Chapter 1

Introduction to Expository Writing

• Understanding expository writing (definition, types, purpose, and applications)

• Characteristics of effective expository writing (clarity, coherence, and organization)

• Introduction to paragraph writing

What is expository writing?

Expository writing, as its name implies, is writing that exposes facts. In other words, it’s writing that explains and
educates its readers, rather than entertaining or attempting to persuade them. Expository writing is writing that
aims to inform its reader. This includes all types of factual writing, like textbooks, news stories, technical guides,
and pieces of business writing. Many journalistic pieces are pieces of expository writing, but not all are—
advertorials, opinion pieces, and many pieces of political writing are not pieces of expository writing because their
primary goal is something other than providing unbiased facts.

Expository writing gives the reader the facts they need about a specific topic to deepen their understanding of it.

Expository writing is:

• Factual

• Usually presented in a linear format

• Always presented in a logical format

• Objective

• Clear about its purpose

Expository writing is not:

• The author’s opinion

• An attempt to change the reader’s mind or shape their perspective

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 • Subjective

• Nonlinear or otherwise unconventional in how it presents content

When writing in an expository style, it's often important to assume the reader has minimal or no knowledge
of the topic. It's the writer's responsibility and goal to include as much unbiased information about the topic
as possible without encouraging the reader to feel a certain way or choosing a specific stance on the topic.
Texts that employ expository writing may include

• Essays
• Newspapers
• Magazine articles
• Instruction manuals
• Encyclopedias
• School textbooks

Purpose of Expository Writing

Expository writing has a clear purpose: to educate the reader. While it may also entertain or persuade the reader,
these are secondary benefits and not the author’s goal. Well-crafted expository writing demonstrates the author’s
expertise on the subject and in many cases demonstrates how they learned about their subject.

For example, you might be assigned to write an essay about the mock trial your class held. In this essay, you would

introduce the assignment and the case your class worked on through the trial. Then in the following body paragraphs,

you would describe each stage in the mock trial process (discovery, opening statements, cross-examination, closing
statements, jury deliberation, and verdict) and how your class completed each of these stages. In the final paragraph,

you would state the verdict your class reached and the judge’s ruling.

Your essay about the mock trial doesn’t argue that the ruling was right or wrong. It merely explains the process your

class used to work through the trial process and learn how real court cases move through the court system. In other

words, your essay would present facts and process rather than opinion and commentary.

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 Types of expository writing

Expository writing can be any type of writing that explains something in detail to a reader. For example, people
who work in academics often use expository writing because it contains information to educate others on a topic.
Expository writing uses a logical flow with a proper introduction, body, and conclusion. There are other forms of
expository writing, and these include descriptive, sequential, comparative, cause/effect, problem/solution, and
classification.

The most common forms of expository writing include:

Descriptive essay

A descriptive essay uses characteristics, traits, and sensory information to describe a topic or theme to the reader.
While this form of expository writing includes data, it also includes imagery and specific details that encourage the
reader to imagine a situation. Common types of descriptive essays include those about fiction, poetry, or
advertising.

Process writing

Process writing includes a list of steps that guide the reader through the process of completing a certain task that
relates to the topic. For example, learning how to write a paper is an example of process writing because it might
include steps for brainstorming, writing a rough draft, editing, and completing the paper. A few other examples of
process writing might include recipes or how-to guides.

Comparative and contrast

Comparative and contrast writing analyzes two ideas against each other. This type of writing discusses the
similarities and differences between two topics while maintaining an unbiased perspective. Comparative writing
also may discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a topic, allowing the reader to make their own conclusion.
For example, comparative and contrast writing may be useful when crafting a guide to helping readers decide
between two options, such as buying or renting a home and going to college right after high school or taking a gap
year.

Cause and effect

Cause and effect writing describes the cause of a topic and its outcome. This form attempts to demonstrate how
one topic or theme influences another topic or theme. For example, a writer may use this style to craft a paper that

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discusses the cause and effect of a college preparatory class on standardized testing scores. These forms of writing
often rely on research that links two subjects and aims to describe their relationship simply and definitively.

Problem and solution

Problem and solution writing discusses an issue and a potential way to address or fix the issue. This style uses facts
to present potential solutions to the problem topic. The first few paragraphs of the paper often discuss potential
solutions after introducing the problem, and the conclusion paragraph often summarizes the most practical
solutions. Writers may use this writing style when discussing current news events or writing an article on how to
overcome specific challenges.

Classification essay

A classification essay covers a broad topic by dividing it into smaller subcategories. This is a common method that
can help writers organize an educational paper with multiple separate parts. Using this style, writers can educate
the reader through different sections of a paper, including specific details and facts that support the idea of each
one. The classification form often is common in academic papers and research reports.

Definitions & Classification - It is the type of writing that explains a specific topic and highlights aspects such as
definitions, effects, types, etc.

How-to/Process - The last type of expository writing is how-to/process. It takes the reader that explain through a
step-by-step process of completing a specific task.

Characteristics of Expository Writing

• Descriptive: It is one of the main features of this essay. Science-related writing needs a background
description. However, description should be written about a thing or a process and it is usually done
chronologically or hierarchically.

• Illustrative: Illustration is essential in this kind of essay and it should be relevant. Explicit references need
to be included to support the theoretical points.

• Explanatory: The pertinent theory should be explained to support your points added in the essay. To
perceive results, the reasons are evaluated and the entire explanation should be supported with suitable
information.

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• Analytical: It is an imperative part of expository writing as through this process, the topic is broken down
into parts in order to categorize.

• Clarity: It is an important aspect of the expository writing. The idea or thought of the author should be
clearly mentioned in the essay.

• Unbiased: The approach of the essay should be unbiased.

• Impersonal: The first-person pronouns should not be used in this essay.

Tips for Effective Expository Writing

Here are some tips you can consider to help improve your expository writing:

Be clear and concise. Because expository writing often relies on the assumption the readers aren't familiar
with the topic, it's important to write in clear language and avoid any jargon they might not understand. This
can allow you to keep the writing focused and avoid long thoughts or explanations that detract from your
topic.

Verify your information. When performing research on your topic, it's important to check all the facts you
plan to use to ensure they're accurate. Even if it's a fact you heard before, it's still important to verify it to
ensure you have the right understanding and don't spread misinformation.

Consider your voice and tone. Before writing, try to think about your audience and topic to help you
determine an appropriate tone for your article. If you're writing about a sensitive or potentially negative
subject, for example, you might want to avoid getting too creative or whimsi cal when you present facts.

Write out of order. After finishing your outline, you can start writing your document at any point. For
example, if you already have a compelling conclusion in mind, you can write that first to help you start your
process and find your voice for the paper.

How to structure an expository essay

Expository essays follow the same general structure you use with every essay assignment: an introduction, body

paragraphs that support and expand upon the points you made in your introduction, then a conclusion that reiterates

those points and underscores your thesis.

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Unless your instructor requires your essay to hit a certain word count, there’s no specific length your essay needs to

be. Similarly, it doesn’t need to have a specific number of paragraphs—but it does need to express your points

thoroughly and accurately. To achieve this, your essay should follow this format, give or take the quantity of body

paragraphs for the number of supporting points you make:

Introduction

In the introduction, you present your essay topic and your thesis statement, ideally hooking your reader with

intriguing facts. You also introduce your supporting evidence and all necessary context to help your reader

understand your thesis.

Body paragraph

Each supporting point you make needs its own body paragraph. Although the five-paragraph essay is typically

considered the “standard” essay length, you might need a six-paragraph or longer essay to thoroughly communicate

your thesis statement.

Body paragraph

Use transition words and sentences to transition between body paragraphs. Transition words and sentences are the

phrases that express the relationship between two paragraphs, signaling to the reader why you’re making a specific

point and how that point fits into your overall work.

Body paragraph

In your last body paragraph, you’ll need to transition to your conclusion. That doesn’t mean you should

start summarizing here—give your final body paragraph as much insight and detail as you gave your previous body

paragraphs.

Conclusion

In your conclusion, you restate your thesis statement and summarize the points you made in your body paragraphs.

It should neatly tie up any loose ends and answer any lingering questions the reader may have.

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 How do you write an expository essay?

Before you write your next expository essay, familiarize yourself with the conventions and rules for essay writing.

These general guidelines will help you structure your essay and determine the most effective way to present your

information. But because you’re writing an expository essay, it’s also important that you understand and incorporate

all the characteristics that separate expository essays from other kinds of writing. Keep the following rules for

expository writing in mind:

• Your thesis statement needs to be well thought out and presented clearly in your opening paragraph. Your

thesis statement is the decisive statement around which you’ve built your entire essay. A good thesis

statement is a sentence that communicates your essay’s position, the context for this position, and the scope

of your essay’s supporting paragraphs. This might sound like a lot for one sentence—generally, thesis

statements are fairly long sentences with multiple clauses. Here are two examples of good thesis statements:

o Despite the taboo, insects make an excellent food source and could stem humanity’s looming food

shortage, based on both their protein output and the sustainability of farming them.

o The backlash to rock ’n’ roll music in the ’50s by religious groups and traditionalists actually boosted

the genre’s popularity instead of diminishing it as intended.

• Your tone should be objective and academic. While narrative and descriptive essays can take on artistic,

impassioned, and familiar tones, expository essays stick to conventional language and a neutral tone.

• Stick to the facts. An expository essay is not the place to express your opinion—or even present the facts in

a way meant to change or shape the reader’s opinion.

• Always be completely sure of the facts you’re presenting. That means thoroughly vetting your sources,

cross-checking them with other reputable sources, and properly citing every fact you put forth as the truth.

Start writing your expository essay the same way you would start the writing process for any other project: by

brainstorming. If you weren’t assigned a topic, you’ll need to determine an appropriate topic on your own—

brainstorming is where you’ll determine that topic. It’s also where you’ll determine your thesis statement, the most

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important component of your expository essay. Don’t move forward with outlining your essay until you have a

thesis statement.

Once you have a clear thesis statement, it’s time to outline your essay. With an expository essay, it’s especially

important that you present accurate facts in a logical way. It can be very helpful to note your sources for each

paragraph in your outline.

With a completed outline, it’s time to start writing. Follow the standard writing process through this first draft,

editing, and your revision. Once you’re finished, make sure you proofread your essay carefully—not only for

grammar and spelling mistakes, but to double-check that you’ve properly cited every source and formatted your

essay according to your assigned style guide.

In an expository essay, it’s especially important that your writing is mistake-free. Having spelling and grammatical

mistakes in your writing undermines your credibility as a writer, so even if your ideas and insights are solid, readers

won’t get as much out of your work as they would if it had no mistakes.

That’s why proofreading is so important . . . and why Grammarly is so helpful. Before you submit your essay, use

Grammarly to catch any mistakes or unclear sentences that might have sneaked past you while you were proofreading

your work. It can also ensure that the tone you’re using is the tone you want to be using—and that it’s consistent

through your whole essay.

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Chapter 2

Introduction to Paragraph Writing

Paragraphs are the group of sentences combined together, about a certain topic. It is a very important form
of writing as we write almost everything in paragraphs, be it an answer, essay, story, email, etc. We can say
that a well-structured paragraph is the essence of good writing. The purposes of the paragraph are to give
information, to explain something, to tell a story, and to convince someone that our idea is right.

Paragraphs are blocks of textual content that segment out a larger piece of writing—stories, novels, articles,
creative writing, or professional writing portions—making it less complicated to read and understand.
Excellent paragraphs are an available writing skill for plenty of types of literature, and proper writers can
substantially beautify the clarity of their news, essays, or fiction writing whilst constructing nicely.

Structure of a Paragraph

A paragraph has three major parts-

• Topic sentence

• Supporting sentences

• Concluding sentence

1. Topic Sentence

A topic sentence is a precise statement that reflects the main idea of the paragraph. It should be carefully
written as it will show the reader what you are going to talk about. Words chosen for this should not be
cluttered and ambiguous as readers will decide to read further based on this. It is not necessary to write the
topic sentence at the beginning of the paragraph. It can be put anywhere, as long as it reflects the main
topic. For instance, if you mention that you are going to talk about the advantag es of using hand sanitizer,
then in the supporting sentence you should only talk about the advantages, not the features or anything else.

2. Supporting Sentences

Supporting sentences explain the topic sentence in detail. They expand the main topic and develop the main
idea into the explanation. They explain the main topic using examples, facts, quotes, etc. They have to be
related to the topic sentence.

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There can be two types of Supporting sentences, First, the major supporting sentence; this sentence directly
explains the main idea with some new fact or new idea. Second, a minor support sentence helps the major
supporting sentence develop the controlling idea.

3. Conclusion Sentence

A good concluding sentence brings a paragraph to a polished end. It may give a summary of the main topic;
a concluding sentence also gives a final take on the topic and leaves the reader with complete information.

A good conclusion can either be just reiterating the topic again or it could be concluded with a few main
points which were not exclusively mentioned in the paragraph.

What Makes a Paragraph Very Good

A perfect and well-written paragraph comprises a key sentence, applicable supporting sentences, and a last
(or transition) sentence. This structure is fundamental to maintaining your paragraph centered on the main
concept and creating a clear and concise photo.

In order to add something interesting, and adding an interesting fact in your content does not necessarily
follow the conventional paragraph structure, it’s more about scene building and continuing a story. Properly
written paragraphs are a staple of suitable flash fiction and short fiction writing, as short testimonies need to
target a principal concept. When your sentences are unified and connected with other sentences, you can
write a good paragraph.

Example of a Paragraph-

"The room in which I found myself was very large and lofty. The windows were long, narrow, and pointed,
and at so vast a distance from the black oaken floor as to be altogether inaccessible from within. Feeble
gleams of encrimsoned light made their way through the trellised panes, and served to render sufficiently
distinct the more prominent objects around; the eye, however, struggled in vain to reach the remoter angles
of the chamber or the recesses of the vaulted and fretted ceiling. Dark draperies hung upon the walls. The
general furniture was profuse, comfortless, antique, and tattered. Many books and musical instruments lay
scattered about but failed to give any vitality to the scene. I felt that I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow. An
air of stern, deep, and irredeemable gloom hung over and pervaded all."

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Example 2:

The uncommon and speedy increase in Earth’s average temperature is called global warming. This growth
has extensively been higher within the last century due to human intervention with nature. The release of
greenhouse gasses in the ecosystem has been one of the number one motives behind the boom in
temperature. The multiplied intake of fossil fuels has increased the attention of greenhouse gases. The effect
of world Warming is a lot higher than just a sore in temperature.

It modifies the rainfall pattern, intensifies coastal erosion, and lengthens seasons in line with geography, the
glaciers and ice caps are melting and will increase the range of continual and infectious illnesses. As a way
to expect similar weather changes, scientists constructed models. These climate fashions are used to
simulate the interactional responses of the sea and environment. They predict a boom of around 2C to 6C
with the aid of the 21st century.

• As you can see, the main idea of the paragraph was describing the room.

• Then there are many supporting sentences supporting the main idea and expanding it in a way that
the picture becomes clear in the reader’s mind.

• Concluding sentence “I felt that I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow. An air of stern, deep, and
irredeemable gloom hung over and pervaded all,”

This sentence summarised how the room looked and what feeling ran through his mind.

Tips to Write a Good Paragraph

Whether you're writing a small paragraph or a big paragraph, the basic laws of structure should apply to
both. While the framework for fiction is less strict than for nonfiction, the material or tale you create must
logically or sequentially tie to the next paragraph. These aspects aid in the coherency of your body
paragraphs, linking them together to form a unified whole around a topic or to establish a narrative arc.

1. Think Before You Write

Thinking before writing helps establish a structure and understand what you are going to answer in the
paragraph. How can you be going to answer and what points should be provided to support your hypothesis?
What facts and quotes can support your idea.

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2. Open Your Notebook

Write the answers to the above questions in a manner that includes all the important points. Just write in
pointers to remember the gist of the matter.

3. Choose the Main Idea

Out of all the information you have found, you will have to decide the main idea of the paragraph which
you would like to operate.

4. Use a Dictionary and Thesaurus

Use a dictionary and thesaurus to add additional words to express your ideas.

5. Make Your Topic Sentence's First Sentence.

The opening line of your first paragraph sets the tone for what your audience will learn as they continue
reading. Even in fiction, a paragraph's introduction either creates or extends an idea or scenario from the
previous paragraph. Every successful paragraph starts with a central topic that the rest of the paragraph aims
to support, regardless of what style or genre you're writing for.

6. The Intermediate Sentences Should be Used to Provide Support.

Follow-up information to your main sentence or prior paragraph is included in these sentences. These
phrases are where you persuade your reader to believe or imagine what you believe and offer them all they
need to see your point of view.

7. Make Use of Transitional Words.

Transition words help unite disparate paragraphs to generate a unified theme. Readers will be able to trace
your ideas and comprehend how they relate to one another if you use phrases like "in addition" or
"moreover," which will make for a smoother, more enjoyable reading experience. This is especially
important for essayists and bloggers, who frequently share a single concept with their audience at a time.

Conclusion

• This segment has to wrap all of your arguments and factors.

• Must restate the primary arguments in a simplified way.

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 • Make sure that the reader is left with something to think about, specifically if it's far from an
argumentative essay continually don't forget to permit time to rewrite the first proofread your essay
before turning it on.

Application

Write a 100–150-word paragraph keeping in mind the above-discussed forms of expository writing.

What is How to take How to talk to

Causes of global
wrong with care of mentally
warming
Why do children lie? our species yourself? exhausted people?

Why do
Why is teaching What would you
people
Is Homework considered a noble Benefits of do if you could
commit
important? Explain profession? learning foreign live forever?
suicide?
Why? languages

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Chapter 3

The Writing Process:

• Pre-writing techniques (brainstorming, free-writing, mind-mapping, listing, questioning, and

outlining, etc.)
• Drafting (three-stage process of drafting techniques)
• Revising and editing (ensuring correct grammar, clarity, coherence, conciseness etc.)
• Proofreading (fine-tuning of the draft)
• Peer review and feedback (providing and receiving critique)

Writing is often described as a linear process, moving from the first stage to the last stage in an orderly
fashion. However, the writing process often requires moving back and forth between steps and is often
more complex than the linear model represents.

If you are working on a larger project you may have to break down the work into smaller parts to make it
manageable; therefore you can be at different stages of the writing process in different parts of your
project. You may also have to make changes in sections that you thought were finished as the contents are
affected by what you write in other sections. Furthermore, new questions may arise along the way that will
make it necessary to return to an earlier stage of the process, for example, to do further research.

Writing is a process that can be divided into three stages: Pre-writing, drafting, and the final revising
stage which includes editing and proofreading. In the first stage, you research your topic and make
preparatory work before you enter the drafting stage. After you have written your text it is important that
you take time to revise and correct it before submitting the final result.

Prewriting involves preparing, organizing, and developing ideas before writing a paper, report, or another
piece. Organizing your thoughts is a vital step when writing a paper because it allows you to present your
material in a way that's engaging and concise. For organizing a paper, prewriting can help you fully
develop your ideas and topics and create a compelling document.

Prewriting is a preliminary step in the writing process that allows you to generate ideas, organize them , and
create a plan for your paper, report, or article. Organizing and planning can help you in the later stages of
the writing process, such as when seeking relevant sources to support your argument or editing your final

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report. The prewriting phase can save you time, as it allows you to identify your main points before you
write the paper.

The main reasons to implement prewriting strategies include:

• Organizing your content into clear categories

• Narrowing your main topic to clarify your point

• Discussing all relevant information to ensure your report includes necessary details

• Selecting a topic

• Expressing similar ideas in different ways to gain a new perspective

Prewriting strategies to improve your writing

Because everyone approaches writing differently, there are several prewriting strategies from which you
can choose. You might find one strategy sufficient, or you might use a combination of strategies to clarify
your ideas. Here are some common prewriting techniques you can try:

1. Talking

Simply talking through your ideas with someone, regardless of their knowledge of the subject, can help
you gather your thoughts. Pay special attention to questions the listener asks because these can help you
determine the information you might include for the reader. Speaking your ideas aloud may also help you
identify your knowledge gaps, which you can note for further investigation.

2. Researching

Research is a vital aspect of the writing process, but it can also be an effective prewriting technique. As
you read books and articles about your topic, take notes about the information, as well as your reactions
and opinions. You can then use these notes to organize your thoughts and plan your paper.

3. Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a process where you quickly verbalize or write all of your thoughts as they occur to you.
Though you can brainstorm without writing your thoughts down, keeping a record makes it easier to keep

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track of them. This process is usually very informal, and it often helps writers find a theme or topic on
which to focus their paper.

If you use this technique, remember that this strategy is about generating many ideas instead of focusing
on high-quality ideas. Try not to focus on connecting, censoring, developing or defending your ideas
during a brainstorming session. Instead, try to document your thought process by generating several ideas,
even ones you might not use for this specific writing project.

4. Listing

When using the listing strategy, you write a list of as many ideas or terms associated with your topic as
possible. This strategy is useful if you're writing about a broad topic because it helps you create precise
subtopics. Instead of editing during this process, write as many thoughts into a list as you can.

Once you have a list of ideas, search for related terms, place them into related categories and create a label
for each group. These groups help simplify your topic and supply ideas for further development. You can
further aid the writing process by creating a sentence about each group's label, which you can later use as
topic sentences or to help develop a thesis statement.

5. Mind Mapping

Mind mapping or idea mapping, is a prewriting technique that focuses on the relationships between topics
and ideas. When your mind map is complete, it often looks like a web. Mapping things out can help you
understand the relationships between ideas and determine which areas have the most potential for your
paper. You can then look for clusters of subtopics that you want to develop and use them as key points for
your paper. Follow these steps to use the clustering technique:

1. Write the topic in the center of a piece of paper, then underline or circle it.

2. Brainstorm ideas and write them on the same piece of paper surrounding the main topic.

3. Draw a line between each new idea and the central topic to show their connection.

4. As you have thoughts or ideas that relate to your subtopics, write them down and show the connections
in the same way.

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6. Freewriting

Freewriting involves writing whatever comes to your mind without worrying about the grammar, spelling
or quality of your ideas. When freewriting, the goal is to write quickly and without too much thought so
you can generate as many ideas as possible. Regardless of what you're writing, the key is to write
continuously for a set amount of time, usually between five and 10 minutes.

If you already have a topic in mind, it helps to focus on that central idea as you write. After the time is up,
you can read over what you wrote and highlight any interesting ideas that help you clarify your vision for
the paper. Then, you can use those sentences to guide the creation of your outline or first draft.

7. Looping

Looping is a prewriting technique that builds off of multiple five- or 10-minute freewriting sessions,
allowing you to discover new ideas and gradually focus on a topic. When looping, you free -write, identify
a key detail or idea, and then begin freewriting again with that new detail as your focal point. Each
freewriting session becomes more specific and can help you develop a nuanced argument. After four or
five looping sessions, you may have discovered your main points, a draft of your thesis, or realized areas
that require more research.

8. Journalistic questioning

Typically, journalists ask several questions when writing an article. While these questions are significant
in journalism, they can help you investigate information about a topic. Often, answering these questions
helps provide background information for your audience. When writing an assignment, professional
journalists ask themselves six basic questions:

• Who?: This involves considering who directly and indirectly took part in your topic, and who your
topic directly and indirectly affects.

• What?: This question not only requires you to state the topic, but it also asks you to address its
significance and any challenges it presents.

• Where?: Depending on your topic, this question asks you to address where your topic takes place or
the specific communities or environments it impacts.

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• When?: To address this question, you can elaborate on the history of your topic and its relevance in
the present day.

• Why?: This allows you to clarify why the issue that your topic presents occurred. If the issue is
complex, you may provide context that clarifies why it developed the way it did.

• How?: This question asks you to state how individuals may solve the problem or question your topic
presents.

9. Drawing

For visual thinkers, drawing can be a useful part of the prewriting process. This strategy combines
freewriting withdrawing or doodling. Drawing may use a mind-mapping element to link images with key
phrases. Drawings may serve as placeholders for complex ideas that become easier to understand once you
find the correct language with which to pair them.

10. Outlining

Outlining allows you to organize your thoughts into the general order in which you want to address them
in your paper. When outlining, most writers create a structure for their paper by using bullet points or
Roman numerals. First, you can split the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion into headings.
Then, list the main idea, evidence, and analysis for each section underneath the corresponding heading.
Though some benefit from this strategy on its own, it's typically most effective when you pair it with
another prewriting technique that gives you a sense of your argument, themes, and approach.

11. Categorizing

Categorizing is a useful strategy when you're writing a paper that requires comparison, such as evaluating
two different arguments or works of art. To use this strategy, create a chart in which your comparison
topics are at the top and your criteria for comparison are on the side of the chart. By visually comparing
the viewpoints of certain authors, books or articles, you can identify major differences and track your own
responses. You may find this technique especially helpful if your essay structure itself uses a compare-
and-contrast method.

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 12. Storyboarding

If you're planning to write a sequential story, try storyboarding. Used commonly by filmmakers,
storyboarding involves creating a visual representation of a story's sequence. When you create a
storyboard, you can create a list of the key events that occur within the story. Then, you can arrange these
events in the order you want to tell them. Storyboarding helps writers include their main ideas, create
supporting material to supplement the story, and consider how to tie each element of the story together.

The Three Steps of Drafting Techniques

Writing the First Draft

Think your ideas out loud before writing them down so that the thoughts are expressed clearly. Once you have
the initial rough draft, fill in the relevant missing details as per the standard document structure. Write as per
your content outline using bullet points and indentation for the headings, sub-headings, and minor headings.

Re-Drafting

After completing the first draft, wait for a few days before editing it. Improve the draft by evaluating every
word, sentence, and paragraph with the objective of designing concise and correct content.

• Include any omitted necessary details.

• Make sentences tighter and clearer.

• Check that the tense is consistent.

• Correct the spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

• Use active voice and first-person when appropriate.

• Re-arrange the sequence of sentences or paragraphs and check the flow.

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Writing the Final Draft

Write several drafts, with each one an improvement on the last one. Keep revising the final draft till you are
satisfied with the final output. Show it to colleagues and get their feedback. Discuss the suggestions and
implement the necessary corrections or changes.

Writing the Final Copy

• Type the final copy of the document.

• Proofread word by word, and figure by figure.

• Sign and/or type your name or initials at the end of the document.

• Send the document to the reader.

Revising and editing

Many students don’t differentiate between Revising, Editing, and Proofreading. What’s the difference?

Revision involves analyzing the global level and paragraph level organization of the document, and making
changes to your draft on a global, paragraph, and sentence level to ensure that:

• The document addresses its purpose

• The document supports any claims it makes (main claims and secondary claims)

• The structure of the document is logical and supports the purpose and main claims

Editing involves looking at each sentence carefully and making sure that it’s well-designed and serves its
purpose.

Proofreading involves checking for grammatical and punctuation errors, spelling mistakes, etc. Proofing is
the final stage of the writing process.

A. Revision

During revision, take the following steps:

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1. Confirming Purpose and Main Claim: The first step in the revision process is to confirm that the draft
actually serves the purpose outlined in the introduction. In case the paper hasn’t done so, you need to either
revise your purpose or revise the paper so that it addresses the purpose. While this may seem straightforward,
it is very possible for goals to change during the writing process.

If your paper is persuasive, then your paper will likely also have a main claim. For example, if your purpose is
to recommend a solution to a given problem, then your main claim will be to follow recommendations A, B,
and C. Even if your goal is simply to evaluate several options, you will be making claims about each of those
options (i.e. one is best, or that there are certain advantages/disadvantages to each option). During the revision
process, ensure that your main claim is clearly stated in the paper (usually at the end) and that the paper
supports that main claim adequately. Each section of the paper should be doing something to support this
claim.

2. Identifying and Checking Support for Major Claims: The main claim of the paper will be supported by
sub-claims; these will need to be adequately supported as well. Ensure that you’ve provided sufficient
supporting data (your own or from others) and explain how that information supports your claims. For
example, if your paper recommends a solution (its main claim), one supporting claim would be that Solution
X has certain benefits. In order for that supporting claim to be warranted, you would have to provide sources
or data from your own work that confirm those benefits.

3. Check Against Your Outline: Begin the revision process by comparing your first draft to your outline, and
asking the following questions:

• Does your draft match your outline?

• If not, why not? Is your revision to the outline warranted, or would your original structure be better?

• Where are the gaps in information in your draft; where might you have to add more information? What
information is unnecessary, or tangential?

After this stage, you may choose to move sections around and add or subtract information. Essentially, you’re
re-evaluating your original outline from a different perspective (after you’ve written the draft).

4. Identify and Evaluate Transitional Strategies: Transitions are the points at which we move between
ideas in writing. They play a particularly important role in between sections and paragraphs but operate within
paragraphs as well. At each section break in your outline, you should be able to identify a transition strategy.
Some transitional strategies include:

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 • Logical: the last idea of the previous section/paragraph is the first idea of the next

• Phrasal: using explicit wording to create a shift in writing/develop a relationship between the ideas in
the previous and next sections/paragraphs

• Structural: Using similar sentence structure to create a relationship between

• Verbal: Using keywords to establish a relationship between sections/paragraphs

Checking for transitions is a way to evaluate the ‘flow’ or coherence of a document. A transitional strategy is
effective when it helps create coherence in a document – when it helps clarify the relationships between ideas
in a piece of writing.

5. Checking on a Paragraph Level: With each paragraph, you should be able to:

• Easily identify a prominent and accurate topic sentence (near the beginning)

• Identify the paragraph’s role in its section and in the document as a whole

• Identify an organizational strategy or structure that the paragraph uses to accomplish its purpose;
assess whether or not that structure is an efficient one, or if there may be a better structure B. Editing

You can begin the process of editing after you’re satisfied with the structure, content, and coherence of your
document (as a whole and in specific parts).

Editing and proofing both focus on the sentence level. Editing is different from proofreading because it
involves questioning and analyzing sentences, whereas proofreading only involves checking them for errors.
When editing:

• Read each sentence carefully and identify its function in the paragraph; ask yourself how you might
redesign the sentence to more effectively accomplish that goal

• Analyze the sentences that precede and follow the sentence you’re focusing on. Are the connections
between these sentences clear, or do you need to insert transitions between them?

• Evaluate the design of each individual sentence; in doing so, employ the following principles:

1. Manage Sentence Length: Short sentences clearly communicate individual ideas, but often leave
connections between them unmade. Long sentences make connections between ideas but can obscure
individual ideas. Vary sentence lengths according to the needs of the section.
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2. Strengthen the Grammatical Core of the sentence (Subject-Verb-Object): The subject (actor), the verb
(action), and the object (what the actor performs the action on) constitute the grammatical core of the
sentence, but the real subject, verb, and object is often buried by complex or elaborate sentence structures.
Whenever possible:

• Elevate the verb, so that the real action of the verb occupies the role of verb in the sentence (especially
in passive voice).

• Find the real subject (the thing actually performing the verb), and allow it to occupy this role in the
sentence

Evaluation of the material was performed on the basis of strength, flexibility, and cost.

In the above sentence, the ‘real action’ is evaluation, but it appears in the form of a noun here. The real
subject of the sentence – the person(s) doing the evaluating – are the researchers, but they don’t appear in the
sentence at all. A revision that fixes both problems might look like the one below.

We evaluated the material on the basis of strength, flexibility, and cost.

• Position the verb closer to the beginning of the sentence, because the verb is key to the reader’s ability
to process information

The influence of physiochemical properties of microbial floc, namely extracellular polymeric substances
(EPS) and hydrophobicity, on ultraviolet (UV) disinfection of sequencing batch reactor effluent was studied.

In the above example, the verb doesn’t arrive until the end of the sentence. That means that readers need to
store three lines of information in memory until they get to this verb, which gives them the information
needed to process the long noun phrase.

This thesis studies the influence of physiochemical properties of microbial floc, namely extracellular
polymeric substances (EPS) and hydrophobicity, on ultraviolet (UV) disinfection of sequencing batch reactor
effluent.

3. The ASAP Principle: Avoid elaborate sentence structure, unless necessary. Good technical writing is
always ‘As Short as Possible,’ while containing the necessary amount of detail. Cut away unnecessary
phrasing whenever possible.

It is evident that this thesis provides a foundation from which engineers may astutely intervene for the
betterment of the circuit board manufacturing process
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Yikes!

If it’s evident, then you don’t need to say it. And ‘astutely intervene for the betterment’ of? What about:

This thesis provides a foundation for improving the circuit board manufacturing process.

4. Use clear and concise language

One of the most important editing practices for clarity and coherence is to use clear and concise language
throughout your content. This means choosing simple and precise words, avoiding jargon and slang,
eliminating unnecessary modifiers and filler words, and breaking up long and complex sentences. Clear and
concise language can help you convey your message more effectively, reduce ambiguity and
misunderstanding, and keep your readers interested and focused.

C. Proofreading

When proofreading, you may want to try the following strategies.

• Read each sentence aloud as you visually inspect the spelling and sentence structure; sometimes,
reading the sentence aloud will allow you to spot mistakes that your eye can’t always see

• Allow enough time for several close readings of the text, with some break time in between to give you
a fresh perspective on your document

• Ask friends to read over your work to check for errors as an additional strategy; sometimes, outside
readers can spot errors that the writer can miss. However, don’t rely on this as a primary proofing
strategy: your proofreader doesn’t have anything invested in your report. You do, and are the one
ultimately responsible for errors

• Don’t rely on your computer’s spell check to correct all the spelling errors for you. Why?

1. Because Canadian and British spelling standards are different from American ones (standard on
most spell checkers)

2. Because when you intend to sue ‘through,’ but forget the letter ‘r,’ your spell check will not
register an error. (Can you see another small mistake in the above sentence that wouldn’t
register? ‘Use,’ misspelled as ‘sue’)

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 3. Because the spell checker cannot ensure that the correct ending (agreement) has been used. ‘We
ends the paper by . . .’ doesn’t register a spelling error, but ‘ends’ should be ‘end.’

4. And finally, because spell checkers often do not account for many of the specialized terms that
are commonplace in engineering contexts – the spell check will identify many technical terms
as errors simply because they are not in its dictionary

• Don’t rely on your grammar checker to correct all of the grammatical errors for you. Why?

1. Because the rules implemented in the grammar checkers are rudimentary and simple, and don’t
always allow for complex sentence structures. They may identify errors where there are none

2. They often don’t catch simple and straightforward errors, such as the ‘We ends’ example above
(no error was reported by Microsoft Word)

3. Their suggestions will often substantially change the meaning of the sentences

Editing
Upon completion of a rough draft, the writer should take on the first edit of his work. Editing is an on-
going process, not a one-time event. When an author edits his work, he is checking the piece for
errors. These are typically errors in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and formatting (ind enting of
paragraphs, etc.). A writer should be encouraged to edit as much of his own paper as possible. Early
writers should, with some prompting, be able to check a paper for correct capitalization and
punctuation. As a child ages, he will be able to correct other errors on his own. Some students find it
beneficial to read their work out loud while editing. This makes it easier to find mistakes.

Editing should not be a negative process. This is a time to work on creating a polished piece of writing
that will make the author proud. The author should be reminded that he will need to edit his work at
least two more times. He will edit before composing a final copy and then use the same process to
check over his final product.

Peer review and feedback (providing and receiving critique)

Peer review is a common stage in writing projects. Teachers include it because it's useful for students to see
how other people read their work. The point isn't to grade a peer's work, but to offer insight about audience
reactions. Good peer reviews answer questions like "do readers understand the points I'm trying to get across,

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or are they reading me wrong?" and "am I using the right arguments and evidence for the audience I'm trying
to reach?"

Common misconceptions on both reviewer and reviewee sides, however, often keep peer review from being as
effective as it can be. Students doing the reviewing often resort to commenting on grammar or punctuation
because they're not sure what to focus on, and those concerns are usually easily spotted and corrected.
Likewise, students getting reviews may not know how to take feedback on board in revision, or they may
ignore peer feedback in favor of feedback from the instructor because they view instructor fee dback as more
accurate or more important.

Following are some key ways students can be better peer reviewers in class.

Mix criticism and praise.

Feedback that only tells your partner about what's wrong can be hurtful, but more importantly, it's usually not
useful. How can your partner improve their work if they only know what you didn't like or what was
unsuccessful? If you can identify times when they are doing well, you can point those out as models for
improving the parts that aren't so successful.

Ask questions.

Make sure you understand what your partner has already done and what they are maybe planning on doing in
future work sessions. If they already know they're giving you a draft with no conclusion, and they plan to
finish the conclusion tomorrow, then you can save some time and energy telling them they don't have a
conclusion. You can also ask questions about audience and purpose: who does your partner think their
audience is? how have they worked to target their writing to that audience? where do they think they are best
articulating their purpose?

Read the paper.

If you have the time, try to read the paper once without making a single comment. Then, after you've gotten a
good idea of what your partner is trying to say and what the paper is all about, you can go back through and
start giving feedback. This is usually helpful in time management; if you comment without reading the entire
paper first, you may find yourself making detailed comments that get addressed in later paragraphs. It also
helps in finding areas that are really strong, so when you're commenting you can refer to those.

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Write out your thoughts.

Just like you would show your work in solving an equation, you will help your partner understand your
comments if you write more than "explain more here." What drew your attention to the section you're
commenting on? What questions did the section leave you with, and how do you understand the material as
it's currently written?

Describe, evaluate, and suggest.

This strategy follows from the previous one; the "describe, evaluate, suggest" framework comes from the
writing researchers at Eli Review (2014). In short, this pattern of commenting encourages reviewers to 1.
describe what they are reading and understanding from the text, 2. evaluate how well the text is working based
on the rubric, assignment sheet, or class material, and 3. suggest next steps for improvement. Putting these
three moves together in a comment helps your partner understand where you're comin g from, connect your
feedback to the class rather than "opinion," and move forward with the writing.

Sum up.

It can be hard to use feedback if it takes the form of several comments spread out across many pages. Where
do you even start, and what is important? You can help your peer review partner by summing up your
comments with a paragraph or two of holistic feedback. This is feedback that comes at the end of the paper
and describes your general impressions of the paper as well as the major items your partner can focus on in
revision; it usually focuses on big ideas rather than smaller concerns. It's also a good o pportunity to comment
on things that weren't in the paper itself but that arose for you as you read (i.e., opportunities for more
research, an argument that wasn't made but that seems related to the content, etc.).

Using Existing Guidelines

When you're giving feedback in peer review for a class, the best way to structure your feedback is usually by
using the rubric or assignment sheet. This helps you give the most attention to the parts that are going to help
your partner the most, even though you're not actually grading the work. Below, we discuss some strategies
for using a rubric or an assignment sheet to help you give feedback.

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Look for weight.

The rubric will usually show how many points are given to a certain category. If "Argument" is worth 40
points and "Organization" is worth 30, but "Mechanics" is worth 10, you should spend most of your time
looking at the kinds of things described under "Argument" and "Organization." (If you only have an
assignment sheet or don't have explicit values to look at, use assignment criteria instead; the most important
criteria will usually come first in a list and will be mentioned more often throughout the shee t. And if all else
fails, ask your teacher!)

Look for values.

Your teacher will explain what they value in writing on the rubric and/or on the assignment sheet. Items that
are bolded, criteria or questions that appear more than once, and criteria that your teacher has mentioned
explicitly in class while going over the assignment are all likely to be important to your teacher. More
importantly, those stated values explain how students can best complete the assignment or meet expectations.
When you're evaluating your partner's work, you can use these stated values to ask yourself questions about
how effective the writing is (i.e., if the rubric says an Excellent paper "effectively synthesizes source
material," you can ask yourself questions like, "is this paper putting multiple sources in conversation with
each other, or is the paper mostly reporting information from one source?")

Create a checklist.

Using the two strategies above, you can make a checklist for yourself to use as you give feedback on your
partner's paper. This can help you manage your time, especially if you are expected to complete peer review in
class. If you know that a few categories are the most important to the assignment, and you know what
questions to ask yourself about those categories based on items on the rubric or assignment sheet, then you
can look specifically for answers to those questions in the paper. (We suggested readi ng a paper through once
in its entirety before commenting in the previous section, but we know that's not always possible; sometimes
you have to do the best you can with limited time, and this is a good way to do that.)

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 How to Give and Receive Feedback or Critique

What if we told you you’re not perfect?

Obviously, you know that already—but it still kind of stings. Criticism of any kind can be hard to swallow,
especially when it comes to something you spent time and energy on. Inherently, we all want to do a good job.
But criticism is just as important as praise, if not more so. Good, constructive feedback can help you improve
and guide you towards new heights you might not have achieved otherwise.

That isn’t to say giving and taking constructive criticism is easy. But when you know how to take criticism,
you become a better employee, friend, and team member. In this chapter, you will cover everything you need
to know about constructive criticism, including how to identify, give, and take constructive criticism.

What is constructive criticism?

Before we dive into how to give and take constructive criticism, we first need to understand what it is.
Constructive criticism focuses on providing constructive feedback, supported by specific examples, to help
you improve in some area. Constructive criticism should be offered in a friendly manner with good intentions.
Ideally, the person offering constructive criticism should also be prepared to help brainstorm possible
solutions and next steps in order to serve as a valuable tool in the growth process. It’s important to note that
constructive criticism is not negative criticism, nor should it be interpreted that way. Though constructive
criticism won’t always be positive, it should be centered around helping someone improve—not tearing them
down.

Constructive criticism vs. destructive criticism

You may encounter feedback that’s portrayed as constructive criticism but is actually just veiled negative
comments. This type of feedback is what’s called destructive criticism. Unlike constructive criticism,
destructive criticism is feedback that isn’t designed to help you improve and grow into a better person,
employee, or friend. Instead, destructive criticism is:

• Intended as a personal attack

• Formatted to harm someone’s self-esteem

• Public

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 • Not specific or actionable

• Hypercritical or needlessly nit-picky

If you encounter destructive criticism, don’t be afraid to shut it down or ask for help from a mentor.

The Benefits of Constructive Criticism

Even if you give the perfect piece of advice, constructive criticism is still difficult to both give and receive.
But don’t shy away from this type of feedback just because it’s difficult. In fact, constructive criticism can
help both you and the person you’re giving feedback to grow—both personally and professionally. By
practicing constructive criticism, you’re building an atmosphere of openness and trust. Not every conversation
you have with your team will be easy—but difficult conversations are a big part of developing a collaborative
team.

11 Tips for Giving Constructive Criticism

Anyone can give constructive criticism, but to do so, it’s important to approach the feedback session in the
right way. If you’ve never practiced giving constructive criticism before, try these 11 dos and don’ts to keep
your feedback helpful, constructive, and friendly.

1. Do: Use “I” statements

“I” statements are a way to express your opinion by focusing on the situation, rather than the person you’re
talking about. “I” statements begin with “I feel…” or “I think…” instead of “You said…” or “You did…”

With an “I” statement, you can make feedback feel less personal by centering it around your experience. By
beginning every sentence with “I,” you’re constantly clarifying that you’re sharing your thoughts and
opinions—rather than objective fact. This can help reduce the feelings of personal defensiveness that often
come with any kind of criticism, and make the entire feedback session more productive.

Example of an “I” statement

“I think you could use more images in your slides. Sometimes, I spend my time reading the text on the page,
which is distracting for me. What if instead, you only included the main themes on each slide?”

2. Don’t: Use the sandwich method

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You’ve likely heard of the sandwich method (sometimes called the “feedback sandwich”) before —this is
possibly the most well-known criticism strategy. In the sandwich method, you start off with a positive note,
mention constructive criticism, and then finish off with another positive comment.

Despite its popularity, the sandwich method isn’t an effective way to communicate helpful, constructive
criticism. Because you’re nesting the constructive criticism, there's little opportunity to make that feedback
actionable or brainstorm the next steps. Instead, spend your time making your feedback as specific and helpful
as possible—no matter how many pieces of feedback you have to give.

3. Do: Provide actionable feedback

The goal of providing constructive feedback is to give the person something they can work on. In addition to
pointing out what could be improved, good constructive criticism includes ideas and next steps that the person
can take in order to further develop their skills. When you provide your feedback, make sure to clarify that
you’re open to further discussion or brainstorming if that would be helpful for the person you’re giving
feedback to.

If your feedback isn’t actionable, don’t give it, or wait until you have something actionable before bringing it
to the person’s attention. Without actionable advice, your feedback strays dangerously close to destructive
criticism, rather than constructive help.

Example of providing actionable constructive criticism

“I really liked the idea you shared during the marketing campaign meeting. However, I think the reason it
didn’t get as much traction as it could have was because you didn’t tie it back to the process. If I were you, I’d
bring some relevant examples to support your plan.”

4. Don’t: Publicly share your feedback

Even the best-phrased criticism can be hard to take, especially if the person you’re giving feedback to spent a
lot of time and energy on their work. In order for feedback to be constructive and helpful, you want to open a
dialogue about how the person can improve.

This type of dialogue isn’t possible if you share your feedback publicly. Instead of starting a conversation, the
person might feel embarrassed, ashamed, or personally attacked. They might respond defensively or just move
on without internalizing the feedback. Make sure you’re taking the time to sit down and chat, in order to have
the most productive conversation. Either schedule time to give constructive criticism, or use a regularly
scheduled 1:1 to do so.
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5. Do: Include positive comments where appropriate

Just because the sandwich method isn’t the best way to provide feedback doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give
positive feedback. Constructive criticism shouldn’t just be about negative feedback. Telling someone what
they’ve done well is just as helpful. That way, they can spend time honing their strengths—in addition to
strengthening their weaknesses.

Example of positive constructive criticism

“Your work this past week was really innovative. I appreciated how you approached customer feedback from
a new angle—I feel like you found a solution we might not have thought of.”

6. Don’t: Force positivity

That being said, just like you want to avoid the sandwich method, you should also avoid forced positivity. The
point of constructive feedback isn’t to give the person meaningless compliments—it’s to help them move
forward and improve.

No matter what type of feedback you’re giving, make sure you think it through and really mean it. Insincere
feedback can feel unhelpful and make future feedback sessions more difficult.

7. Do: Make it a conversation

Constructive criticism isn’t valuable unless there’s a give and take aspect. Part of using “I” statements is to
provide feedback from your perspective. The person you’re giving feedback to, though, might have a different
point of view. Give them time to ask questions about why you feel the way you do and how they can improve
based on your feedback. Keep in mind that the best feedback is collaborative, not prescriptive.

Example of how to make constructive feedback a conversation

“I feel like your focus for this past project was a little off. What do you think? Is there something you’re
unclear about in regards to our approach to this project?”

8. Don’t: Attempt to “surprise” with feedback

Giving feedback can be uncomfortable. Sometimes, it might feel awkward or unpleasant to let the person
know you want to give them some feedback—what if they come into the conversation on the defensive, or
have additional questions for you?

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Though feedback sessions can be uncomfortable, attempting to “surprise” someone with feedback can turn a
potential growth moment into a negative experience. If your feedback comes from left field, it can be
frustrating, overwhelming, and make the person feel personally attacked. Instead, make sure you let the person
know that this will be a feedback session.

9. Do: Give feedback in a timely manner

Constructive criticism is helpful if it’s given relatively soon after the action occurred. That way, the scenario
is fresh in both of your minds. If you wait too long, your feedback might be less relevant, which makes it less
helpful. Aim to give feedback within 2-7 days of the situation.

Example of timely feedback

“I wanted to follow up on the presentation you gave to executive stakeholders last Thursday. I thought your
slides were really clear, but I would have liked more time for Q&A. Maybe next time, you could send over
some pre-reading to skip the early slides.”

10. Don’t: Give feedback without thinking it over

Even though you do want to give feedback in a timely manner, you don’t want to give it immediately without
thought. Even if you had a lightbulb moment of realization of how this person could improve, wait at least a
day to make sure this feedback needs to be expressed and that you can do so in a constructive, positive way.
Before scheduling your feedback session, ask yourself:

• Is this feedback something that will help them improve?

• Do they need to hear this feedback?

• Am I prepared to help them brainstorm how to improve?

• What, if any, next steps can the person take?

11. Do: Maintain a friendly tone and body language

Ultimately, you’re providing feedback in order to help a person improve. Even if the feedback is hard to give,
make sure you’re keeping your body language positive and your tone light.

You might not feel comfortable giving constructive criticism at first, so consider practicing what you’re going
to say and how you’re going to say it. Pay particular attention to your tone, and make sure you aren’t

33
frowning, glaring, or crossing your arms. Even if you aren’t actually frustrated, these signals can raise the
person’s defensiveness and lead to an unproductive feedback session. If you’re giving feedback remotely, be
sure to turn your video on for the call.

Receiving constructive criticism

You’ve practiced giving constructive criticism—but what about taking feedback instead of giving it?
Accepting constructive criticism without getting defensive can be really difficult. Even though you
conceptually know the person is giving feedback to help you, it’s human nature to feel a little defensive when
receiving criticism—even if it is helpful.

Hopefully, the person has let you know in advance that feedback is coming. When you know someone has
constructive feedback for you, you can prepare for it and make sure it doesn’t catch you unaware.

Even if you do receive unprompted constructive criticism, as long as it isn’t destructive criticism, try these six
steps to become a pro at receiving criticism:

1. Avoid immediately reacting. Feedback can engage our fight or flight response and turn a theoretically
helpful session into an adrenaline-filled challenge. Before responding, take a deep breath and resist the
urge to react, respond, or argue.

2. If need be, remind yourself that constructive criticism can help you improve. Even if you didn’t know
this feedback was coming, try to remember that this constructive criticism is being offered with your
best interests at heart.

3. Listen to understand—not to respond. When someone is offering constructive criticism, listen without
formulating a reply or a defensive response to the feedback. Keep in mind that the person is offering
feedback in order to try to help you, and try to listen with an open mind.

4. Connect the feedback to your role, not to yourself. Feedback feels personal because we think people
are criticizing us. But in a business setting, constructive criticism is usually based on your role. Good
feedback can help you improve in your job and often isn’t as personal as it feels.

5. Thank the person giving you feedback. Giving constructive feedback is hard. Thank the person for
their energy and effort in helping you improve.

6. Ask questions, but don’t challenge the feedback. Though you shouldn’t challenge or refute the
feedback, it’s okay to ask questions and brainstorm how you can improve. If you aren’t ready to ask

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 questions immediately after receiving critical feedback, that’s ok too. Set a follow-up meeting to chat
more about how you can improve.

Constructive feedback builds collaborative teams

When done well, effective criticism can pave the way for a healthier, collaborative team. That’s because
collaborative teams are open and honest with one another—and not afraid to talk about real things. Just by
reading this, you’re on the path to becoming more collaborative and working together more effectively.

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Chapter 4

Essay Organization and Structure:

• Introduction and hook (engaging readers and introducing the topic)

• Thesis statement (crafting a clear and focused central idea)

• Body Paragraphs (topic sentences, supporting evidence and transitional devices)

• Conclusion (types of concluding paragraphs and leaving an impact)

• Ensuring cohesion and coherence (creating seamless connections between paragraphs)

What is an essay structure?

An essay structure is an outline you can use to organize your writing and present your arguments. It has
three distinct sections: an introduction, a body and a conclusion. When writing an essay, using a structure
can help you better determine which information to include in each section, allowing you to organize your
writing in a more comprehensive way. For example, if you're writing an essay about the history of the motor
vehicle, you might choose to organize it chronologically and begin by discussing the first car and its
features.

How to structure an essay

Here are the three steps you can follow to structure a basic essay:

1. Write a clear introduction

An essay's introduction typically presents your topic or thesis statement, highlighting what you plan to
discuss in the rest of your paper. Introductions can help you provide your reader with an overview of your
topic while also providing them with the context for the arguments you plan to make in each section of the
body. Try to begin your introduction with a concise sentence to retain the reader's attention and avoid overly
long or detailed sentences. Summarize your research or relevant theories and define any terms you plan to
use.

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2. Add body paragraphs

You can use the body of your essay to elaborate on your analysis and arguments and present information,
research and evidence to support your claims. You may choose to include citations and quotations
referencing other materials to help support your arguments or ideas. Try to limit the body of your essay to a
single point or idea per paragraph to ensure that your writing is as succinct. In addition, make sure all your
paragraphs begin with a topic sentence that relates to your main idea or thesis to keep your writing
organized and engaging.

3. Craft a compelling conclusion

A conclusion is the final paragraph of your essay, and you can use it to summarize the ideas you presented
and demonstrate how the different points you mentioned in your body paragraphs relate to each other.
Writing a strong conclusion is a beneficial way to inform the reader of the overall importance of your
argument. Depending on the type of essay you're writing, you may use a call-to-action sentence to inform
your readers of what you want them to do. For example, if your essay is about recycling, your call to action
may encourage your readers to start recycling themselves.

4 types of essay structures

Depending on the topic and purpose of your essay, there are several essay structures you can use to present
your ideas to your readers, including the following four structures:

1. Compare and contrast structures

For an essay that has two or more primary subjects, consider using the compare-and-contrast structure. This
type of structure is useful for argumentative topics, such as an essay that compares the differences between
the American and Russian space programs or a literary analysis paper that compares two different authors or
novels. The alternating method and the block method are the two primary ways you can use the compare and
contrast essay structure.

With the alternating method, you compare the two different subjects equally in each paragraph, reviewing
one specific difference at a time. The points of comparison typically define each of your paragraphs. With
the block method for comparing and contrasting, you address each subject in separate paragraphs. For
example, you might write three paragraphs about your first point of comparison and then write two more
about your second point to compare it to the first one.

2. Chronological structures
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A chronological or cause-and-effect structure involves listing various points of discussion, events or
research in the order they occur and explaining how they relate throughout your essay. This structure can be
useful for essays with a focus on history or a series of specific events, in addition to essays that contain
logical timelines. For example, in an essay about the history of baseball, a chronological structure might
begin by discussing who invented the game, how the game changed throughout history and who some of the
most famous players were.

3. Problems, methods and solutions structures

Essays that aim to address specific problems, whether theoretical or practical, typically use a problems,
methods and solutions essay structure. This format involves explaining a problem, discussing a theory or
method to resolve it and analyzing the issue further to determine if the solution has any validity. For
theoretical issues, you may propose a solution or present a new idea through research. Some example topics
for essays that use this structure might include:

• The rise of social media and its effects on children and young adults

• The increased risk of climate change

• The growing amount of consumer and student loan debt

• The importance of a work-life balance in professional careers

4. Signposting to clarify structures

Signposting essay structures involve guiding your intended readers by using language that provides insight
into what they might expect in your essay. This type of structure typically includes an overview immediately
after the essay's introduction that's written in the present tense and that describes the essay's key arguments
or ideas. For example, in an essay about bees, the overview might discuss how the essay begins and list the
various topics within it, such as the importance of bees to local economies. It might also include a sentence
about the conclusion.

A signposting structure also includes a variety of transitions which help guide readers and better connect
different ideas. Try to be mindful of where you insert your transitions and limit the number you use to keep
your essay concise and increase readability. Include unique details in your transitions to retain the attention
of your essay's intended audience and encourage them to continue reading. Facts can also be a good way to

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improve the quality of a transition. For example, if a historical event is the topic of your essay, you might
begin a new paragraph with a specific date.

Tips for structuring an essay

Here are a few helpful tips to consider when structuring an essay:

• Allocate time to preparing your essay. An essay structure can help you better organize your ideas and
the facts you've collected and modify them based on your chosen essay topic. The time you spend
preparing your outline and essay structure can save you time later and help you construct a cohesive and
coherent essay that's easy for your readers to understand.

• Follow your chosen structure as best as possible. Once you determine which essay structure works
best for your topic, try to follow its outline as much as you can to ensure that your arguments are logical
and that your essay addresses the topic accurately. If your ideas change or you determine that your
outline needs improvement, consider adapting it accordingly.

• Include background information at the beginning. Background information can help a reader better
understand your essay and the topics you present. In addition to including this information in the
introduction of your essay, consider featuring it at the beginning of the body of your essay as well to
inform readers of the specific topic or the problem you're discussing.

• Begin with simpler claims. When structuring your arguments within the body of your essay, begin with
simpler claims before presenting the more complex or controversial ones. This can help readers better
understand the logic of your essay and allow you to avoid overwhelming them with information.

• Remind your readers of your thesis. To make your essay as effective as possible and ensure that it
remains concise, make sure that all the details you include are directly relevant to your thesis. Consider
reviewing each piece of information and asking yourself if it advances your points or aids in the reader's
understanding and try to remove any irrelevant or unnecessary sentences.

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 Introduction and hook (engaging readers and introducing the topic)

Introduction Definition

The introduction paragraph, to put it simply, is the first section of an essay. Thus, when reading your essay, the
reader will notice it right away. What is the goal of an opening paragraph? There are two things that an excellent
introduction achieves. It initially informs the reader on the subject of your work; in other words, it should describe
the essay's topic and provide some background information for its main point. It must also spark readers' interest
and persuade them to read the remainder of your article.

How Long Should an Introduction Be

Typically, there are no strict restrictions on how long an opening paragraph should be. Professional essay writers
often shape the size of it with the paper's total length in mind. For instance, if you wonder how to make
introduction in essay with five paragraphs, keep your introductory sentence brief and fit it inside a single section.
But, if you're writing a longer paper, let's say one that's 40 pages, your introduction could need many paragraphs or
even be pages long.

Although there are no specific requirements, seasoned writers advise that your introduction paragraph should
account for 8% to 9% of your essay's overall word length.

What Makes a Good Introduction

All of the following criteria should be fulfilled by a strong opening sentence:

• Start your introduction on an essay with a catchy sentence that draws the reader in.

• It needs to include baseline information about your subject.

• This should give readers a sense of the main argument(s) that your essay will address.

• It must include all necessary information on the setting, locations, and chronological events.

• By the end of your introduction, make a precise remark that serves as your essay's thesis.

What Are the 3 Parts of an Introduction Paragraph

So, what should be in a introduction paragraph? The introduction format essay has three sections: a hook,
connections, and a thesis statement. Let's examine each component in more depth.

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Part 1: Essay Hook

A hook is among the most effective parts of an introduction paragraph to start an essay. A strong hook will always
engage the reader in only one sentence. In other words, it is a selling point.

Let's now address the query, 'how to make an essay introduction hook interesting?'. Well, to create a powerful
hook, you can employ a variety of techniques:

• A shocking fact

• An anecdote

• A question

• A short summary

• A quote

Here is what to avoid when using a hook:

• Cliches

• Dictionary definitions

• Generalizations

• Sweeping statements that include words like 'everywhere,' 'always,' etc.

Once you've established a strong hook, you should give a general outline of your major point and some
background information on the subject of your paper. If you're unsure how to write an introduction opening, the
ideal approach is to describe your issue briefly before directing readers to particular areas. Simply put, you need to
give some context before gradually getting more specific with your opinions.

The 5 Types of Hooks for Writing

Apart from the strategies mentioned above, there are even more types of hooks that can be used:

1. A Common Misconception — a good trick, to begin with, to claim that something your readers
believe in is false.

Example: 'Although many falsely believe that people working from home are less productive – employees who get
such work-life benefits generally work harder.'

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 2. Statistics — Statistical facts may provide a great hook for argumentative essays and serious subjects
focusing on statistics.

Example: 'A recent study showed that people who are satisfied with their work-life balance work 21% harder and
are 33% more likely to stay at the same company.'

3. Personal Story — sometimes, personal stories can be an appropriate hook, but only if they fit into a
few brief sentences (for example, in narrative essays).

Example: 'When I had my first work-from-home experience, I suddenly realized the importance of having a good
work-life balance; I saw plenty of the benefits it can provide.'

4. Scenes — this type of hook requires making the readers imagine the things you are writing about. It is
most suitable when used in descriptive and narrative essays.

Example: 'Imagine you could have as much free time as you wish by working or studying from home—and spend
more time with your loved ones.'

5. Thesis Statement — when unsure how to do an essay introduction, some writers start directly with
their thesis statement. The main trick here is that there is no trick.

Example: 'I strongly believe there is a direct correlation between a healthy work-life balance and productivity in
school or at work.'

Part 2: Connections

Give readers a clearer sense of what you will discuss throughout your article once you have given a hook and
relevant background information about your essay topic. Briefly mentioning your main points in the same
sequence in which you will address them in your body paragraphs can help your readers progressively arrive at
your thesis statement.

In this section of your introduction, you should primarily address the following questions:

• Who?

• What?

• Where?

• When?

• How?

• Why?
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You may make sure that you are giving your readers all the information they need to understand the subject of
your essay by responding to each of these questions in two to three lines. Be careful to make these statements brief
and to the point, though.

Your main goal is gradually moving from general to specific facts about your subject or thesis statement. Visualize
your introduction as an upside-down triangle to simplify the essay writing process. The attention-grabbing element
is at the top of this triangle, followed by a more detailed description of the subject and concluding with a highly
precise claim. Here is some quick advice on how to use the 'upside-down triangle' structure to compose an essay
introduction:

• Ensure that each subsequent line in your introduction is more focused and precise. This simple method will
help you progressively introduce the main material of your piece to your audience.

• Consider that you are writing a paper on the value of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. In this
situation, you may start with a query like, 'Have you ever considered how a healthy work-life balance can
affect other areas of your life?' or a similar hook. Next, you could proceed by giving broad factual
information. Finally, you could focus your topic on fitting your thesis statement.

Part 3: The Thesis Statement

If you're unsure of the ideal method to create an introduction, you should be particularly attentive to how you
phrase your thesis statement.

The thesis of your work is, without a doubt, the most crucial section. Given that the thesis statement of your piece
serves as the foundation for the entire essay, it must be presented in the introduction. A thesis statement provides
readers with a brief summary of the article's key point. Your main assertion is what you'll be defending or
disputing in the body of your essay. An effective thesis statement is often one sentence long, accurate, exact,
unambiguous, and focused. Your thesis should often be provided at the end of your introduction.

Here is an example thesis statement for an essay about the value of a proper work-life balance to help you gain a
better understanding of what a good thesis should be:

Thesis Statement Example: 'Creating flexible and pleasant work schedules for employees can help them have a
better work-life balance while also increasing overall performance.'

Catchy Introductions for Different Essay Types

Although opening paragraphs typically have a fixed form, their language may vary. In terms of academic essays,
students are often expected to produce four primary intro to essay examples. They include articles that are
analytical, argumentative, personal, and narrative. It is assumed that different information should appear in these

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beginning paragraphs since the goals of each sort of essay change. A thorough overview of the various paper kinds
is provided below, along with some good essay introduction samples from our argumentative essay writers:

Narrative Introduction

• The writer of a narrative essay must convey a story in this style of writing. Such essays communicate a
story, which distinguishes them from other essay types in a big way.

• Such a paper's hook will often be an enticing glimpse into a specific scene that only loosely links to the
thesis statement. Additionally, when writing such an essay, a writer should ensure that every claim included
in the introduction relates to some important moments that have significantly impacted the story's outcome.

• The thesis in narrative writing is usually the theme or main lesson learned from the story.

Narrative introduction example: 'My phone rang, and my mother told me that Dad had suffered a heart attack. I
suddenly experienced a sense of being lifted out from under me by this immaculately carpeted flooring. After
making it through, Dad left me with a sizable collection of lessons. Here are three principles that I know dad
would have wanted me to uphold...'

Proceed to Order

Analytical Introduction

• Analytical essay introduction format is another popular type. In contrast to a narrative paper, an analytical
paper seeks to explore an idea and educate the reader about a topic.

• Three important facts that support the analytical premise should be included in the middle section of the
introduction.

• A well-researched and well-thought-out claim will form a wonderful thesis because the main goal of this
paper is to study the topic and educate readers. It's crucial to remember that this assertion shouldn't initially
have any real weight. Although it will still be theoretical, it has to be articulated practically.

Analytical introduction example:“... Hence even though presidents, CEOs, and generals still have their daily
schedules full of economic crises and military conflicts, on the cosmic scale of history humankind can lift its eyes
up and start looking towards new horizons. If we bring famine, plague, and war under control, what will replace
them at the top of the human agenda? Like firefighters in a world without fire, so humankind in the twenty-first
century needs to ask itself an unprecedented question: what are we going to do with ourselves? What will demand
our attention and ingenuity in a healthy, prosperous, and harmonious world? In a healthy, prosperous, and
harmonious world, what will demand our attention and ingenuity? This question becomes doubly urgent given the
immense new powers that biotechnology and information technology are providing us with. What will we do with
all that power? ...” Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, Yuval Noah Harari

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Persuasive Introduction

• To persuade readers of anything is the sole goal of persuasive essay writing. This may be accomplished
using persuasive strategies like ethos, pathos, and logos.

• A hook statement for this paper may be anything from a fascinating fact to even comedy. You can use
whatever technique you choose. The most crucial advice is to ensure your hook is in line with your thesis
and that it can bolster further justifications.

• Generally speaking, a persuasive essay must include three supporting facts. Hence, to gradually lead
readers to the major topic of your paper, add a quick summary of your three arguments in your
introduction.

• Last, the thesis statement should be the main claim you will be disputing in this paper. It should be a brief,
carefully thought-out, and confident statement of your essay's major argument.

Persuasive introduction example: 'Recycling waste helps to protect the climate. Besides cleaning the environment,
it uses waste materials to create valuable items. Recycling initiatives must be running all around the world. ...'

Personal Introduction

• The final sort of academic writing that students frequently encounter is a personal essay. In principle, this
essay style is creative nonfiction and requires the author to reflect on personal experiences. The goals of
such a paper may be to convey a story, discuss the lessons that certain incidents have taught you, etc. This
type of writing is unique since it is the most personal.

• Whatever topic you choose can serve as the hook for such an essay. A pertinent remark, query, joke, or fact
about the primary plot or anything else will be acceptable. The backdrop of your narrative should then be
briefly explained after that. Lastly, a thesis statement can describe the impact of particular experiences on
you and what you learned.

Personal introduction example: 'My parents always pushed me to excel in school and pursue new interests like
playing the saxophone and other instruments. I felt obligated to lead my life in a way that met their standards.
Success was always expected on the route they had set out for me. Yet eight years after my parents' separation, this
course was diverted when my dad relocated to California...'

Tips for Writing a Winning Introduction Paragraph

You now understand how to do introductions and have specific intro example for essays to help you get going.
Let's quickly examine what you should and shouldn't do during the writing process.

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Dos

• Keep the assignment's purpose in mind when you write your introduction, and ensure it complies with your
instructor's requirements.

• Use a compelling and relevant hook to grab the reader's attention immediately.

• Make sure your readers understand your perspective to make it apparent.

• If necessary, establish key terms related to your subject.

• Show off your expertise on the subject.

• Provide a symbolic road map to help readers understand what you discuss throughout the post.

• Be brief; it's recommended that your introduction make up no more than 8 to 9 percent of the entire text
(for example, 200 words for a 2500-word essay).

• Construct a strong thesis statement.

• Create some intrigue.

• Make sure there is a clear and smooth transition from your introduction to the body of your piece.

Don'ts

• Provide too much background information.

• Use sentences that are off-topic or unnecessary.

• Make your opening paragraph excessively long.

• Keep some information a secret and reveal it later in conclusion.

• Employ overused phrases or generalizations.

• Using quotation marks excessively

Thesis statement (crafting a clear and focused central idea)

Have you ever known a person who was not very good at telling stories? You probably had trouble following
his train of thought as he jumped around from point to point, either being too brief in places that needed further
explanation or providing too many details on a meaningless element. Maybe he told the end of the story first,
46
then moved to the beginning, and later added details to the middle. His ideas were probably scattered, and the
story did not flow very well. When the story was over, you probably had many questions.

Just as a personal anecdote can be a disorganized mess, an essay can fall into the same trap of being out of
order and confusing. That is why writers need a thesis statement to provide a specific focus for their essay and
to organize what they are about to discuss in the body.

Just like a topic sentence summarizes a single paragraph, the thesis statement summarizes an entire essay. It
tells the reader the point you want to make in your essay, while the essay itself supports that point. It is like a
signpost that signals the essay’s destination. You should form your thesis statement before you begin to
organize an essay, but you may find that it needs revision as the essay develops.

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay. It usually comes near the
end of your introduction.

Your thesis will look a bit different depending on the type of essay you’re writing. But the thesis statement
should always clearly state the main idea you want to get across. Everything else in your essay should relate
back to this idea.

Example: Thesis statement

Despite Oscar Wilde’s Aestheticist claims that art needs no justification or purpose, his work advocates Irish
nationalism, women’s suffrage, and socialism.

You can write your thesis statement by following four simple steps:

1. Start with a question

2. Write your initial answer
3. Develop your answer
4. Refine your thesis statement
5. Table of contents

What is a thesis statement?

A thesis statement summarizes the central points of your essay. It is a signpost telling the reader what
the essay will argue and why.

The best thesis statements are:

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Concise: A good thesis statement is short and sweet—don’t use more words than necessary. State your
point clearly and directly in one or two sentences.

Contentious: Your thesis shouldn’t be a simple statement of fact that everyone already knows. A good
thesis statement is a claim that requires further evidence or analysis to back it up.

Coherent: Everything mentioned in your thesis statement must be supported and explained in the rest
of your paper.

Elements of a Thesis Statement

For every essay you write, you must focus on a central idea. This idea stems from a topic you have
chosen or been assigned or from a question your teacher has asked. It is not enough merely to discuss a
general topic or simply answer a question with a yes or no. You have to form a specific opinion, and
then articulate that into a controlling idea—the main idea upon which you build your thesis.

Remember that a thesis is not the topic itself, but rather your interpretation of the question or subject.
For whatever topic your professor gives you, you must ask yourself, “What do I want to say about it?”
Asking and then answering this question is vital to forming a thesis that is precise, forceful and
confident.

A thesis is one sentence long and appears toward the end of your introduction. It is specific and focuses
on one to three points of a single idea—points that are able to be demonstrated in the body. It forecasts
the content of the essay and suggests how you will organize your information. Remember that a thesis
statement does not summarize an issue but rather dissects it.

A Strong Thesis Statement

A strong thesis statement contains the following qualities.

Specificity. A thesis statement must concentrate on a specific area of a general topic. As you may
recall, the creation of a thesis statement begins when you choose a broad subject and then narrow down
its parts until you pinpoint a specific aspect of that topic. For example, health care is a broad topic, but a
proper thesis statement would focus on a specific area of that topic, such as options for individuals
without health care coverage.

Precision. A strong thesis statement must be precise enough to allow for a coherent argument and to
remain focused on the topic. If the specific topic is options for individuals without health care coverage,

48
 then your precise thesis statement must make an exact claim about it, such as that limited options exist
for those who are uninsured by their employers. You must further pinpoint what you are going to
discuss regarding these limited effects, such as whom they affect and what the cause is.

Ability to be argued. A thesis statement must present a relevant and specific argument. A factual
statement often is not considered arguable. Be sure your thesis statement contains a point of view that
can be supported with evidence.

Ability to be demonstrated. For any claim you make in your thesis, you must be able to provide
reasons and examples for your opinion. You can rely on personal observations in order to do this, or you
can consult outside sources to demonstrate that what you assert is valid. A worthy argument is backed
by examples and details.

Forcefulness. A thesis statement that is forceful shows readers that you are, in fact, making an
argument. The tone is assertive and takes a stance that others might oppose.

Confidence. In addition to using force in your thesis statement, you must also use confidence in your
claim. Phrases such as I feel or I believe actually weaken the readers’ sense of your confidence because
these phrases imply that you are the only person who feels the way you do. In other words, your stance
has insufficient backing. Taking an authoritative stance on the matter persuades your readers to have
faith in your argument and open their minds to what you have to say.

Tip

Even in a personal essay that allows the use of first person, your thesis should not contain phrases such
as in my opinion or I believe. These statements reduce your credibility and weaken your argument.
Your opinion is more convincing when you use a firm attitude.

Exercise 1

On a separate sheet of paper, write a thesis statement for each of the following topics. Remember to
make each statement specific, precise, demonstrable, forceful and confident.

Topics

• Texting while driving

• The legal drinking age in the United States

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• Steroid use among professional athletes

• Abortion

• Racism

Examples of Appropriate Thesis Statements

Each of the following thesis statements meets several of the following requirements:

• Specificity

• Precision

• Ability to be argued

• Ability to be demonstrated

• Forcefulness

• Confidence

1. The societal and personal struggles of Troy Maxon in the play Fences symbolize the challenge of black
males who lived through segregation and integration in the United States.

2. Closing all American borders for a period of five years is one solution that will tackle illegal
immigration.

3. Shakespeare’s use of dramatic irony in Romeo and Juliet spoils the outcome for the audience and
weakens the plot.

4. J. D. Salinger’s character in Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, is a confused rebel who voices his
disgust with phonies, yet in an effort to protect himself, he acts like a phony on many occasions.

5. Compared to an absolute divorce, no-fault divorce is less expensive, promotes fairer settlements, and
reflects a more realistic view of the causes for marital breakdown.

6. Exposing children from an early age to the dangers of drug abuse is a sure method of preventing future
drug addicts.

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7. In today’s crumbling job market, a high school diploma is not significant enough education to land a
stable, lucrative job.

Tip

You can find thesis statements in many places, such as in the news; in the opinions of friends,
coworkers or teachers; and even in songs you hear on the radio. Become aware of thesis statements in
everyday life by paying attention to people’s opinions and their reasons for those opinions. Pay
attention to your own everyday thesis statements as well, as these can become material for future
essays.

Now that you have read about the contents of a good thesis statement and have seen examples, take a
look at the pitfalls to avoid when composing your own thesis:

• A thesis is weak when it is simply a declaration of your subject or a description of what you will discuss
in your essay.

Weak thesis statement: My paper will explain why imagination is more important than knowledge.

• A thesis is weak when it makes an unreasonable or outrageous claim or insults the opposing side.

Weak thesis statement: Religious radicals across America are trying to legislate their Puritanical
beliefs by banning required high school books.

• A thesis is weak when it contains an obvious fact or something that no one can disagree with or
provides a dead end.

Weak thesis statement: Advertising companies use sex to sell their products.

• A thesis is weak when the statement is too broad.

Weak thesis statement: The life of Abraham Lincoln was long and challenging.

Exercise 2

Read the following thesis statements. On a separate piece of paper, identify each as weak or strong. For
those that are weak, list the reasons why. Then revise the weak statements so that they conform to the
requirements of a strong thesis.

1. The subject of this paper is my experience with ferrets as pets.

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 2. The government must expand its funding for research on renewable energy resources in order to prepare
for the impending end of oil.

3. Edgar Allan Poe was a poet who lived in Baltimore during the nineteenth century.

4. In this essay, I will give you lots of reasons why slot machines should not be legalized in Baltimore.

5. Despite his promises during his campaign, President Kennedy took few executive measures to support
civil rights legislation.

6. Because many children’s toys have potential safety hazards that could lead to injury, it is clear that not
all children’s toys are safe.

7. My experience with young children has taught me that I want to be a disciplinary parent because I
believe that a child without discipline can be a parent’s worst nightmare.

Thesis Statement Revision

Your thesis will probably change as you write, so you will need to modify it to reflect exactly what you
have discussed in your essay. Remember that your thesis statement begins as a working thesis
statement, an indefinite statement that you make about your topic early in the writing process for the
purpose of planning and guiding your writing.

Working thesis statements often become stronger as you gather information and form new opinions and
reasons for those opinions. Revision helps you strengthen your thesis so that it matches what you have
expressed in the body of the paper.

Tip

The best way to revise your thesis statement is to ask questions about it and then examine the answers to
those questions. By challenging your own ideas and forming definite reasons for those ideas, you grow
closer to a more precise point of view, which you can then incorporate into your thesis statement.

Ways to Revise Your Thesis

You can cut down on irrelevant aspects and revise your thesis by taking the following steps:

1. Pinpoint and replace all nonspecific words, such as people, everything, society, or life, with more
precise words in order to reduce any vagueness.

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 Working thesis: Young people have to work hard to succeed in life.

Revised thesis: Recent college graduates must have discipline and persistence in order to find and
maintain a stable job in which they can use and be appreciated for their talents.

The revised thesis makes a more specific statement about success and what it means to work hard. The
original includes too broad a range of people and does not define exactly what success entails. By
replacing those general words like people and work hard, the writer can better focus his or her research
and gain more direction in his or her writing.

2. Clarify ideas that need explanation by asking yourself questions that narrow your thesis.

Working thesis: The welfare system is a joke.

Revised thesis: The welfare system keeps a socioeconomic class from gaining employment by alluring
members of that class with unearned income, instead of programs to improve their education and skill
sets.

A joke means many things to many people. Readers bring all sorts of backgrounds and perspectives to
the reading process and would need clarification for a word so vague. This expression may also be too
informal for the selected audience. By asking questions, the writer can devise a more precise and
appropriate explanation for the joke. The writer should ask himself or herself questions similar to the
5WH questions. By incorporating the answers to these questions into a thesis statement, the writer more
accurately defines his or her stance, which will better guide the writing of the essay.

3. Replace any linking verbs with action verbs. Linking verbs are forms of the verb to be, a verb that
simply states that a situation exists.

Working thesis: Kansas City schoolteachers are not paid enough.

Revised thesis: The Kansas City legislature cannot afford to pay its educators, resulting in job cuts and
resignations in a district that sorely needs highly qualified and dedicated teachers.

The linking verb in this working thesis statement is the word are. Linking verbs often make thesis
statements weak because they do not express action. Rather, they connect words and phrases to the
second half of the sentence. Readers might wonder, “Why are they not paid enough?” But this statement
does not compel them to ask many more questions. The writer should ask himself or herself questions in

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 order to replace the linking verb with an action verb, thus forming a stronger thesis statement, one that
takes a more definitive stance on the issue:

• Who is not paying the teachers enough?

• What is considered “enough”?

• What is the problem?

• What are the results

4. Omit any general claims that are hard to support.

Working thesis: Today’s teenage girls are too sexualized.

Revised thesis: Teenage girls who are captivated by the sexual images on MTV are conditioned to
believe that a woman’s worth depends on her sensuality, a feeling that harms their self-esteem and
behavior.

It is true that some young women in today’s society are more sexualized than in the past, but that is not
true for all girls. Many girls have strict parents, dress appropriately, and do not engage in sexual activity
while in middle school and high school. The writer of this thesis should ask the following questions:

• Which teenage girls?

• What constitutes “too” sexualized?

• Why are they behaving that way?

• Where does this behavior show up?

• What are the repercussions?

Body Paragraphs (topic sentences, supporting evidence, and transitional devices)

What is a Body Paragraph?

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 A body paragraph is a crucial part of most standard essays or papers. The role of the body paragraph is
to provide key information in an essay. Most essays have multiple body paragraphs, which make up the
bulk of an essay. To further understand the body paragraph, review the basic format of an essay.

Essay Format

Generally, an essay or paper consists of three major components:

1. Introductory paragraph: States the purpose of the essay, including the thesis, which reveals the
essay's main purpose or point.

2. Body paragraphs (one or more): Support the thesis that was stated in the introduction by developing
the theme and adding details, proof, support, arguments, or information as appropriate to the essay's
purpose. Body paragraphs should be ordered in a logical fashion.

3. Conclusion paragraph: Summarizes the main points and restates the thesis in a memorable fashion.

Body paragraphs usually come before the conclusion in

essays.

How to Write a Body Paragraph

Every writer needs to know how to write a body paragraph. The three basic steps are:

1. Write a topic sentence.

2. Provide evidence.

3. Write a concluding sentence.

These steps can be remembered by the mnemonic TEC (topic/evidence/conclusion)

Writing a Topic Sentence

A body paragraph topic sentence introduces the main idea of the paragraph and tells the reader what to
expect. For example, if an essay is laying out an argument, the topic sentence of the body paragraph
should reveal which point in the argument will be discussed in that paragraph.

• Weak topic sentence: One reason to visit Montana is its beauty.

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 • Stronger topic sentence: Visit Montana to experience its unsurpassed beauty.

Be sure your topic sentences are both informative and precise. Present the paragraph's main idea and set
the stage for the rest of the paragraph.

Providing Evidence

The middle section of a body paragraph consists of evidence or supporting details. If the topic sentence
is a claim, then the following sentences should provide evidence of that claim. Present your evidence in
a logical sequence. Transition words for body paragraphs can help to clarify the flow of ideas. Some
transition words include:

because although yet obviously for instance, for example therefore then

later soon in fact consequently in addition first conversely meanwhile

in this case to demonstrate besides furthermore soon next by comparison in contrast

If a body paragraph is part of a narrative or opinion essay, supporting details should be used to explain
and strengthen the paragraph's claim. For example, if the topic sentence is ''Visit Montana to experience
its unsurpassed beauty,'' then the supporting details should describe some beautiful parts of Montana.

Writing a Concluding Sentence

Knowing how to end a body paragraph is crucial. The concluding sentence needs to summarize the main
point of the paragraph without repeating the topic sentence verbatim. It can emphasize the importance
of the supporting details used or comment on connections between the details. The concluding sentence
should also provide a bridge to the following paragraph.

Here is a possible concluding sentence for the Montana paragraph:

• While you are enjoying Montana's natural beauty, don't be surprised if your hunger leads you to
investigate dining options.

This sentence reiterates the paragraph's theme in different wording, then hints at the next body
paragraph.

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Once you have completed your formal sentence outline, you will need to expand on that framework to
create your expository essay. As much as you may be wanting to just get your ideas down and submit
your paper, in order to make sure you are submitting a well-developed and strong essay, you need to
make sure you are providing strong supporting ideas, developing paragraphs so they will fit together
logically to best convince your reader, creating a strong introduction and conclusion, and revising your
paper to catch issues you may have missed or not been aware of when writing. In this chapter, we will
look at putting the pieces together to form a complete, revised, and supported expository essay, which
you will need to submit next week.

If your thesis gives the reader a road map to your essay, then body paragraphs should closely follow that
map. The reader should be able to predict what follows your introductory paragraph by simply reading
the thesis statement.

The body paragraphs present the evidence you have gathered to confirm your thesis. Before you begin
to support your thesis in the body, you must find information from a variety of sources that support and
give credit to what you are trying to prove.

Select Primary Support for Your Thesis

Without primary support, your argument is not likely to be convincing. Primary support can be
described as the major points you choose to expand on your thesis. It is the most important information
you select to argue for your point of view. Each point you choose will be incorporated into the topic
sentence for each body paragraph you write. Your primary supporting points are further supported by
supporting details within the paragraphs.

Tip: Remember that a worthy argument is backed by examples. In order to construct a valid argument,
good writers conduct a lot of background research and take careful notes. They also talk to people
knowledgeable about a topic in order to understand its implications before writing about it.

Identify the Characteristics of Good Primary Support

In order to fulfill the requirements of good primary support, the information you choose must meet the
following standards:

Be specific. The main points you make about your thesis and the examples you use to expand on those
points need to be specific. Use specific examples to provide the evidence and to build upon your general
ideas. These types of examples give your reader something narrow to focus on, and if used properly,

57
they leave little doubt about your claim. General examples, while they convey the necessary
information, are not nearly as compelling or useful in writing because they are too obvious and typical.

Be relevant to the thesis. Primary support is considered strong when it relates directly to the thesis.
Primary support should show, explain, or prove your main argument without delving into irrelevant
details. When faced with a lot of information that could be used to prove your thesis, you may think you
need to include it all in your body paragraphs. But effective writers resist the temptation to lose focus.
Choose your examples wisely by making sure they directly connect to your thesis.

Be detailed. Remember that your thesis, while specific, should not be very detailed. The body
paragraphs are where you develop the discussion that a thorough essay requires. Using detailed support
shows readers that you have considered all the facts and chosen only the most precise details to enhance
your point of view.

Prewrite to Identify Primary Supporting Points for a Thesis Statement

Recall that when you prewrite you essentially make a list of examples or reasons why you support your
stance. Stemming from each point, you further provide details to support those reasons. After
prewriting, you are then able to look back at the information and choose the most compelling pieces you
will use in your body paragraphs.

Select the Most Effective Primary Supporting Points for a Thesis Statement

After you have prewritten about your working thesis statement, you may have generated a lot of
information, which may be edited out later. Remember that your primary support must be relevant to
your thesis. Remind yourself of your main argument, and delete any ideas that do not directly relate to
it. Omitting unrelated ideas ensures that you will use only the most convincing information in your body
paragraphs. Choose at least three of the most compelling points. These will serve as the topic sentences
for your body paragraphs.

When you support your thesis, you are revealing evidence. Evidence includes anything that can help
support your stance. The following are the kinds of evidence you will encounter as you conduct your
research:

Facts: Facts are the best kind of evidence to use because they often cannot be disputed. They can
support your stance by providing background information on or a solid foundation for your point of
view. However, some facts may still need explanation. For example, the sentence “The most populated

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province in Canada is Ontario” is a pure fact, but it may require some explanation to make it relevant to
your specific argument.

Judgments: Judgments are conclusions drawn from the given facts. Judgments are more credible than
opinions because they are founded upon careful reasoning and examination of a topic.

Testimony: Testimony consists of direct quotations from either an eyewitness or an expert witness. An
eyewitness is someone who has direct experience with a subject; the witness adds authenticity to an
argument based on facts. An expert witness is a person who has extensive experience with a topic. This
person studies the facts and provides commentary based on either facts or judgments, or both. An expert
witness adds authority and credibility to an argument.

Personal observation: Personal observation is similar to testimony, but personal observation consists
of your testimony. It reflects what you know to be true because you have experiences and have formed
either opinions or judgments about them. For instance, if you are one of five children and your thesis
states that being part of a large family is beneficial to a child’s social development, you could use your
own experience to support your thesis.

Choose Supporting Topic Sentences

Each body paragraph contains a topic sentence that states one aspect of your thesis and then expands
upon it. Like the thesis statement, each topic sentence should be specific and supported by concrete
details, facts, or explanations.

Each body paragraph should comprise the following elements.

topic sentence + supporting details (examples, reasons, or arguments)

Topic sentences indicate the location and main points of the basic arguments of your essay. These
sentences are vital to writing your body paragraphs because they always refer back to and support your
thesis statement. Topic sentences are linked to the ideas you have introduced in your thesis, thus
reminding readers what your essay is about. A paragraph without a clearly identified topic sentence may
be unclear and scattered, just like an essay without a thesis statement.

Tip: Unless your teacher instructs otherwise, you should include at least three body paragraphs in your
essay. A five-paragraph/section essay, including the introduction and conclusion, is commonly the
standard for exams and essay assignments.

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 Consider the following thesis statement:

Another J. D. Salinger relied primarily on his personal life and belief system as the foundation for the
themes in the majority of his works.

The following topic sentence is a primary support point for the thesis. The topic sentence states exactly
what the controlling idea of the paragraph is. Later, you will see the writer immediately provide support
for the sentence.

Salinger, a World War II veteran, suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder, a disorder that influenced
themes in many of his works,

Self-Practice Exercise

Draft supporting detail sentences for each primary support sentence

After deciding which primary support points you will use as your topic sentences, you must add details
to clarify and demonstrate each of those points. These supporting details provide examples, facts, or
evidence that support the topic sentence.

The writer drafts possible supporting detail sentences for each primary support sentence based on the
thesis statement:

Thesis statement: Unleashed dogs on city streets are a dangerous nuisance.

Supporting point 1: Dogs can scare cyclists and pedestrians.

Supporting details:

1. Cyclists are forced to zigzag on the road.

2. School children panic and turn wildly on their bikes.

3. People who are walking at night freeze in fear.

Supporting point 2:

Loose dogs are traffic hazards.

Supporting details:

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 1. Dogs in the street make people swerve their cars.

2. To avoid dogs, drivers run into other cars or pedestrians.

3. Children coaxing dogs across busy streets create danger.

Supporting point 3: Unleashed dogs damage gardens.

Supporting details:

1. They step on flowers and vegetables.

2. They destroy hedges by urinating on them.

3. They mess up lawns by digging holes.

The following paragraph contains supporting detail sentences for the primary support sentence (the topic
sentence), which is underlined.

Salinger, a World War II veteran, suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder, a disorder that influenced
the themes in many of his works. He did not hide his mental anguish over the horrors of war and once
told his daughter, “You never really get the smell of burning flesh out of your nose, no matter how long
you live.” His short story “A Perfect Day for a Bananafish” details a day in the life of a WWII veteran
who was recently released from an army hospital for psychiatric problems. The man acts questionably
with a little girl he meets on the beach before he returns to his hotel room and commits suicide. Another
short story, “For Esmé – with Love and Squalor,” is narrated by a traumatized soldier who sparks an
unusual relationship with a young girl he meets before he departs to partake in D-Day. Finally, in
Salinger’s only novel, The Catcher in the Rye, he continues with the theme of posttraumatic stress,
though not directly related to war. From a rest home for the mentally ill, sixteen-year-old Holden
Caulfield narrates the story of his nervous breakdown following the death of his younger brother.

Self-Practice Exercise

Tip: You have the option of writing your topic sentences in one of three ways. You can state it at the
beginning of the body paragraph, or at the end of the paragraph, or you do not have to write it at all.
One that is not written at all is called an implied topic sentence. An implied topic sentence lets readers
form the main idea for themselves. For beginning writers, it is best to not use implied topic sentences
because it makes it harder to focus your writing. Your instructor may also want to clearly identify the
sentences that support your thesis.
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 Tip: Print out the first draft of your essay and use a highlighter to mark your topic sentences in the body
paragraphs. Make sure they are clearly stated and accurately present your paragraphs, as well as
accurately reflect your thesis. If your topic sentence contains information that does not exist in the rest
of the paragraph, rewrite it to more accurately match the rest of the paragraph.

Key Takeaways

• Your body paragraphs should closely follow the path set forth by your thesis statement.

• Strong body paragraphs contain evidence that supports your thesis.

• Primary support comprises the most important points you use to support your thesis.

• Strong primary support is specific, detailed, and relevant to the thesis.

• Prewriting helps you determine your most compelling primary support.

• Evidence includes facts, judgments, testimony, and personal observation.

• Reliable sources may include newspapers, magazines, academic journals, books, encyclopedias, and
firsthand testimony.

• A topic sentence presents one point of your thesis statement while the information in the rest of the
paragraph supports that point.

• A body paragraph comprises a topic sentence plus supporting details.

Conclusion (types of concluding paragraphs and leaving an impact)

Conclusions are often considered to be the most difficult part of an essay to write. However, they’re also
one of the most important aspects of a paper, as they provide clarity and insight into the topic.

How to write a conclusion

An effective conclusion is created by following these steps:

1. Restate the thesis

An effective conclusion brings the reader back to the main point, reminding the reader of the purpose of
the essay. However, avoid repeating the thesis verbatim. Paraphrase your argument slightly while still
preserving the primary point.
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2. Reiterate supporting points

Aside from restating your thesis, you should also reiterate the points that you made to support it
throughout the paper. But instead of simply repeating the paper's arguments, summarize the ideas.

3. Make a connection between opening and closing statements

It's often effective to return to the introduction's themes, giving the reader a strong sense of conclusion.
You can accomplish this by using similar concepts, returning to an original scenario or by including the
same imagery.

4. Provide some insight

Your conclusion should leave the reader with a solution, an insight, questions for further study or a call to
action. What are the implications of your argument? Why should anyone care? You'll want to answer these
types of questions here and leave your audience with something to think about.

Types of conclusion

Though different sources cite various types of conclusions, all of them serve one of these three primary
functions:

• Summarization: This style is often used when writing about technical subjects with a more clinical
tone, such as surveys, definitions and reports. Because it paraphrases the major ideas of the essay, it is
most often used in longer pieces where readers will need a reminder of the essay's main points. As
such, it should avoid reflexive references or subjective ideas (like "in my opinion" or "I feel").

• Editorialization: Editorialization is primarily used in essays where there is a controversial topic, a

personal connection or an appeal to persuade the reader. This style incorporates the writer's
commentary about the subject matter and often expresses their personal investment in the issue being
discussed. This type of conclusion will use an anecdote and a conversational tone to draw attention to
concerns, interpretations, personal beliefs, politics or feelings.

• Externalization: Frequently used in essays that approach a particular issue that is a part of a much
more complex subject, an externalized conclusion provides a transition into a related but separate topic
that leads readers to further develop the discussion. In fact, it's often thought of as a new introduction
that includes another thesis entirely, allowing for development into another potential essay.

What to avoid
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Here are a few things to avoid when writing your conclusion:

• Avoid introducing the thesis, new ideas or evidence for the first time. If new points are made in your
conclusion, take them out and try to incorporate them into one of the body paragraphs in your essay.

• Make sure you are using a tone that is consistent with the rest of the paper.

• Beginning the conclusion with phrases like "in closing," "in summary" or "in conclusion" is somewhat
redundant and unnecessary, so avoid using them.

What to include in a conclusion

A conclusion's job is to reiterate the arguments and thesis of the essay. In other words, it provides a sense
of closure and suggests that you have accomplished the goal of the piece. Here are some key aspects to
include in your conclusion to ensure its effectiveness:

• End the essay on a positive note

• Communicate the importance of your ideas and the subject matter

• Provide the reader with a sense of closure

• Reiterate and summarize your main points

• Rephrase and then restate your thesis statement

Conclusion outline

• Topic sentence

o This is where you repeat your thesis statement. Make sure it is rephrased to avoid redundancy.

• Supporting sentences

o Paraphrase the major points and arguments that you made throughout the paper.

o Explain the significance of the ideas and how they all connect.

• Closing sentence

o This is where you connect back to a point, image or anecdote that was made in the introductory
paragraph.
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 o It is your final word on the subject and gives the reader a sense of closure.

Good example

Here is an example of an effective conclusion paragraph:

"Though there has been much debate on the subject, it is clear that democratic leadership is the best form
of management for the modern workplace. This is made evident by the fact that over the course of the last
century, employees have become increasingly more educated and competent. Additionally, there is a
growing emphasis on independence, creativity and free thought, meaning that team members are realizing
that they have something worthwhile to contribute that could provide a meaningful perspective. It is
because of these reasons that democratic leadership, where input and conflicting opinions are welcome,
should be adopted in a majority of organizations."

Poor example

This is an example of an ineffective conclusion:

"In conclusion, Abraham Lincoln was the best president because he was really honest and abolished
slavery."

Here are some of the ways that this conclusion is lacking:

• This example is too short. An effective conclusion will be a full paragraph that details the argument's
supporting points.

• Though two supporting points are given, they are vague. An effective conclusion should cite concrete
details.

• Beginning a conclusion with a phrase like "in conclusion" is superfluous.

Ensuring cohesion and coherence (creating seamless connections between paragraphs)

Cohesion and Coherence

With a key sentence established, the next task is to shape the body of your paragraph to be both cohesive and
coherent. As Williams and Bizup8 explain, cohesion is about the “sense of flow” (how each sentence fits with the
next), while coherence is about the “sense of the whole”. 9 Some students worry too much about “flow” and spend
a lot of time on sentence-level issues to promote it. We encourage you to focus on the underlying structure. For the
most part, a text reads smoothly when it conveys a thoughtful and well-organized argument or analysis. Focus first
and most on your ideas, on crafting an ambitious analysis. The most useful guides advise you to first focus on
getting your ideas on paper and then revising for organization and wordsmithing later, refining the analysis as you
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go. Therefore, we will discuss creating cohesion and coherent paragraphs here as if you already have some rough
text written and are in the process of smoothing out your prose to clarify your argument for both your reader and
yourself. Deal with cohesion and coherence during the editing--not the drafting--process.

Cohesion refers to the flow from sentence to sentence. For example, compare these passages about how cliques
form:

Version A (Which We Rewrote):

Granovetter begins by looking at balance theory. If an actor, A, is strongly tied to both B and C, it is
extremely likely that B and C are, sooner or later, going to be tied to each other, according to balance theory
(1363).10 Bridge ties between cliques are always weak ties, Granovetter argues (1364). Weak ties may not
necessarily be bridges, but Granovetter argues that bridges will be weak. If two actors share a strong tie, they
will draw in their other strong relations and will eventually form a clique. Only weak ties that do not have
the strength to draw together all the “friends of friends” can connect people in different cliques.

Version B (The Original By Giuffre):

Granovetter begins by looking at balance theory. In brief, balance theory tells us that if an actor, A, is
strongly tied to both B and C, it is extremely likely that B and C are, sooner or later, going to be tied to each
other (1363). Granovetter argues that because of this, bridge ties between cliques are always weak ties
(1364). Weak ties may not necessarily be bridges, but Granovetter argues that bridges will be weak. This is
because if two actors share a strong tie, they will draw in their other strong relations and will eventually
form a clique. The only way, therefore, that people in different cliques can be connected is through weak ties
that do not have the strength to draw together all the “friends of friends.” 11

Version A has the exact same information as version B, but it is harder to read because it is less cohesive. In
version B, however, each sentence begins with old information and bridges to new information. Here’s Version B
again with the relevant parts emboldened:

Granovetter begins by looking at balance theory. In brief, balance theory tells us that if an actor, A, is
strongly tied to both B and C, it is extremely likely that B and C are, sooner or later, going to be tied to each
other (1363). Granovetter argues that because of this, bridge ties between cliques are always weak
ties (1364). Weak ties may not necessarily be bridges, but Granovetter argues that bridges will be
weak. This is because if two actors share a strong tie, they will draw in their other strong relations and
will eventually form a clique. The only way, therefore, that people in different cliques can be connected is
through weak ties that do not have the strength to draw together all the “friends of friends.”

The first sentence establishes the key idea of balance theory. The next sentence begins with balance theory and
ends with social ties, which is the focus of the third sentence. The concept of weak ties connects the third and
fourth sentences and concept of cliques the fifth and sixth sentences. In Version A, in contrast, the first sentence
focuses on balance theory, but then the second sentence makes a new point about social ties before telling the
reader that the point comes from balance theory. The reader has to take in a lot of unfamiliar information before
learning how it fits in with familiar concepts. Version A is coherent, but the lack of cohesion makes it tedious to
read.

The lesson is this: if you or others perceive a passage you’ve written to be awkward or choppy, even though the
topic is consistent, try rewriting it to ensure that each sentence begins with a familiar term or concept. If your
points don’t naturally daisy-chain together like the examples given here, consider numbering them. For example,
you may choose to write, “Proponents of the legislation point to four major benefits.” Then you could discuss four
loosely related ideas without leaving your reader wondering how they relate.
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While cohesion is about the sense of flow; coherence is about the sense of the whole. For example, here’s a
passage that is cohesive (from sentence to sentence) but lacks coherence:

Your social networks and your location within them shape the kinds and amount of information that you
have access to. Information is distinct from data, in that information makes some kind of generalization
about a person, thing, or population. Defensible generalizations about society can be either probabilities (i.e.,
statistics) or patterns (often from qualitative analysis). Such probabilities and patterns can be temporal,
spatial, or simultaneous.

Each sentence in the above passage starts with a familiar idea and progresses to a new one, but it lacks
coherence—a sense of being about one thing. Good writers often write passages like that when they’re free-writing
or using the drafting stage to cast a wide net for ideas. A writer weighing the power and limits of social network
analysis may free-write something like that example and, from there, develop a more specific plan for
summarizing key insights about social networks and then discussing them with reference to the core tenets of
social science. As a draft, an incoherent paragraph often points to a productive line of reasoning; one just has to
continue thinking it through in order to identify a clear argumentative purpose for each paragraph. With its purpose
defined, each paragraph, then, becomes a lot easier to write. Coherent paragraphs aren’t just about style; they are a
sign of a thoughtful, well developed analysis.

The Wind-Up

Some guides advise you to end each paragraph with a specific concluding sentence, in a sense, to treat each
paragraph as a kind of mini-essay. But that’s not a widely held convention. Most well written academic pieces
don’t adhere to that structure. The last sentence of the paragraph should certainly be in your own words (as in, not
a quote), but as long as the paragraph succeeds in carrying out the task that it has been assigned by its key
sentence, you don’t need to worry about whether that last sentence has an air of conclusiveness. For example,
consider these paragraphs about the cold fusion controversy of the 1980s that appeared in a best-selling textbook12:

The experiment seemed straightforward and there were plenty of scientists willing to try it. Many did. It was
wonderful to have a simple laboratory experiment on fusion to try after the decades of embarrassing
attempts to control hot fusion. This effort required multi-billion dollar machines whose every success
seemed to be capped with an unanticipated failure. ‘Cold fusion’ seemed to provide, as Martin Fleischmann
said during the course of that famous Utah press conference, ‘another route’—the route of little science.

In that example, the first and last sentences in the paragraph are somewhat symmetrical: the authors introduce the
idea of accessible science, contrast it with big science, and bring it back to the phrase “little science.” Here’s an
example from the same chapter of the same book that does not have any particular symmetry13:

The struggle between proponents and critics in a scientific controversy is always a struggle for credibility.
When scientists make claims which are literally ‘incredible’, as in the cold fusion case, they face an uphill
struggle. The problem Pons and Fleischmann had to overcome was that they had credibility as
electrochemists but not as nuclear physicists. And it was nuclear physics where their work was likely to have
its main impact.

The last sentence of the paragraph doesn’t mirror the first, but the paragraph still works just fine. In fact, it serves
as a transition into what is likely the focus of the next paragraph. In general, every sentence of academic writing
should add some unique content. Don’t trouble yourself with having the last sentence in every paragraph serve as a
mini-conclusion. Instead, worry about developing each point sufficiently and making your logical sequence clear.

Creating Coherence with Transitions

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To ensure continuity within a paragraph a writer must use key terms and also make use of other techniques such as
transitions. Transitions ensure that the reader understands what each sentence says and indicate how the sentences
and paragraphs are logically related to each other and the “story.” Transitions should be placed at the beginning of
a sentence for strongest continuity, usually set off by a comma.

If transitions are missing, the logical relationship between sentences can be unclear and may even be nonexistent.
Don't assume your reader knows the relationship between the sentence. The importance of adding transitions is
shown in the following example:

To determine the effects of lack of lunch on children’s school performance, we examined grades and income
measures. We found they were negatively correlated. ______________, lack of food makes learning in school
more difficult.

The logical relationship between the first and second sentence of this example is not immediately obvious to the
reader. Possible transitions that one could fill in between these two sentences include the following:

• To determine the effects of lack of lunch on children’s school performance, we examined grades and
income measures. We found they were negatively correlated. In addition, lack of food makes learning in
school more difficult.

• To determine the effects of lack of lunch on children’s school performance, we examined grades and
income measures. We found they were negatively correlated. Therefore, lack of food makes learning in
school more difficult.

• To determine the effects of lack of lunch on children’s school performance, we examined grades and
income measures. We found they were negatively correlated. On the other hand, lack of food makes
learning in school more difficult.

When the transition is missing between these two sentences, most readers may guess that the intended relationship
is “in addition,” when it really is "therefore." But readers should not have to guess. Sometimes readers can come to
a very different conclusion than you intend!

Here is another example:

We determined sensitivity to allergens in children who have pets. We measured children’s histamine levels
and logged whether they had pets or not.

In the above example, the logical relationship between the first and second sentences is also not clear because a
transition is missing. Once the transition is added in, the relationship between the two sentences becomes obvious.

Revised example

We determined sensitivity to allergens in children who have pets. To do this, we measured children’s
histamine levels and logged whether they had pets or not.

Use transitions to link ideas, but do not overuse them. Certain transitions are outdated or are used in British, but
not American, English, such as: hitherto, whilst, and henceforth.

Common Transitional Words and Phrases

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 Transitions That Show Sequence or Time

after before later

afterward before long meanwhile

as soon as finally next

at first first, second, third soon

at last in the first place then

Transitions That Show Position

above across at the bottom

at the top behind below

beside beyond inside

near next to opposite

to the left, to the right, to the side under where

Transitions That Show a Conclusion

indeed hence in conclusion

in the final analysis therefore thus

Transitions That Continue a Line of Thought

consequently furthermore additionally

because besides the fact following this idea further

in addition in the same way moreover

looking further considering…, it is clear that

Transitions That Change a Line of Thought

but yet however

nevertheless on the contrary on the other hand

Transitions That Show Importance

above all best especially

in fact more important most important

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 most worst

Transitions That Introduce the Final Thoughts in a Paragraph or Essay

finally last in conclusion

most of all least of all last of all

All-Purpose Transitions to Open Paragraphs or to Connect Ideas Inside Paragraphs

admittedly at this point certainly

granted it is true generally speaking

in general in this situation no doubt

no one denies obviously of course

to be sure undoubtedly unquestionably

Transitions that Introduce Examples

for instance for example

Transitions That Clarify the Order of Events or Steps

first, second, third generally, furthermore, finally in the first place, also, last

in the first place, furthermore, finally in the first place, likewise, lastly

Transitions to Use with Supporting & Concluding Sentences

A strong paragraph moves seamlessly from the topic sentence into the supporting sentences and on to the
concluding sentence. To help organize a paragraph and ensure that ideas logically connect to one another, writers
use transitional words and phrases. A transition is a connecting word that describes a relationship between ideas.
Take another look at the earlier example:

There are numerous advantages to owning a hybrid car. First, they get 20 percent to 35 percent more miles to the
gallon than a fuel-efficient gas-powered vehicle. Second, they produce very few emissions during low-speed city
driving. Because they do not require gas, hybrid cars reduce dependence on fossil fuels, which helps lower prices
at the pump. Alex bought a hybrid car two years ago and has been extremely impressed with its performance. “It’s
the cheapest car I’ve ever had,” she said. “The running costs are far lower than previous gas-powered vehicles I’ve
owned.” Given the low running costs and environmental benefits of owning a hybrid car, it is likely that many
more people will follow Alex’s example in the near future.

Each of the underlined words is a transition word. Words such as first and second are transition words that show
sequence or clarify order. They help organize the writer’s ideas by showing that they have another point to make in
support of the topic sentence. Other transition words that show order include third, also, and furthermore.

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The transition word because is a transition word of consequence that continues a line of thought. It indicates that
the writer will provide an explanation of a result. In this sentence, the writer explains why hybrid cars will reduce
dependency on fossil fuels (because they do not require gas). Other transition words of consequence include as a
result, so that, since, or for this reason.

The following chart provides some useful transition words to connect supporting sentences and concluding
sentences.

Useful Transitional Words and Phrases

For Supporting Sentences

above all but for instance in particular moreover subsequently

also conversely furthermore later on nevertheless therefore

to begin
aside from correspondingly however likewise on one hand
with

at the same on the

for example in addition meanwhile
time contrary

For Concluding Sentences

all things
after all in brief in summary on the whole to sum up
considered

in
all in all finally on balance thus
conclusion

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Chapter 5

Writing for Specific Purpose and Audiences

Audience, Purpose, & Context

Questions to Ponder
Discuss these following scenarios with your partners:

Imagine you are a computer scientist, and you have written an important paper about cybersecurity. You have been
invited to speak at a conference to explain your ideas. As you prepare your slides and notes for your speech, you are
thinking about these questions:

• What kind of language should I use?

• What information should I include on my slides?

Now, imagine you are the same computer scientist, and you have a nephew in 3rd grade. Your nephew’s teacher has
invited you to come to his class for Parents’ Day, to explain what you do at work. Will you give the same speech to
the class of eight-year-olds? How will your language and information be the same or different?

Thinking about audience, purpose, and context

Before we give the presentations in the scenarios described above, we need to consider our audience, purpose, and
context. We need to adjust the formality and complexity of our language, depending on what our audience already
knows. In the context of a professional conference, we can assume that our audience knows the technical language
of our subject. In a third grade classroom, on the other hand, we would use less complex language. For the
professional conference, we could include complicated information on our slides, but that probably wouldn’t be
effective for children. Our purpose will also affect how we make our presentation; we want to inform our listeners
about cybersecurity, but we may need to entertain an audience of third graders a bit more than our professional
colleagues.

The same thing is true with writing. For example, when we are writing for an academic audience of classmates and
instructors, we use more formal, complex language than when we are writing for an audience of children. In all
cases, we need to consider what our audience already knows, what they might think about our topic, and how they
will respond to our ideas.

In writing, we also need to think about appearance, just as we do when giving a presentation. The way our essay
looks is an important part of establishing our credibility as authors, in the same way that our appearance matters in
a professional setting. Careful use of MLA format and careful proofreading help our essays to appear professional;
consult MLA Formatting Guides for advice.

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 The rhetorical triangle

Before you start to write, you need to know:

Who is the intended audience? (Who are you writing this for?)

What is the purpose? (Why are you writing this?)

What is the context? (What is the situation, when is the time period, and where are your readers?)

We will examine each of these below.

AUDIENCE ~ Who are you writing for?

Your audience are the people who will read your writing, or listen to your presentation. In the examples above, the
first audience were your professional colleagues; the second audience were your daughter and her classmates.
Naturally, your presentation will not be the same to these two audiences.

Here are some questions you might think about as you’re deciding what to write about and how to shape your
message:

• What do I know about my audience? (What are their ages, interests, and biases? Do they have an opinion
already? Are they interested in the topic? Why or why not?)
• What do they know about my topic? (And, what does this audience not know about the topic? What do they
need to know?)
• What details might affect the way this audience thinks about my topic? (How will facts, statistics, personal
stories, examples, definitions, or other types of evidence affect this audience?)

In academic writing, your readers will usually be your classmates and instructors. Sometimes, your instructor may
ask you to write for a specific audience. This should be clear from the assignment prompt; if you are not sure, ask
your instructor who the intended audience is.

PURPOSE – Why are you writing?

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Your primary purpose for academic writing may be to inform, to persuade, or to entertain your audience. In the
examples above, your primary purpose was to inform your listeners about cybersecurity.

Audience and purpose work together, as in these examples:

• I need to write a letter to my landlord explaining why my rent is late so she won’t be upset. (Audience =
landlord; Purpose = explaining my situation and keeping my landlord happy)
• I want to write a proposal for my work team to persuade them to change our schedule. (Audience = work
team; Purpose = persuading them to get the schedule changed)
• I have to write a research paper for my environmental science instructor comparing solar to wind power.
(Audience = instructor; Purpose = informing by analyzing and showing that you understand these two power
sources)

Here are some of the main kinds of informative and persuasive writing you will do in college:

INFORMATIVE WRITING PERSUASIVE WRITING

Describes argues

Explains defends

tells a story convinces

Summarizes justifies

Analyzes advocates

compares/contrasts supports

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How Do I Know What My Purpose Is?

Sometimes your instructor will give you a purpose, like in the example above about the environmental science
research paper (to inform), but other times, in college and in life, your purpose will depend on what effect you want
your writing to have on your audience. What is the goal of your writing? What do you hope for your audience to
think, feel, or do after reading it? Here are a few possibilities:

• Persuade or inspire them to act or to think about an issue from your point of view.
• Challenge them or make them question their thinking or behavior.
• Argue for or against something they believe or do; change their minds or behavior.
• Inform or teach them about a topic they don’t know much about.
• Connect with them emotionally; help them feel understood.

There are many different types of writing in college: essays, lab reports, case studies, business proposals, and so on.
Your audience and purpose may be different for each type of writing, and each discipline, or kind of class. This
brings us to context.

CONTEXT ~ What is the situation?

When and where are you and your readers situated? What are your readers’ circumstances? What is happening
around them? Answering these questions will help you figure out the context, which helps you decide what kind of
writing fits the situation best. The context is the situation, setting, or environment; it is the place and time that you
are writing for. In our examples above, the first context is a professional conference; the second context is a third-
grade classroom. The kind of presentation you write would be very different for these different contexts.

Here’s another example: Imagine that your car breaks down on the way to class. You need to send a message to
someone to help you.

AUDIENCE: your friends

PURPOSE: to ask for help

CONTEXT: you are standing by the side of Little Patuxent Parkway, 10 minutes before class begins. Your friends
are already at the campus Starbucks or in Duncan Hall.

Do you and your readers have time for you to write a 1,000-word essay about how a car works, and how yours has
broken down? Or would one word (‘help!’) and a photo be a better way to send your message?

Now imagine that you are enrolled in a mechanical engineering class, and your professor has asked for a 4-page
explanation of how internal combustion works in your car. What kind of writing should you produce? This would
be the appropriate audience, purpose, and context for the 1,000-word essay about how a car works.

Purpose: The first question for any writer should be, “Why am I writing?” “What is my goal or my purpose for
writing?” For many writing contexts, a person’s immediate purpose may be to complete an assignment or receive a
good grade. But the long-range purpose of writing is to communicate to a particular audience. In order to
communicate successfully to an audience, understanding the purpose for writing will make you a better writer.
Purpose is the reason or reasons why a person composes a particular piece of writing. Focusing on purpose as one
writes helps a person to know what form of writing to choose, how to focus and organize the writing, what kinds of
evidence to cite, how formal or informal the writing style should be, and how much should be written.

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The eleven different types of purpose include the following: to express, to describe, to explore/learn, to entertain, to
inform, to explain, to argue, to persuade, to evaluate, to problem solve and to mediate.

Audience: An audience is a group of readers who reads a particular piece of writing. Our audience might be teachers,
classmates, the president of an organization, the staff of a management company, or any other number of possibilities.
Audiences come in all shapes and sizes. They may be a group of similar people or combinations of different groups
of people. Writers need to determine who they are in order to analyze the audience and write effectively. When we
speak to someone face-to-face, we always know with whom we are talking. We automatically adjust our speech to
be sure we communicate our message. For instance, when we talk to three-year olds, we shorten sentences and use
simpler words. When we talk to college professors, we use longer sentences and more formal language. In short, we
change what we say because we know our audience. Interestingly, many writers do not make the same adjustments
when they write to different audiences, usually because they do not take the time to think about who will be reading
what they write. But to be sure that we communicate clearly in writing, we need to adjust our message—how we say
it and what information we include—by recognizing that different readers can best understand different messages.
As a concept, this rule sounds so simple: Think about who will read your paper before and while you write and adjust
your writing to help your reader understand it.

Writers determine their audience types by considering:

• who the readers are (age, sex, education, occupation, economic status, area of residence, ethnic ties,
political/social/religious beliefs, etc.);

• what level of information these readers have about the subject (novice, general reader, specialist, or expert)

• what opinions, values, prejudices, and biases these readers already possess about the subject. Writers need to know
their audience before they start writing because all readers have expectations and all readers assume what they read
will meet their expectations. As writers, we should anticipate the needs or expectations of our audience in order to
convey information or argue for a particular claim. A writer’s job is to make sure those expectations are met, while
at the same time, fulfilling the purpose of the writing.

The Crossroads of Purpose and Audience Often a writer’s audience will help her determine her purpose. The beliefs
the audience holds will tell the writer whether or not they agree with what the writer has to say. Suppose, for example,
a writer is persuading readers against Internet censorship. The purpose will differ depending on the audience who
will read the writing. For example, if the audience is computer users who surf the net daily, the writer could appear
foolish trying to persuade them to react against Internet censorship. It is likely they already are against such a
movement. Instead, such an audience might expect more information on the topic. On the other hand, if the audience
is parents who do not want their small children surfing the net, the writer will need to convince them that censorship
is not the solution to their concerns. The writer might persuade this audience to consider other options. Writers need
to consider both audience and purpose in their writing because the two elements affect the paper so significantly and
decisions about one will ultimately affect the other.

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Form, Genre, and Medium

Another consideration writers must weigh both before and while they write is the form, genre, and medium in which
the audience will encounter their ideas. The reception any piece of writing receives from an audience is based, in
part, on the manner and format in which that writing is presented. Just as issues of legibility, standard usage, correct
spelling, etc. can interfere with a reader’s ability to process information, proper presentation and awareness of the
advantages and limitations of certain forms, genres, and mediums can also affect the attention readers give to a
writer’s ideas. Form and/or genre refer to the category into which a particular piece of writing might be placed (e.g.
biography, personal narrative, technical report, newspaper article, poster, blog, sonnet, editorial, essay of
argumentation, research paper, etc.). Depending upon the purpose and audience a writer has in mind, certain forms
and/or genres might or might not be appropriate in mind throughout the writing process. In this way, writers become
strategic in the service of their craft and the writing they produce grows closer and closer to the highest degrees of
success.

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Chapter 6
Ethical Considerations

Ethical Considerations can be specified as one of the most important parts of the research. Dissertations may even
be doomed to failure if this part is missing. According to Bryman and Bell (2007)[1] the following ten points
represent the most important principles related to ethical considerations in dissertations:

1. Research participants should not be subjected to harm in any ways whatsoever.

2. Respect for the dignity of research participants should be prioritized.
3. Full consent should be obtained from the participants prior to the study.
4. The protection of the privacy of research participants has to be ensured.
5. Adequate level of confidentiality of the research data should be ensured.
6. Anonymity of individuals and organizations participating in the research has to be ensured.
7. Any deception or exaggeration about the aims and objectives of the research must be avoided.
8. Affiliations in any forms, sources of funding, as well as any possible conflicts of interests have to be declared.
9. Any type of communication in relation to the research should be done with honesty and transparency.
10. Any type of misleading information, as well as representation of primary data findings in a biased way must
be avoided.

In order to address ethical considerations aspect of your dissertation in an effective manner, you will need to expand
discussions of each of the following points to at least one paragraph:

1. Voluntary participation of respondents in the research is important. Moreover, participants have rights to withdraw
from the study at any stage if they wish to do so.

2. Respondents should participate on the basis of informed consent. The principle of informed consent involves
researchers providing sufficient information and assurances about taking part to allow individuals to understand the
implications of participation and to reach a fully informed, considered and freely given decision about whether or
not to do so, without the exercise of any pressure or coercion.

3. The use of offensive, discriminatory, or other unacceptable language needs to be avoided in the formulation of
Questionnaire/Interview/Focus group questions.

4. Privacy and anonymity or respondents is of a paramount importance.

5. Acknowledgement of works of other authors used in any part of the dissertation with the use of
Harvard/APA/Vancouver referencing system according to the Dissertation Handbook

6. Maintenance of the highest level of objectivity in discussions and analyses throughout the research

7. Adherence to Data Protection Act (1998) if you are studying in the UK

In studies that do not involve primary data collection, on the other hand, ethical issues are going to be limited to the
points d) and e) above.

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WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?

Plagiarism means using another’s work without giving credit. You must put others’ words in quotation marks and

cite your source(s) and must give citations when using others’ ideas, even if those ideas are paraphrased in your own

words. “Work” includes “original ideas, strategies, and research,”1 art, graphics, computer programs, music, and

other creative expression. The work may consist of writing, charts, pictures, graphs, diagrams, data, websites, or

other communication or recording media, and may include “sentences, phrases, and innovative terminology,”2

formatting, or other representations. The term “source” includes published works (books, magazines, newspapers,

websites, plays, movies, photos, paintings, and textbooks) and unpublished sources (class lectures or notes, handouts,

speeches, other students’ papers, or material from a research service). Using words, ideas, computer code, or any

work by someone else without giving proper credit is plagiarism. Anytime you use information form a source, you

must cite it.

WHY SHOULD YOU BE CONCERNED ABOUT PLAGIARISM?

• If you plagiarize, you are cheating yourself. You don’t learn to write out your thoughts in your own words, and

you don’t get specific feedback geared to your individual needs and skills. Plagiarizing a paper is like sending a

friend to practice tennis for you – you’ll never score an ace yourself!

• Plagiarism is dishonest because it misrepresents the work of another as your own

• Plagiarism violates the Handbook of Operating Procedures and can result in Suspension or Dismissal. Plagiarism
devalues others’ original work. Submitting a professional writer’s work as yours is taking an unfair advantage over

students who do their own work.

• It is wrong to take or use property (an author’s work) without giving the owner the value or credit due. Further,

copyright violations can result in fines or damages.

HOW TO CITE SOURCES : The most common citation method is to identify the source in the text, putting the

author’s last name and the publication year in parenthesis, with the page number of the cited material (Hacker, 1995,

p. 261). The author’s last name links the reader to the list of sources at the end of the paper where full publishing

information is given: References: Hacker, Diana., A Writer’s Reference (St. Martin’s Press, 1995) Two other

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methods are footnotes and endnotes, which use raised numbers at the end of an idea or quoted words to link the

reader to the source given at the bottom of the page (footnote) or at the end of the paper (endnote). For all three

methods, you must include the source in a reference list at the end of the paper. Here, sources are fully identified by

author’s name, title, publisher’s name, year of publication, and page number(s). For more information, see the MLA

Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th ed., (Modern Language Assoc. 2009) or Publication Manual of the

American Psychological Association, 6th Ed., (American Psychological Assoc. 2009)

HOW CAN YOU AVOID PLAGIARISM? Know what plagiarism is: ignorance will not excuse a violation.

Intentional plagiarism is deliberate copying or use of another’s work without credit. Unintentional plagiarism can

result from not knowing citation standards (“I thought the Internet was free!”), from sloppy research and poor

notetaking, or from careless “cutting and pasting” of electronic sources. Both intentional AND unintentional

plagiarism are violations!

GUIDELINES FOR AVOIDING PLAGIARISM:

• USE YOUR OWN WORDS AND IDEAS. Practice is essential to learning. Each time you choose your words,

order your thoughts, and convey your ideas, you can improve your writing.

• GIVE CREDIT FOR COPIED, ADAPTED, OR PARAPHRASED MATERIAL. If you repeat another’s exact

words, you MUST use quotation marks AND cite the source. If you adapt a chart or paraphrase a sentence, you must

still cite. Paraphrase means that you restate the author’s ideas, meaning, and information in your own words (see

examples).

• AVOID USING OTHERS’ WORK WITH MINOR “COSMETIC” CHANGES. Examples: using “less” for

“fewer,” reversing the order of a sentence, changing terms in a computer code, or altering a spread sheet layout.3 If

the work is essentially the same, give credit.

• THERE ARE NO “FREEBIES.” ALWAYS cite words, information, and ideas you use if they are new to you

(learned in your research). No matter where you find it – even in an encyclopedia or on the Internet – you cite it!

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• BEWARE OF “COMMON KNOWLEDGE.” You don’t have to cite “common knowledge,” BUT the fact must

be commonly known. That Abraham Lincoln was the U.S. President during the Civil War is common knowledge;

that over 51,000 Union and Confederate soldiers died in the Battle of Gettysburg4

• WHEN IN DOUBT, CITE. Better to be safe than not give credit when you should! HOW TO CITE CORRECTLY

Citing a source for factual information: In describing the role of the Los Angeles Times in the conflicts and events

surrounding the diversion of water from the Owens Valley, I have relied upon the factual account given in Thinking

Big – The Story of the Los Angeles Times (Bottleib and Wolt, 1997).5 Identifying the source “up front” means the

student doesn’t need a page cite until the end of this paragraph, but additional page citations would be required to

reference facts used later in the paper. MORE EXAMPLES – How to Cite Correctly The Original Source:

In research writing, sources are cited for two reasons: to alert readers to the sources of your information and to give

credit to the writers from whom you have borrowed words and ideas.”6 Plagiarism (same words, no quotation

marks): In research writing, sources are cited to alert readers to the sources of your information and to give credit to

the writers from whom you have borrowed words and ideas. The student has used the author’s exact words, leaving

out only a phrase, without quotation marks or a citation. Also Plagiarism (incorrect paraphrase): In research writing,

we cite sources for a couple reasons: to notify readers of our information sources and give credit to those from whom

we have borrowed (Hacker). The student has made only slight changes, substituting words such as “a couple” for

“two”, “notify” for “alert”, and “our/”we” for “your”/”you,” leaving out a few words, and giving an incomplete

citation. A Solution (appropriate paraphrase): A researcher cites her sources to ensure her audience knows where

she got her information, and to recognize and credit the original work. (Hacker, 1995, p.260). This student has
paraphrased in her own words, while accurately reflecting and citing the author’s ideas. A Different Solution

(quotation with cite): In her book A Writer’s Reference, Diana Hacker notes, “In research writing, sources are cited

for two reasons: to alert readers to the sources of your information and to give credit to the writers from whom you

have borrowed words and ideas.” (1995, p.260). By introducing his source, the student signals that the following

material is from that source. All verbatim words are in quotation marks, and the source of the quote is cited with a

page number.

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 Work Citations and Bibliography

WHAT IS A REFERENCE CITATION? A reference citation is the documentation needed to make your paper

acceptable for academic purposes. It gives authoritative sources for your statements, helps the reader gain access to

those sources, and acknowledges the fact that the information used in a paper did not originate with the writer.

Aim: The aim of a citation is to provide enough bibliographic information for the reader to be able to identify and,

if necessary, obtain the original resource. Complete, correct and consistent citations are therefore very important.

You may reference a wide variety of resources in your assignment, including books, e-journal articles, checklists

and websites. By using citations and references, you acknowledge the work of others and show how their ideas have

contributed to your own work. It is also a way of demonstrating that you have read and understood key texts relating

to the area you are writing about. The terms reference list and bibliography are usually used interchangeably,

although strictly speaking, a bibliography refers to all the reading you have undertaken for your assignment, not just

the work you have referred to in your writing. The terms reference and citation are also often used to refer to the

same thing although a citation tends to mean the part of the text within your assignment where you acknowledge the

source; whilst a reference usually refers to the full bibliographic information at the end.

The Basics:

When you quote from, or refer to, another source of information in your assignment, you must provide a citation to

it, which then leads to a reference giving the full details of the resource. You will end up with: › a citation within the

text › a reference in the bibliography or reference list at or near the end of the assignment. There are two main
systems used in the United Kingdom: the Harvard system (sometimes referred to as the Author-Date system) and

the British Standard (Numeric) system. Descriptions of these systems are provided below, together with examples

of their use. There are two main rules for quotations, whichever system you use. › If you are quoting something that

is up to three lines in length then you can generally incorporate this directly into the body of your text; anything

longer should be indented in its own paragraph. › If you need to include any words of your own to help make sense

of the quotation, make sure they appear in square brackets to make it clear that these are not part of the quote itself.

For example: “That [moving] line established the efficiency of the method and we now use it everywhere.” The main

difference between the two referencing systems is that they have different ways of referencing within the text. In

terms of the reference list at the end of the document however, they are very similar with just a few minor differences.
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In-text citations: Within the text of an assignment, the Harvard system requires that the author's surname is

mentioned with the date of publication of the item. This applies where a direct quote is given: “Organization design

is more often than not assumed to be the organization structure.” Stanford (2014, p7) or where the work is referred

to: ...assumptions around organisation design have recently been challenged (Stanford 2014), to the extent that...

When more than one publication by the same author, published in the same year, is cited, then lower case letters are

used to differentiate the items i.e. (2014a), (2014b). For example: "Organization design is more often than not

assumed to be the organization structure." Stanford (2014a, p7) In cases where more than two authors are responsible

for a publication the first author's name is stated, followed by the term 'et al' (in italics) and the date of publication.

For example: Stanford et al (2014) concluded that... Whichever referencing system you use, you need to include the

page number after the year of publication if it is a direct quotation.

Bibliography:

In the bibliography at the end of the assignment, the items are listed alphabetically by the author's name. If an author

has been acknowledged more than once, with different publication dates, then the items are listed in chronological

order with the earliest item being listed first. The lower case letters used to differentiate publications in the same

year are also included in alphabetical order. The information required for books and journal articles using the

Harvard system is as follows in the examples below. Books Author's surname and initials (Year of publication) Title

(in italics). Edition (if not the first). Place of publication: Publisher. › Example: Stanford, N. (2014) Organization

design. 2nd ed. Abingdon: Routledge. Chapters or contributions in a book Contributor's surname and initials (Year

of publication) Book chapter title. ‘In:’ Author/editor of the publication surname, initials. Title of book. Edition (if
not the first). Place of publication: Publisher, Page number/s of the contribution. › Example: Coffey, B. S. and

Anderson, S. E. (2013) Leadership at the edge of the summit. In: Giannantonio, C. M. and Hurley-Hanson, A. E.,

eds., Extreme leadership. 3 rd ed. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 72-82.

If you are referring to several page numbers, you need to precede the page numbers with ‘pp.’ rather than ‘p.’.

Journal Articles: Journal articles Author's surname and initials (Year of publication) Title of article. Title of journal

(in italics), Volume number (Part number in brackets), Page number/s. › Example: Nunes, P. F. et al, (2013)

Converting the nonstop customer into a loyal customer. Strategy and Leadership, 41 (5), pp. 48-53.

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Chapter 7
Academic Writing Styles
A style guide is an international standard of writing rules in English-language documents. It is a kind of “instruction
manual” that provides a guide for writing, syntax, grammar, and document formatting, especially in specific
academic disciplines. Style guides also include rules for formatting citations and references. By setting standards for
authors to follow, style guides help ensure intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary cohesion and knowledge-sharing.
Authors submitting a journal manuscript must be aware of which style guide to follow. A style guide will instruct
you how to format your paper, how to list your references and cite other literature, and in most cases how to handle
abbreviations, spelling, and punctuation. Some academic journals use their own unique formatting and style
requirements, and these can be found by visiting the “Guide for Authors” page on the journal’s website.
In this article, we introduce some frequently used style guides across disciplines to help you choose the right style
guide for your academic work. We also provide some examples of citing and referencing using APA, MLA, and
Chicago styles.
.
Frequently Used Academic Styles
The most frequently used style guides in academic writing include the Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association (APA), the Modern Language Association’s MLA Style Manual, and the Chicago Manual
of Style (CMOS). You are likely to encounter at least one of these styles when doing academic research. Because
these style guide manuals are quite lengthy (ranging in length from 300 to 1,000 pages), it can take some time to
familiarize yourself with all their respective requirements. Style guides are also revised frequently, so be sure to
check the most recent edition of the style manual you are following.
APA Format Rules
APA format is the official style of the American Psychological Association (APA) and is commonly used to cite
sources in psychology, education, and most of the social sciences. Using APA style, researchers writing about the
social sciences can communicate information in a consistent and recognizable format.

Major Sections of an APA Paper

• Title Page
The title page tells the reader what your paper is about and who wrote it. Your APA title page should contain
a title, author name, and school affiliation. If writing for a class assignment, list the course number and name,
the name of your instructor, and the due date of your work.
• Abstract
The abstract is a summary of your paper and immediately follows the title page. In APA format, the abstract
should not exceed 200 words. Of course, this can vary depending upon the academic journal or other specific
requirements.
• Main Body
The main body includes all the content in your paper except for the title page, abstract, references, and
figures. If you are writing a lab report or reporting a study, your main body should be broken up into four
sections: introduction, methods/materials, results, and discussion.
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 • References
The References section lists all cited sources in your paper. If you cite any literature or other external
information in your text, it should be included here. References in APA style are listed in alphabetical order
by authors’ last names. They are also listed on a separate page from the main body of the text. Visit the Purdue
OWL website for further details of APA reference citation.

Sample page of an APA paper. Note that APA 7 no

longer requires the words "RUNNING HEAD" in the header.
APA In-text Citations
When referencing other studies or works in your paper, use in-text citations to identify where you found the
information. When citing in APA style, include the cited text’s author(s) and publication date.
APA Citation and Reference Example
Citation: (Brown, 2013)
Reference: Brown, E. (2013). Comedy and the feminine middlebrow novel. Pickering & Chatto.

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 Example of APA parenthetical citation for APA 7.
MLA Format Rules
MLA is the style recommended by the Modern Language Association (MLA) for preparing academic manuscripts
and course research papers. It is the most frequently used style format in arts and humanities disciplines including
English Studies, Foreign Languages and Literature, Literary Criticism, and Cultural Studies.

General MLA Formatting Guidelines

• Double-space the text of your paper using a legible 12pt. Font.
• Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks.
• Margins should be set to 1 inch on all sides.
• Indent the first line of each paragraph to one half-inch from the left margin. (Hint: Use the “tab” key instead
of pushing the space bar five times.)
• Create a header numbering all pages consecutively in the upper right-hand corner.
• List endnotes and Works Cited information on separate pages.
Formatting the First Page of Your Paper
• Do not include a separate title page unless specifically requested.
• Include your name, instructor’s name, the course, and the date in the upper left-hand corner of the first page.
Double-space this text.
• Center the title—do not underline, italicize, or place your title in quotation marks.
• Use quotation marks and/or italics when referring to other works in your title.
• Double space between the title and the first line of text.

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 A properly formatted first page in MLA style.
MLA Section Headings
Section headings can be used to improve the readability of your paper, especially if the paper is long (over 5,000
words) and contains many sections and subsections. When writing an essay using MLA format, divide your work
into sections by using an Arabic numeral and a period, followed by a space and the section name:
You can further divide subsections and subheadings by adding a decimal and numeral to indicate that this information
belongs under a previous heading:
Note that the MLA Style Manual does not require any specific formatting type when it comes to headings. You may
use numerals, letters, or no symbols at all. The most important thing is to apply formatting consistently throughout
your document.
MLA References and In-Text Citations
As with any formatting style, the trickiest elements of MLA Style to master are the requirements for citing secondary
sources. We recommend visiting the Purdue OWL’s MLA citation page for details about including in-text citations
into the text of your paper as well as how to create a Works Cited (references) page at the end of your work. You can
also view APA sample citations and references on this site.
Here is a basic checklist for citing sources in the text of an MLA paper:
• Use parenthetical citations at the end of the sentence in which you reference the work (just before the period).

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 • The source information required in a citation depends upon the source medium (e.g., web, print, digital
device) and the source's entry on the Works Cited page.
• List your source name (usually author or title) and the page number, if available. Do not add a comma
between these elements.
MLA Citation and Reference Example
Citation: (Nordhaus 33)
Reference: Nordhaus, William D. "After Kyoto: Alternative Mechanisms to Control Global Warming." American
Economic Review, vol. 96, no. 2, 2006, pp. 31-34.
Chicago Format Rules
The Chicago (of “Turabian”) style is generally used when citing sources for humanities papers. It covers topics from
manuscript preparation and publication to grammar, usage, and documentation and is perhaps best known for
requiring writers to place bibliographic citations at the bottom of a page or at the end of the paper. This style is
primarily used as a guide for published works rather than class papers.
For detailed information about how Chicago Style is applied to most of these areas of a research paper, use the
following resources:

Chicago Citation Generator

Referencing Literature in Chicago Style
The most important formatting distinction to understand for CMOS is the difference between the two documentation
styles: the Author-Date System and the Notes-Bibliography (NB) System. The Author-Date System is most used by
those working in the social sciences. Whereas those working in literature, history, and the arts should apply the NB
System.
Although both systems convey the central information about each source, they differ both in the way they direct
readers to these sources and in terms of their formatting (e.g., the position of dates in citation entries). For examples
of how these citation styles are applied in research papers, see these sample papers:
Chicago Style Citation and Reference Example

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 Chicago Style citations and
references.
Citation Style Comparison Chart
The Purdue OWL website is perhaps the best online resource out there for learning how to apply different formatting
rules to your paper. If you have to use a variety of academic styles in your writing, use their handy citation
comparison chart to keep all of these styles straight and ensure you don’t apply the wrong style to your work.

Parenthetical citations in three

formatting styles.
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