Essay or Academic Writing Mass Comm 1 180324

Essay and/or
academic writing –
Mass Comm 1
Adapted by Thobeka Daki
18 March 2024
What is What is academic
writing? writing?
Any writing done to fulfill a requirement of a college or
university.
Any writing given in the academic setting.
It is the process of dissecting ideas and using reasoning to

make conclusions.
It is all about using evidence to support one’s viewpoint.

Topics
Components of an essay
• Introduction: introduces essay/thesis of an essay- intro must have a thesis
statement (a thesis statement is a sentence that outlines your argument/focus of
the essay to the reader); the introduction needs to outline the major
points/arguments to be made in the essay, and these must be followed through
preferably in chronological order. Having clear arguments outlined in the
introduction helps to build a flowing essay. Your introduction should have a
context, aim, and structure.
• Body (where you have the arguments/discussions)
• Conclusion (not just a matter of writing ‘In conclusion’ – must be comprehensive,
reflect on major points; arguments of the essay, make strong suggestions, or reflect
on some of those points). The key is not to introduce new information.
• Prewriting – Figuring out what to write
Steps in about (planning)
• Writing
academi • Revision
c writing • Editing
Features of academic writing
• Academic writing is Linear - progresses from one stage to another
in a single series of steps.
• It is sequential.
• It has one central point.
• Each paragraph (3 sentences, at least) must clearly follow the
previous paragraph and must also relate to the paper’s central
argument.
Tone
• A tone is a style or manner of expression in speaking or writing.
• The right tone often determines whether a reader will take what the
writer is presenting seriously or not.
• The language used and the way writers approach their subjects
should be thoughtful and restrained.
• You must sound serious, professional, intelligent, and informed.
• Formal Language
• Avoid being colloquial.
Advancing an argument
• An argument is a carefully arranged and supported

presentation of a viewpoint.
• Arguments are built up from evidence and reasoning,
either your own or what you have read, heard, or observed.
• You are like a lawyer making a case at a trial that the
defendant is not guilty, and your readers are like the judge
who will decide if the defendant is guilty or not.
• The readers will not believe your word that the defendant
is innocent if you do not convince them by giving evidence.
Follows a process of reasoning
• It presents facts about a subject and a writer’s

interpretation in a way that shows those facts
are interrelated, connected.
• The dominance of reason over emotions.
• Assumptions are not allowed. Everything stated
should be accompanied by proofs and
justifications.
Academic writing is
objective
• Academic writing is objective, i.e., it should not be influenced by personal
feelings or opinions, in considering and presenting facts.
• It should focus on the main theme and offer information without getting
involved in a personal manner.
• Noun vs. Verbs. (Normalisation/Standard)
Instead of
- We walked for charity. We raised money for the Leukemia Foundation.
Be impersonal, like
- The charity walk raised money for the Leukemia Foundation.
• The writer should separate themselves from the topic that
s/he is writing about.
• Objective writing uses evidence and facts instead of
emotions.
• If you are writing objectively, you must remain as neutral
as possible, through facts.
• Let the facts and evidence speak on your behalf instead of
your emotions.
Cont…
The language of discussion
In discussion, avoid personal phrases such as in my opinion or personally, I
think . . . Use impersonal phrases instead, such as:
• It is generally accepted that working from home saves commuting time.
• The evidence suggests that certain people are better at self-management.
When you are supporting your opinions with sources, use phrases such as:
According to Higginson (2003) few companies have developed clear policies.
Smith (2007) claims that most employees benefit from flexible arrangements.
Using evidence
• This connects with being objective.
• Cite your evidence – tell your readers what the evidence is.
• Interpret it – tell them what it means
• Relate it back to your argument.
• In conversation we just say what we think but in writing, we must be
able to back it up.
• As such, there is a need to refer to scholars (if needs be, especially for
assignments) and real-life examples to support your argument.
• Academic writing locates itself in an existing body of knowledge. Any
new piece of writing is a development and an extension of what has
already been written on a particular subject.
• Providing evidence
• Normally, your conclusions on a topic follow an
assessment of the evidence.
• You must show that you have studied the relevant sources,
since only then can you give a balanced judgment.
Critical Thinking
• Writers do not only research a topic but also make
arguments based on that research.
• This entails arguing against another scholar’s ideas.
• As such, one should be capable of critically analysing
what they read and formulate their own arguments as
part of academic writing.
Precision and Explicitness
• Factual information must be accurate – failure to do
that might weaken one’s argument.
• The writing should be clear and straight to the point.
The writer must make it clear how events are linked.
• The reader must not be left guessing what the writer
was trying to say.
• Check your spelling (Use UK spelling, instead of US
spelling).
Organising paragraphs
Paragraphs are the basic building blocks of academic
writing. Well-structured paragraphs help the reader
understand the topic more easily by dividing up the
argument into convenient sections. The sentences that form
your paragraphs must be properly punctuated (commas and
full stops at the right places, etc.).
Capital Letters
1 Capital letters
They should always be used in the following cases:
(a) The first word in a sentence (In the beginning . . .)

(b) Days and months (Friday 21 July)
(c) Nationality words (France and the French)
(d) Names of people/places (Dr Martin Lee from Sydney)
(e) Book titles (main words only) (Power and the State)
(f) Academic subjects (She studied Biology and Mathematics.)
(g) Names of organisations (Walter Sisulu University)
Apostrophes (’)
They are mainly used in two situations:
(a) to show contractions e.g. He’s the leading authority on the topic of politics.
NB: contractions should not be used in academic writing.
(b) with possessives e.g.:

The professor’s secretary (singular)
Students’ marks (plural words ending in ‘s’)
Women’s rights (for irregular plurals which do not follow common English rules)
NB: It’s is the contraction of it is e.g. It’s possible for something to happen.
Some Guidelines
The following guidelines should help you develop a style of your own.
(a) Do not use idiomatic or colloquial vocabulary: kids, boss. Instead, use standard
English:
children, manager.
(b) Use vocabulary accurately. Read to expand your vocabulary.
(c) Conclusions should use tentative language. Avoid absolute statements such as
Unemployment causes crime. Instead, use cautious phrases: Unemployment may
cause crime or tends to cause crime.
(e) Avoid adverbs that show your personal attitude: luckily, remarkably, surprisingly.
(f) Do not contract verb forms: don’t, can’t. Use the full form: do not, cannot.
Practice
• She has no enough interpersonal skills to handle different relationships .
• A american senate once say: ‘Truth is frist casualty off war.’
• Corruption is a problem in many countries such as Africa.
• She was young and innocence
• It is vital to the successfulness of a company operating in China.
• Pervious experience can sometimes give researchers an advantage.
• One of the largest company in Asia has just hired a new CEO.
• Bicycle is one of most efficient machine ever designed.
• Cyclists can travel for times faster than walkers; even though they use less enorgy to do so.
• Later aditions included tyres and gears.

Essay or Academic Writing Mass Comm 1 180324

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Essay or Academic Writing Mass Comm 1 180324

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Essay or Academic Writing Mass Comm 1 180324

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Essay and/or

Any writing given in the academic setting.

It is the process of dissecting ideas and using reasoning to

It is all about using evidence to support one’s viewpoint.

• An argument is a carefully arranged and supported

• It presents facts about a subject and a writer’s

(a) The first word in a sentence (In the beginning . . .)

(b) with possessives e.g.:

You might also like

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.