Writing Skills Week 2

Writing Skills
Module I – Organizing ideas into text (2)
Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Institut für Sprache, Literatur, und Medien
HG 163 | michelle.smith@uni-flensburg.de
Different types of term paper: two models

Term paper as a structured text
• Clear divisions
• Linear argument
• Formatting requirements
• Citation requirements

Quotation and paraphrase
• Quotations only to support argument

• Assume reader is familiar with work in literary analysis
• Quote a passage to make a point / shed new light on passage
• Linguistic analysis quotes only data crucial to the argument
• Don’t take quotations out of context!
• No quotation without discussion!
• Quotations cannot PROVE but only SUPPORT or REFUTE
• Integrate quotations and paraphrasing into your text

Essay or mini-article?
Essay Mini-article
• Humanities • Scientific fields
• No explicit divisions • Numbered sections /
subsections
• Limited footnotes • Copious footnotes
• Literary analysis • Case study or research data

The literary essay
• Close analysis of one or more primary works from one or

multiple points of view
• “A kind of alternation between primary and secondary
literature”
Research Question Major Arguments Likely outcomes /

/ Context / Evidence Unanswerables
• MLA citation style

The literary essay
Background of research question with

references to secondary literature
Arguments which address and answer

elements of the research question with
evidence to support these arguments
Indicates your answer to the research

question based on the argument given in
Body
Bibliography / Works Cited

The linguistic mini-article
• Qualitative study
Case study or evaluative overview
“Why” or “how” questions
• Quantitative study
Experimental – an account of your own experiment / survey
Non-experimental – extraction of trends from existing body
of data
“What” questions
• APA citation style

The linguistic mini-article (Quantitative)
1. Introduction
2. Background
3. Data
4. Results
5. Discussion
6. Conclusion
7. References
8. Appendices
The linguistic mini-article (Qualitative)
Principles / position adopted by author

(research question)
Compelling arguments with convincing

examples
Well described data, considered critically
Offers your original contribution to

linguistic theory
Bibliography / References / Appendices?

Presenting linguistic data
• Tables and Appendices

• In-line
• As numbered items /
interlinear gloss
• Typically presented once;
repeated as a courtesy to
reader if far from original
reference

Citing your sources
• Choose appropriate style manual (APA, MLA)

• When in doubt, ask your instructor!
• Use MOST RECENT EDITION (MLA 7th 2008, APA 6th 2009)
• Use Citavi / Endnote for consistency

Title, Introduction, Body, and Conclusion

Essay as intellectual journey

Essay as intellectual journey
CONTEXT Introduction
(Broad to specific)
Argument 1
STEP BY STEP
(Logical and sequential Argument 2
order)
Argument 3
IMPLICATIONS
(Specific to broad) Conclusion

Choosing a title
• First words your reader will see

• Tells reader exactly what to expect from your text
• Prepares your reader for your argument
• Evokes context
• Announces topic
• Are typically noun phrases (NP) – short, clear, and objective
• Should be the LAST part you formulate

Title styles
Frame: Theme
Being Human: Robots in Film and Theatre
Theme – Frame
Robotic Performance in 20th Century Science Fiction
Frame1 – Frame2
From Metropolis to Millennium Man: Robots as
Reflections of Human Nature

The Introduction

The Introduction
• First section to plan, last section to write

• Gives reader background and context
• Start from shared knowledge
• Dual function: cognitive and rhetorical
Cognitive: information reader needs to make sense of argument
Rhetorical: persuade reader to be interested in your point of view
• About 10% of total text

T-O-T-O Introduction
TOPIC
Establish common ground
Uncontroversial and non-technical
ORIENTATION
Provide necessary background
Clarify subject and approach
THESIS
Clarify research question
Define scope of argument
ORGANIZATION
Road Map

The Body

Body sections
Your division of the main body into sections should ideally:

• Have an identifiable, coherent pattern
• Reflect the logic of the argument
• Create a sense of forward dynamics
• Contain clear signposting
• Section headings
• Transitions
• Comprise the bulk of your text (around 80%)

Organizing body sections
• Chronological
Past  Present  Implications for future?
• Opposition
Position you oppose  Position you support  Conclusion
Least acceptable position  Most acceptable position
• Single argument with evidence
2nd best argument  Weaker arguments  Strongest argument

The nested essay structure
Introduction Relate to  Topic
Section 1 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1
Conclusion Direct to  Climax

Signposting

The Conclusion

The Conclusion
• Should be the high point of the text!

• Clarifies relevance of text / argument to reader
• Discusses implications of argument
• Should continue forward dynamics of text as a whole
• About 10% of total text

Conclusion
TRANSITION
Smooth movement to closure
Convincing summation (NOT Summary!)
REPERCUSSIONS
Relate argument to reader
“So What?”
ENVOY
Resonant and positive final impression

Structure Exercise
Identify the topic sentence and rearrange the sentences into a
logical paragraph.
1. Each step is important and each one takes time.

2. No step can be skipped.
3. A child learns to turn over, to sit up, to crawl, and then to walk
and run.
4. In all of life, there are sequential stages of growth and
development.
5. This is true in all phases of life, in all areas of development,
whether it be learning to play the piano or communicate
effectively with a working associate.

Structure Exercise Solution
In all of life, there are sequential stages of growth and

development. A child learns to turn over, to sit up, to crawl, and
then to walk and run. Each step is important and each one takes
time. No step can be skipped. This is true in all phases of life, in
all areas of development, whether it be learning to play the
piano or communicate effectively with a working associate.

Getting the paper ready for submission: Editing
and formatting

Editing as a process
• Take a break between writing and editing

• Be your own worst critic!
• Misunderstandings by the reader are ultimately YOUR
responsibility!
“Your only hope is to formulate your ideas so accurately and

transparently that the anticipated readership is most likely to
understand your text in the way you would wish.” (WiE 76)

Grice’s Conversational Maxims
Maxim of Quantity:
Say exactly what you need to
say; no more, no less.
Maxim of Quality:
Be honest and give adequate
evidence.
Maxim of Relation:
Stick to the point.
Maxim of Manner:
Be brief, clear, and orderly.
Avoid ambiguity and obscurity.

Three levels of editing
Macro-level Editing
Text as a whole
Relationship between sections / Stylistically unified?
General impression of text
Meso-level Editing
Each section as a unit
Paragraphs / Elaborations / Sources /Accuracy
Micro-level Editing
Typographical / Spelling / Grammatical errors
Idiomatic English / Readability

Formal Requirements
• University Guidelines
• Departmental Guidelines
• Instructor Guidelines
• Style Manual Guidelines
• Publisher Guidelines
• NO EXTRAS!!

Homework
• Read Module II
• Journals? Give to me if on paper
Extra Practice on Moodle:

• Module I revision questions & answers
• Exercise on linking words & phrases (with answers)


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Writing Skills

Module I – Organizing ideas into text (2)

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

• Quotations only to support argument

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

• Close analysis of one or more primary works from one or

Research Question Major Arguments Likely outcomes /

• MLA citation style

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Background of research question with

Arguments which address and answer

Indicates your answer to the research

Bibliography / Works Cited

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Principles / position adopted by author

Compelling arguments with convincing

Offers your original contribution to

Bibliography / References / Appendices?

• Tables and Appendices

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

• Choose appropriate style manual (APA, MLA)

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

• First words your reader will see

• Should be the LAST part you formulate

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

• First section to plan, last section to write

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Your division of the main body into sections should ideally:

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Introduction Relate to  Topic

Section 1 Paragraph 1 Sentence 1

Section 2 Paragraph 2 Sentence 2

Section 3 Paragraph 3 Sentence 3

Conclusion Direct to  Climax

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

• Should be the high point of the text!

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

1. Each step is important and each one takes time.

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

In all of life, there are sequential stages of growth and

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

• Take a break between writing and editing

“Your only hope is to formulate your ideas so accurately and

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik

Michelle Smith, Lektorin | Seminar für Anglistik & Amerikanistik