PG Academic Writing Alison
PG Academic Writing Alison
PG Academic Writing Alison
ACADEMIC WRITING
Table of Contents
Introduction Writing Structure
Macro levelStructure Middle levelParagraphs
unity development cohesion
Micro levelSentences
academic style sentence structures using sources (in text referencing)
POSTGRADUATE RESOURCES
ACADEMIC WRITING
Introduction
Postgraduate writing should demonstrate:
a clear understanding of subject matter an ability to analyse and evaluate information for relevance, accuracy and authority a logical, flowing structure writing and THINKING are integrally connected. You cant write well if you dont have enough ideas and information about what you want to say. much of the writing process is REWRITING. You will need to draft and revise your work several times until you achieve an appropriate structure and level of clarity. Become familiar with the discourses of your discipline Different areas of study have different discourses (types of writing structures and language use). For example, engineers write very differently from social scientists. You need to: look for and pay attention to the types of writing in your field build your vocabulary and use of the specific terminology of your discipline. Be responsible to your reader (audience) You are not writing only for your lecturer. Your audience is an educated reader who does not know your specific topic area. You need to guide them clearly and directly through the points that you are making. This is done through: having a clear structure making explicit links between the ideas you present
Be aware that:
Writing Structure
You may be required to write in several genres: thesis, essay, report, case study or a combination of these. All academic writing tasks have something in common three levels of structure. 1. macro structure (type of text, and its major subdivisions) 2. middle level paragraph development 3. microlevel sentence structure and style choices
1.
MACRO-LEVEL
2. MIDDLE-LEVEL paragraphs
- unity - cohesion - adequate development (enough information)
3.
MICRO-LEVEL
sentence structure academic style
In some macro-structures (such as a scientific thesis) the main sections are fairly set; in others (such as many styles of report) some sections are set but much of the organisation is open. You create your own structure with headings and subheadings. In a traditional essay you map out connected sets of paragraphs. Link to essay writing and writing reports Look at the three sample structures in the table remember these are only possibilities. Thesis scientific structure
Abstract Acknowledgements List of figures Glossary 1.0 Introduction 1.1Aim 1.2 Participants 1.3 Research questions 2.0 Literature review 2.1 2.2 etc 3.0 Methodology 4.0 Results 5.0 Discussion 6.0 Conclusion 7.0 Recommendations 8.0 References
Body
Point by point development of argument
Conclusion
Summary of arguments Return to thesis
Example
Here are two possible plans for the body of an essay on the following topic.
Topic: Globalisation is a threat to the sovereignty of states. Discuss, using one or two countries as examples. (Assume you have already defined the term globalisation in the introduction).
Structural Plan 1
Country A i. globalisation threat 1 ii. globalisation threat 2 iii. globalisation threat 3 Country B i. globalisation threat 1 ii. globalisation threat 2 iii. globalisation threat 3 iv. globalisation threat 4 c) similarities between countries A & B d) differences between countries A & B e) under what conditions is globalisation a threat to the sovereignty of nations
Structural Plan 2
a) How globalisation threatens countries: i. Threat 1: what is it? example using country A &/or B ii. Threat #2: what is it? example using country A &/or B iii. Threat #3: what is it? example using country A &/or B b) Is globalisation a threat to the sovereignty of states overall? What significant differences can be found between countries A & B? Can we give reasons for these differences?
Unity
A paragraph should contain one main idea or claim, expressed in a topic sentence, often the first sentence. The paragraph should have a logical structure so that all the sentences are connected and flow from the central theme. There are many types of paragraph structure. This is problemsolution.
Expansion of point
The emphasis of the criminal justice system has until recently been on the battle between the offender/ defendant and the state/prosecutor and not the actual harm experienced by the victim. In Fact victims have had minimal participation in the criminal justice process; their role being primarily to provide information to the state prosecutor with no involvement in prosecution and sentencing. McShane and Williams (1992, p. 260) contend that victim neglect is not simply a result of indifference, it is a logical extension of a legal system which defines crime as an offence against the state. They argue that this neglect can be remedied by training of personnel within the criminal justice system and through victim support services.
Development
A paragraph has to have enough information in it to justify being a paragraph! It should consist of a main point that is then further elaborated on. Some possible development models include: expansion the point is further defined or broken down and analysed or reframed for clarification. illustration examples or scenarios are given evidence researchbased or sometimes experiencebased support for the point application how this can then operate in practice
There may also be a sentence which comments on the material or relates the expanded point back to main topic of that section of the writing.
The research on anxiety suggests that like self-esteem, anxiety can be experienced at various levels (Oxford 1999). At the deepest or global level, trait anxiety is a more permanent predisposition to be anxious. Some people are predictably and generally anxious about many things. At a more momentary, or situational level, state anxiety is experienced in relation to some particular event or act. As we learned in the case of self-esteem, then, it is important in a classroom for a teacher to try to determine whether a students anxiety stems from a more global trait or whether it comes from a particular situation at the moment.
Comment
Source: Brown, H.D (2000) Principles of teaching and learning. 4th Ed. NY:Addison Wesley Longman
In the following paragraph the sentences are all about mummification but they jump all over the place. There is no overall paragraph plan and they jump all over the place. The ancient Egyptians were masters of preserving dead peoples bodies by making mummies of them. Mummies several thousand years old have been discovered nearly intact. The skin, hair, teeth, finger- and toenails, and facial features of the mummies were evident. It is possible to diagnose the diseases they suffered in life such as smallpox, arthritis, and nutritional deficiencies. The process was remarkably effective. Sometimes apparent were the fatal afflictions of the dead people: a middle-aged king died from a blow on the head, and polio killed a child king. Mummification consisted of removing the internal organs, applying natural preservatives inside and out, and then wrapping the body in layers of bandages. Here is the same paragraph revised with a plan (from general to specific )and clearer links to help the reader The ancient Egyptians were masters of preserving dead peoples bodies by making mummies of them. The process of mummification consisted of removing the internal organs, applying natural preservatives inside and out, and then wrapping the body in layers of bandages. It was a remarkably effective practice. Indeed, mummies several thousand years old have been discovered nearly intact. Their skin, hair, teeth, fingers and toenails, and facial features of the mummies are still evident. Their diseases in life, such as smallpox, arthritis, and nutritional deficiencies, are still diagnosable. Even their fatal afflictions are still apparent: a middle-aged king died from a blow on the head: a child king died from polio. Topic sentence is bold Words in italics nouns repeated and then pronouns Boxed words: links between sentences Underlined words: Parallel grammatical form for parallel content
Adapted from: Fowler, Aaron & Anderson (2001) The little brown handbook, New York: Addison Wesley (pp. 81-2)
Source: Leinwand, A., & Fang, K. (1996). Network Management: a practical perspective, Reading, Mass.: Addison Wesley (p. 102)
Workshop Activity 3Rewriting for greater cohesion 3. Micro-level sources, sentences and academic style
Every sentence in your writing should be included for a specific reason and should connect with the sentences around it and the overall topic. Each sentence should make logical and grammatical sense and be expressed in an appropriately academic style. Some aspects of academic style you need to be aware of include:
Degrees of certainty
There is rarely absolute proof of an event or a direct causal relationship between phenomena. There are more often correlations and links. This means that tentative language (such as tends to, indicates that, suggests that, the majority of) is often appropriate. For example:
However when you know something always happens and you can be confident it will happen the same way in the future you should not be tentative.
This occurs whenever there is a downturn in commodity prices. Third person voice (unless the personal aspect is an important part of the work)
The third person voice (it, they, he, she, the authors, rsearchers) distances the self from the work and appears more Alison Brown, SLC 7
objective than the first person I, we or second person you. Third person. Vocabulary choice evidently plays a role in determining which topics are taken up by speakers. First person I found that the vocabulary choice played a role in determining which topics speakers take up. However, in some types of writing (such as reflective journal writing and creative arts exegeses) the first person is used to reflect the personal, subjective, processbased, exploratory nature of the study or project. You may need to negotiate this aspect with your lecturers.
Direct questions
In general your writing should restrict direct questions to: your specific research questions (thesis, exegesis, a research paper, project, report, reflective journal) an emphasis of the relationship between aspects of your writing
Little
Few
Much Many
Conciseness
Try to use the most straightforward term and reduce unnecessary words. Here are some common wordy phrases that can be reduced into more concise forms. Wordy (or redundant) in recent years with a high degree of certainty at this moment in time in close proximity (to) advance planning co-operate together few in number crisis situation a great deal of in order to make adjustments is reflective of is capable of Concise recently certain currently, now (not nowadays) close (to) planning (all planning is in advance) co-operate (means together) few crisis (this is a situation) much/many to adjust reflects can
Look at the student paraphrased versions of Hardens idea, with evaluative comments. Original material: nurses can be viewed as an oppressed group, a view supported by the fact that nurses lack autonomy, accountability and control over their own profession. Yet nursing is by far the largest occupational group within the sphere of healthcare, so why is it so powerless? For me the history of the domination of nursing is inextricably linked to that of the domination and oppression of women. Harden, J 1996, Enlightenment, empowerment and emancipation: the case for critical pedagogy in nurse education
Student version 1:
Nursing is by far the largest occupation group in healthcare. Yet, nurses can be seen as an oppressed group. This view is supported by the fact that nurses lack control over their own profession. They do not have autonomy or accountability. The history of the domination and oppression of women is the link to explaining the domination of nursing. The student has copied most of the original. There is no indication of where the students voice ends and the cited writers voice begins. There is no author or date (no reference). Therefore the text is plagiarised.
Student version 2:
Although nurses form the largest occupational group in the healthcare profession, they can be seen as an oppressed group. Harden (1996) states that the domination of nurses is inextricably linked to the historical oppression and domination of women in society. For nurses, she claims this oppression is illustrated by the extremely limited professional independence they have as seen by their lack of accountability and control over their profession. It is still not clear which ideas come from the reference and which from the student. Although the source has been acknowledged, many sections have been taken directly from the original, and should have been acknowledged as quotes. Moving a few words around or using a few synonyms does not make it your writing or your ideas. Therefore, this is also a plagiarized version.
Student version 3:
Despite nurses forming the largest group in the healthcare professions, Harden (1996) claims they can be categorised as an oppressed group (p.33). She explains the domination of nurses as a reflection of the historical oppression and domination of women in society. For Harden (1996), this subservient role of nurses is illustrated by their lack of autonomy, accountability and control over their own profession (p.33). Here the student has made much better use of the original. Some words have been paraphrased. Words taken directly from the original are clearly marked as quotes (note that they are only in italics in this example to show what has been quoted). Also, the source is clearly documented.
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Dont put off writing you need to leave plenty of time for thinking and revision. Try to write something every day: notes, personal reflections, mindmaps. Let your ideas flow freely at the start and then impose a structure upon them
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References
Brown, H.D 2000, Principles of teaching and learning, 4th Ed. Addison Wesley Longman, New York
Dyson, F. 1979, Disturbing the Universe, Harper & Row, New York.
Fowler, H.R and Aaron, J.E. 2001, The little brown handbook, Longman, New York
Gee, J. P 1992, The social mind: language, ideology and social practice, Bergin and Garvey, New York
Harden, J. 1996, Enlightenment, empowerment and emancipation: the case for critical pedagogy in nurse education, in Nurse Educator Today, Vol.16, pp. 3237
Leinwand, A. and Fang, K 1993, Network management: a practical perspective, AddisonWesley, Reading, MASS, p.102
OLeary, M. and Meas. N. 2001, Learning for transformation: a study of the relationship between culture, values, experience and development practice in Cambodia Krom Akphiwat Phum, Battambang, Cambodia
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