English for Academic and Professional

Purposes

Grade 12

Ms. Diane Jasmin M. Jamandron

MODULE #:2

Lesson 2: Aspects of Professional and Academic Language

Introduction and Focus Questions

1
 How many times have you been asked to write about summer vacation or your
Christmas vacation? How many times have you been assigned to do a book review or a
reaction paper? Maybe, at some point, you were also asked to write poems, skits, and
letters. You have had different writing assignments. But have you really pondered on the
differences of the various writing assignments that you have done?
In the first lesson, you were taught that writers are influenced by the topic, their
own role, their audience, and their purpose. These four elements influence use of
language.
Academic writing requires sophisticated use of language. Since your task as
students includes writing for assignments, exams, and reports, there is an expected
quality in your use of language and structuring of texts.

Lesson Coverage:

In this lesson, you will do the following:

Aspects of Professional and Academic  Uses knowledge of text structure to

Language glean the information he/she needs.
 States the thesis statement of an
academic text

Concept Map of the Lesson

Here is a simple map of the topics you will cover in this lesson:

2
 EXPECTED SKILLS

To do well in this lesson, you need to remember and do the following:

1. Annotate, outline, summarize, and question the writer’s claim in a text.

2. Analyze a text by applying the different ways in reading critically.

PRE-ASSESSMENT:

Read the statements carefully. Write True if the statement is correct or False if
wrong in the blanks provided. (5 points)

______1. Jargons are the specific terms used in a particular course or field.

______2. The words such as “haven’t, “you’re” and “could’ve” are examples of
acronyms.

______3. The colloquial words are the denotative words found in the dictionary.

______4. Hedges are used to express absolute certainty of a stance.

______5. Grammar is one of the elements that need to be properly observed in an

academic writing.

LESSON PROPER

3
There are four important features of language use that you need to know about:

Formality
Formality reflects your dignified stance in your writing as a member of the
academic community. This means that since your audience are fellow members of the
academic community, the language you use requires precision to make it a “legitimate”
piece of academic writing.
Formality can be achieved through the following ways:
1. Choosing expanded modal forms over contracted forms, such as using cannot instead
of can’t, do not instead of don’t.
2. Choosing one verb form over two- word contracted forms, such as damage instead of
mess up.
3. Choosing expanded terms over their abbreviated equivalents, such as as soon as
possible instead of ASAP.
4. Avoiding colloquial/trite/idiomatic expressions, such as kind of like, as a matter of
fact, I need to go to the John.

EXPLORE

A. Analyze the sentences carefully. Replace the italicized two-word verb in each
sentence with a single-word verb from the choices. Write the correct answers
in the blanks. (5 points)

produces conducted raised eliminate reduce

refuses produces creates established increased

_______________1. Mothers cut down spending on grocery items.

_______________ 2. Scientists come up with a good solution to the problem.

_______________3. Teachers brought up some issues on cheating during
examinations.

_______________4. Private schools nowadays get rid of tuition fee hike.

_______________ 5. The team leader turns down the first project proposal
because of its inconvenience for the members.

Objectivity
Academic writing requires special knowledge and use of more complex language
and objectivity. This means that the writing must be impersonal and maintains a certain
level of social distance.
Objectivity can be achieved by:

4
1. Avoiding the use of personal pronouns such as you, I, and we.
Poor example: You need to conduct the experiment.
Improved version: The researchers need to conduct the experiment.

2. Avoiding rhetorical questions as it marks “closeness” with the reader, and constantly
seeks his/her attention.
Poor example: How can these problems be solved?
Improved version: Certain measures must be discovered to solve the problems.

3. Avoiding emotive language that shows biases and lessons objectivity.

Poor example: The investigators were very shocked to see the outcome of the tests.
Improved version: The investigators did not expect the results.

Explicitness
Academic writing demands the use of signposts that allow readers to trace the
relationship in the parts of a study.
If you intend to show a change in your line of argument, make it clear by using
however.
Example:
It is apparent that the government hopes to provide assistance to the poor.
However, giving dole outs to the “poorest of the poor” does not work in the long term.

The following phrases may be useful in making ideas explicit:

1. This is due to the…
A number of MERALCO consumers trooped to the City Hall to claim a PHP 500
cash incentive. This is due to the Supreme Court ruling that overcharges must be returned
to the end udders whose electric consumption for the April-May period was below 100
kw/hr.

2. This resulted in…

With the Supreme Court ordering MERALCO to turn overcharges to the end
users, government offices have been tapped to operate as claim centers. This resulted in a
number of MERALCO consumers trooping to the City Hall to claim the PHP500.00 cash
incentive.
When two ideas seem the same, express each one clearly.
The study showed that eighty percent of the 200 participants involved in the study
were dissatisfied with the operations of MERALCO. Similarly, the data revealed that
majority of the participants were not aware of the charges imposed on them by
MERALCO.
If you intend to give extra information in your sentence, make it clear by writing “In
addition…”
MERALCO has been operating as a business conglomerate involving foreign

5
stakeholders and independent power producers or IPP. In addition, MERALCO owns
major IPPs operating in the region.
If you are giving examples, do so explicitly by writing “For example…”
The MERALCO issue has led to disputes between opposition and administration
senators. For example, those who have been labeled as against the president considered
the issue as the administration’s way of avoiding the NBN-ZTE scandal.

B. Based on the examples given, write a sentence for each of the following
expressions that would make your idea explicit. (15 points)

1. However

2. This is due to the

3. Similarly

4. In addition

5. For example

Scoring Rubric

3 points 2 points 1 point

The sentences effectively The sentences show some
communicate the intended lapses in the use of
meaning through the use of expressions that show
expressions that show explicitness but they could
explicitness. There are no still be understood. There
grammatical errors and a are one or two grammatical
formal academic writing errors and lapses in the
style is used. academic writing style are
observed.
The sentences are not
understandable due to the
misuse of expressions of
explicitness. There are
atleast three grammatical
errors in the work. It does
not use features of the
academic writing style.

Caution
Academic writing requires care since knowledge is built from proven theories and

6
concepts. Therefore, caution is needed to avoid sweeping generalizations. Consider the
following example:
Government officials are corrupt.
The statement is not completely true and the rhetorical impact of the statement
may be misleading. The statement can be improved through the use of devices such as
modal verbs, adverbs, or verbs.

In academic writing, caution needs to be observed in the following parts of your

paper:
1. When a hypothesis needs to be tested.
2. Drawing conclusions or predictions from your findings that may be generalized certain
matters or may not be conclusive.
3. Referencing others’ work to build on your own paper.
Structure
Aside from language, sentences need to be constructed in such a way that they
show a level of complexity that reflects the sophistication of an academic writer.
Combining ideas effectively, nominalization, and passivization are some ways to achieve
structure fit for academic writing.
In combining ideas effectively, you will need to avoid redundancy and at the same
time, make sure that ideas are packed effectively.
Consider the following examples:
The earthquake caused loss of life.
The earthquake caused massive property damage.
The earthquake changed the landscape of the village.
Through these sentences are grammatically correct, they do not possess the
sophistication of academic writing. They can be improved by continuing similar ideas
expressing them through a more complex construction. Hence, they can be rewritten this
way:
The earthquake was a disaster that caused loss of life, property damage,
and permanent changes in the landscape.

In nominalization, the verbs are made central as they denote action. Transforming
verbs into nouns helps readers focus on the action and not on the doer of the action.
Examples:
The company created software to manage the transactions successfully.
Nominalization:
The creation of software to manage transactions was a success.

The president announced a three-day holiday this September.

Nominalization:
The president’s announcement of a three-day holiday for September was released.

The mall distributed several free items to consumers in the hope to boost sales.
Nominalization:
Distribution of free items for consumers was done in the hope to boost sales.

In passive construction, the results of actions are highlighted. In academic writing,

7
since the writer of the paper is presumed to have done the collection and analysis of data,
it is understood that all results of the action are a product of the writer’s work.
Examples:
The researcher conducted experiments to validate the hypothesis.
Passivization:
Experiments were conducted to validate the hypothesis

An engineer built a saltwater lamp to help communities with no electricity.

Passivization:
A saltwater lamp was built to help communities with no electricity.

Several scientists conducted experiment to examine the effects of algae on

biodiversity.
Passivization:
An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of algae on biodiversity.

FIRM-UP

Choose the correct term in the box that will complete the thought of each
sentence. (5 points)

abbreviation claims evidences Logical Ideas

Formal standard statistics Illustrations Value

1. Academic writing is formal where words ________________ should be avoided such

as doesn’t, couldn’t, and others.

2. In Academic writing, information such as facts, figures, graphs and

_________________ are given precisely.

3. Academic writing uses vocabulary and _____________ that conform to the correct
value or standard.

4. All evidences and justifications are provided to support the _________.

5. Academic writing is organized where the __________ are presented on a logical

manner.

►Students who are proficient in academic language are equipped to acquire new
knowledge and skills needed in the classroom setting.
►Teachers are significant in developing understanding and critical thinking skills among
students. Moreover, they play an important role in leading the students to attain academic
progress and eventually to become successful in the chosen field.

8
►Academic language is a formal way of presenting ideas and information through
words. It is also associated to the oral, written, auditory and visual language proficiency
required to learn effectively in schools.
►It is vital to a learner to develop skills in vocabulary, grammar punctuation, syntax and
the likes. Communicate its content in the best way possible.

PLAGIARISM; EFFECTIVE NOTE TAKING AND PLANNING ESSAYS AND

PRESENTATIONS

Introduction

What materials were you able to get from your research? How will you use them to write
your essay?
Before you start the actual process of writing, you need to make sure that the assumptions
that you have about your topic can be supported by evidence. This can be done by making sure
that you have enough resources on the topic. Being able to find a lot of reading materials- books,
articles, journals- that relate to your topic will confirm that your topic is important since prior
studies were done about it; it will also suggest that you contribute something new to the existing
studies.
Researching in the library or surfing the Internet to look for sources for the paper may
seem easy for some students. What to do with those sources is a different matter, though.
Suppose you found an article in the library and there was one paragraph that you think
you could use in your paper. How would you incorporate it in your paper? Would you copy the
entire paragraph? Would you lift some important ideas? Or would you copy the structure of the
paragraph and substitute some words with their synonyms? What is plagiarism? When can you be
accused of plagiarizing other people’s works?
This module will briefly discuss what plagiarism is and what you should do to avoid
committing it.
Plagiarism can be likened to a contagious disease that spreads quickly. When plagiarism
is committed by a student and it goes unnoticed, he or she will continue to plagiarize until it
becomes inherent in him or her. The point is that plagiarism is rampant. So how can you avoid
committing plagiarism? Plagiarism, as defined in the dictionary, is “the act of using another

9
person’s word, ideas, or work without giving credit to that person.

Lesson Coverage:

In this lesson, you will learn the following:

Plagiarism; Effective Note Taking And
Planning Essays And Presentations
 paraphrases/ explains a text using one’s
own words
 outlines reading texts in various
disciplines
 uses various techniques in summarizing
a variety of academic texts

Map of the Lesson

EXPECTED SKILLS

To do well in this module, you need to remember and do the following:

1. Jot down the different terms or ideas.

2. Re-read what you have written and decide which of the ideas are connected to each other.

3. Examine the ideas that you mapped out and identify which ideas are broad and/ or general and
which ideas are specific.

4. Understand why you are writing the paper. In other words, pinpoint your goal for writing the
paper.

5. Use the answer sheet in writing your answers .

10
DEEPEN

Write True if the statement supports the principle of thesis statement; write False if
otherwise. (10 points)

__________1. Thesis Statement is the first sentence at the beginning of each paragraph.

__________2. It makes a claim that other people may dispute, challenge, or oppose.

__________3. It is a question in response to the writing assignment

__________4. It is a road map for a paper; it tells the reader what the paper will focus on.

__________5. It is a simple statement of fact

__________6. The first thing you should do after receiving your writing prompt is to write your
thesis statement.

__________7. A good thesis statement is a broad generalization about your topic.

__________8. Blue printed thesis statement is a statement that includes the main areas of support
in the order you will introduce them in your essay and thus acts as a blue print for the essay.

__________9. The Yankee Doodle Restaurant is a great place to eat, because the staff is friendly,
the food is delicious, and the atmosphere is relaxing is an example of blue printed thesis
statement.

__________10. A thesis statement should reflect the main idea of an essay.

Plagiarism is a serious form of academic dishonesty and is frowned upon in the

academe. Plagiarism is defined as the copying verbatim of language and ideas of other writers
and taking credit for them.

Note-taking such as summarizing, using quotations, and paraphrasing are used to

address plagiarism of language. This means that aside from citing work to attribute ownership of
ideas, the language must observe novelty such that it expresses the ideas of works cited but at the
same time employs the voice of the author writing the academic paper.

There are two types of plagiarism: plagiarism of ideas and plagiarism of language.

Plagiarism of ideas occurs when credit for a work is ascribed to oneself untruthfully. For
instance, if one writes a paper on the theory of relativity of physics and no mention of Einstein is
given, the writer explicitly or implicitly claims that this theory is his or hers. Plagiarism of ideas
has been committed.

To address this, proper citations should be done. Citations are done in different ways.

11
Author-oriented citation

An author-oriented citation starts with the surname of the author, followed by the year of
publication in parentheses. Verbs of statement such as argues, posits, and emphasizes at the start
of paragraph or sentence may be used.

Example:

Pulido (2012) believes that language in an online environment can be understood if other
modes of online communication are further analyzed to provide a full account of interaction in
virtual worlds.

Text-oriented citation

In a text-oriented citation, a paragraph or sentence from a source is followed with the

surname of the author of the work and the year of publication. The citation must be enclosed in
parentheses.

Example:

Unless, educators realize the importance of reading and writing across subject areas,
problems in comprehension of subject matter will be a prominent issue in teaching process
(Estacio, 2010).

Another way of citation

Start the sentence or paragraph by using the phrase “According to…” followed by the
surname of the author and the year of publication enclosed in parentheses.

Example:

According to Mendoza (1990), by the end of the century, our fuel reserves will be
reduced to half, and scarcity of energy supplies will be a big problem.

Aside from texts, movies, images and music should be cited if used on your paper. The
general rule is that the author, title of work (may it be image, movie or music) and year it was
produced (if applicable) be included in the citation. (You may refer to http: www.
nait.ca/libresources/Citations/APA_Examples.pdf for other methods of citing different sources.)

Considering the following examples:

Image:

Luna’s Spolarium (1884)inspired several artists in music and creative writing to produce works
related to this powerful painting.

12
Video:

Spencer’s (2009) “The Matchmaker” shows the different experiences of artists when they
struggle with stardom and deal with the consequences of fame and fortune.

Music:

The Beatles’ song “A Hard Day’ Night” (1964) features John Lennon and Paul McCarthey’s
genius that will influence generations of musicians to create songs that challenge the norm.

Plagiarism of language happens when an author uses the language of another writer and
claims it as his or her own. There are several types of plagiarism.

To address plagiarism of language , effective note-taking techniques should be used. As

mentioned earlier, citations are used to attribute ownership of ideas to authors. Note-taking
techniques, on the other hand, allow you to rephrase original text into your own.

There are three types of note-taking techniques: using direct quotations, summarizing,
and paraphrasing.

Using direct quotations is employed for statements that are so closely associated that
altering the words may lose its rhetorical impact. For instance, the statement of Ninoy Aquino,
“The Filipino is worth dying for” is too short to be summarized, and the rhetorical impact of the
work is lessened if the statement is paraphrased.

Summarizing is a short restatement of the main idea of a text. For developing your
summary, the following tips may be helpful.

1. Make sure to read the text thoroughly and highlight the important details in the text. Bear in
mind that certain details have relationships (cause and effect for example) and these need to be
noted as well.

2. After getting the main idea/s, use your own words in your summary. Make sure to check if the
relationships between ideas are established.

3. When done with your summary, recheck your output with the original to see if your output
does not stray from the original text. You may seek your teacher or peer’s feedback to be sure.

Paraphrasing is a restatement in your own words of the main idea and supporting details
of a text. A paraphrase may match the length of the original work. Though paraphrasing may be
considered more challenging than summarizing, paraphrasing allows little opportunities for
misinterpretation on the part of the reader as you account for both major and minor points.
Consider the following tips in crafting your paraphrases.

1. Read the text thoroughly, noting both main ideas and supporting details. If confronted with a
long text, you may outline these ideas to distinguish the major points from the minor ones.

13
2. After identifying these, carefully state the major and minor points in your own words, making
sure that the relationships between and among these ideas are observed.

3. Finally, when the paraphrase is done, compare your work with the original to make sure the
original intentions of the author are not changed.

The following are also several ways in paraphrasing:

1. Literal paraphrasing- This type only replaces vocabulary terms from the original text.

2. Structural paraphrasing-This type changes the sentence structure as well as the word class of
key words of the original text.

3. Alternative paraphrasing-In this type, the writer first poses questions about the text such as
what the text is about, how the main idea is supported, and the stand of the author about the topic.
Then, the writer answers these questions using his/her own words after reading the text; making
sure that all ideas are connected.

Writing is an activity that requires organization. Although it sometimes starts as a chaotic

process, much preparation is needed. Therefore, as ideas arise there are two important
components to consider-the thesis statement and the outline.

What is thesis statement?

• It is a statement that summarizes your topic and declares your position on it.

• It tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under
discussion.

• It is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the
rest of the paper.

• It is the central idea of a multiple-paragraph composition. It is one sentence summary

that guides, controls and unifies ideas when writing a paper. In simple terms, all the other ideas
present in an easy revolve around the thesis statement.

• It focuses your ideas into one or two sentences. It should present the topic of your paper
and also make a comment about your position in relation to the topic. Your thesis statement
should tell your reader what the paper is about and also help guide your writing and keep your
argument focused.

Locating Explicit and Implicit Thesis Statements

• In academic writing, the thesis is often explicit: it is included as a sentence as part of the
text. It might be near the beginning of the work, but not always–some types of academic writing
leave the thesis until the conclusion.

• Journalism and reporting also rely on explicit thesis statements that appear very early in
the piece–the first paragraph or even the first sentence.

14
 • Works of literature, on the other hand, usually do not contain a specific sentence that
sums up the core concept of the writing. However, readers should finish the piece with a good
understanding of what the work was trying to convey. This is what’s called an implicit thesis
statement: the primary point of the reading is conveyed indirectly, in multiple locations
throughout the work. (In literature, this is also referred to as the theme of the work.)

• However, academic writing sometimes relies on implicit thesis statements, as well.

Four Questions to Ask When Formulating Thesis Statement

1. Where is your thesis statement?

You should provide a thesis early in your essay -- in the introduction, or in longer essays
in the second paragraph -- in order to establish your position and give your reader a sense of
direction.

Tips on how to write a successful thesis statement:

 Avoid burying a great thesis statement in the middle of a paragraph or late in the paper.
 Be as clear and as specific as possible; avoid vague words.
 Indicate the point of your paper but avoid sentence structures like, “The point of my
paper is…”

2. Is your thesis statement specific?

Your thesis statement should be as clear and specific as possible. Normally you will
continue to refine your thesis as you revise your argument(s), so your thesis will evolve and gain
definition as you obtain a better sense of where your argument is taking you.

Tips on how to formulate specific thesis statement

 Are there two large statements connected loosely by a coordinating conjunction (i.e.
“and”, “or”, “but”, “for”, “nor”, “so”, “yet”).
 Would a subordinating conjunction help (i.e. “through”, “although”, “because”, “since”
to signal a relationship between the two sentences?
 Or do the two statements imply a fuzzy unfocused thesis?
 If so, settle on one single focus and then proceed with further development.

3. Is your thesis statement too general?

Your thesis should be limited to what can be accomplished in the specified number of
pages. Shape your topic so that you can get straight to the “meat” of it. Being specific in your
paper will be much more successful than writing about general things that do not say much. Don’t
settle for three pages of just skimming the surface.

The opposite of a focused, narrow, crisp thesis is a broad, sprawling, and superficial

15
thesis. Compare this original thesis (too general) with three possible revisions (more focused,
each presenting a different approach to the same topic).

 Original thesis:

There are serious objections to today’s horror movies.

Revised theses:

Because modern cinematic techniques have allowed filmmakers to get more graphic,
horror flicks have desensitized young American viewers to violence.

The pornographic violence in “bloodbath” slasher movies degrades both men and
women.

Today’s slasher movies fail to deliver the emotional catharsis that 1930s horror films did.

4. Is your thesis statement clear?

Your thesis statement is no exception to your writing: it needs to be as clear as possible.

By being as clear as possible in your thesis statement, you will make sure that your reader
understands exactly what you mean.

Tips on how to write clear thesis statement

Unless you’re writing a technical report, avoid technical language. Always avoid jargon, unless
you are confident your audience will be familiar with it.

 Avoid vague words such as “interesting”, “negative”, “exciting,” “unusual”, and

“difficult”.
 Avoid abstract words such as “society”, “values,” or “culture.”

These words tell the reader next to nothing if you do not carefully explain what you mean by
them. Never assume that the meaning of a sentence is obvious. Check to see if you need to define
your terms (” socialism”, “conventional”, “commercialism”, “;society”) and then decide on the
most appropriate place to do so. Do not assume, for example, that you have the same
understanding of what “society” means as your reader. To avoid misunderstandings, be as
specific as possible. Compare the original thesis (not specific and clear enough) with the revised
version (much more specific and clear):

Original thesis: Although the timber wolf is a timid and gentle animal, it is being systematically
exterminated. [if it’s so timid and gentle -- why is it being exterminated?]

Revised thesis: Although the timber wolf is actually a timid and gentle animal, it is being
systematically exterminated because people wrongfully believe it to be a fierce and cold-blooded
killer.

Original: “is, are, was, to be”, or “to do, to make”.

16
Revised: any great action verb you can concoct: “to generate”, “to demolish”, “ to batter”, “to
revolt”, “to discover”, “to flip”, “ to signify”, “to endure....”

Use your own words in thesis statements; avoid quoting. Crafting an original, insightful,
and memorable thesis makes a distinct impression on a reader. You will lose credibility as a
writer if you become only a mouthpiece or a copyist; you will gain credibility by grabbing the
reader with your own ideas and words.

A well-crafted thesis statement reflects well-crafted ideas. It signals a writer who has
intelligence, commitment, and enthusiasm.

The thesis statement is the overall idea or argument of your work. It is a general
statement that presents essential points that leads the reader to the right direction. You thesis
statement makes all parts of your stick together.

The good thesis statement should be focused and succinct, and must be famed as a
declarative sentence. Ideally, the statement should have atleast three ideas that will develop in
succeeding sections of the work. Consider the following example:

The ASEAN region is a dynamic system because it capitalizes on cultural diversity, rich
resources, and a variety of perspectives.

The thesis statement contains the main idea that the ASEAN region is a dynamic system.
In order to support this, there are three points that need elaboration-cultural diversity, resources,
and a variety of perspectives.

A thesis statement is different from a topic sentence in two aspects. First, the thesis
statement is the main idea of an essay. This means that since an essay has several paragraphs, the
thesis statement covers the main idea of the essay. On the other hand, a topic sentence serves as
the main idea of a paragraph. Second, the thesis statement contains atleast two supporting points
which are developed in succeeding paragraphs. A topic sentence usually has just one supporting
point.

TRANSFER

A.Read the following statements and write ThS on the line if the sentence is a thesis statement
and ToS if the sentence is a topic sentence. (5 points)

____1. Automated elections should be improved to minimize fraud, facilitate faster turnout, and
maximize voter participation.

____2. The lakes of Laguna are grand spectacles worth seeing.

____3. Creating comics involves several steps.

____4. Despite some risks, online businesses can be sustainable models for doing business since
they minimize operating costs and provide greater options for consumers.

17
____5. Writing requires careful planning.

B. Read the following statements very carefully. Select only one more effective thesis in the
introductory paragraph of a short essay. Keep in mind that an effective thesis statement should be
sharply focused and specific , not just a general statement of fact. Write your answer on the
answer sheet. (5 points)

____1. A. The Hunger Games is a science fiction adventure film based on the novel of the same
name by Suzanne Collins.

B. The Hunger Games is a morality tale about the dangers of a political system that is
dominated by the wealthy.

____2. A. There is no question that cell phones have changed our lives in a very big way.

B. While cell phones provide freedom and mobility, they can also become a leash,
compelling users to answer them anywhere and at any time.

____3. A. Finding a job is never easy, but it can be especially hard when the economy is still
feeling the effects of a recession and employers are reluctant to hire new workers.

B. College students looking for part-time work should begin their search by taking
advantage of job-finding resources on campus.

____4. A. For the past three decades, coconut oil has been unjustly criticized as an artery-
clogging saturated fat.

B. Cooking oil is plant, animal, or synthetic fat that is used in frying, baking, and other
types of cooking.

____5. A. There have been over 200 movies about Count Dracula, most of them only very
loosely based on the novel published by Bram Stoker in 1897.

B. Despite its title, Bram Stoker’;s Dracula, a film directed by Francis Ford Coppola,
takes considerable liberties with Stoker’s novel.

Together with the thesis statement, the outline is a helpful tool for organizing your work.
Set as a series of input, the outline shows the logical arrangement of ideas to be included in your
essay.

In preparing your outline, there are two things to remember- outline format and
principles. With regard to format, there are two types: traditional and standard. The traditional
uses roman numerals, letters and numbers. Consider the following examples.

Traditional Format Standard Format

18
Title of Work: Units of a Research University Title of Work: Units of a Research University
I. College of Medicine 1.0 College of Medicine
A. Community Medicine 1.1 Community Medicine
B. Pathology 1.2 Pathology

II. College of Engineering 2.0 College of Engineering

A. Industrial Engineering 2.1 Industrial Engineering
B. Chemical Engineering 2.2 Chemical engineering
C. Mechanical Engineering 2.3 Mechanical Engineering

III. School of Fine Arts 3.0 School of Fine Arts

A. Painting 3.1 Painting
B. Sculpture 3.2 Sculpture

IV. College of Liberal Arts 4.0 College of Liberal Arts

A. Political Science 4.1 Political Sciences
B. History 4.2 History
C. Literature 4.3 Literature

For principles, consider the following:

Parallelism- Entries should observe the same language structure (e.g., words, phrases, sentences).

Coordination- Entries should observe levels of importance. In the example above, note that
colleges are labeled as major ideas because they carry the same level of significance in the
research university.

Subordination- Entries should observe differences of importance (which ideas should be

classified as minor or major ideas?). In the same example, the different units under colleges are
labeled as minor ideas since they differ in scope from the colleges.

Division- Entries should at least be two to be sure that supporting points of a major idea are
adequate.

Preparing notes will help you expand the points in your essay. As these notes are taken
from different resources, you will need a way to account for them. In a previous lesson, you were
taught note-taking techniques such as summarizing, paraphrasing, and using direct quotations as
well as citations to address plagiarism. Accounting for resources is an important aspect of
academic essays or papers.

The system of the American Psychological Association (APA) is used in preparing a list
of references. The following are guidelines for organizing your reference list.

1. Entries should be arranged alphabetically with the surname of the authors as points of
reference. In cases where there is no author, the title of the work becomes the first part of the
entry.

19
2. The hanging indent format should be observed when writing entries. This means that the first
entry is not indented while the succeeding lines are indented.

3. The following are some example entries for books, periodicals, and oline sources. For other
sources, you may refer to:

www. nait.ca/libresources/Citations/APA_Examples.pdf.

Books

General format

Author’s surname, Initials (year of publication). Title of work (set in italics). Place of
Publication: Publisher.

Single authored books

Martinez, A. (2008). Creating memories. Quezon City: Maxwell Publishers.

Books with two authors

Pulido, D., & Mirador, J. (1998). Academic writing for college students. Tokyo:
Lindell Inc.

Books with an editor

Mata, E. (Ed.) (2015). Workplace ethics: An introduction. KualaLumpur; UPM Press.

Books with no author

Cycling primer for beginners. (1989). Ohio: West and West Publishing.

Periodicals (Journals, Newspapers, and Magazines)

General Format

Surname of author/s , Initials (year of publication). Title of the article. Title of the
periodical, volume (issue numbers), page numbers.

Journal articles

Valdez, G. (2010). Philippine perspectives on environmental politics. Journal of New

World Politics.8 (7),25-32.

Magazines

Moore, B. (2001, August). Fashion for the new decade. Fashion manila, 35 (2), 77.

Newspapers

20
 Severino, P.(2013, Oct.23). Creating possibilities or Muslim Mindanao. The
Metro Monitor,p. A17.

Online sources

Author, Initials or Institutios.(date of retrieval). Title of work. Retrieved from Web site.

Greenworks: (May 4, 2014). Methods of extraction of minerals. Retrieved from

www.greenworks/methods.html.

POST-EVALUATION

With preliminary components for your essay, you may begin writing your essay. The
succeeding sections describe the different parts of the essay.

The introduction is composed of background information (who, what, why, when, where,
and how), the thesis statement, and the scope.

ACTIVITY

Read the following example and answer the following questions: (25 points)

In today’s society, the media influence everyone on how they should present themselves
to the public. Thus, it also sets the standard of one’s dream body. Any doctor, dietician, or
nutritionist would say that the way to achieve this is just by simply eating healthier to consume
less fatty foods such as nuts, meat, oil, and butter. Although fats contribute a lot to becoming
overweight, several people do not realize that there are certain types of fat: some that are
beneficial to one’s well-being and some that are not. This essay will provide detailed information
on the variety of fats known today, advantages and harms when consumed, and dissimilarity to
other macronutrients specifically: carbohydrates and proteins (Montejo, 2013).

1. What is the topic of the paragraph? (5 points)

2. How is the background information established in the work? (5 points)

3. What is the thesis statement of the essay? (5 points)

21
4. What will the essay cover? (5 points)

5. What do you think is the purpose of the essay? (5 points)

22
 ANSWER SHEET

Name: _____________________________ Score: __________

Grade and Strand: ______________ Teacher: Ms. Judy Ann B. Gacayan
PRE-ASSESSMENT (5 points)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

EXPLORE

A. (5 points)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

B. (15 points)

1. However (3 points)

2. This is due to the (3 points)

3. Similarly (3 points)

4. In addition (3 points)

23
5. For example (3 points)

FIRM-UP (5 points)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

DEEPEN (10 points)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

TRANSFER

A. (5 points)

1.

2.

3.

4.

24
5.

B. (5 points)

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

POST-ASSESSMENT (25 points)

1. (5 points)

2. (5 points)

3. (5 points)

4. (5 points)

5. (5 points)

25