ACADEMIC ENGLISH 07—WRITING A PAPER/ARTICLE/CHAPTER

1 Unity

Good writing must express a single thought.

a. Answer the question b. Be Focused c. Stay Focused

• Answer the question that is set. • Write a summary sentence. • Writing: why am I writing?
• Do not "rewrite" the question. • Write an abstract paragraph. • Editing: is what I've written
• What is the examiner trying to relevant to my summary
evaluate? sentence & abstract?

2 Completeness

Good writing must express a complete thought.

Introduction • Make the essay question/problem clear.

• Explain the significance of the question. (I.e. why should I read your essay?)
• Make clear your assumptions and presuppositions.
• Indicate the structure of your response and answer to the question.
Conclusion • Summarise the question, your argument and your answer.
• Acknowledge the limitations of your work.
• Point to future implications (Who would read your work? Who would build on it?)

3 Universality and Necessity

Good writing must express a plausible thought.

a. Logic
The following diagram is an adapted quotation from Hurley, P. J. (2014). A Concise Introduction to Logic.
Stamford: Cengage Learning. Pp. 48-53:

Arguments are formed from premises + reasoning

Premises are either true or false.

Reasoning is either deductive (a claim must be true/false from premises) or
inductive (a claim is probably true/false from premises).
Deductive reasonings are either valid or invalid.
Inductive reasonings are either strong or weak.
True premises + valid reasonings = sound deductive argument.
True premises + strong reasonings = cogent inductive argument.

b. Presentation

Engaging a Single View/Theme Composite of Views/Themes Elimination of Views/Themes

(DATA?) (DATA?)
A—Description Describe & evaluate A
B—Evaluation (with DATA?) + Describe & evaluate B
= C (with DATA?)
Is your description accurate, balanced and fair? How does C make use of the
Is your evaluation relevant to the question? best elements of A+B?
(DATA?)
Describe A, but evaluate
Describe B, but evaluate
So C (with DATA?)
How does C avoid all the
problems with A and B?

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 4 Scale

Good writing must express a thought of appropriate size.

1. Introduction:
a) Budget for 20% of word count.
b) The longer a piece of work, the smaller this percentage.
c) A thesis, with multiple chapters, will take aspects of the introduction (e.g. previous research,
method), and give them their own chapter.
2. Body:
a) Sections: 2 minimum to 5 maximum, ideally 3 or 4
b) Paragraphs in a section: 2 minimum to 20 maximum, ideally 3-15
c) The average paragraph is ~200 words. Minimum 3 sentences.
3. Conclusion:
a) Budget for 10% of word count.
b) The longer a piece of work, the smaller this percentage.

Example proportions of essays for different word counts, the top number is the number of words budgeted for
each section, the numbers in brackets are number of estimated paragraphs (ps):

2000 words 5000 words 10000 words

400 1000 2000
Introduction 20%
(2 ps) (4-5 ps) (8-10 ps)

2333 1750
875 (8-9 ps)
3500 (11-12
400 1166 (4 ps)
(15-18 ps)
(2 ps) (5-6 ps)
ps)
600 1750
(3 ps) (8-9ps) 1750
(8-9 ps)
2333
875
(11-12
(4 ps)
ps)
3500
400 1166 1750
(15-18
(2 ps) (5-6 ps) (8-9 ps)
ps)
2333
875
(11-12
(4 ps)
ps)
1750
600 1750 (8-9 ps)
(3 ps) (8-9 ps)
3500
400 1166
(15-18 2333
(2 ps) (5-6 ps) 875
ps) (11-12 1750
(4 ps)
ps) (8-9 ps)

200 500 1000

Conclusion 10%
(1 p) (2-3 ps) (4-5 ps)

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