UNIT III THE PROCESS OF WRITING; Review Questions.

1. Briefly discuss the step by step process of writing an academic assignment.

i) Decide on what you want to study.   The first step involves choosing a subject, find out an aspect or area within the subject to focus; and narrow down to formulate your topic. Understand the purpose and audience of your proposed work.

ii) Collect information or expert sources: The second step is to identify the sources of information, take down notes and prepare a working bibliography or list of works to be often quoted and cited.

iii) Prepare a frame work or structure to work on: The third step comprises finalizing the basic

premises, key points, the organizational pattern of the work and grouping of points for

paragraphs.

iv) Start writing: Drafting begins as a fourth step. Here preparing the first draft, going through the draft to ensure there are no structural and thematic inconsistencies, editing and revising the paper are the major steps involved. Language errors and use of taboo/informal/discriminatory words and expression are to be checked as a part of editing.

v) Prepare the final draft and submit: It is always better to keep a checklist to verify if anything important is missing before submitting.

2. Discuss the importance of audience analysis in academic writing.

A. Audience analysis is an important prerequisite for effective communication. Academic

writing is not different in this respect. Before venturing into an academic writing assignment,

you need to have a clear idea about your audience. 

Ask yourself:

 Who am I writing for?

 What do I expect my readers to know about my topic?

 What do I want my readers to think  about my topic? 

 What do my readers know about my topic?

A clear idea about your reader and your purpose will make your writing understandable to your audience and help to satisfy their expectations. Depending on your audience, you may write to inform, justify your stand on a topic, and educate the audience on a subject or to persuade your audience think or act in the way you want them to think or act.

3. Bring out the purpose of an academic writing.

‘Purpose’ in academic writing refers to your reason for writing. Although the stated reason of an academic assignment is purely academic/ educational, it serves certain social, rhetorical and career related purpose as well. The rhetorical purpose of an academic writing assignment is to persuade the audience to think the way you want them to think.

4. Examine the importance of 'voice' in an academic work.

There is a widespread belief that academic writers should maintain objectivity in their approaches and perspectives, what rings at the core your work is your own distinct voice. That is if you are writing a persuasive piece there is a consistent attempt throughout your work to convince the reader that your views are worth considering. Still you normally do not use such expressions as ‘I think’, ‘In my opinion’ and ‘I found out that'

In order to make your writings

more inclusive, it is better to write without reinforcing your stake in the work. So it is always better to sound neutral. Whatever is the voice in the text one thing is crucial: your voice in academic assignments should sound educated or well informed, sophisticated and rational. And convey your ideas in more directly and clearly.

5. Illustrate the structure of an academic essay.

A. Essay writing is one of the most common assignment formats for college students. An essay contains a set of paragraphs structured in a logical manner. Paragraphs are regarded as the building blocks of an academic essay. The major parts of an essay include introductory paragraph, body paragraph and concluding paragraph. The introductory paragraph is the first paragraph of your essay. Introduction aims at grabbing the attention of your reader and makes a few statements on background, the main ideas and outline of your essay. Body paragraph is the main paragraph of an essay. Each paragraph in an essay works like a links in a chain, contributing to the wholeness of the work. However paragraphs are to be written in such a way as to make them stand independent of the totality of the essay. Concluding paragraph is the last paragraph of the essay. You are expected to restate your thesis statement given in the introduction, summarize the points through which you explained your thesis statement in the body paragraphs and finish your essay with a concluding remark.

6.List the main steps in planning an essay.

A. Pre-writing, writing and revising are the major steps in planning an essay.

1. Pre-writing

Pre-writing activities are the preliminary steps before starting to write your essay.

 Understanding the question/topic, purpose and audience.

 Use pre- writing techniques like brainstorming, clustering/mind-mapping to list and organize your ideas. 

 If your instructor has given you a question convert the question into a topic. 

If the topic is given by the instructor convert the topic into a question. If only a key word is given, you are required to frame topic as well as the question.

 Identify the sources and gather relevant materials. 

 Prepare an outline; decide the logical ordering of ideas/cluster ideas for paragraphs. 

 Identify the thesis statement.

2. Writing

 Frame the thesis statement and list the main points.

 Draft the introductory paragraph. 

 Draft each body paragraphs with supporting points, substitution and transition.

 Drafts the concluding paragraph.

3. Revising

 Edit and revise your essay: check for inconsistencies, tone, use of taboo words and expressions, grammar, spelling, punctuation and referencing.

7. Consider brainstorming and outlining as effective pre-writing activities.

A. Brainstorming is a group activity conducted at the beginning of a project to generate ideas. In business and organizational contexts, brainstorming is used as method to generate innovative ideas on an area of interest and sometimes to find leads to address problems and challenges. Brainstorming can be of great use as a prewriting technique. Before you start writing it is essential for you to gather ideas and get into the heart your subject.

8. What are the three types of paragraphs in an academic essay?

A. There are three types of paragraph in an academic essay. They are

1) Introductory paragraph

2) Body paragraph

3) Concluding paragraph

Introductory paragraph is the first paragraph of the essay. Body paragraph is the main paragraph of an essay. Body paragraphs give a complete idea with necessary explanations and illustrations, quotations and other forms substantiation. Concluding paragraph is the last paragraph of an essay. You are expected to restate your thesis statement given in the introduction, summarize, the points through which you explained your thesis statement in your body paragraphs and finish your essay with a concluding paragraph.

9. What are the kinds of sentences used in an academic essay? Explain their functions.

A. There are three types of sentences in an academic essay. They are topic sentence, substantiation, conclusion or transition. Each sentence in a paragraph has a function. Topic sentence expresses the main idea of each paragraph. It contains the focus of the paragraph and tells readers what the paragraph is going to be about. Although the topic sentence can be located anywhere in a paragraph in academic essays, it is usually located at the beginning of each paragraph. 

Successful academic writing requires claims and arguments to be substantiated with evidence from research or other authoritative sources. This practice goes to the heart of academic writing because it reflects the objectivity of your writing.

Concluding sentence summarizes the points that you have made. It should tie the whole paragraph together without simply rephrasing the topic sentence. At the end of your concluding paragraph your concluding sentence should wrap up your entire argument and provide guidance to your readers about what to do with the information you have given them.

Divided Times: How Literature Teaches Us to Understand 'the Other'

Divided Times: How Literature Teaches Us to Understand 'the Other'

       Summary and Analysis.

Literature is the reflection of life. Literature helps one to encounter the stories of others and thus to cultivate humanitarian values and to inspire imagination. 'Divided Times' is an extract taken from the opening speech of Amanda Michalopoulou at the second international literature festival in Odessa. This extract started like telling a story.  There were four Europeans, a  Greek, an English man, a German, and Spaniard. They decided they would each write a story to explain the different human conditions.  The Greek said he would write a story about a man who had returned from the war. When he returned home no one did recognize  him. English man has decided to write a story of a young Prince who cannot decide if life is worth it. Spaniard decided to write a story about a farmer who believes he is a knight and undertakes several foolish adventures.  German has decided to write about a young man who falls passionately in love with someone else's wife and dies of love in the end.

If we look at these Europeans, we can understand the way how Homer created the Epic, Shakespeare the drama, and Cervantes the novel Wanderlust and Goethe cultivated the soil of romanticism. These classical writers produced marginalised antiheroes in their works.  And marginalised anti-heroes are popular even in the modern and post-modern narratives.  They are very popular among the readers with different interpretations. Here Amanda Michalopoulou asks some questions regarding the characters. Who are they really? What do People around them think of them? What do they think of themselves?   There are many interpretations regarding these characters. Michalopoulou says that apart from the traditional interpretation, these characters can be read from the perspective of 'the other'.  'The other' can be any individuals or groups who labelled as not fit to the norms and values of a social group.

In the next paragraph, Amanda Michalopoulou takes Odysseus as an example.The experience of Odysseus on the island of the Phaeacians can be seen in similarity with the contemporary refugee crisis. Therefore the character of Odysseus can be read from the perspective of the modern refugee crisis. Most of the countries are not willing to accept and give shelter to them. Usually, in the eyes of people, Refugees are considered to be strange and terrifying figures. Same way here in the eyes of  Nausicaa and her companions he was a stranger and they were terrified when they met the first time. Moreover, they consider Odysseus as a "Hill kept lion". And he was struggling to stop his hunger, nobody was willing to give him food and shelter. Odysseus can only assume his position as a hero once he has washed and put on clean clothes.

If we consider Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet was also a mad man in the eyes of Claudius and Gertrude. Don Quixote was a middle-aged gentleman who read many books about chivalrous Knights, determined to undertake a great adventure to win his ladylove, Dulcinea.  He was also a mad man to villagers. When they asked him why he is wandering around in armour during peacetime, he introduced himself as a wandering knight, an ambassador of God on earth. Here Don Quixote also had an image of 'the other' in the society.

Michalopoulou says that literature helps us to understand 'the other', with all their peculiar qualities. In many works, there will be a hero who struggles for his existence. Sometimes he considered it as a sign of courage.  He is the one who fights for his freedom, his idea, his aesthetic, as does in James Joyce's Stephen Dedalus in A Portrait of the Artist As a young man.

Literature forms another form of education. It helps us to understand the mind and heart of people.  Literature teaches us how to empathise with 'the other'. So when we read works of the European tradition, we begin to understand the situation of 'the other'. Odysseus is not a merely filthy,  shipwrecked man but he was also a victim of othering in the island of the Phaeacians. The same way number of Odysseus refugees are arriving on the shore of Europe every day. This is not a new thing for us. We have to empathise with them. They are the one who struggles for their existence. We have to change our attitude towards refugees. Never accept the view propagated by Media. That is not the reality. "It tells us: Other is not what it seems".

Helen of Troy does Countertop Dancing. Analysis

Helen Of Troy Does Countertop Dancing is a poem written by canadian writer Margrett Atwood in 1995. The poem is found in one of Atwood’s poetry books entitled, ‘Morning in the Burned Houses’ by using the myth of Helen of Troy. Helen of Troy an iconic woman a symbol of beauty.

 Helen of Troy does Countertop Dancing can be viewed as a commentary of a 20th century society that has its roots firmly entrenched in capitalism.Helen of Troy Does Counter Dancing” is a cleverly written and very important poem about the dangers of objectification and how it can simultaneously build up and destroy a person.

Greek Mythology, Helen of Troy was the most beautiful woman of the world. She was the daughter of Zeus -and thus had blood from the gods. He rapped Leda (Helen’s mother). Helen was married to Menelaus (King of Sparta).

In the mythological Helen of Troy was an object of men’s desires from a very young age. Mythological Helen was also never given a voice, but Atwood has explored the effect of long term exposure to this type of attention on a young woman, and has created a bitter, disingenuous personality for her. Atwood’s Helen sees the power she has over men and chooses to capitalize on their weakness. Counter-dancing Helen knows that she will be objectified no matter what she does, and she therefore seizes control by objectifying herself first.

Using Helen of Troy as the ‘prostitute/stripper’ in the poem, .. creates great interest and entertainment due to the history of who Helen of Troy was. Helen is here being referred to as having no morals and self-respect. This introduces feminist resistance in the sense of irony that the ‘most beautiful woman in the world’ is a prostitute. This allusion provides us with the idea of the approach Atwood had for this poem. The poem begins with the idea that woman feel disgusted towards other woman who sell their bodies and degrade themselves by stripping and entertaining men.

She is a stripper who is justifying herself and her profession. (“I keep the beat, and dance for them because they can’t.”, “and I’ll take the money.”, “Selling gloves, or something. Instead of what I do sell.”)  She acknowledges that other people judge her because of her actions and her profession. (“…who’d tell me I should be ashamed of myself”, “instead of naked as a meat sandwich”).

Referring to the men as only “rows of heads and upturned eyes” implies that they are not worth more than the sum of their parts, much as she is viewed by society. Her use of the phrase “ready to snap at my ankles” links the men to dogs, after having earlier referred to herself as “naked as a meat sandwich”.

The men view her as something to be consumed, whereas she sees them as nothing more than salivating mutts. This passage also alludes to her divine affiliations, earthquakes and floods having been explained by mythology in Ancient Greece. She claims that she understands these natural disasters, as well as the urge to crush ants (the mortal equivalent of a god’s power to destroy), because these phenomena are an assertion of power through destruction.

Power, objectification and sex are inextricably linked in the poem, much as they were in Helen’s mythological life, although in this version of poem which talk about Helen as a modern figure who reread her mythical representation as a ' beautiful Helen'.

Objectification/ Physical beauty  Inequality of gender - examines power relations between men and women.  Presents a capitalistic society whereby men seemingly have a dominant position economically.  Desire/ lust/ sexuality of woman Are the speaker’s choices and actions determined by the society she lives in or by her.

Author's message is Beauty is both a gifted item and a parasite to women Beauty is a trait that can be used and abused, Beauty should be exploited, It is a powerful element that can be used to control and manipulate those around them, however, it can also be self damaging.

Atwood’s poem is a writing on the oppressed female and her finding of power and control in everyday life.

Stanza one deals with the way women in society regard strippers as an insult to all woman as well as ‘Helen’s’ argument as to why she has chosen this job. The second stanza forms a story base about her clients and their reaction towards her as a stripper. The last stanza is more aggressive and personal on ‘Helen’s’ behalf. This form of poetry is enjoyable to follow and keeps the reader interested. Margaret Atwood successfully exposed her idea on the oppressed female and her fighting for control in Everyday life . She refuses to obey and agree with the idea that woman need to have humble day jobs in order to be accepted by society.

Genres and Types of Academic Writing. Exercises

1.Discuss the genres in academic writing and their distinctive uses.

The genres of academic writing include essays, research papers, case study, literature review, project report, proposals and dissertation/ thesis.

2.What are the features of a case study? Explain.

Case study is widely used in Social Science and Science subjects like Medicine. The main skills involved in case study are problem solving, critical thinking and writing. Case study usesthe method of analyzing sample cases- real or imaginary crises, hypothetical situations- to

demonstrate how they are handled or resolved. The steps involved in writing the case study include describing the situation, identifying the issues to be resolved, analyzing the case using theories and approaches relevant to the discipline and giving recommendations or suggesting a series of steps to solve the problem in the best possible way.

3. How would you differentiate between a thesis and a dissertation?

Dissertation / thesis are often used as interchangeably to refer to the mandatory final projects

in certain academic projects. In the universities of United States a thesis is the final project of Masters Degree and dissertation is submitted for a doctoral degree, whereas in the UK a thesis is submitted for a doctoral degree anddissertation for a Masters degree. The structure followed in both is similar, although there are differences in the number of pages.A doctoral thesis/ dissertation is usually lengthier compared to a masters project. Dissertation/ thesis are reports of research work carried out by scholars.

4.What is the objective of literature review?

Literature review is the summary of relevant previous writings on the topic under discussion.The main objective of review of literature as an academic writing activity is to display your knowledge of the subject. A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources (such as books, journal articles, and theses) related to a specific topic or research question. It is often written as part of thesis, dissertation...etc.

5. Bring out the major approaches to academic writing.

There are various approaches to academic writing. They are expository, descriptive,persuasive, analytical, critical/evaluative and narrative/reflective. The key feature of explanatory approach is to explain, inform, define or describe a subject. In descriptive approach the writer

uses visual words and descriptions. Persuasive approach aims to convince readers to accept the

writer’s point of view. Analytical approach mainly contains elements of exposition, persuasion and description. Critical/evaluative approach aims at evaluating the merits of an existing work and provides alternatives. In narrative or reflective approach the writer presents a story, personal experience and ideas through narration.

6. List the rhetorical modes and their uses.

7.What are the popular style guides in use today?

The most popular style guide in subjects under Humanities is MLA (Modern Language Association) style, whereas in Social Sciences, research scholars usually follow APA (American Psychological Association) style. Chicago manual of style is another style guide in use.

8.Write briefly on the sections in a Social Science dissertation.

Title page, abstract, introduction, review of literature, methodology, results,discussion/findings and references/bibliography.

Introduction part invites the attention ofthe reader towards the topic. Back ground information on the topic may be given in this paragraph.

Review of literature is to understand how other students and scholars approached your topic.

Methodology is the systematic theoretical analysis of the methods applied to a field of study.

Discussion or findings are the concluding part that summarizes the findings of the scholar.

Bibliography is the citation of those relevant books used to refer for the successful completion of the dissertation. 

In other words it is a list of all the sources you have used in the process of