Summary of the document Of University of Toronto about How to write Academic Wrtitings

2. Some General Advice on Academic Essay-Writing
An essay:
 should have an ARGUMENT.
Should answer a question or a few related questions.
Should try to prove something-develop a single thesis by
reasoning and evidence including examples confirming
citations from any particular text or resources your
argument involves.

3. Steps that should be included in
an essay:
Formulate the question(s) you will seek to answer in
your essay.
Develop a provisional thesis or hypothesis.
An organization should be designed to present your
argument clearly and persuasively.
Succesful methods of composing an essay are
various but some practices of good writers are
almost invariable.

4. Methods of composing an essay
in some practices of good
writers
 They start writing early because they use writing not
simply to transcribe what they have already
dicovered.
 They try to write whta seems readiest to be written.
 They keep the essay´s overall purpose and
organization in mind.
 They revise estensively with special attention to
transitions. Two or other important considerations in
revising sentences are diction and economy.
 Lastly they proofread the final copy.

5.  To meet expectations of University writing you will
learn rules that may have helped you to plan and
write your essays by providing a ready-made
structure you could fit your ideas into.

6. There are some important differences between high
school rules and university expectations:
 High School Rules
Essays consist of three
main points.
Essays have a five-
paragraph structure: an
introduction, your three
main points and a
conclusion.
 University expectations
There is no
predetermined number
of points that your
essay must include.
Essays have as many
paragraphs as needed.
You only need a
structure that serves
your ideas and your
argument.

7. Paragraphs…
 …are as long or as
short as needed to meet
the five-paragraph
requirement and the
page limit.
 … must begin with a
topic sentence that
explicitly echoes the
thesis statement.
 …are usually between
one third and two thirds
of a page and vary in
length according to the
needs of the paragraph.
 …will be clearer and
more coherent if they
begin with a topic
sentence that sums up
the main point of the
paragraph.

8. High School University
expectations
 …paragraphs generally
end with a conclusion that
reiterates the point
contained in the topic
sentence.
 …alternatively may end
with a transitional
sentence that anticipates
the next paragraph.
 …paragraphs should end
whenever you have
provided enough
evidence and analysis to
support the point in your
topic sentence and you
should provide a transition
when it helps the reader
follow your train of
thoughts. Your paragraph
will be more coherent if
you place the transition at
the start of the next
paragraph.

9. Thesis Statement
 High School
Essays must include a
thesis statement.
• The opening paragraph
must end in a thesis
statement.
• The thesis statement must
be supported by three
main points and it must be
one sentence in length.
 University
Not every essay needs a
thesis statement.
• The opening paragraph
often ends in a thesis
statement but a thesis
may occur elsewhere.
• The thesis statement does
not have to be supported
by any specific number of
points and it can be two or
three sentences long or
longer if the argument is
complex.

10. Introduction and Conclusion
 High School
The introduction should
begin with a broad and
general statement and
eventually be narrowed
down.
The conclusion should
provide a summary of
the main points of the
paper.
 University
The introduction should
raise the essay topic or
question as soon as
possible in specific and
concrete terms.
The conclusion should do
more than merely
summarize what you
have already done in
the paper.

11. Argument
 High School
You may add narration and
description to remind the
reader of events or
particulars.
Can be based on personal
experience or opinion and it
should no acknowledge
opposing viewpoints
because they will weaken
your argument.
 University
You may incorporate narrative
or plot elements into your
argument as long as you
analyze them in sufficient
depth.
Argumentative essays shoul
be supported by evidence
from your sources. An essay
that addresses counter
arguments becomes
stronger and more
persuasive by
acknowkledging the
complexity of the material.

12. Presentations
 High School
Students may receive
credits for visual effects.
 University
Professors are
concerned with your
ideas and your writing
and expect you to
submit your essays in a
plain format with no
fancy fonts, colours, title
pages and blinders.

13. The warnings about plagiarism
 The purpose of any paper is to show your own
thinking, not create a patchwork of borrowed ideas.
 It is very important to demonstrate that you know
what is going on in your field of study: That’s
especially important for Internet sources, so
mentioning what others have said doesn’t lessen the
credit you get for your own thinking—in fact, it adds
to your credibility.
 You need to keep mentioning authors and pages and
dates to show how your ideas are related to those of
the experts.

14. Quotations, paraphrases, or
summaries
 If you use the author’s exact words, enclose them in
quotation marks, or indent passages of more than
four lines.
 If you use your own words to paraphrase or
summarize the idea you want to discuss, try to
emphasize the points relevant to your argument. But
be sure to name sources even when you are not
using the exact original words.
 Mentioning the author’s name indicates where the
borrowing starts and stops.

15. Specific facts used as
evidence for your argument
or interpretation
 If the facts you mention are “common knowledge”
you may not need to give a reference. But when you
rely on facts that might be disputed within your
discipline establish that they are trustworthy by
showing that you got them from an authoritative
source.
 Finally you may take into account distinctive or
authoritative ideas , the way you introduce a
reference can indicate your attitude and lead into
your own argument if you agree or not with them.

16. Standard Documentation Formats
Different disciplines use their own
systems to set out information about
sources, such as:
The MLA citation format which uses
parenthetical in-text citations of author
and page, with all sources itemized in the
Works Cited.
APA System: Parenthetical Author-
Date References (social sciences) This
system uses only initials for authors’
given names, no quotation marks or
angle brackets, minimal capitalization for
titles of books and articles, and italics for
volume numbers as well as journal titles.

17. To paraphrase means to restate someone else’s ideas in
your own language at roughly the same level of detail. To
summarize means to reduce the most essential points of
someone else’s work into a shorter form. Along with
quotation, paraphrase and summary provide the main tools
for integrating your sources into your papers. When
choosing which to use, consider first your discipline and the
type of writing in which you are engaged.
Paraphrase and summary are indispensable in
argumentative papers because they allow you to include
other people’s ideas without cluttering up your paragraphs
with quotations. These techniques help you take greater
control of your essay.
Paraphrase and Summary

18. Some tips to revise your paper:
Read passages aloud to see if you have achieved
the emphasis you want. Look for places to use short
sentences to draw attention to key ideas, questions, or
argumentative statements. If you can’t read a sentence
all the way through with expression, try cutting it into
two or more.
Be sure to use spell check. It will help you catch
most typos and many wrongly spelled words. But don’t
let it replace anything automatically, or you’ll end up
with nonsense words. You will still have to read
through your piece and use a print dictionary or
writer’s handbook to look up words that you suspect
are not right.

19. Don’t depend on a thesaurus. It will supply you with
lists of words in the same general category as the one
you have tried-but most of them won’t make sense. Use
plain clear words instead. Use a print dictionary and look
up synonyms given as part of definitions. Always look at
the samples of usage too.
Don’t depend on a grammar checker. The best ones
still miss many errors, and they give a lot of bad advice.
If you know that you overuse slang or the passive voice,
you may find some of the “hits” useful, but be sure to
make your own choice of replacement phrases. A few of
the explanations may be useful. But nothing can
substitute for your own judgement.

20. More tips…
 A Note on Appearance:
 Looks do count. Give your instructor the pleasure of
handling a handsome document-or at least of not getting
annoyed or inconvenienced. These are the basic
expectations for any type of assignment
 Include a cover page giving the title of your paper, the
name of the course, your name, the date, and the
instructor’s name. Don’t bother with coloured paper,
fancy print, or decorations.
 Number your pages in the top right-hand corner. Omit
the number for the first page of your paper (since it will
be headed by the title), starting in with 2 on the second
page.

21. Double-space your text, including indented
quotations, footnotes, and reference lists. Leave margins
of one inch (2.5 cm) on all sides of the page.
Use a standard font in twelve-point size. For easier
reading, don’t right-justify your lines.
Put the reference list or bibliography on a separate
page at the end. (See the handout on Standard
Documentation Format: choose your format, then use
the examples as guides.)
Staple your pages; don’t use a bulky binding or cover.

22. UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO-
Writing courses, Advice on
Academic Writing
http://writing.utoronto.ca/html
(nd)
BIBLIOGRAPHY