PA WritingSession #1 - Structure

What we’ll do today:

• Differences between high school, college and university writing

• Fundamentals of postsecondary writing• Rundown of the writing assignment

What is “analysis”?

Analysis (In this section we’ll be drawing on content from the book ‘Writing Analytically’ by Rosenwasser, Stephen and Babington)

“Writing provides a method for expanding our ability to notice things, to have ideas about what we notice, and to arrive ultimately at some plausible interpretation.”

“Writing analytically can make you smarter. It can get you beyond thinking that what things mean is simply a matter of opinion. It can help you understand and synthesize other people’s ideas en route to ideas of your own.”

The Failsafe Method• Let’s draw this out

How to write a thesis

What role should the thesis play throughout the paper?

What are the components?

The Hamburger

Writing an essay that meets a university level standard draws on some of what is taught in high schools as the “hamburger” format, but its much more complex.

**Exercise: As a group we’re going to draw a deluxe, university level hamburger on the white board :)

Writing Assignments Across Disciplines – What’s Similar

& What’s Different?

Creating an Outline

Intro- Information to include to contextualize your thesis- Thesis

Arguments- Argument #1

- Evidence- Evidence

- Argument#2- Evidence- Evidence- Evidence

Conclusion

The evolving thesis…

Writing an essay is not a linear process

Because of this, it’s usually necessary to plan cushion time for when the process gets a little messy

Here’s another way the process may look:

Non-linear writing process:1. Write an introduction2. State a working thesis3. Begin querying your thesis4. Muster supporting evidence for your working thesis5. Seek complicating evidence6. Reformulate your thesis” (use the complicating evidence to produce new wording in your working thesis (additions, qualification, and so forth). This is how a thesis evolves: by assimilating obstacles and refining terms.”7. Repeat steps 3-68. State a conclusion

Some methods for coming up with ideas:

•Brainstorming• Free-writing• Inspiration/mind-mapping

Writing Style

The purpose of:

• Word choice = “diction” • Word order = “syntax”

Revising your work• Writing is re-writing. More to come!

Now Let’s look at your assignment!

What we covered today:

• Differences between high school, college and university writing

• Fundamentals of postsecondary writing• Rundown of the writing assignment