Review of basic writing skills

and writing in English

Reference
The UVic Writer's Guide, University of Victoria
http://web.uvic.ca/wguide/Pages/MasterToc.html
 Postgraduate
students

Poor in English but

Acceptable skill in Poor in English and
they think they are
English they know it
good
 Brief outline

1. Planning, Organizing and Presenting Essays

2. Developing and Ordering Paragraphs
3. Writing Clear Sentences
4. Choosing and Using Words
5. Acknowledging Your Sources
6. Preparing Summaries
7. Presenting Arguments Logically
8. Knowing the Basics of Grammar
Planning, Organizing and
Presenting Essays
Writing as a Process

• requires thinking and rethinking, working and reworking

• complex process
• craft which requires a lot of practice
• a workable linear model:
Actual process far more complicated
 Types of Essays

• The Expository Essay Sample topic: "How to Tame a Dragon."

- To explain, or to acquaint your reader with a body of knowledge

• The Persuasive Essay Sample topic: "Dragons Should Not Be

Tamed"
- Must defend your side of an argument
- Not merely showing, but convincing others

• The Informal Essay Sample topic: "Me and My Dragon."

- Informal essay is written mainly for enjoyment
• The Review Sample title: "The Fire Inside: A Review of
John Scale's Dragons."
- May be either formal or informal
- To evaluate a work, which implies that the reviewer's personal
opinion plays a significant role

• The Research Essay Sample topic: "Dragons and

Demons in Norse Mythology."
- Leads you into the works of others and asks you to compare
their thoughts with your own

• The Literary Essay Sample topic: "The Characterization

of Dragons in the Works of Tolkien"
- you are exploring the meaning and construction of a piece of
literature
 Writing Your Essay: Getting Started

 Narrowing Your Essay Topic

- Finding something to write about

 Brainstorming
• Write all ideas on paper everything, no matter how irrelevant or
bizarre
• Next make connections between ideas
• Group them into sub-topics, expanding those worth exploring in detail
• Put groups into logical order discard those that are irrelevant
The Thesis

• A thesis: the point you are arguing

- Topic your subject
- Thesis your position on that subject
• Your essay will take a position and will provide
convincing evidence to support that view
• Develop a working thesis early thesis may
evolve
 Writing Your Essay: Organizing It

Methods of Organizing Your Essay

• Careful structuring and organization

• A beginning, a middle and an end
• Organizing before writing allows you to articulate, analyze,
and clarify your thoughts
• Organization (or reorganization) continuous process goes on
simultaneously with other activities
• Some principles of organization:
- Chronological order
- Classification
- Increasing importance
- Cause and effect
- Comparison and contrast
 The Essay Outline

• Diagram of your thoughts Range from a brief sketch of main

points to a detailed point-by-point outline complete with
paragraphs

The Structure of The Essay Outline

• „Introduction‟ containing your thesis statement

• „Conclusion‟ the end
• „Middle or body of the essay‟ contains the
argument, supported by evidence or example
• Good outline will prevent irrelevant materials
• Construct outline by listing all important points you
want to cover
• Each point connect with the next
• Each sub-category be linked to main category
Introductions

• Write Introduction after rough draft of body of paper

• Introduction makes a good impression, informing reader
what is to come and encouraging to read further
• More than merely summarizing the points of your essay
• Find a way to open discussion of the topic

Introduction

“1. You tell them what you are going to tell them
2. You tell them, and then
3. You tell them what you told them."
Introductions contd…

Inverted triangle model

• Begins with general moves toward specifics

• Need not give away all your opinions and conclusions
• Give your reader a clear idea of what you will be discussing

Length of Introduction
• Should be brief relative to rest of essay
Body of Essay

• Usually easiest part of essay to write

• Turn your notes into paragraphs to support your central argument
• One topic per paragraph, each topic suitably and sufficiently
supported
Conclusions

“1. You tell them what you are going to tell them
2. You tell them, and then
3. You tell them what you told them."

• Should match what you said when you introduced the essay
• Shows more fully and clearly what you have been arguing
• Introduction is a forecast, Conclusion is a final analysis
• Never make a claim in your conclusion that is unsubstantiated
or even unmentioned anywhere else

Triangle of the introduction is inverted in the

conclusion instead of narrowing, you expand
 Writing Your Essay: Getting It Down

Audience and Tone

• Thesis is a highly formal work

• No slang and colloquialisms

The First Draft

• „Introduction‟ sometimes the most challenging part

and may prevent from starting
• Plunge directly into the body of your argument
• Do not feel disappointed with a messy, even
incoherent first draft
Revising

Clarity
• First draft use first grammatical constructions that come to mind
• Rewrite much of original work for the sake of clarity
• Repetitive or unwieldy sentences distract reader's attention
• Vary sentence structure
• Trim redundant phrases, do not try to be wordy
• Watch for passive sentences

Coherence
• Every sentence must follow from previous one
• Paragraphs work toward goal of developing and exploring thesis
• Convincing requires logical, systematic presentation

Unity
• Everything must contributes to the essay
• Strength of argument is diluted by irrelevant digressions or redundancies
• Everything in essay must be there for a reason
 • Everyone needs to revise – even talented writers

• The revision stage summed up with A.R.R.R. (Adding,

Rearranging, Removing, Replacing) approach:

Adding
Rearranging
Removing
Replacing

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/the-writing-process/
 Three Steps to Peer Editing

There are three important steps to remember when

you are peer editing another student‟s writing.

• Step 1 – Compliments

• Step 2 – Suggestions

• Step 3 - Corrections
Three Steps to Peer Editing

STEP 1: Compliments

The first rule of peer editing is to STAY POSITIVE!

• Always start your peer editing with compliments!

• Tell the writer what you think he or she did well

• Remember, you‟re helping to change someone else‟s work.

Think about how you would feel if someone were telling you
what needed to be improved in your own writing…
Three Steps to Peer Editing

STEP 2 : Suggestions

Specific ideas about how to make his or her

writing better

• Remember – stay positive and be specific!

– Instead of, “It didn‟t make sense,”

say, “If you add more details after this sentence, it
would be more clear.”

– Instead of, “Your word choice was boring,”

say, “Instead of using the word „good’, maybe you can
use the word „exceptional’.”
Three Steps to Peer Editing

STEP 3: Corrections

• Corrections means checking your peer‟s paper for:

– Spelling mistakes
– Grammar mistakes
– Missing punctuation
– Incomplete or run-on sentences
Proofreading

• Look for careless mistakes

• Reread the essay make sure that it flows well and that
it makes sense as a whole
• Spelling errors
• Get a friend to read your paper
• Leave the paper for several days, then come back and
read it carefully
 2. Developing and Ordering Paragraphs

2.1 Developing the paragraph

2.1.1 Paragraph Unity
2.1.2 The Topic Sentence
2.1.3 Developing Your Topic Sentence
2.2 The Functions of Paragraphs
2.2.1 Paragraphs That Analyze
2.2.2 Paragraphs That Contrast And Compare
2.2.3 Paragraphs That Define
2.2.4 Paragraphs That Make Claims
2.2.5 Paragraphs That Show Results
2.2.6 Paragraphs That Use Analogy
2.3 Paragraph Order
2.3.1 Paragraph Order--An Introduction
2.3.2 Paragraphs That Build To A Climax
2.3.3 Paragraphs Order--Familiar To The Unfamiliar
2.3.4 Paragraph Order--General To Particular
2.3.5 Paragraph Order--Particular To General
2.3.6 Paragraph Order--Narration
2.3.7 Paragraph Order--Grinding It Out
2.3.8 Paragraph Order--Chronology
2.4 Paragraph Transitions
 3. Writing Clear Sentences

3.1 Some Things To Do

3.1.1 The Need for Sentence Variation
3.1.2 Compound and Complex Sentences
3.1.3 Compound-Complex Sentences
3.1.4 Absolute Phrase
3.1.5 Parallelism
3.1.6 Subject/Verb Agreement
3.1.7 Pronoun Agreement
3.2 Using Capitals
3.3 Using Hyphens
3.3.1 Hyphens For Splitting Words At The End Of A Line
3.3.2 Words That Are Always Spelled With A Hyphen
3.4 Using Apostrophes
3.4.1 Using An Apostrophe To Show Possession
3.4.2 Don't Use An Apostrophe With Possessive Pronouns
3.4.3 Possessives of Inanimate Objects
3.5 Some Things to Avoid
3.5.1 Run-on Sentences
3.5.2 Fragments
3.5.3 Mistakes With Modifiers
3.5.3.1 Misplaced Modifiers
3.5.3.2 Dangling Modifier
3.5.3.3 Squinting Modifier
3.5.4 Wordiness
3.5.5 The Passive Voice
3.5.6 Other Common Errors
3.5.6.1 Mixed Metaphors
3.5.6.2 Sentences That Are Too Long or Too Loose
3.5.6.3 Repetition Within The Sentence
3.6 A Summary of Common Errors
3.6.1 The Comma Splice
3.6.2 Run-on Sentences
3.6.3 Fragments
3.6.4 Wordiness
3.6.5 The Passive Voice
3.6.6 Parallelism
3.6.7 Subject/Verb Agreement
3.6.8 Pronoun Agreement
3.6.9 The Need for Sentence Variation
3.6.10 Misplaced Modifiers
3.6.11 Dangling Modifier
3.6.12 Squinting Modifier
3.6.13 Mixed Metaphors
 4. Choosing and Using Words

4.1 Usage
4.1.1 Levels of Usage
4.1.2 Clichés
4.1.3 Jargon
4.1.4 Noun Strings
A Dictionary of Usage
4.3 Gender Inclusive Language
4.3.1 The Generic Pronouns: He, His, And Him
4.3.2 A Note On Word Order and Gender
4.3.3 Generic Man
4.3.4 Titles
4.3.5 Direct Quotations and Gender
4.4 Spelling
4.4.1 Why Spelling Counts
4.4.2 A Historical Note About Spelling
4.4.3 What Does The Word Sound Like?
4.4.4 Unstressed Vowels
4.4.5 Homonyms
4.4.6 IE/EI
4.4.7 Final E
4.4.8 Final Y
4.4.9 Doubling Of Consonants
4.4.10. -Able & -Ible
4.4.11 Plurals
4.4.12 Canadian/English/American Spelling
4.4.13 Word Processors And Spelling Checkers
4.4.14 A List Of Words Commonly Misspelled
5. Acknowledging Your Sources
Plagiarism
5. Acknowledging Your Sources

Plagiarism
 Brief outline

1. Planning, Organizing and Presenting Essays

2. Developing and Ordering Paragraphs
3. Writing Clear Sentences
4. Choosing and Using Words
5. Acknowledging Your Sources
6. Preparing Summaries
7. Presenting Arguments Logically
8. Knowing the Basics of Grammar
6. Preparing Summaries

6.1 How Writing Summaries Can Help You

6.2 Grasp The Main Trend of Thought
6.3 Reduce Explanation
6.4 Use The Most Economical Wording Possible
6.5 A Sample Passage To Summarize
6.6 The Textbook's Version
6.7 The Student's Version
 Brief outline

1. Planning, Organizing and Presenting Essays

2. Developing and Ordering Paragraphs
3. Writing Clear Sentences
4. Choosing and Using Words
5. Acknowledging Your Sources
6. Preparing Summaries
7. Presenting Arguments Logically
8. Knowing the Basics of Grammar
8. Knowing The Basics of Grammar

8.1 Forethoughts About Grammar

8.2 The Sentence
8.3 Phrases
8.4 Clauses
8.5 Pronouns
8.6 Agreement
8.7 The Subject (Subjective, Nominative) Case
8.8 The Object (Objective, Accusative) Case
8.9 Verb Agreement
8.10 Punctuation
8.11 Colons, Semi-Colons, Parentheses and
Dashes
8.12 Colons
8.13 Semi-colons
8.14 Parentheses
8.15 Dashes
A simple example