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Academic Writing Conventions

The document discusses various conventions of academic writing including capitalization, quotation marks, commas, pronouns and antecedents, and parallel and sentence structure. It provides examples and explanations of each concept as well as activities for practice.

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a.u.sumithrarachchi
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22 views

Academic Writing Conventions

The document discusses various conventions of academic writing including capitalization, quotation marks, commas, pronouns and antecedents, and parallel and sentence structure. It provides examples and explanations of each concept as well as activities for practice.

Uploaded by

a.u.sumithrarachchi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Academic Writing

Conventions
Content
+Capitalization
+Quotation Marks
+Commas
+Pronouns and Antecedents
+Parallel and Sentence Structure
Capitalization
+Almost all the words we capitalize are going to be nouns:
people, places, and things.

+There are two kinds of nouns: common and proper.


+Common nouns are general types of things.
+Proper nouns are specific, often unique things.
+ We usually do not capitalize common nouns (unless they
appear at the beginning of a sentence).
+ We usually capitalize proper nouns.
Common Names Proper Names

Street Audi

Car Microsoft

Company London

City Japan

Nation Barack Obama

Region Colombo

Lake Main Street

president Maliban
Activity
1. to get to jaffna from colombo, you must drive north.
2. who got your vote for president, mr. rajapaksha or mr.sirisena?
3. you cant park on this street; park at the union road instead.
4. did you watch big bang theory yesterday?
5. i read the war and peace written by leo tolstoy.
Quotation Marks
+ We use quotation marks for basically two reasons:
+ To set off a direct quote: “Spider-Man said to the captured thief, “You can
just hang around until the police get here.”
+ To indicate the title of a short work of literature (such as a poem,
short story, or essay): “The Tell-Tale Heart,” by Edgar Allan Poe

+ People also often use quotation marks to imply falsehood or dishonesty: This “essay” is
only three sentences long, and two of those “sentences” are actually sentence fragments.
+ This assignment that you said to be original, has the plagiarism rate of 90%.

+ Remember that periods and commas go inside the quotation marks: When Epictetus said
“…only the educated are free,” what was he talking about?
+We only quote the actual words that a person said out loud:

+My mother said that we can go to the mall on Saturday. •


+My mother said, “You guys can go to the mall on Saturday.”

+The first sentence is really just paraphrasing what she said(no


quotation marks); the second sentence is giving her exact
words (needs quotation marks).
+ The lecturer stated, “you must have at least 80% attendance.”
+ The news presenter informed that the entire country will be locked
down on 24 June.
Activity
1. binari asked do you know how to get to the Colombo
general hospital
2. i heard that nishan said that he’s failing two classes
3. we read the poetry by pablo neruda on monday
4. i enjoy obama’s speeches
Commas
+Commas are used with a conjunction (think of FANBOYS) to
connect two independent clauses (basically two sentences
that can stand on their own):

+Jack ran to the gas station, but he forgot his money.


+Tina works long hours, and she is on her feet all day.

+Commonly Used Conjunctions: for,and,nor,but,or,yet,so


+Commas are also used to set off “extra” information in a
sentence:

+Rosa, who is usually shy, was the life of the party last night.
+That Tuesday, which happens to be my birthday, is the only day I
am available to meet.

+ the television with the broken screen needs to be recycled.


+The cell phone which is ringing loudly needs to be turned off.
+Sam ordered frozen yogurt which he thinks is healthier instead
of ice cream.
Cont.
+We often use commas to set off an introductory expression:

+In that case, you can turn in your essay on Friday

+ However, I will not accept it after Friday.


+Having finished the test, he left the room
+To get a seat, you’d better come early
+We use commas to separate items in a series:
+Please pick up some milk, eggs, and flour.
+Frank, Charlie, and Brian had their phones taken away.

+To figure out if you should use commas in a series, try inserting
“and” instead of a comma. If it makes sense, then you can use
commas.
+ EXAMPLE: I bought a new Apple computer.
+ Does it make sense to say “I bought a new and Apple computer?”
+ We cannot, so we would not use a comma here.

+ EXAMPLE: Mr. Waller is fair, friendly, and tolerant.


+ Could you say “Mr. Waller is fair and friendly and tolerant?”
+ Yes, so we can use commas here!
Activity
1. after all Mary hadnt promised to come to the party
2. daniel a talented goalie blocked every shot that came his
way
3. jack did not remember his name nor could he recognize his
wife
4. the cold dark wet cave which had never been explored was
home to a colony of bats
Pronouns and Antecedents
+A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun; I, we, us, they, them,
their, you are all examples of pronouns.
+The antecedent of a pronoun is the word to which a pronoun refers.

+ Before our class visited the tide pools, we studied them in class.
+ In the above sentence, them is a pronoun and tide pools is the
antecedent of that pronoun.

+Usually, the antecedent should come before the pronoun (not always), but
either way, they should not be too far apart in the sentence.
+It is important to include the antecedent of a pronoun near
the pronoun itself; otherwise things can get confusing.

+Before we visited them, we studied them in class.

+Who are we? What is them referring to? We can’t tell.


+The same thing happens if we use too many pronouns or if we are not
clear about the antecedents the pronouns refer to.
+Before our class visited the tide pools, we studied them in class. The tenth
grade students also studied them. They studied them for two weeks
before their teacher took them to see them. They found them to be
interesting and they really enjoyed them.
+Better:

+Before our class visited the tide pools, we studied them in class. The tenth
grade students also studied them. The tenth graders studied the tide
pools for two weeks before their teacher took them to see them. The
students found the tide pools to be interesting and they really enjoyed
them.
Activity
1. sports and clubs are important and _______ should be given
more time in universities.
2. ______ parents gave anne everything _______ wanted
3. louis loaned _____ car to _____ friends because _____ trusted
_____
4. _____ is the closest university to our school and _____ is very
competitive
Parallel and Sentence Structure
+When we list words, phrases, and clauses in a sentence, it’s
important to use similar structure for each item.

+ This is what we call parallel sentence structure, or


parallelism.

+Think parallel lines: ______________________________________


______________________________________
+Examples of sentences using parallel sentence structure:

+ We pleaded, begged, and prayed – to no avail.


+So, your date was obnoxious, loud, and cheap; no doubt he thought you
were gorgeous, personable, and witty.
+ “For taking away our Charters, abolishing our laws, and altering the Forms
of our Government…”
+“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any
price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any
foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.”
+Examples/Non-Examples #1

+• Not Parallel: To avoid getting hit by lightning, never seek protection


under a tree, lying down on wet ground, or not staying on a bike.
+• Parallel: To avoid getting hit by lightning, never seek protection under
a tree, lie down on wet ground, or stay on a bike.

+• Because the phrases “match” in the example, the sentence


sounds better and is more logical.
+Examples/Non-Examples #2

+Not Parallel: During a thunderstorm, people who are inside should not
talk on the telephone, standing near open windows, and using large
appliances.
+ Parallel: During a thunderstorm, people who are inside should not talk
on the telephone, stand near open windows, or use large appliances.

+Once again, now that the sentence is parallel, it’s less wordy and
sound better.
Activity
1. When you’re in college, make sure you pay attention to the teacher,
you listen to the lectures, and pass tests.
2. Grandma enjoys gardening, cooking, and to go to the store.
3. We couldn’t decide what was you and what was mine.
4. They stripped the paint, was sanding the wood, and refinished the
dresser by themselves.
+Questions?

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