Semester IV

General
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Unit-1: Introduction to the Writing Process: Conventions of Academic
Writing, Writing in one's own words – Summarizing and Paraphrasing.
Prepared by: Prof. M.Pati
Short Type of Questions:
1. What is the writing process?
A process is a series of actions that are followed to some desired end result. In order for the
result to be successful, all steps must be followed. Cooking is a process and a recipe is the
directions you follow to get a positive end result. If you are baking a cake and skip one of the
ingredients or forget to bake the batter at the right temperature, you will not have a tasty or
successful final result. This is true for writing too…writing is a process that involves multiple
steps that must be completed to create an effective essay.
2. Mention any three writing processes.
Prewriting – in this stage, you plan what you are going to write. You choose your topic,
identify your audience and purpose, brainstorm ideas, and organize your information.
Drafting – in this stage, you start with a working thesis and then write your ideas in sentences
and paragraphs. You follow your prewriting plan to create a first draft of your essay.
Revising – This stage involves making changes that will improve your writing. You focus on
large-scale elements of the essay, such as, overall organization or logical flow of support,
effective thesis statement, interesting introduction and concluding paragraphs, well-
developed body paragraphs with clear topic sentences, appropriate tone and style for
intended audience and purpose, etc.
Editing and Proofreading – this is the stage of your essay where you polish your essay. You
focus on smaller-scale yet important essay elements, such as, clarity in sentence structure,
appropriate word choice, correct spelling and grammar, and accurate document format.
Publishing – in this final stage, you choose a way to present your work to an audience (often
this is indicated by your instructor).

3. What is paraphrasing?

Paraphrasing is the manner of presenting a text by altering certain words and phrases of a source
while ensuring that the paraphrase reflects proper understanding of the source. It can be useful for
personal understanding of complex concepts and explaining information present in charts, figures,
and tables.

• While aligning the representation with your own style (that is, using synonyms of certain
words and phrases), ensure that the author’s intention is not changed as this may express an
incorrect interpretation of the source ideas
• Use quotation marks if you intend to retain key concepts or phrases
• Use paraphrasing as an alternative to the abundant usage of direct quotes in your writing.
 4. What is Paraphrasing?

Summarizing involves presenting an overview of a source by omitting superfluous details and

retaining only the key essence of the ideas conveyed.

• Note key points while going through a source text.

• Provide a consolidated view without digressions for a concrete and comprehensive summary
of a source.
• Provide relevant examples from a source to substantiate the argument being presented.

Essay Type Questions:

1. What are the rules and conventions of Academic Writing?

Academic work intending to be thorough and persuasive in content is particularly demanding in

terms of presentation. There are both normal external standards relating to the English language
and internal academic conventions. These conventions developed to improve the standards of
work. Academic writing in terms of content should lock into the tradition of work, that is work
already done. The ideal is to add something extra to that body of work. To get there needs:

(1) Writing Correctly

Whilst English is a language where rules are broken for creative effect, academic writing demands
a more restrained correct English. Correct English is arguably demanding.

o Make sure that a sentence is complete and is not a fragment.

o A sentence should not begin with a conjunction (a rule that is often broken).
o Verbs should agree with their subjects.
o Sentences should not end with prepositions.

(2) Writing by Conventions

o use of 'I' or 'me' is frowned upon unless necessary. Equally avoid "the author states" (and
"author" variants) when it is oneself.
o Infinitives should not be split (accurate writing does not need this method of impact).
o Avoid alliteration, that is prevent a string of words each starting with the same letter.
o A string of adjectives or adverbs to add emphasis creates redundancy.
o Do not make a habit of parenthetical clauses within sentences: either use alternative
punctuation or create more sentences.

(3) Honest Attribution

o Ownership of academic material should be clearly and unambiguously declared.

o There should be a clear distinction between someone else's thinking and the addition of one's
own thinking.
o There should be a clear distinction between attitudes displayed by the author and attitudes
displayed by the present writer.

Completely avoiding plagiarism requires effort because it can happen accidentally as well as
deliberately, and is still the supreme academic crime. It can apply to small quantities of text, a large
quantity of text and rip offs of other pieces of work. This is why writers need to know the tradition
and body of knowledge by previous writers, so that accidents are avoided as well as incidents
rejected.

(4) Accurate Description

One function of proper attribution is that material is accurate. Even in a narrative led, postmodern
condition of a flux of meaning, accurate treatment of claims, statements and sources is necessary.

o Avoid baseless generalising.

o Loose comparisons add nothing.
o Avoid words like 'obviously': very little is obvious and if it is then the argument needs to rise to
a more advanced stage.
o Statements should be focussed and specific.
o If a claim is made, then make sure it is justified and sourced. Sourcing is a form of justification,
even if it is passing the buck.

(5) Comprehension and Analysis

Carrying out analysis can be shown to be related to linguistic tropes (derived from an application
to history by Hayden White, 1973 and 1976, in Green, Troup, 1999, 207-208).

o Metaphor is risky in academic writing because it implies imaginative external connections more
appropriate to other style of writing, although it can have evaluative power (see below).
o Irony is postmodern yet in bare text alone is not detectable and instead performs better in
speech: the explanation needed in writing loses intended impact. In any case such impact is
usually inappropriate. Over use of irony is deliberately to make a mockery of any source.
o Synecdoche is a categorical hierarchy of reference which properly constrains academic writing.
Either the parts stand for the whole or the whole stands for the part and this reflects closely
the process of doing analysis.
o Metonymy is relationship through direct association by some attribute, cause or effect, or
something related for the thing itself and this can be useful for a dynamic analysis.
 So this means analysis is converting a concept or event into its constituent elements or indeed
causes and effects. This reveals what is otherwise concealed.

(6) Critique and Evaluation

All academic writing should include argument. It may be weaved in and out of analytical evidence
but it should be distinct enough from evidence. The reader should be able to make up his or her
mind in that retained separation because academic writing is about facilitating the accurate
comprehension of the evidence and the issues involved.

Perhaps the judgment is like that produced in a court of law through weighing up the given
evidence. The judgment is comparable with other judgments in other similar cases and there may
be new precedents. The tradition is reinforced and there is addition.

Approval or disapproval indeed comes into evaluation but these subjective stances should be based
on consequences of the evidence as clearly laid out in analysis.

(7) Summarising, Concluding and Introducing

Once the evaluation is done, there needs to be a skilled summary of the evidence and a conclusion
restating the critique and evaluation. Summary and conclusion should not be new material. They
should guide the introduction too, without letting it give the denouement or findings away. An
introduction is a signpost: it should also obey the narrative fiction of something beginning and
where the whole may go, whilst of course this is only really known when the work has been
completed. The reality is that the conclusion, when completed, does rewrite the introduction. A
good piece of work is a circle.

Unit-2: Critical Thinking: Syntheses, Analyses and Evaluation.

Prepared by:
Prepared by: Prof. S. K. Mishra
Short Type Questions:
1. What is meant by synthesis?
SYNTHESIS is combining multiple sources or ideas into a whole, in order to
understand shared qualities between each individual part. Synthesis is a bit more
complex than the analytical strategies just discussed. In synthesizing information, you
must bring together all your opinions and research in support of your thesis. You
integrate the relevant facts, statistics, expert opinion, and whatever can directly be
observed with your own opinion and conclusions to persuade your audience that
your thesis is correct. Indeed, you use synthesis in supporting a thesis and assembling
a paper.

2. What is meant by Analysis?

Analysis is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in
order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the
study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (384–322 B.C.),
though analysis as a formal concept is a relatively recent development.
 The word comes from the Ancient Greek ἀνάλυσις (análisis, "a breaking-up" or "an
untying;" from ana- "up, throughout" and lisis "a loosening")

3. What are the types of Analysis?

A) Qualitative Analysis: It is concerned with which components are in a given sample

or compound.
Example: Precipitation reaction

B) Quantitative Analysis: It is to determine the quantity of individual component

present in a given sample or compound.
Example: To find concentration by uv-spectrophotometer.

4. What is meant by Evaluation?

Evaluation is a systematic determination of a subject's merit, worth and significance,
using criteria governed by a set of standards. It can assist an organization, program,
design, project or any other intervention or initiative to assess any aim, realisable
concept/proposal, or any alternative, to help in decision-making; or to ascertain the
degree of achievement or value in regard to the aim and objectives and results of any
such action that has been completed. The primary purpose of evaluation, in addition
to gaining insight into prior or existing initiatives, is to enable reflection and assist in
the identification of future change.
5. What is educational assessment?
Educational assessment or educational evaluation is the systematic process
of documenting and using empirical data on the knowledge, skill, attitudes,
and beliefs to refine programs and improve student learning. Assessment is often
used interchangeably with test, but not limited to tests. Assessment can focus on the
individual learner, the learning community (class, workshop, or other organized group
of learners), a course, an academic program, the institution, or the educational
system as a whole (also known as granularity). The word 'assessment' came into use
in an educational context after the Second World War.
6. What is discourse analysis?

Discourse analysis (DA), or discourse studies, is an approach to the analysis of written,

vocal, or sign language use, or any significant semiotic event.
The objects of discourse analysis (discourse, writing, conversation,
communicative event) are variously defined in terms of coherent sequences
of sentences, propositions, speech, or turns-at-talk. Contrary to much of traditional
linguistics, discourse analysts not only study language use 'beyond the sentence
boundary' but also prefer to analyse 'naturally occurring' language use, not invented
examples. Text linguistics is a closely related field. The essential difference between
discourse analysis and text linguistics is that discourse analysis aims at
revealing socio-psychological characteristics of a person/persons rather than text
structure.

7. What is meant by content analysis?

Content analysis is a studying documents and communication artefacts, which might

be texts of various formats, pictures, audio or video. Social scientists use content
 analysis to examine patterns in communication in a replicable and systematic
manner. One of the key advantages of using content analysis to analyse social
phenomena is its non-invasive nature, in contrast to simulating social experiences or
collecting survey answers.

Practices and philosophies of content analysis vary between academic disciplines.

They all involve systematic reading or observation of texts or artefacts which
are assigned labels (sometimes called codes) to indicate the presence of
interesting, meaningful pieces of content.

Essay Type Questions:

1. What are the types of Evaluation?
Evaluation depends on the stage at which your development program is. Each
evaluation can help you make better decisions by giving you the right kind of data at
the right time.

Formative Evaluation:
Formative evaluation is used before program design or implementation. It generates
data on the need for the program and develops the baseline for subsequent
monitoring. It also identifies areas of improvement and can give insights on what the
program’s priorities should be.

Process Evaluation
Process evaluation occurs once program implementation has begun, and it measures
how effective your program’s procedures are. The data it generates is useful in
identifying inefficiencies and streamlining processes, and portrays the program’s
status to external parties.

Outcome Evaluation:
Outcome evaluation is conventionally used during program implementation. It
generates data on the program’s outcomes and to what degree those outcomes are
attributable to the program itself. It is useful in measuring how effective your
program has been and helps make it more effective in terms of delivering the
intended benefits.

Economic Evaluation
Economic evaluation is used during the program’s implementation and looks to
measure the benefits of the programs against the costs. Doing so generates useful
quantitative data that measures the efficiency of the program. This data is like an
audit, and provides useful information to sponsors and backers who often want to
see what benefits their money would bring to beneficiaries.

Impact Evaluation:
Impact evaluation studies the entire program from beginning to end (or at whatever
stage the program is at), and looks to quantify whether or not it has been successful.
Focused on the long-term impact, impact evaluation is useful for measuring sustained
changes brought about by the program or making policy changes or modifications to
the program.
 Summative Evaluation:
Summative evaluation is conducted after the program’s completion or at the end of a
program cycle. It generates data about how well the project delivered benefits to the
target population. It is useful for program administrators to justify the project, show
what they have achieved, and lobby for project continuation or expansion.

Goals-Based Evaluation:
Goals-based evaluation is usually done towards the end of the program or at
previously agreed-upon intervals. Development programs often set ‘SMART’ targets
— Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely — and goals-based
evaluation measures progress towards these targets.

Unit-3: Structuring an Argument: Introduction, Interjection and

Conclusion.
Prepared by: Prof. S.K. Mishra
Short Questions and Answers:
1. Give some general advice about introduction?
a. Some students cannot begin writing the body of the essay until they feel they
have the perfect introduction. Be aware of the dangers of sinking too much
time into the introduction. Some of that time can be more usefully channeled
into planning and writing.
b. You may be the kind of writer who writes an introduction first in order to
explore your own thinking on the topic. If so, remember that you may at a
later stage need to compress your introduction.
c. It can be fine to leave the writing of the introduction for a later stage in the
essay-writing process. Some people write their introduction only after they
have completed the rest of the essay. Others write the introduction first but
rewrite it significantly in light of what they end up saying in the body of their
paper.

2. How do you write an effective introduction?

a. Find a startling statistic that illustrates the seriousness of the problem you
will address.
b. Quote an expert (but be sure to introduce him or her first).
c. Mention a common misperception that your thesis will argue against.
d. Give some background information necessary for understanding the essay.
e. Use a brief narrative or anecdote that exemplifies your reason for choosing
the topic. In an assignment that encourages personal reflection, you may
draw on your own experiences; in a research essay, the narrative may
illustrate a common real-world scenario.

3. How do you write an effective conclusion?

a. A conclusion is not merely a summary of your points or a re-statement of

your thesis. If you wish to summarize—and often you must—do so in fresh
 language. Remind the reader of how the evidence you’ve presented has
contributed to your thesis.
b. The conclusion, like much of the rest of the paper, involves critical thinking.
Reflect upon the significance of what you’ve written. Try to convey some
closing thoughts about the larger implications of your argument.
c. Broaden your focus a bit at the end of the essay. A good last sentence leaves
your reader with something to think about, a concept in some way
illuminated by what you’ve written in the paper.

4. How does Interjection play the role in structuring an argument?

“Interjections are short exclamations like Oh!, Um or Ah! They have no real
grammatical value but we use them quite often, usually more in speaking than in
writing”.

While interjections are very short, they communicate a great deal because they are
typically used to express emotion. “While any word that shows strong feelings can be
an interjection, look for the usual suspects: Wow!, Zap!, Pop!, and the rest of the
family”

Essay Type Questions and Answers:

1. How to structure an argument perfectly?
State your thesis clearly. Don’t make it too complex and unwieldy. This will help you
keep your argument on track, and prevent your opponent from trying to shift the
debate parameters.

Provide background and/ or a context. What is at stake? Why is this worth debating?
Why should the audience care?

State your burden of proof. (State what it is that you need to prove in order for your
argument to be valid.) This is akin to providing a checklist up-front that you can use
later to prove that your case was stronger.

State your substantive evidence in a clear and simple way. Present and defend each
point carefully and separately. Quote experts, cite facts, provide examples and argue
by analogy (find something that resembles the issue and prove that if this is true,
your point must be too). Use different pieces of evidence that support each other.
Don’t simply let the evidence speak for itself – explain why each piece of evidence
supports your case.

Anticipate disagreements and develop a plan on how to deal with them.

Summarise your position carefully and simply. Show that you have met your burden
of proof. Link your individual points into an overall position. Try to end with a thought
that lingers in the audience’s mind.

A few things to remember:

 a. Try not to use personal examples. Saying ‘I can personally attest to’ or ‘in my
experience’ is not a solid way to argue.
b. Try not to include too many points. Rather chose a few important issues and
argue them more intensively.
c. Listen attentively to your opponent, raising well-timed and relevant points
against their case.
d. Turn your opposition’s objections into evidence for your own case (while
casting them a pitying look).
e. Use humor where appropriate.
f. Give your strongest points first and last.
g. Learn to spot and avoid logical fallacies.

Unit-4: Citing Resources, Editing, Book and Media Review

Prepared by: Prof. S. Sau
Short Type Questions and Answers:
1. What is Citing or documenting resources?
Citing or documenting information sources is an important part of the research process. Once
your research paper is complete it will be necessary to create a Bibliography or List of Works
Cited. To cite a source means to give credit for the original source of information, an idea, or
way of articulating an idea. It is a standardized method of acknowledging resources used in
your research.

2. Why does we need to cite?

Scholarly discourse. Scholars cite their sources and provide lists of the sources to give credit
to the work of other researchers and so that colleagues and others can locate the source and
understand the context of the idea and perhaps find more similar information.

Document your research. Teachers are interested in knowing which ideas stem from the
student and which ideas are built upon those of other writers. Citing sources gives your
teacher a sense of how much work you've done on a paper -- what have you read? what have
you thought about on your own?

Ethics. If you don't cite your sources, you are not giving credit for the work of others. This is
called plagiarism and is considered a serious offense by all universities.

3. Mention some citation generations and tools.

Citation Machine - Available free of charge. Supports MLA and APA styles.

EasyBib.com - Features an online MLA or APA style bibliographic composer called EasyBib.

EndNote - Supports many citation styles. Available to UAF students. Contact UAF Computing.
 Zotero - Download Zotero and install it as a browser plugin.

Mendeley - is a free reference manager and an academic social network.

4. Give example of Citing a book.

A book with one author:
Sternberg, R. J. (1993). The psychologist's companion (2nd ed.). Cambridge
UK: Cambridge University Press.
A book with two author:
Smith, F. J., & Jones, E. (1948). A scheme of qualitative organic analysis. London: Blackie.

5. What is meant by “et al” in citation?

Latin terms regularly appear in academic writing. “Et al.” is one of the phrases you should
know. It is an abbreviation of “et alii”, meaning “and others”, and it is used to denote a list
of people. Its function is similar to that of “et cetera”, another common Latin phrase that is
usually abbreviated as “etc.” and means “and the rest”.

6. What is the difference between “et al” and “etc”?

As stated above, “et al.” is used strictly when talking about people, while “etc.” is only used
for things. Apart from this key difference, they have the same function: replacing a list.

Essay Type Questions and Answers:

1. What are the main types of citation?

When referring to published literature, provide details so that others can find and review the
original material. In your research paper, you can make references to source materials using
either endnotes and footnotes or in-text citations. Both styles require a reference list at the
end of the document.

In-text (or parenthetical) citations: When referencing other literature by author or title in
the body paragraphs of your paper, you are using in-text citations. This method is also
commonly known as “parenthetical citations” as the referencing information is often placed
within parentheses.
Endnotes and footnotes: Endnotes and footnotes are a convenient way to declutter your
writing. They are simple notation systems that allow you to use numbers in the body of a text
to reference a cited work. The number corresponds to further information or a citation entry
found at the end of a manuscript (for endnotes) or at the bottom of the page where the cited
reference is mentioned (for footnotes). These notations are rarely found in scientific writing;
however, they are frequently used in the humanities and social sciences. Also, endnotes and
footnotes replace parenthetical information that could include bibliographic data.
Accordingly, if you use endnotes and footnotes, you should avoid parenthetical citations.
Reference lists: A reference list compiles all the works cited within a document for ease of
reference and is included at the end of a manuscript. It must be included regardless of how
source material is acknowledged within the main body of your article.