Essay Writing Workshop 2 Lawrence Cleary, Íde O’Sullivan Regional Writing Centre

Plan of workshops Workshops: Weeks 5, 7, 8 and 9 Tuesday 14:00 – 15:00 Wednesday 15:00 – 16:00 Drop-in/One-to-one sessions:    Mon        —           2–4 pm    Tues       10—12    2–4 pm    Wed       10—12     2–4 pm    Thurs     10—12     2–4 pm    Fri          10—12    —  Writing Centre: www.ul.ie/rwc

Workshops Session 1: Getting started: Understanding the essay question. Planning and organising your essay. Session 2: Developing an effective argument. Structuring your essay. Session 3: Citing and writing a reference page. Strategies to develop writing. Session 4: Academic writing style. Editing and proofreading your essay.

The thesis and the persuasive principle The instruction word will indicate that a thesis is either called for, or not called for. For instance, instructions that ask you to summarise or outline something are not normally interpreted as calling for a thesis statement. The method of development and organisation will suggest where the thesis will appear in your essay. Next week. How to develop the argument.

The thesis and the persuasive principle Your thesis is the basic stand you take, the opinion you express, the point you make about your limited subject. It’s your controlling idea, tying together and giving direction to all other separate elements in your paper. ‘Your primary purpose is to persuade the reader that your thesis is a valid one’ (Skwire, 1976: 3). When you write what’s usually called a persuasion paper, you pick a controversial issue, tell the reader what side you’re on, and try to persuade him that you’re correct.

The thesis and persuasion: Academic argument ‘In college, course assignments often ask you to make a persuasive case in writing. You are asked to convince your reader of your point of view. This form of persuasion, often called academic argument, follows a predictable pattern in writing. After a brief introduction of your topic, you state your point of view on the topic directly and often in one sentence. This sentence is the thesis statement and it serves as a summary of the argument you'll make in the rest of your paper’ (UNC-CH Writing Center, 2004: Online).

What is an argument? ‘An argument is the case that someone makes, in a theory or in their writing… you give reasons for saying what you do, and present evidence to support what you say’ (Ebert et al., 1997). Arguments can be explicit or implicit. Academic arguments require justifications for their claims. Argument What do we mean by an 'argument'? The 'argument' is another word for what you do in the 'main body' of your academic paper. Argument suggests that the writer has a point of view. How do you produce a good argument? The best thing to do is read published academic papers. If you do, you find that writers spend a lot of time: advancing their own arguments by giving evidence (usually in a tentative tone) referring to their own work (sometimes called 'signposting') reviewing other authors' work (usually critically but in a polite tone) When you are aware of other authors' arguments, you will sometimes want to: counter arguments conceed a point qualify statements Arguments can also be advanced or created by: analogy asking questions posing hypothetical futures

Advancing the argument Advance your argument by giving evidence which is valid and reliable. Evidence can consist of facts or reliable statistics, examples, educated opinions in the form of quotations, or summaries and paraphrases of ideas, from knowledgeable sources. When referring to the opinions of those you have read, be clear that you defer to the opinion, or that you object to it (be critical but polite). By considering what someone who disagrees with your position might have to say about your argument, you show that your have thought things through, and you dispose of some of the reasons your audience might have for not accepting your argument

Advancing the argument Anticipate and address counterarguments or objections in order to strengthen your argument. Present each argument fairly and objectively. Show the reader that you have considered other sides of the argument. Leave your reader with a sense that your argument is stronger than opposing arguments.

Advancing the argument Present counterarguments and explain both the strengths and weaknesses of these arguments (they should be balanced). Concede points, even when you know that such a concession weakens your argument. The goal is not to be right, but to honestly explore the question. Qualify your statements. Expose questions that your opinion begs Your concluding argument should be strong and positive.

Persuasion and truth in academic writing Because they are argumentative, academic writing tends to be persuasive. An argument should be persuasive, but don’t sacrifice truth in favour of persuasion. Academic inquiry is a truth-seeking pursuit. facts are distinguished from opinions. subjective truths are distinguished from objective truths. relative truths are distinguished from absolute truths. Expository writing emphasizes the topic. It focuses on facts and ideas. Persuasive writing emphasizes the reader. This type of writing focuses on changing the reader’s mind or moving the reader to action. However, academic writing never sacrifices truth in its effort to persuade. Claims are qualified.

Persuasion and truth in academic writing The integrity of the conclusions reached in an academic essay or report is based on its honest pursuit of truth. Its persuasive quality is based on the quality of its appeals. Although largely dependent on logic, proof, and method, academic texts do appeal to the reader’s emotions and regard for authority as well as to reason.

Tips Leedy (2001: 183) cites Marius (1989) in highlighting 4 rules for an argument ‘state your arguments early in the game’ – present and interpret data ‘provide examples to support any assertion you make’ give the fairest possible treatment of any perspectives different from your own’ – may support or disagree with them ‘point out the weaknesses of your own argument’ – by doing this you show objectivity as a researcher.

Tips Pursue your argument logically. Do not only describe, but evaluate and interpret also. Establish your argument in the introduction — in a thesis statement. Advance your argument by giving evidence. Do not reiterate evidence already provided, but refer back to something you have already stated. Lines of argument should flow linearly. Paragraphs carry arguments.

Essay structure Organise the essay so that the argument unfolds in a clearly stated, detailed, logical, linear progression and arrangement of ideas. Introduction: present the thesis, hypothesis, or question that you will try to defend, prove or disprove, or answer. Sections: to support the thesis Conclusions

The introduction In academic writing, an introduction, or opening, has four purposes: To introduce the topic of the essay To indicate the context of the conversation through background information To give some indication of the overall plan of the essay To catch the reader’s attention, usually by convincing the reader of its relevance. This idea of ‘context’ and ‘relevance’ is important. Too often a student tries to foist some inappropriate idea of relevance onto the reader. If a student is well versed in the discourse of her area of study, then she’ll know what is relevant to these readers. And to say something is relevant because it is important is just begging the question. Too often students use logical fallacies to foist relevance onto a reader. Advice: get involved in the discussion.

The introduction The introduction has two parts: General statements. General statements attract a reader’s attention, and give background information on the topic. A thesis statement States the main topic. Sometimes indicates sub-topics. Will sometimes indicate how the essay is to be organised. Is usually the last sentence in the introduction. The instructor should indicate to the student that this ‘background’ is really an attempt to establish the context of the topic in the thesis statement. That ‘context’ is largely pertinent to the academic discourse which is the conversation into which the writer is entering. Examples of thesis statements with no sub-topics mentioned: Being the oldest son has more disadvantages than advantages (Oshima and Hogue, 1999: 103). The large movement of people from rural to urban areas has major effects on cities (Oshima and Hogue, 1999: 103). Example of a thesis statement with sub-topics named: The large movement of people from rural to urban areas has major effects on a city’s ability to provide housing, employment, and adequate sanitation services (Oshima and Hogue, 1999: 103). These sub-topics suggest that the discussion in this essay will be divided between housing, employment, and adequate sanitation services and will be focused on evidence of the inability of cities to provide them, with further evidence that it is due to a migratory influx.

The introduction Example thesis statement The status of women in Xanadu has improved remarkably in recent years in the areas of economic independence, political rights, educational opportunities, and social status; yet, when compared to the status of women in developed countries, it is still pretty low (Oshima and Hogue, 1999: 105). What’s the topic? Women in Zanadu What’s the aspect? ‘the status of’ What are the sub-topics? Economic independence, political rights, educational opportunities, and social status. What is the method of development? Comparison / contrast How will this essay be organized? How many paragraphs will appear in the body of the essay? Probably four, with the status of women in each economic environment compared in terms of each sub-topic. (It would probably not be possible to talk about all of these aspects in two paragraphs, were one to attempt using the two economic environments as the organizing force.)

What should I put into the introduction? Identify the domain and the topic State the problem - claim, hypothesis, or question - to be investigated Gives the problem context and significance within the research community State the objectives and outline the plan Give a detailed description of what will follow in subsequent chapters Here, domain refers to the discourse community that is conversing on this same problem, some aspect of the problem investigated, or else is somehow closely related.

In brief…. The introduction should be funnel shaped Begin with broad statements. Make these statements more and more specific as the writer narrows the scope of the topic and comes to the problem. Be sure that the question, hypothesis or claim is one that can be handled in a report of the length specified. This question, hypothesis or claim is your thesis statement.

Paragraph structure Essays are divided into paragraphs in a meaningful way. What is a paragraph? Series of sentences Coherent (introduction, middle, end) Common theme Every sentence in a paragraph develops one topic or idea, and each paragraph in an argumentative essay, likewise, develops the line of argument that supports the thesis statement.

Paragraph structure Paragraphs signal the logically organised progression of ideas. When organising paragraphs, the main idea in one paragraph should flow logically into the next. The flow of information should be organised around themes and comments. Shifts in the argument or changes in direction should be accurately signalled using appropriate adverbials, conjunctions, and prepositions. The topic of one paragraph should follow logically from the topic of the last paragraph and should lead on to the topic of the next paragraph.

Paragraph structure Just as an essay is guided by a thesis statement, a paragraph is organised around its topic sentence. A topic sentence informs the reader of the topic to be discussed. A topic sentence contains controlling ideas which limit the scope of the discussion to ideas that are manageable in a paragraph. An example would be: ‘Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important characteristics’ (Oshima and Hogue, 1999: 17). The topic is ‘gold’. The unnamed ‘important characteristics’ control the scope of the paragraph. Only these two characteristics will be talked about in this paragraph. Controlling ideas must be able to be spoken of in a single paragraph. If a writer thinks that she needs more than a paragraph to talk about either one of these characteristics, then she should reframe the controlling idea in her topic sentence.

Paragraph structure: Supporting sentences The sentences that follow expand upon the topic, using controlling ideas to limit the discussion. The main idea is supported by Evidence in the form of facts, statistics, theoretical probabilities, reputable, educated opinions, Illustrations in the form of examples and extended examples, and Argumentation based on the evidence presented. Qualifying statements indicate the limitations of the support or argument.

Paragraph structure: Concluding sentences Not every paragraph needs a concluding sentence. Concluding sentences can either comment on the information in the text, or They can paraphrase the topic sentence.

Paragraph structure: Unity Paragraphs should be unified. ‘Unity means that only one main idea is discussed in a paragraph. The main idea is stated in the topic sentence, and then each and every supporting sentence develops that idea’ (Oshima and Hogue, 1999: 18). Basically, ‘unity’ demands that digressions are kept to a minimum. ‘Coherence’ addresses a lot of issues, but the instructor can think of her own experiences with some of the papers she’s received. The biggest offence is usually pronoun references that haven’t any recognizable antecedent. What the hell is that? Good practices that aid in text coherence are: repetition of key nouns. Nouns are referential. Repetition can be boring, but that’s where a good thesaurus comes in. Use of consistent pronouns. Students should be aware that person or number shifts are confusing. They shouldn’t be changing ‘from you to he or she (change of person), or from he to they (change of number)’ (Oshima and Hogue, 1999: 42). Lastly, good use of transition signals (next slide) makes for an easier read.

Paragraph structure: Coherence Coherence means that your paragraph is easy to read and understand because your supporting sentences are in some kind of logical order your ideas are connected by the use of appropriate transition signals your pronoun references clearly point to the intended antecedent and is consistent you have repeated or substituted key nouns. (Oshima and Hogue, 2006: 22) Show the connections and relationships between arguments so that sentences flow smoothly. Logical and smooth movement from one sentence to the next.

Example: (Meei-Fang et al. 2007, p.471) People with dementia are particularly vulnerable to malnutrition: they have a decreased ability to understand directions and to express their needs verbally, are easily distracted from eating, prone to become agitated, and may use utensils incorrectly. Inability to feed oneself (eating dependency) is a major risk factor for malnutrition among older people living in long-term care settings (Abbasi & Rudman 1994, Durnbaugh et al. 1996). When people with dementia can no longer take food voluntarily, assistance is required although, as the disease progresses, even taking food with assistance can become difficult and, in some instances, tube-feeding may be required to supply nutrition. This form of feeding can, however, cause distress and anxiety, not only for the person being fed, but also for caregivers (Akerlund & Norberg 1985, Burgener & Shimer 1993).

Cohesive devices References Backwards (pronouns, demonstratives , definite article) Forwards (the following, as follows, subsequently) Substitution (so, one, ones) Ellipsis (the remainder, another part) Conjunction (however, for example, furthermore, firstly) Lexical cohesion (Repetition, Synonyms) Anaphoric nouns (this problem, this situation, this view, this process) (Gillett, 2005) Using English for academic Purposes University of Melbourne, Language and Learning Skills Unit To show how various parts of the paragraph are connected

Examples: Gillett (2005) “Some of the water which falls as rain flows on the surface as streams. Another part is evaporated. The remainder sinks into the ground and is known as ground water.” Ellipsis “Genetics deals with how genes are passed on from parents to their offspring. A great deal is known about the mechanisms governing this process.” Anaphoric nouns

Examples: Gillett (2005) “This first example illustrates an impulsive overdose taken by a woman who had experienced a recent loss and had been unable to discuss her problems with her family. During the relatively short treatment, the therapist helped the patient to begin discussing her feelings with her family.” Lexical cohesion

Paragraph structure: Transition signals Transition signals do exactly what it says on the tin: they ‘signal’. They can signal relationships between sentences, just as they can signal relationships between paragraphs. Example: ‘Finally, there have been numerous women altogether outside the profession, who were reformers dedicated to creating alternatives’ (Gillet, 2005: Online). The signal indicates the final point in a series of points. There’s not a lot to say here, except that this is another area that marks academic writing. This is a convention of the register. Academic writing tends to be explicit. I’m sure that students would appreciate that, when reading texts that include complex discussions and arguments, or ideas, that require equally complex methods of development. Explicit signals that indicate grammatical and logical relations can be a dogsend. I think I’m dyslexic. Organizational signals: Chronological signals: First, Second, Thirdly, then, next, after that, Finally Spatial signals: In the distance to your right, moving clockwise and approaching the entrance, the upper right hand corner, etc. Order of importance: The most important, the least important, the next most important. Logical division: categorization / classification Signalling attitude: admittedly, oddly enough, strangely, righteously, etc. Grammatical relations: Personal pronouns: it, they, this, that, these, her, him, us Relative pronouns: who, which, that, where Other substitutions: so, such, thus, there, then Articles: Evidence was found…The evidence suggested Continuous idea markers: Logical relations: Addition: and, in addition, as well as Cause/Result: because, since, due to, therefore Contrast: while, whereas, on the other hand Concession: but, despite, however Purpose: so, so as to, to, in order to Time: when, before, while, during

Paragraph structure Dos and Don’ts Do not use pronouns to refer to an antecedent in the previous paragraph. Lengthy paragraphs indicate a lack of structure. Short paragraphs indicate a lack of detail or evidence to support the argument. Do not end a paragraph with a quotation. Use a variety of sentence patterns and lengths to give your paragraph a lively rhythm. Signpost your paragraph organisation. Ending sentences in paragraphs tend to be sentences that comment on the conclusion. Using a quote to end a paragraph is allowing the quote to do the student’s critical work. Their own responses indicate the depth of their critical thought. Maybe that is why student’s use quotes to end paragraphs? Sentence variety. Our language demands rhythmic variety. It keeps the reader awake. Sentence that are all of the same length, or else follow the same pattern such as a sequence of sentences that all begin with adverbial clauses followed by a single independent clause tend to put us to distract the reader at best, to put them to sleep at worst.

What is a conclusion? ‘ A conclusion is a final result, a judgment reached by reasoning, or the summing up of an essay, book, or other piece of writing’ (ABC of Academic Writing).

The conclusion How you conclude your paper, like everything else in writing, largely depends on your purpose. Generally, though, a conclusion ends by reminding the reader of the main points of the argument in support of your thesis. Otherwise, you may end with a reflection, a call to action, an impact question (indicating, perhaps, that you see scope for future research), a quote, or advice.

Elements of a good conclusion A conclusion should: Remind the reader of the main points of your argument Bring ‘closure to the interpretation of the data’ (Leedy, 2001: 291) Be clear Be logical Be credible

Elements of a good conclusion Demonstrate an awareness of the limitations Discuss the implications of the findings Offer suggestions for future developments – Remember: A summary alone of what you have done is a weak conclusion End on a positive note – final sentence should be strong and positive

In brief…… ‘Whatever kind of conclusion you decide on, it should not introduce new topics, apologize for any real or perceived failings in the paper, or merely stop or trail off. Make sure your paper has a clear sense of closure’ (Ebert et al., 1997: 129)

Sentence structure Vary your rhythm by using a variety of sentence types and patterns. Use a combination of Simple sentences Compound sentences Complex sentences Compound-Complex sentences Do not limit yourself to simple sentences or linking sentences using “and”/”but”.

Sentence structure Simple sentences are single independent clauses. They have a subject, a verb, and express a complete thought: Jesus wept. My aunt set her alarm and went to bed. Trevor and Máiréad are too young to be out this late. I’m leaving at six and coming back at ten.

Sentence structure Compound sentences consist of two independent clauses. I told him not to buy that car, but he just couldn’t resist. I told him not to buy that car; he bought it nonetheless. I told him not to buy that car; however, he was unable to resist. These compounds expose the three possible conjunctions: a coordinating conjunction (notice the punctuation), a semi-colon, an conjunctive adverb (again, notice the punctuation). Coordinating conjunctions: For: expresses ‘reason for’ And: expresses ‘addition’ Nor: expresses ‘and not’ But: expresses ‘direct contrast’ Or: expresses ‘alternative’ Yet: expresses ‘concession’, or ‘indirect contrast’ So: expresses ‘result’

Sentence structure Complex sentences combine an independent clause with one or more dependent (subordinate) clauses. Subordinate clauses contain a subject, a verb, but do not express a complete thought. The relationship between the subordinate clause and the independent clause is expressed by a subordinating conjunction. Coordinating conjunctions: Subordinators: For: expresses ‘reason for’ because And: expresses ‘addition’ furthermore Nor: expresses ‘not also’ But: expresses ‘direct contrast’ nonetheless Or: expresses ‘alternative’ otherwise Yet: expresses ‘concession’, even so or ‘indirect contrast’ So: expresses ‘result’ consequently Time / order After Comparison by comparison Example for example Generalization as a rule Stating the obvious as one might expect Attitude admittedly Summary / conclusion in conclusion Explanation / equivalence in other words Support as a matter of fact Contradiction actually Emphasis chiefly

Sentence structure There are three types of subordinate clauses: Noun clauses: That I had stayed up all night working on it didn’t seem to be important. Adjective clauses: The woman who is waving is my mother. Adverb clauses: After adding up all the sales, Mary discovered that the lemonade stand was 32 cents short. Note the difference in punctuation.

Sentence structure Compound-Complex Clauses consist of two independent clauses combined with one or more subordinating clause. While driving to the shop, I was thinking that we should reconsider our decision, and I told myself that I would talk to you about it when I got home. Short, simple subject and predicate sentences are best for conveying ideas with force and clarity. Complex and compound sentence structures may obscure meanings and are prone to become ungrammatical. Apply the KISS principle ("Keep it simple, Stupid!") to your writing. (http://facweb.furman.edu/~dstanford/syllabi/dos&donts.htm) However, too many short, subject / predicate sentences makes Jack a bored reader.