1. The Graduate Students’ Toolbox for Academic Writing
Dr. Kakali Bhattacharya
Educational Administration and Research
FC 224

2. What is Academic Writing?
Scholarly citations
Evidence-based
Synthesis of literature
APA format
Develop and defend arguments
Contribute to an area of research
Construct new knowledge
Is not about solving the world’s problem in one dissertation, research paper, book chapter, or book

3. Developing an Academic Voice
Can you say what you really think about an issue?
What if you are passionate about your research?
How do you know if you are being too “subjective?”
What is an academic voice?
Where do you express your own ideas in your dissertation, in a research paper?

4. Developing an Academic Voice (cont’d…)
Carry a notebook with you at all times
Record thoughts, citations, quotes in notebook
Do some free writing
Connect ideas from free writing to literature
Develop arguments
Arguments become your thesis sentence
Support thesis sentence with citations

5. Developing an Academic Voice (cont’d…)
If critical of existing literature, read the literature the authors are citing
Present a well thought out summary if you are critically appraising or elucidating someone else’s philosophy
If presenting your own thoughts, ALWAYS pair them with similarly cited ideas, or contrasting ideas, to demonstrate careful deliberation

6. Structure of a Paragraph
Treat each paragraph as a mini essay
Begin each paragraph with a thesis sentence
Develop arguments with evidence (background information)
Meat of the paragraph= actual points of discussion
Move back between evidence-based general statements and concrete details
Conclude paragraph to establish the implications of the thesis sentence (so what?), or develop thesis sentence further to get to the (so what?) within the next few paragraphs
Keep language tentative

7. Hands-on Activity Take a look at the article in front of you.
Read a couple of paragraphs
What is the author’s voice?
How can you tell it is the author’s voice?
What is the structure of the paragraph?
What are the thesis sentences?
How is evidence cited, offered?

8. Writing Tips
Be concise. Think economy of words. Each word and its relevance should be considered
Follow citation rules
Have a bibliography management system (Endnote demo later)
Write directly. State the conclusion; then reference it. If the conclusion needs amplification, do it following statement of the main idea.
Avoid generalized and generic statements

9. Writing Tips (cont’d…)
Use proper citation style
Pay attention to tense
After finishing your writing, see if you can identify the thesis sentences in each paragraph. Ask the following questions
Is the thesis sentence clear?
Are my arguments backed up with citations?
Have I developed all points of discussion?
Have I connected my implications to the thesis sentence and the discussion points?

10. Avoid Contractions Passive voice
Second person writing (first and third person is acceptable depending on the field)
Incomplete sentences (every sentence should have a subject and a verb unless part of a direct quote. No exceptions)
Slang, clichés, colloquialisms
Excessive wordiness
Improper punctuation. Let’s eat Grandma! Versus Let’s eat, Grandma!

11. Avoid (cont’d…) Excessive quotations
Grammatical/language use errors – never submit your first draft
Your versus you’re
Its versus it’s
Affect versus effect
Further versus farther
There versus they’re or their
Who’s versus whose
Who versus whom
Plagiarism
Uncited quotes
Uncited ideas
Excessive cited quotes that form the prose of the paper
Submitting the same paper twice in two different classes

12. Use of Quotations To support your ideas
To present an opposing idea or criticism of an existing idea
To present someone’s ideas verbatim
To reveal inconsistencies or tensions amongst competing ideas, authors, etc. your topic
Note: ALWAYS unpack a quotation with your interpretation. Why are you stating this? What focus are you bringing to this quote in terms of developing your argument?

13. Structure of Dissertation
Chapter 1 – Introduction
Chapter 2 – Literature Review
Chapter 3 – Methodology
Chapter 4 – Findings and Discussion
Chapter 5 – Conclusions and Implications
Note: Research papers are condensed versions of a dissertation

14. Critical Thinking Scholarly writing demonstrates critical thinking
What does critical thinking mean to you?
What does critical thinking look like to you?
Who informs your critical thinking?
What is informing your beliefs?
Have you taken the time to analyze, observe, and seek out legitimate statements with citation authority?

15. Writer’s Block Pick a topic that can sustain your interest
Think of what you are curious
Develop a list of things that worked for you the last time you wrote well
Find different places to write
Write with people
Stop writing, at an interesting point in your thoughts

16. Activity Write a paragraph with the following errors
Lack of citation
Lack of critical thought
Clear grammatical errors
Lack of paucity of words
Passive voice writing
Read someone else’s paragraph and identify the errors

17. Questions? Nuggets?