Writing Academic Essays:

1. Writing Academic Essays: Skills for Success Workshop 4, 2011

2. Deep learning: Write your way to Understanding • Academic essays help you to learn and demonstrate your understanding of complex subjects • Your writing should be rigorous, systematic, and honest. • Questions must be answered with integrity: support your work with reliable references

3. Referring to Others’ Work • Your work must be supported by reliable evidence. So, where do you get it? • You’ll get evidence from the research work of others • Evidence from the work of others must always be acknowledged

4. Finding the evidence: Where do you get it? • Search first in your Subject Outline, read your lecture notes, find the texts recommended by lecturers. • In the recommended texts – look in the reference list to find more information. • Look in journals, CD ROMs, Internet sites, newspapers, DVDs, recommended readings

5. Ensure evidence is relevant • Read evidence quickly – find keywords that connect the text to the essay question • Look in journal articles: summaries, introductions, conclusions. • Scan tables of contents or indexes of books • Limit your reading, read quickly first time • Make sure to record reference details

6. Accept expert help! • Find information and authors who support your argument • Acknowledge the source! • If quoting directly, identify the author • If paraphrasing & summarising, identify the author.

7. Gain power and strength from references • Allow time to read widely before you write; • Record text details accurately as you read and attach them to your notes; • Is the text relevant? Know exactly what you want, make a list of keywords for this topic; • Your references to the work of others helps to demonstrate your understanding; • Good quotations strengthen your argument; lead readers into quotations smoothly.

8. Time Frame: how long will it take?How long is a piece of string? • Gathering information, takes about 60% • Writing drafts & final copy takes about 20% • Reviewing, checking/editing/proofreading 20% • For a 2,000 word essay allow yourself 10 hrs of work. • Use the calendar to plan your work life • If you can do it today, do it!

9. Write your way to understandingRemember: • “I don’t know what I think till I see what I wrote”. • (Graham Wallas, 1954) • Writing lets you and your assessor know what you understand • When you write thoughtfully about a topic you’ll know more about the topic when you’ve finished writing • Writing is a very scary activity; but go on, do it anyway! Nobody can do it for you!

10. Written arguments • Academic writing usually takes the form of an argument that attempts to persuade your reader • An argument interprets a point of view & is supported by evidence - it is not aggressive • Comment on the evidence, analyse the evidence and reach a conclusion – based on the evidence • Make the point, give example(s), offer analysis, make comment, reach a conclusion.

11. Structure of Academic Papers • Introduction, establishes the main theme of the argument by making the thesis statement which explains how you interpret the question. • Body of the paper expands on major issues, offers examples, supported by evidence, presents analysis. • Conclusion summarises everything presented, synthesises and makes a final statement

12. Argument, not assertion • Point • Evidence or Examples • Analysis P.E.A.

13. The Point P.E.A. • this is what the paragraph about, and is sometimes called a topic sentence • the point takes the reader to the next stage of your argument. • your main points are introduced in your introduction. Pick them up in the same order in the body of your essay.

14. Evidence and examples P.E.A. • this is material that supports the point of the paragraph • is appropriate to your discipline

15. Analysis P.E.A. • ties your paragraph together • explains how and to what extent your evidence supports the point You will • explore implications of data • interpret data • question arguments of others • challenge the validity of assumptions . . .

16. Example • Insert example of a paragraph written in the P.E. A. model here.

17. Unity and cohesion Unity: each paragraph is concerned with a single idea Cohesion: ideas flow logically from each other

18. Unpacking Questions • Find the Keywords, they are the signposts that direct your reading • Understand what you need to do, look at the directions that inform you by suggesting actions, such as: Defining, explaining, illustrating, summarising, tracing, researching. Or by seeking out relationships such as: Comparing, contrasting, applying, causing, relating

19. Still unpacking • An essay question may ask you to interpret by: • Assessing, justifying, evaluating/responding, supporting, synthesizing, analysing, arguing. • These tasks require you to offer an opinion supported by evidence. • Use examples, principles, definitions and concepts from research to interpret the case

20. Planning • Freewriting: write for 10 or 15 minutes about the topic – just write down everything that comes to mind in a continuous text. Stop, read it and marvel at what you’ve written! • Unscramble the question: “Is there a connection between childhood obesity and TV viewing?” • Ask the WH questions: What is obesity? How can tv influence obesity? Who agrees? Who doesn’t? Why focus on children? Where does this happen? When did this happen? • Make a list of everything you know about each of the keywords/phrases: childhood obesity/ childhood tv viewing

21. More Planning • Take 3 different perspectives on the topic: • Describe it – what are its components in detail? • Follow it through time: what’s the history of this phenomenon? Are there changes? Why? • Map it: take the words from your list, plot them on a map, draw a wild diagram, key issue at the centre, make connections, have clumps of ideas, identify main themes, minor themes

22. First Draft (cont.) • Place the question and your interpretation of it in front of you • Write your thesis statement: TV watching has much less influence on childhood obesity than heredity • Write the introduction – last • Body: first paragraph or two may explain why folk jump to the easy conclusion that watching TV makes babies fat

23. First Draft (cont.) • Now refute paras 1 & 2 in paras 3 & 4 (+ more if necessary) all supported by evidence. • Paras 5 & 6 analyse the situation described above in 1,2,3,4, + • Finally: para 7 comment & summary, mostly your ideas with less evidential support because you’ve already given that • Para 8: Finish with concluding statement, mostly you, but with support from someone really substantial in the field. (Now take a break).

24. Final Draft (cont.) • Read through what you’ve written – try reading the text aloud • Ask someone (friendly) to read it • Change anything and everything you don’t like – listen to your writing friend’s advice and try some of her/his suggestions • Use the magic of the computer, cut, paste, reorganise – get it sorted so that it flows • Final check

25. Final Editcheck for: • Grammar (grammar check) • Sentence structure/paragraph structure • Spelling (spell check + friend) • Punctuation, capital letters, quotation marks • References: in text and reference list (has its own page) • Layout: double space, 3cm margins, word count, cover sheet, your name, number etc • Now submit it!