Dr Pippa Goldschmidt, visiting fellow at STIS 1 How to write 23 Nov 2016 Dr Pippa Goldschmidt, visiting fellow at STIS www.pippagoldschmidt.co.uk

Series of five workshops: 26 Oct – planning for your thesis 3 Nov – fiction writing 23 Nov – writing sentences and paragraphs 1 Feb – first draft vs editing 15 March – critiquing your own work

Who am I? Currently writer-in-residence at STIS Writer of fiction, poetry, reviews, articles I used to be: an astronomer a policy advisor in Govt.

Construction of sentences 4 Today: Guidance on writing : Construction of sentences Paragraphs – different ways of structuring an argument Some examples Some exercises

What makes a good sentence: 5 What makes a good sentence: English clause/sentence construction - ‘subject verb object’ Independent clauses stand alone Dependent clauses can’t stand alone Clauses can be linked by transition words (e.g. which, that, however, but, although, instead, additionally) ‘Astronomers, who have observed spiral galaxies, have concluded that dark matter exists.’ ‘Spiral galaxy observations have been used to conclude the existence of dark matter.’

Nominalisation – turning verbs into nouns 6 Nominalisation – turning verbs into nouns ‘Astronomers, who have observed spiral galaxies, have concluded that dark matter exists.’ ‘Spiral galaxy observations have been used to conclude the existence of dark matter.’

Nominalisation – turning verbs into nouns 7 Nominalisation – turning verbs into nouns ‘The labour market time commitment of mothers has increased in western societies.’ ‘Mothers in western societies commit more time to work.’

Use of the passive versus active voice 8 Use of the passive versus active voice ‘Astronomers, who have observed spiral galaxies, have concluded that dark matter exists’ ‘Spiral galaxy observations have been used to conclude the existence of dark matter.’

Use of the passive versus active voice 9 Use of the passive versus active voice Active voice – we know who has done what. The reader has more information about how the work was done. Passive voice – more universal. This implies that the information is true regardless of who did the relevant work.

Use of synonyms Anglo-Saxon or Latin/Old French? use utilise put implement keep retain try endeavour end terminate

Wordy phrases versus shorter, simpler ones Conduct an investigation into investigate During the course of during In the absence of without At the present time now A majority of most

Exercise ‘Utilisation of variable star images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope has led to an alteration in the accepted value of the Hubble constant.’

‘Utilisation of variable star images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope has led to an alteration in the accepted value of the Hubble constant.’ ‘Astronomers, using the Hubble Space Telescope to take images of variable stars, have agreed a change to the Hubble constant.’

Hedge your bets: ‘Hedging’ language may be required to convey a degree of uncertainty – especially important in qualitative analysis: This result agrees with This result indicates This result may indicate This result suggests This result may suggest This result seems to imply This result is consistent with

Use of analogies: Analogies/similes compare one thing to another: 1515 Use of analogies: Analogies/similes compare one thing to another: ‘the organisation runs like a well-oiled machine’ ‘the Universe is like an expanding balloon’ Be aware of hidden analogies or metaphors: ‘DNA is code’ ‘the Selfish Gene’ ‘the battle against cancer’

Readable paragraphs: Start with established ‘old’ information and lead to new ideas Beginning of paragraph should introduce the topic Expand on it – present your argument for or against End of paragraph can summarise what you expect the reader to remember

Readable paragraphs: Each paragraph should: introduce and explain a new aspect of your thinking advance the argument from A to B in a coherent way Each paragraph may have: an issue a development a conclusion

Readable paragraphs: ‘More than a century of experiments had shown light to be a wave. Maxwell’s successful theoretical description even identified what it was that made the waves. Nonetheless Einstein demonstrated that when light interacts with metals it behaves like a shower of particles. Taken together, these experiments indicate that, in some manner not easy to visualise, light acts in certain situations as a wave, in others as particles.’

Readable paragraphs You can advance your argument in these ways: 1919 Readable paragraphs You can advance your argument in these ways: chronological general to specific specific to general problem to solution ‘compare and contrast’

Readable paragraphs However you advance your argument, take care in 2020 Readable paragraphs However you advance your argument, take care in introducing new information: ‘There are different ways in which black holes can grow. One of these is through the merging of their host galaxies.’ OR: ‘Black holes can grow in different ways.

Readable paragraphs need metadiscourse words: 2121 Readable paragraphs need metadiscourse words: examples of transition words to link your clauses or your sentences: chronological ones: initially, then, another, after, finally general to specific: for example, for instance, specifically problem to solution: but, instead, nonetheless compare and contrast: in contrast to, however

Let’s explore some examples: Why do they work, or not work? 2222 Let’s explore some examples: Why do they work, or not work? Is the language pitched at the right level? How are abstract ideas communicated? Does the paragraph construction work? Is there logical flow?

An exercise! Write a paragraph introducing your research question. 2323 An exercise! Write a paragraph introducing your research question. Think about: the information you’re presenting the questions you’re raising the flow of information the sentence length the choice of words to explain your ideas

Go to: www.pippagoldschmidt.co.uk/links/teaching for links to useful info – the password is SSPS2016