The College Standard

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Writing College Papers:

Identifying Standards

and

Critical Thinking

Challenges

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Building Blocks

 Grammar

 Vocabulary

 Questions

 The Goals of Academic Writing

 Thesis

 Argument

 Research

 Plagiarism

 Critical Analysis

 Expository Writing

 The First Draft

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Guide to Grammar and Writing

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/

University of Toronto Advice on Academic Writing

http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice

Guide to Grammar and Style

http://newark.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/

This is a Test of the Emergency Grammar System

http://jcomm.uoregon.edu/~russial/grammar/grambo.html

Grammar Not Your Bag?

Give These Websites a Try!

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Vocabulary

 Precise usage is the hallmark of top level scholarship – you must be aware of your professors’ expectations

 Discipline-specific vocabulary must be mastered in order to participate in the marketplace of ideas

 The process of acquiring a strong vocabulary can help teach you how to become an active learner

 Identify what it is you need to learn

 Research

 Connect new information to what you already know

 Test your ability to apply new information

 Refine understanding

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Questions

 Identify the questions that dominate in class

 Identify the questions that make you want to listen

 Determine which questions prompt you to construct an informed argument in response

 Will you research scholarly arguments on the topic?

 Will you analyze these arguments with an open mind?

 Will you risk adding your own original thinking to the scholarly discussion?

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Goals of Academic Writing

 Seek truth

 Argue a point

 Propose solutions

 Deepen insights

 Clarify a theory

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What is Academic Writing?

 Writing is a response

 Writing is linear

 Writing is recursive

 Writing is both subject and object

 Writing is decision-making

 Writing is a process, frequently involving much trial and error

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Thesis

 Generate several theses that respond to “on topic” questions during brainstorming

 Write each thesis out using complete sentences

 Evaluate the clarity of each thesis statement and force yourself to remove all obfuscation from your writing

 Evaluate each thesis – is it ?

 A generalization and not a fact

 Demanding of proof or further development

 Motivating (does it prompt the reader to look for facts and details)

 Thought-provoking

 Focused (avoid vague words such as interesting,

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Argument

 Sketch out an argument for each working thesis

 Identify areas where research is needed to support your premises

 Research supporting premises

 Discard theses/arguments whose premises prove unsupportable

 Choose the working thesis that allows you to make the strongest argument for a conclusion about

which you are motivated to write

 Be prepared to modify your thesis to reflect the final argument that makes it into your paper

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What is an Argument?

 A collection of statements that can be given a logical ordering such that:

Given statements designated as premises and a statement designated as the conclusion,

the conclusion is justified by all the information given in the premises

 Arguments come in different flavors:

 Deductive

 Inductive

 Analogy

 Particular to general

 General to particular

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What Do We Do With Arguments?



Reconstruct

– sift out the premises and the

conclusion and lay bare the logical structure of the underlying argument



Assess

– determine whether the premises provide

sufficient grounds for the conclusion



Evaluate

- judge whether the premises are true or false, clear or vague, and in need of further defense or not



Identify Fallacies

– double-check the argument’s reasoning to see if any fallacies appear

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Another Way to View Arguments

 The premises are all acceptable

 The premises are relevant to the conclusion

 The premises supply sufficient or good grounds

for the conclusion

A

R

G

Trudy Govier's A Practical Study of Argument, (3rd Ed., Wadsworth Publishing , Belmont, California 1992) as referenced by Jeff McLaughlin

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Research

 Take accurate and complete notes

 Copy all quotes, statistics, etc. verbatim

 If you do not quote, paraphrase accurately but in your own words

 Record author, title, page number and note where you found the source

 Clearly indicate when ideas in your notes are your own

 Consider using note cards and limit each card to a single point

 Develop a bibliography even if it is not needed for the final paper

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Plagiarism

 What is Plagiarism and Why is it Important?

In college courses, we are continually engaged with other people's ideas: we read them in texts, hear

them in lecture, discuss them in class, and

incorporate them into our own writing. As a result, it is very important that we give credit where it is due. Plagiarism is using others' ideas and words without clearly acknowledging the source of that

information.

Produced by Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html “Quote

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Plagiarism (cont’d)

 How Can Students Avoid Plagiarism? To avoid plagiarism, you must give credit whenever you use

 another person's idea, opinion, or theory;

 any facts, statistics, graphs, drawings--any pieces of information--that are not common knowledge;

 quotations of another person's actual spoken or written words; or

 paraphrase of another person's spoken or written words.

Produced by Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/wts/plagiarism.html “Quote

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Critical Analysis

 Anticipate readers’ questions about the strength of your argument and supporting evidence

 Is your argument clearly delineated?

 Have you left critical assumptions unnamed?

 Have you acknowledged contextual limitations to the universality of your argument?

 Have you been able to cite evidence or justification that draws on sources outside your personal beliefs and values?

 Have you addressed obvious objections to your argument or evaluated readily accessible counter-evidence?

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Basic Expository Writing

 Outline your argument (premises and conclusion) before writing

 Present your conclusion in your thesis statement and outline your supporting premises in your introduction

 Write at least one paragraph in support of each premise

 Use transitions to link your premises and to structure your argument

 Write a paragraph summarizing the logic of your

argument and acknowledging external assumptions if necessary

 Summarize your thesis in your concluding paragraph and outline the significance of your findings

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Premise 1

Premise 2

Premise 3

Conclusion

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The First Draft

 Write one idea per paragraph

 Follow notes that have been organized logically

 Go for quantity, not quality

 Write for revision, not delivery

 Write freely

 Write about what is most comfortable first

 Develop a habit that encourages you to write on a regular basis – with or without inspiration

 Identify times when your “deep” mind is most active, and plan to write after those periods

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

Allow 50% of your time for

planning, research, and writing the

first draft



Allow the other 50% for revising

your paper

Write in Haste,

Revise at Leisure

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Rewriting Your Paper

 When rewriting, consider:

 Your reader

 Precise language

 Careful thinking

 Your own learning – rewriting is a great way to learn the material

 To achieve distance when revising your paper, try:

 Reading it aloud to yourself

 Have someone else read it aloud to you

 Schedule at least one day between revisions, or three or four days if possible

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 Cut – anything that does not contribute to your thesis

 Paste – reorder and add new transitions after cutting portions

 Fix – words, phrases, sentence structures

 Prepare – adhere to good production values and give proper credit

 Proof – check your grammar and confirm that your paper features:

 Clear thesis statement

 Sentences or paragraphs that orient the reader – introduction, transitions and summary

 Supporting details – specific quotations, examples, and statistics

 Lean sentences

 Action verbs and concrete, specific nouns

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(1) You must be able to identify the subject and verb of every sentence

(2) Your subject and verb must agree (singular vs. plural)

(3) You must be able to identify every Independent Clause [IC] in every sentence

(4) Every [IC] can end with a period or connect to another [IC] with the following punctuation/connectors:

[IC]; [IC]. [IC], and [IC]. [IC]; however, [IC]. [IC] : Defining [IC].

The College Standard

Writing College Papers:

Identifying Standards

and

Critical Thinking

Challenges

Building Blocks

Grammar Not Your Bag?

Give These Websites a Try!

Vocabulary

Questions

Goals of Academic Writing

What is Academic Writing?

Thesis

Argument

What is an Argument?

What Do We Do With Arguments?



Reconstruct



Assess



Evaluate



Identify Fallacies

Another Way to View Arguments

A

R

G

Research

Plagiarism

Plagiarism (cont’d)

Critical Analysis

Basic Expository Writing

Premise 1

Premise 2

Premise 3

Conclusion

The First Draft



Allow 50% of your time for

planning, research, and writing the

first draft



Allow the other 50% for revising

your paper

Write in Haste,

Revise at Leisure

Rewriting Your Paper

Recommended First Steps to Applying

Grammar Rules to Your Writing

[IC]; [IC].

semi-colon

[IC],

and

[IC].

comma with fanboys connector

[IC];

however

, [IC].

semi-colon and comma

with non-fanboys connector

[IC]: [IC].

How To Critique Your Own Paper

Essay Level

What am I arguing for? (Thesis)

Do I respond to the assignment or

fulfill my purpose for writing?

(Audience)

Will my reader follow my reasoning?

(Direction)

How To Critique Your Own Paper

Paragraph Level

Does each sentence in my paragraph

relate to the topic sentence?

(Cohesion)

Can my readers relate each

paragraph to my thesis?

(Structure and Transitions)

How To Critique Your Own Paper