Academic Writing Workshop



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A Guide to Preparing

Academic Papers and Presentations

St. Gregory’s University

College of Continuing Studies

The Writing Process

Explore

Choose

Support

Organize

Revise

Edit/Proofread

Note: Although the writing process is presented in a linear fashion in this guide. Please consider, however, that writing is not always linear. You may find yourself skipping elements and returning to other elements of the writing process as you write. This is perfectly normal.

Explore

Exploration involves finding a topic and using pre-writing strategies to explore it.

Pre-writing strategies include the following:

• Brainstorm: Generate topics or ideas quickly. Do not attempt to censor any of the topics or ideas you consider. Work to get a strong list. Often topics/ideas come quickly at first and then there is a pause in ideas. Don’t give up. When the ideas come again, they are often your most imaginative or unique.

• Freewrite: Simply write. As in brainstorming, do not attempt to censor what you are writing. Keep the pen moving to record your thoughts. They may lead you in multiple directions, but that is fine. Some writers set a time for themselves to freewrite, as in “write for five minutes without stopping.” Others find “the clock” to be an obstacle, so these writers simply write until they exhaust the ideas.

• Clustering: In this visual organization, a writer places the topic in a circle in the center of the paper. Then the writer places related ideas in other circles and shows the relationship between ideas through connecting lines.

• Cubing: This practice calls for the writer to look at a topic from six sides. Some writers will use the journalistic approach to ask: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How? Sometimes writers will consider rhetorical approaches: description, comparison, association, analysis, application, and argumentation. I would suggest that a variation on cubing would be to ask yourself about all of the angles involved with your topic. (Do not overlook short and long term effects and direct and indirect impact.) .

Choose

As you explore your topic, the goal is to determine the position or side you will choose.

Support

Determine the evidence or research that supports your position. (But do not overlook the need to understand other positions!)

Where to look for evidence:

• EbSCOHost (and other online databases)

• St. Gregory’s University Library

• Internet

• Primary sources

• Secondary sources

• Interviews, surveys

Use of evidence in your paper/presentation:

• Paraphrase

• Summarize

• Quote

• Always cited according to APA format

Organize

Academic papers typically include an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

William Kerrigan, in his book Writing to the Point, identifies six steps for writing an effective paper. These steps are:

STEP 1: Write a short, simple declarative sentence that makes one statement.

STEP 2: Write three sentences about the sentence in Step 1 – clearly and directly about the whole of that sentence, not just something in it.

STEP 3: Write four or five sentences about each of the three sentences in Step 2 – clearly and directly about the whole of the Step 2 sentence, not just something in it.

STEP 4: Make the material in the four or five sentences of Step 3 as specific and concrete as possible. Go into detail. Use examples. Don’t ask, “What will I say next?” Instead, say some more about what you have just said. Your goal is to say a lot about a little, not a little about a lot.

STEP 5: In the first sentence of each new paragraph, starting with Paragraph 2, insert a clear reference to the idea of the preceding paragraph.

STEP 6: Make sure every sentence in your theme is connected with, and makes a clear reference to, the preceding sentence.

Kerrigan, W.J., & Metcalf, A.A. (1987). Appendix I. Writing to the Point. (4th ed).

New York: HBJ.

Step 1 generates a thesis. Step 2 generates topic sentences. These steps are used to give unity to the paper. Steps 3 and 4 create appropriate development in your paper. Steps 5 and 6 focus upon coherence, the flow and connectedness of your paper.

Consider:

• Role of the introduction

• Emphatic order

• Logical order

• Ordering the body paragraphs

• Role of the conclusion

Revise

Begin with the “big picture:”

• Development and order

• Connections between paragraphs

• Read the paper aloud!

Move to internal elements:

• Language choices

• Sentence variation (length and type)

• Connections between sentences

Edit/Proofread

Review for format.

Review for grammar.

• Review your own work for notations from peer reviewers or faculty. What patterns do you notice in the comments? Each writer is unique, so if you can identify the grammatical elements that give you difficulty, then you can determine how to attack those problems specifically.

Writing Summaries

Summarizing material involves providing a brief restatement of the main points of someone else’s work. The following website contains information that you might find helpful:

University of Victoria:

Using and Evaluating Sources

Checking for signs of bias

• Does the author or publisher endorse political or religious views that could affect objectivity?

• Is the author or publisher associated with a special-interest group, such as Greenpeace or the National Rifle Association that might present only one side of an issue?

• Are alternative views presented and addressed? How fairly does the author treat opposing views?

• Does the author’s language show signs of bias?

Assessing an argument

• What is the author’s central claim or thesis?

• How does the author support this claim—with relevant and sufficient evidence or with just a few anecdotes or emotional examples?

• Are statistics consistent with those you encounter in other sources? Have they been used fairly? Does the author explain where the statistics come from? (It is possible to “lie” with statistics by using them selectively or by omitting mathematical details.)

• Are any of the author’s assumptions questionable?

• Does the author consider opposing arguments and refute them persuasively?

• Does the author fall prey to any logical fallacies?

Evaluating Web sources

Authorship

• Does the Web site or document have an author? You may need to do some clicking and scrolling to find the author’s name. If you have landed directly on an internal page of a site, for example, you may need to navigate to the home page or find an “about this site” link to learn the name of the author.

• If there is an author, can you tell whether he or she is knowledgeable and credible? When the author’s qualifications aren’t listed on the site itself, look for links to the author’s home page, which may provide evidence of his or her interests and expertise.

Sponsorship

• Who, if anyone, sponsors the site? The sponsor of a site is often named and described on the home page.

• What does the URL tell you? The domain name extension often indicates the type of group hosting the site: commercial (.com), educational (.edu), nonprofit (.org), governmental (.gov), military (.mil), or network (.net). URLs may also indicate a country of origin: .uk (United Kingdom) or .jp (Japan), for instance.

Purpose and audience

• Why was the site created: To argue a position? To sell a product? To inform readers?

• Who is the site’s intended audience?

Currency

• How current is the site? Check for the date of publication or the latest update, often located at the bottom of the home page or at the beginning or end of an internal page.

• How current are the site’s links? If many of the links no longer work, the site may be too dated for your purposes.

Source:

Is it a Scholarly Journal?

|  |Scholarly Journals |Magazines |Trade Journals |

|Written for |Professors and students |General public |Workers in a specific industry |

|Written by |Scholars |Professional writers |Professional writers and industry |

| | | |experts |

|Looks like |Serious and sober with few colors |Glossy with advertisements |Glossy with industry specific |

| | | |advertisements |

|Articles |Are signed and often include author's |Are not always signed by the author|Are not always signed by the author |

| |credentials | |Include technical language specific to |

| |Are written in technical and scholarly|Are written in relatively simple |the industry |

| |language |language |Report on industry trends and news |

| |Report on research and scholarship |Report on current topics and events|Are usually under 10 pages in length |

| |Are usually at least 10 pages in | | |

| |length |Are usually under 10 pages in | |

| |Contain footnotes and references to |length | |

| |other journal articles | | |

| |May be reviewed by an editorial board | | |

|Examples |Journal of Applied Physics |Newsweek |Advertising Age |

Source:

Is it a scholarly journal? (n.d.). Retrieved March 24, 2006, from Virginia Commonwealth

University Libraries Web site:

Format for Argumentative Essay

An argumentative essay has the function of trying to persuade the reader to accept a particular point of view, and the form of an argument (i.e. contains premises and a conclusion). An expository essay may be persuasive, but primarily serves the function of providing information about a topic. For example: explaining the reasons why working adults go back to school later in life is the subject of an expository essay. Giving reasons why working adults should return to school to earn a college degree is the subject of an argumentative essay.

Introduction:

• Provide preliminary information regarding your paper's issue

• Thesis Statement (Conclusion) – states your position (what you believe to be true) about your topic. The thesis is usually the last sentence of the introductory paragraph

Body:

Premise 1 (Topic sentence of the first body paragraph) – gives support for your conclusion (thesis)

• Supporting Details – information that provides evidence for the premise

• Documentation – research that backs up what you are saying (properly documented using APA format

Premise 2 (Topic sentence of the second body paragraph) – gives support for your conclusion (thesis)

• Supporting Details – information that provides evidence for the premise

• Documentation – research that backs up what you are saying (properly documented using APA format

Premise 3 (Topic sentence of the third body paragraph) – gives support for your conclusion (thesis)

• Supporting Details – information that provides evidence for the premise

• Documentation – research that backs up what you are saying (properly documented using APA format

Conclusion:

Provide a brief summary of your argument and restate your thesis. Note: Do not introduce any new material at this point.

References:

Please include your references, in proper APA format, on a separate page.

Sample Thesis Statement and Topic Sentences

Introduction:

X Standardized tests, a limited measurement of learning, are poor predictors of how students perform in a broad range of educational settings.

Body:

1. Standardized tests, often constructed from the perspective of behavioral science, are in opposition to the view that learning is an active and individual processes of constructing understanding.

▪ Research base: Piaget and Inhelder, Resnick, Sprenger, Vygotsky

2 Short answer, multiple-choice, and fill in the blank tests have little capacity to measure higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills.

▪ Research base: Archbald and Newmann, Darling-Hammond, Edelsky and Harmon

3 “Norm-referenced” exams used for comparing a student’s performance with others tend to limit the possibilities for test takers to succeed because the tests are designed with the expectation that 50 percent of the population will score below the fiftieth percentile.

▪ Research base: Cannell, Hill

Conclusion:

X Statement of the argument’s conclusion (therefore).

1

2 Statements of the argument’s premisses (because).

3

Preparing Presentations for Class

The steps involved in the writing process, writing summaries, and evaluating resources should be used when preparing for presentations as well. Below are some general guidelines to keep in mind when preparing and delivering a presentation.

Presentation Tips for Students

By Wendy Russell

Making effective classroom presentations takes practice, but with a few tips up your sleeve, you are ready to take on the challenge.

Note - These presentation tips refer to PowerPoint slides (all versions), but all of these tips in general, can be applied to any presentation.

1. Know Your Topic

Students usually want to charge right in and start using thepresentation software immediately. Do the research first and know your material. Think through what you will present before beginning the project on the computer. Creating the slide show is the easy part. The best classroom presentations are created by people who are comfortable with what they are going to talk about.

2. Use Key Phrases About Your Topic

Good presenters use key phrases and include only the most important information. Your topic may be vast, but choose only the top three or four points and make them several times throughout the presentation in the classroom.

3. Avoid Using Too Much Text on the Slide

One of the biggest mistakes students make in classroom presentations, is in writing their whole speech on the slides. The slide show is meant to accompany your oral presentation. Write in the form of jot notes, called bullet points, on slides. Use simple language and limit the number of bullets to three or four per slide. The surrounding space will make it easier to read.

4. Limit the Number of Slides

Too many slides in a presentation will cause you to be rushing to get through them, and your audience might end up paying more attention to the changing slide than to what you are saying. On average, one slide per minute is about right in a classroom presentation.

5. Layout of Your Slide is Important

Make your slides easy to follow. Put the title at the top where your audience expects to find it. Phrases should read left to right and top to bottom. Keep important information near the top of the slide. Often the bottom portions of slides cannot be seen from the back rows because heads are in the way.

6. Avoid Fancy Fonts

Choose a font that is simple and easy to read such as Arial, Times New Roman or Verdana. You may have a really cool font on your computer, but save it for other uses. Don't use more than two different fonts – one for headings and another for content. Keep all fonts large enough (at least 18 pt and preferably 24 pt) so that people at the back of the room will be able to read them easily.

7. Use Contrasting Colors For Text and Background

Dark text on a light background is best. This combination offers the most visibility. Sometimes though, you may want a dark background for effect, to dazzle the crowd. In that case, be sure to make text a light color for easy reading in a classroom presentation.

Text is often difficult to read on patterned or textured backgrounds.

Keep your color scheme consistent throughout your classroom presentation.

8. Try a Slide Design Theme to Keep the Look Consistent

When you use a design theme, choose one that will not detract from your classroom presentation. Test it ahead of time to make sure that the text will be readable and the graphics won’t get lost in the background.

9. Use Animations and Transitions Sparingly in Classroom Presentations

Let's face it. Students love to apply animations and transitions every place they can. This will certainly be entertaining, but rarely will the audience be paying attention to the message of the presentation. Always remember that The slide show is a visual aid and not the objective of the classroom presentation.



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