2. The following slides contain key information from
“University of Toronto-Writing Courses.”
3. C
GENERAL: ACADEMIC ESSAY WRITING
1. Essays should have an argument and should be able to answer a question(s). Your
essay should be able to prove something through a thesis. It is important to include
examples and evidence to support your thesis.
2. Formulate questions that you are going to be answering in your essay. Then develop
a hypothesis. Think about things that could be said against your hypothesis.
3. Your essay should be well organized. Your argument should be presented clearly and
persuasively in the beginning, middle, and end.
4. Practices of good writers:
• -Start writing early.
• -Make an outline.
• -Revise your work.
4. GENERAL: Understanding Essay Topics
Before writing, it is important to think about the specific topic you will be working
with.
1. Note key terms such as: Analyse, Compare, Evaluate, Argue, Why, How. Be
sure to understand the meaning of each of these terms so that you know
the kind of reasoning you should be using.
2. Note which concepts or methods the topic asks you to use.
3. Ask yourself questions about the topic in order to generate ideas on what
direction your research will take. Controversies in the material can also
help when finding things to discuss about.
4. Form a thesis statement at an early stage of your writing for an
argumentative essay. Doing this can help you focus on your investigation.
5. PLANNING AND ORGANIZING:
Using Thesis Statements
• When writing an essay that creates an argument, thesis statements are used. Thesis
statements are clear statements of your position and are usually found in the essay’s first
paragraph.
• Some good characteristics of thesis statements are:
1. A definite and limited assertion that will later be explained.
2. Shows emphasis and the methodology of your argument.
3. Shows awareness of difficulties and disagreements.
• Not all essays require thesis statements.
• A thesis statement does not have to appear at the end of the first paragraph.
• They do not have to be just one sentence in length; two or three sentences can be used.
6. PLANNING AND ORGANIZING:
Introductions and Conclusions
• Good Introductions should:
• Identify your topic
• Catch the reader’s interest
• Indicate your focus in the essay
• Provide essential context
• Good Conclusions should:
• Add stimulus to further thought
• Provide closure to the essay
7. PLANNING AND ORGANIZING:
Paragraphs
• A paragraph is a series of related sentences developing a central idea, called the topic.
• The most effective way to achieve paragraph unity is to express the central idea of the
paragraph in a topic sentence. They are similar to mini thesis statements.
• Topic sentences have a specific main point and have a unifying function.
• An essay is unified if all the paragraphs relate to the thesis; a paragraph is unified if all
the sentences relate to the topic sentence.
• Not all paragraphs need a topic sentence.
• In academic writing, the topic sentence almost always works best at the beginning of a
paragraph so that the reader knows what to expect.
• To make paragraphs flow, or make paragraphs move from idea to idea, it is important
to show connections.
8. PLANNING AND ORGANIZING:
Paragraphs
HOW TO MAKE IDEAS FLOW IN PARAGRAPHS:
• Deliberate repetition of key words.
• Strategic use of pronouns such as it, they, and this keeps the focus on the ideas announced at
the beginning of the paragraph.
• Specialized linking words such as: In other words, In addition, moreover, however, on the other
hand, nevertheless, in contrast, therefore, ultimately, thus, in conclusion.
HOW LONG SHOULD PARAGRAPHS BE?
• Paragraphs vary in length.
• Paragraphs are between one-third and two-thirds of a page double spaced.
• Many long paragraphs can be dense and unpleasant to read.
• Be careful with paragraphs that are two to three sentences long in academic writing. They can
make your work seem disjointed.
9. PLANNING AND ORGANIZING:
Using Topic Sentences
• A topic sentence states the main point of a paragraph: it serves as a mini-thesis for the paragraph.
• Your essay’s topic sentences will provide a sketch of the essay’s argument.
• Topic sentences help guide your reader through your argument.
• They usually appear at the very beginning of paragraphs.
• Topic sentences don’t always have to appear at the beginning. Sometimes a transitional sentence
or two appears before a topic sentence.
• To come up with a topic sentence you must ask yourself what’s going on in your paragraph. For
example: What point are you trying to make? Why have you chosen to include the information that
you have?
• Not every paragraph needs a topic sentence, but most do. Sometimes a paragraph helps to
develop the same point as in the previous paragraph, and so a new topic sentence would be
redundant.
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READING & RESEARCHING:
CRITICAL READING TOWARDS CRITICAL WRITING
• -Critical writing depends on critical reading
• -To read critically is to make judgements about how a text is argued.
• -Don’t read looking only or primarily for information.
• -Do read looking for ways of thinking about the subject matter.
• How Do I Read Looking for Ways of Thinking?
1. 1. First determine the central claims or purpose of the text (its thesis).
2. 2. Begin to make some judgements about context. Example: What audience is the text
written for?
3. 3. Distinguish the kinds of reasoning the text employs.
4. 4. Examine the evidence (the supporting facts, examples, etc) the text employs.
5. 5. Critical reading may involve evaluation.
11. Reading & researching:
How to Get the Most Out of Reading
• An important skill is to read with comprehension and memory.
Tips on reading different material in appropriate ways:
TEXTBOOKS: Pay attention to your professor on what sections are relevant to the course. Be aware
of the structure of the text as you read: the chapter titles, headings and subheadings will name the
main concepts to be covered.
PRIMARY SOURCES: Read through each literary work or historical document, paying attention to
your own responses and questions.
RESEARCH READINGS: In going through sources for a research essay, you are looking for facts to
support or modify your original view of the topic, and for others’ opinions to challenge your own.
12. Reading & researching:
Skimming & Scanning
• By first skimming a text, you can get a sense of its overall logical
progression. Skimming can also help you make decisions about where to
place your greatest focus when you have limited time for your reading.
• Scanning is basically skimming with a more tightly focused purpose:
skimming to locate a particular fact or figure, or to see whether this text
mentions a subject you’re researching. Keep a specific set of goals in
mind as you scan the text, and avoid becoming distracted by other
material.
13. Reading & researching:
Summarizing
• Summarizing a text is a useful study tool and good writing practice.
• A summary has two aims:
(1) to reproduce the overarching ideas in a text, identifying the general concepts that run through the
entire piece
(2) to express these overarching ideas using precise, specific language.
Summarizing techniques:
• When summarizing a longer article, try to see how the various stages in the explanation or argument
are built up in groups of related paragraphs.
• Omit ideas that are not really central to the text.
• Omit minor details and specific examples.
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USING SOURCES:
USING QUOTATIONS
• -The focus of your essay should be on your understanding of the topic. If
you include too much quotation in your essay, you will crowd out your own
ideas.
*If an argument or a factual account from one of your sources is particularly
relevant to your paper but does not deserve to be quoted verbatim, consider
• -paraphrasing the passage if you wish to convey the points in the passage at
roughly the same level of detail as in the original
• -summarizing the relevant passage if you wish to sketch only the most
essential points in the passage
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SPECIFIC TYPES OF WRITING: THE
COMPARATIVE ESSAY
A comparative essay asks that you compare at least two (possibly more) items. These
items will differ depending on the assignment. You might be asked to compare:
-positions on an issue theories figures
-Texts
-events
- Make sure you know the basis for comparison
- Develop a list of similarities and differences
- Develop a thesis based on the relative weight of similarities and differences
- Come up with a structure for your essay
16. Specific types of writing: Application
Letters and Résumés
• Use your application package to demonstrate that you can: communicate clearly, handle
personal interactions, and analyze complex situations.
• Keep the reader’s interests in mind
• Balance facts and claims.
• Write concisely
• Specific Points about the Résumé:
• Have more than one on hand, emphasizing different aspects of your
qualifications or aims.
• Make them easy to read by using headings, point form, and lots of white space.
• The basic choice is between the traditional chronological organization and the
functional one
• List facts in reverse chronological order, with the most recent ones first.
17. REVISING AND EDITING
• Good revision and editing can transform a mediocre first draft into an excellent final paper.
• Revision may mean changing the shape and reasoning in your paper. It often means adding or deleting
sentences and paragraphs, shifting them around, and reshaping them as you go.
1. First check whether you have fulfilled the intention of the assignment.
2. Then look at overall organization.
3. Now polish and edit your style by moving to smaller matters such as word choice, sentence
structure, grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Appearance:
• Have a cover page
• Number your pages
• Double-space your text
• Use a standard font in 12-point size
• Put the reference list or bibliography on a separate page at the end
• Staple your pages
18. ENGLISH LANGUAGE: USING ARTICLES
• Articles are special modifiers that appear before nouns or noun phrases. Like other
adjectives, they help clarify the meaning of the noun in your sentence.
• There are only two articles in the English language: the and a
• Articles belong in front of all other modifiers preceding a noun.
• You can determine which article to place in front of almost any noun by answering the
following three questions: Is the noun countable or uncountable? Is
it singular or plural? Is it definite or indefinite?
19. Using Gerunds and Infinitives
• Gerunds and infinitives are verb forms that can take the place of a noun in a sentence.
• Both gerunds and infinitives can replace a noun as the object of a verb. Whether you use a gerund
or an infinitive depends on the main verb in the sentence.
• Some common verbs followed by a gerund: Acknowledge, advise, anticipate, consider, deny,
involve, justify, recall, recommend.
• Some common verbs followed by an infinitive: agree, arrange, decide, learn, manage, offer, plan,
struggle, volunteer, wait, want.
• Some verbs are followed by a pronoun or noun referring to a person, and then an infinitive. Gerunds
cannot be used in this position.
• Some common verbs followed by an indirect object plus an infinitive: ask, beg, hire, persuade,
want.
