PROF. VICTOR HUGO ACOSTA

TAKEN FROM: THE PROCESS OF COMPOSITION(REID, JOY,2000)

The Fundamentals of Writing

The Audience Who the audience is? Needs and expections from the

audience. What does the audience know about the

topic? What might the readers want to know?

The Writer What they know about the topic, What else they need to know, How they will find that information,, and How they will best communicate that

information to the audience.

Supporting Techniques Facts

Using facts to support a topic sentence requires a writer to be certain that the facts are accurate and relevant. Authorities usage make it more believable to the audience.

Physical Description Our five senses – sight, hearing, smell,

taste, and touch- are a source of detail about the world around us.

Personal Experience Sometin experince the most effective

support in a paragraph is a story from the writer’s experince or from an experience the writer knows about.

Methods of Development Process: Describing a process requires

that the students think about the exact steps in that process.

Chronological connectors that can be used are: first, second, The third step is, Next, Then, After that, and finally.

Extended Definition Explaining WHAT

(The meaning of….)

Cmparison- Contrast These are methods of Development that

show likeness and/or difference between two persons, places,things, or ideas.

Classification Classification paragraphs are the result

of the writer grouping information into categories(classes).

Cause(s) and/or Effect(s) They investigate why things are as they

are, or why something happened, or the effects of an event or a situation.

Decision-Making for Writers Before Writing: Subject Purpose and Audience Subject to Topic Effective strategies to collect

examples and details, and the best way to present them.

During Writing Selecting relevant and interesting details Clear and focused topic sentence. Selecting techniques to support and

detail. Choosing method of development. What voice to use.(personality and

attitude revealed to the audience)

After Writing Feedbeck from peers and teacher. Revising and rewriting the paragraph

(based on writer’s own ideas and the feedback from other eyes)

Drafting Revising and rewriting drafts is the basis

for successful writing.

Student writers must be prepared to write a “rough” draft, revise it, then continue to draft and revise until the essay is ready for the audience.

Overall Organization of the Academic Essay

An academic essay is a series of paragraphs about one topic; each paragraph has specific functions.

1. Introduction: 1.1 introduce the topic in an engaging way. 1.2 Background information about the

topic. 1.3.State the thesis.

Organization of the Paragraph 2. Body: 2.1 explain 2.2 define 2.3 clarify 2.4 Illustrate the main ideaof the essay,

and to persuade the audience that the writer’s ideas and opinions are worthwhile.

The Explaining Essay Explain what: write an extended

definition of… what a word such as semantics means

what a concept just as prejudice means.

Explain how: describe a process How to do a research paper

How to make a successful oral presentation.

Explain why: use cause and effect to discuss

Why an automobile accident occured.

Why global warming is destructive (effects)

Selecting a topic Write about what you know.

Identify and analyze your audience.

Decide on the general and the specific purposes of the essay.

Titles for Academic Essays To attract the reader.

To give the reader an idea of what the essay is about,

To provide focus for the essay.

Other guidelines for titles: Do not use quotation marks. Do not put a period. Center it on the top of the first page. Capitalize either, all letters in the tittle or

capitalize the first letter of all important words.

To highlight titlles, do one of the following: Underline the tittle: The Football Soccer Italicize the tittle: The American Crisis Boldface the tittle: Public schools in

C.R. Capitalize the entire tittle:

COFFEEHOUSES IN TURKEY

The Thesis Statement It is the most general, most important

sentence in the essay.

It is the strongest, clearest statement in the essay.

It is located at the end of the introductory paragraph.

The thesis statement It must not be a simple sentence of fact.

It will not be expressed as a question.

It will contain controlling ideas to develop the rest of the essay and guide the reader.

Thesis statement of opinion and/ or intent

Thesis statements of intent state just the purpose of the essay. Example:

High School English Programs require three chnages to be updated.

Thesis statements of opinion It ussually contains the purpose of the

essay and evaluative words such as:

Best, worst, valouable, unpleasant, boring, and so on.

Writing Conventions for the Academic Essay

The Introduction: Effective introductions avoid two problems:

1.The apology, complaint, or personal dilemma because limits the credibility of the writer.

The Introduction 2. The panoramic beginning is

impossible to narrow a thesis without a break in unity.Examples:

Since the beginning of time…. In this world of today….

The body of the Paragraph Each paragraph contained in this part is

approximately 125 to 175 words(four to eight sentences.

Like the essay itself each paragraph has three parts: a beginning(introduction, a middle (support), and an end (conclusion).

Using citations in Academic Essays

Most major writing assignments require students to do research that is , to identify, locate, and read materials written by others.

Academic readers value the use of material outside the students’ personal experience.

Using Citations in Academic Essays

In –text citations: a brief reference to the author that immediately follows the author’s ideas and/or words in the taxt of the student’s paper.

End- of text citation: a complete reference to the author and the material where the author’s ideas are located. End- of text citations are listed alphabetically by the last name of the author on a Reference page at the end of the student’s paper.

The Conclusion Guidelines: 1. Concluding connector(In conclusion,) 2.Look back to the thesis. Narrow statement that links to the last

body paragraph. Summarize main ideas from the body. Consider one of these: a prediction,

recommendation and/or solution.