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.
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