Revise and edit

✓ Use the computer✓ Pay attention to punctuation and use unbiased language

ERRORS IN GRAMMAR, PUNCTUATION AND STYLE

✓ Faulty agreement

✓ Sentence fragments

✓ Run-on sentences

✓ Overuse of passive voice

✓ Faulty parallelism

✓ Vague pronouns

✓ Dangling modifiers

✓ Misplaced modifiers

✓ Mixed or dead metaphors

✓ Faulty word choice

✓ Wordliness

✓ Comma splices

✓ Misuse of comma, semicolon and colon

✓ Incorrect comparison

✓ Double constructions

ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

✓ Use articles✓ Expressions of quantity

✓ Gerunds

VERBS FOR REFERRING TO SOURCES✓ PATTERN 1: reporting verb + that + subject +

verb

✓ PATTERN 2: reporting verb + somebody/something + for + noun/gerund

✓ PATTERN 3: reporting verb + somebody/something + as + noun/gerund/adjective

FURTHER RESOURCES

✓ Online writing advice✓ Online writing reference tools

✓ Online resources for students of English as a second language

BIBLIOGRAPHYWriting at the University of Toronto.

Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2016.