Essentials of Academic Writing
About Me
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MA English
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Academic writing and general English
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Office Hours: Tuesday 15:40-17:40 / Office
706
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Google site: DG’s English Site
Open it Now
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Google sites:
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DG’s English Site
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https://sites.google.com/site/dgsenglishsite/
About You
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Name
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Academic
interests
What is an Essay?
Narrative Essays
Descriptive Essays
Expository Essays
Persuasive Essays
Telling a Story
Painting a Picture
Just the Facts
Two Great Sites
• The Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) –
online writing guide, with good tips on style,
structure, and other essay elements, as well as a good guide to Chicago Manual of Style citation system.
• http://www.plagiarism.org – good advice and links to
What is expected
of you this
Answer the following questions
according to the course sheets.
• Academic writing is an extension of…?• What sort of essay are we going to focus on?
• So is that narrative, descriptive, expository, or persuasive?
• What is the approach we will take in this class? What does that
mean?
• How long will your final essay be?
• What is an outline? What is a final draft? How does it differ from a
first draft?
• How much of your final mark is determined by your final essay? • What else determines your grade?
• Give 5 reasons your final essay will be immediately sent back
without feedback.
• What is your minimum attendance? What happens if you fail to
• An extension of your thought!
• Persuasive (argumentative) essays
– Take a position
– Argue that position – Support that position
• Process approach • 800-1000 words
• Attendance, participation, homework • 75%
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Outline – a “map” of your essay, includes
main arguments, points to support, and
summarizes your paragraphs &
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First Draft – your first attempt
at writing an essay. Also called
a “rough” draft.
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Final Draft – a completed
Requirements
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Homework & Assignments
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Research Study (Nov 30)
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Midterm Outline (Date TBA)
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First Draft
10 Tips
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Think
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Have fun
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Organize – Outline
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The reader comes
first
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Simple and clear is
best
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Be open-minded
and seek truth
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Plan
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It is a process
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Don’t get
Which is the argument?
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This class is extremely
unpleasant.
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This class is extremely unpleasant
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This class is extremely unpleasant
Watch the video and answer the
following questions:
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What is an argument?
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What are the two parts of the argument?
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What 2 things must we decide in order to
evaluate an argument?
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What is an argument?
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Addresses a specific issue and offers a
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What are the two parts of the
argument?
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A conclusion (your position)
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premise (reason to support
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What 2 things must we decide when
evaluating an argument?
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Whether the premises are accurate
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Whether the premises are logically
4 Key Elements of an argument
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Premise (the reasons)
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Conclusion (the position)
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Application of Reason or Logic (not emotion or
instinct)
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Relationship of Premise to conclusion (does
Argument?
• Can I have tomorrow
off?
• Why do you want to
have tomorrow off?
• Because we technically
Are these good arguments? Why or
why not?
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You should not take this class because Mr.
Galeone hates me.
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There are 1.2 million people in Prague
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The Philadelphia Flyers are the best team in
hockey!
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Czech beer is the best beer in the world because
it’s really famous.
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Czech is an extremely difficult language because
Good argument?
• You should not take this
class because Mr. Galeone hates me.
• Premise does not lead
to the conclusion
• …too boring,
Good argument?
• There are 1.2 million
people in Prague
• Only information • No premise
Good argument?
• The Philadelphia Flyers
are the best team in the world because I’m a
huge fan!
• Emotion / not reason
• …best team because
Good argument?
• Czech beer is the best
beer in the world because it’s really famous.
• Premise does not lead
to conclusion
• Unsupported Opinion • Cz beer is famous
Donald Trump
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“I know more than
the (military)
generals about ISIS.
Trust me. I do.”
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Good premise to
Good argument?
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Czech is an extremely difficult language
because of its unique pronunciation and its
varied phraseology.
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Conclusion – Czech is difficult
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Premise – unique pronunciation, varied
Which is the argument?
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This class is extremely
unpleasant.
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This class is extremely unpleasant
Homework
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Read the Essay
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Give it a title
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Should capture the main idea
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Identify the
arguments
and
its
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What do you
What is the conclusion and the premises of the
following argument?
We must have some stricter controls on the content of
entertainment that is viewed by teenagers. Two teenagers saw the movie, "Natural Born Killers," and went on a killing spree. A number of teenagers who have committed
An example argument
Premise 1: Two teenagers saw the movie, "Natural Born
Killers," and went on a killing spree.
Premise 2: A number of teenagers who have committed
violence at schools have spent many hours watching movies filled with murder and violence.
Conclusion: Therefore, we must have some stricter controls
Essay Title
Argument
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Premise 1: It makes us provide good reasons
and evidence for our claims,
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Premise 2: We must use a clear structure to
organise our ideas
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Premise 3: We need to carefully consider our
use of language.
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Conclusion: Therefore, essays make us clarify
What is the main
position of the
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What makes it (the essay) special is that it
asks us to clarify what we
really
think about
something.
It does this by insisting that we
provide good reasons and evidence for our
claims, use a clear structure to organise our
ideas, and carefully consider our use of
What are some features of an
argumentative essay?
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Argument
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Conclusion (opinion)
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Premises
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Introduction
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Body
True or False
1. The essay follows a logical sequence – introduces
the topic, gives the main points, and then
concludes.
2. The introduction (first paragraph) gives
background to the topic that is relevant to the
essay.
3. Each of the middle three paragraphs (main body)
focuses on one main idea (or premise).
4. The overall idea is summed up in the conclusion
(last paragraph).
1
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The essay follows a logical
sequence – introduces the
topic, gives the main points,
and then concludes.
2
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The introduction (first
paragraph) gives background
to the topic that is relevant to
the essay?
3
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Each of the middle three
paragraphs (main body)
focuses on one main idea.
4
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The overall idea is summed
up in the conclusion (last
paragraph).
How will you address these ideas
in your work?
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Conclusion: Essays make us clarify what we
really think about something.
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Premise 1: It makes us provide good reasons
and evidence for our claims,
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Premise 2: We must use a clear structure to
organise our ideas
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Premise 3: We need to carefully consider our
Introduction of an essay
• “Camping is nature's way of promoting the motel
business,” says Dave Barry. While he may have a point about the inconveniences of camping, it is a
phenomenal way for people to spend their free time. Camping has so many benefits which are often
overlooked and it’s rare that we find one single activity which can improve our lives in so many different ways. It is an experience that should be
Theme?
• “Camping is nature's way of promoting the motel
business,” says Dave Barry. While he may have a point about the inconveniences of camping, it is a
phenomenal way for people to spend their free time. Camping has so many benefits which are often
overlooked and it’s rare that we find one single activity which can improve our lives in so many different ways. It is an experience that should be
Give it a title
• “Camping is nature's way of promoting the motel
business,” says Dave Barry. While he may have a point about the inconveniences of camping, it is a
phenomenal way for people to spend their free time. Camping has so many benefits which are often
overlooked and it’s rare that we find one single activity which can improve our lives in so many different ways. It is an experience that should be
What is the main argument?
• “Camping is nature's way of promoting the motel
business,” says Dave Barry. While he may have a point about the inconveniences of camping, it is a
phenomenal way for people to spend their free time. Camping has so many benefits which are often
overlooked and it’s rare that we find one single activity which can improve our lives in so many different ways. It is an experience that should be
What is the main argument?
• “Camping is nature's way of promoting the motel
business,” says Dave Barry. While he may have a point about the inconveniences of camping, it is a
phenomenal way for people to spend their free time. Camping has so many benefits which are often
overlooked and it’s rare that we find one single activity which can improve our lives in so many different ways. It is an experience that should be
Main Position of Essay
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Camping is an experience that
should be tried by everyone
because it promotes good health,
relieves stress, and brings
families together.
Main Position of Essay
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Camping is an experience that
should be tried by everyone
because it promotes good health,
relieves stress, and brings
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Camping is an experience that
should be tried by everyone
because it promotes good health,
relieves stress, and brings
families together
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Camping is an experience that
should be tried by everyone
because it promotes good health,
relieves stress, and brings
families together
What is the Thesis Statement?
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Your essay’s main position
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Topic + your opinion = thesis
statement
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Camping is an experience that
Thesis Statement
• Main position of your
essay
• Tells the reader what
(specifically) you will argue
• The guide of your essay • Can include your
Without a clear thesis Statement,
an essay…
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…is disorganized
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…vague
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…illogically
sequenced
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…wanders from the
main point
Analysis
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Camping is an experience that should be tried
by everyone…
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Topic?
Analysis
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Camping is an experience that should be tried
by everyone…
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Topic?
Camping
Good thesis statements?
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Prague is in the Czech Republic.
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I hate chocolate.
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People who do drugs should be
Good thesis statements?
NO!
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Prague is in the Czech Republic.
Fact – no opinion
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I hate chocolate.
No point – so
what?
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People who do drugs should be
ashamed of themselves.
Making
Good thesis statement?
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This paper will consider the
advantages and disadvantages of
certain restrictions on free
speech.
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Where’s the position?
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No position
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Even though there may be considerable
advantages to restricting hate speech, the
possibility of stunting dialogue on crucial racial
issues is too great and too high a price to pay.
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More focused & specific?
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Hate speech, dialogue on racial issues
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Concrete position?
Good thesis statements?
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People who do drugs should be
ashamed of themselves and be
forced to get treatment or go to
jail.
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Too strong, making my mind up for me
Good thesis statements?
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This essay argues for
development of incentive
programs to convince drug
addicts to go into treatment
programs.
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Where is the thesis statement
found?
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First paragraph
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What’s that first paragraph
called?
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Hook (get me interested!)
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Relevant background
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^^ relevant to your essay’s
focus
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What do you
• Good quality of sleep is the most important aspect of
keeping healthy, because it can not only make your mind clear, but also give you energy.
• The most important aspect of keeping physically
healthy is finding a balance between eating,
Introduction
• Research possible
hooks
• Write a short hook • 1 sentence – short • Hook me!
• It has to match the idea