English 1010 Composition I

Christina M. Loucks et al.

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2 n d Edition

Chapter 1: Reading & Writing in College

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Introduction

As you begin this chapter, you may be wondering why you need an introduction. After all, you have been writing and reading since elementary school. You completed numerous assessments of your reading and writing skills in high school and as part of your application process for college. You may write on the job, too. Why is a college writing course even necessary?

When you are eager to get started on the coursework in your major that will prepare you for your career, getting excited about an introductory college writing course can be difficult. However, regardless of your field of study, honing your writing, reading, and critical-thinking skills, gives you a more solid academic foundation.

In college, academic expectations change from what you may have experienced in high school. The quantity of work you are expected to do is increased. When instructors expect you to read pages upon pages or study hours and hours for one particular course, managing your work load can be challenging. This chapter includes strategies for studying efficiently and managing your time.

The quality of the work you do also changes. It is not enough to understand course material and summarize it on an exam. You will also be expected to seriously engage with new ideas by reflecting on them, analyzing them, critiquing them, making connections, drawing conclusions, or finding new ways of thinking about a given subject. Educationally, you are moving into deeper waters. A good introductory writing course will help you swim.

This chapter covers the types of reading and writing assignments you will encounter as a college student. You will also learn a variety of strategies for mastering these new challenges, and becoming a more confident student and writer.

Throughout this chapter, you will follow a first-year student named Crystal. After several years of working as a saleswoman in a department store, Crystal has decided to pursue a degree in elementary education and become a teacher. She is continuing to work part-time, and occasionally she finds it challenging to balance the demands of work, school, and caring for her four-year-old son. As you read about Crystal, think about how you can use her experience to get the most out of your own college experience.

Review Table 1.1 “High School versus College Assignments” and think about how you have found your college experience to be different from high school so far. Respond to the following questions:

Table 1.1 summary: College assignments demand significantly more independence and rigor than high school assignments across several areas. In college, reading assignments can be very long and students are expected to understand them before class, whereas high school teachers may provide class time for review. Exam preparation in college is primarily the student's responsibility, contrasting with the study guides often provided in high school. Grading in college often relies on a few major, mostly writing-based assessments, while high school grades come from a wider variety of both writing and non-writing assignments. College writing is predominantly expository and may require mastering professional standards, while high school writing is more stable in format and includes more personal and creative work. Finally, college instructors expect students to be proactive in seeking help and offer fewer second chances compared to high school teachers, who more frequently intervene to support struggling students.

In what ways do you think college will be more rewarding for you as a learner?

What aspects of college do you expect to find most challenging?

What changes do you think you might have to make in your life to ensure your success in college?

Reading Strategies

Your college courses will sharpen both your reading and your writing skills. Most of your writing assignments—from brief response papers to in-depth research projects—will depend on your understanding of course reading assignments or related readings you do on your own. It is difficult, if not impossible, to write effectively about a text that you have not understood. Even when you do understand the reading, it can be hard to write about it if you do not feel personally engaged with the ideas discussed.

This section discusses strategies you can use to get the most out of your college reading assignments. These strategies fall into three broad categories:

Planning strategies: To help you manage your reading assignments.

Comprehension strategies: To help you understand the material.

Active reading strategies: To take your understanding to a higher and deeper level.

Planning Your Reading

Have you ever stayed up all night cramming just before an exam or found yourself skimming a detailed memo from your boss five minutes before a crucial meeting? The first step in handling college reading successfully is planning. This involves both managing your time and setting a clear purpose for your reading.

Managing Your Reading Time

First, focus on setting aside enough time for reading and breaking your assignments into manageable chunks. If you are assigned a seventy-page chapter to read for next week's class, try not to wait until the night before to get started. Give yourself at least a few days and tackle one section at a time.

Your method for breaking up the assignment will depend on the type of reading. If the text is very dense and packed with unfamiliar terms and concepts, you may need to read no more than five or ten pages in one sitting so that you can truly understand and process the information. With more user-friendly texts, you will be able to handle longer sections—twenty to forty pages, for instance. If you have a highly engaging reading assignment, such as a novel you cannot put down, you may be able to read lengthy passages in one sitting.

As the semester progresses, you will develop a better sense of how much time you need to allow for the reading assignments in different subjects. It also makes sense to preview each assignment well in advance to assess its level of difficulty and to determine how much reading time to set aside.

Setting a Purpose

The other key component of planning is setting a purpose. Knowing what you want to get out of a reading assignment helps you determine how to approach it and how much time to spend on it. It also helps you stay focused during those occasional moments when it is late, you are tired, and relaxing in front of the television sounds far more appealing than curling up with a stack of textbooks.

Sometimes your purpose is simple. You might need to understand the reading material well enough to discuss it intelligently in class the next day. However, your purpose will often go beyond that. For instance, you might also read to compare two texts, to formulate a personal response to a text, or to gather ideas for future research. Here are some questions to ask to help determine your purpose:

How did my instructor frame the assignment? Often your instructors will tell you what they expect you to get out of the reading:

Read Chapter 2 and come to class prepared to discuss current teaching practices in elementary math.

Read these two articles and compare Smith's and Jones's perspectives on the 2010 health care reform bill.

Read Chapter 5 and think about how you could apply these guidelines to running your own business.

ho aug?

If you are majoring in computer science and you are assigned to read Chapter 1, “Introduction to Computer Science,” it is safe to assume the chapter presents fundamental concepts that you will be expected to master. However, for some reading assignments, you may be expected to form a general understanding but not necessarily master the content. Again, pay attention to how your instructor presents the assignment.

How does this assignment relate to other course readings or to concepts discussed in class?

Your instructor may make some of these connections explicitly, but if not, try to draw connections on your own. (Needless to say, it helps to take detailed notes both when in class and when you read.)

How might I use this text again in the future?

If you are assigned to read about a topic that has always interested you, your reading assignment might help you develop ideas for a future research paper. Some reading assignments provide valuable tips or summaries worth bookmarking for future reference.

Improving Your Comprehension

You have blocked out time for your reading assignments and set a purpose for reading. Now comes the challenge: making sure you actually understand all the information you are expected to process. Some of your reading assignments will be fairly straightforward. Others, however, will be longer or more complex, so you will need a plan for how to handle them.

For any expository writing—that is, nonfiction writing that informs or explains—your first comprehension goal is to identify the main points and relate any details to those main points. You should do the same for argumentative writing. Because college-level texts can be challenging, you will also need to monitor your reading comprehension.

That is, you will need to stop periodically and assess how well you understand what you are reading. Finally, you can improve comprehension by taking time to determine which strategies work best for you and putting those strategies into practice.

Identifying the Main Points

In college, you will read a wide variety of materials, including the following:

Textbooks: These usually include summaries, glossaries, comprehension questions, and other study aids.

Nonfiction trade books: These are less likely to include the study features found in textbooks.

Scholarly books and journal articles: These are written for an audience of specialists in a given field.

Popular magazine, newspaper, or web articles: These are usually written for a general audience.

Regardless of what type of expository text you are assigned to read, your primary comprehension goal is to identify the main point or thesis: the most important idea that the writer wants to communicate. Finding the main point or thesis gives you a framework to organize the details presented in the reading and relate the reading to concepts you learned in class or through other reading assignments. After identifying the main point, you will find the supporting points, the details, facts, and explanations that develop and clarify the main point.

Some texts make that task relatively easy. Textbooks, for instance, include the aforementioned features as well as headings and subheadings intended to make it easier for students to identify core concepts. Graphic features, such as sidebars, diagrams, and charts, help students understand complex information and distinguish between essential and nonessential points. When you are assigned to read from a textbook, be sure to use available comprehension aids to help you identify the main points.

Trade books and popular articles may not be written specifically for an educational purpose; nevertheless, they also include features that can help you identify the main ideas. These features include the following:

Trade books: Many trade books include an introduction that presents the writer's main ideas and purpose for writing. Reading chapter titles (and any subtitles within the chapter) will help you get a broad sense of what is covered. It also helps to read the beginning and ending paragraphs of a chapter closely. These paragraphs often sum up the main ideas presented.

Popular articles: Reading the headings and introductory paragraphs carefully is crucial. In magazine articles, these features (along with the closing paragraphs) present the main concepts. Hard news articles in newspapers present the gist of the news story in the lead paragraph, while subsequent paragraphs present increasingly general details.

At the far end of the reading difficulty scale are scholarly books and journal articles. Because these texts are written for a specialized, highly educated audience, the authors presume their readers are already familiar with the topic. The language and writing style is sophisticated and sometimes dense.

When you read scholarly books and journal articles, try to apply the same strategies discussed earlier. The introduction usually presents the writer's thesis. Headings and subheadings can help you understand how the writer has organized support for their thesis. Additionally, academic journal articles often include a summary at the beginning, called an abstract, and electronic databases often include summaries of articles, too.

Monitoring Your Comprehension

Finding the main idea and paying attention to text features as you read helps you figure out what you should know. Just as important, however, is being able to figure out what you do not know and developing a strategy to deal with it.

Textbooks often include comprehension questions in the margins or at the end of a section or chapter. As you read, stop occasionally to answer these questions on paper or in your head. Use them to identify sections you may need to reread, read more carefully, or ask your instructor about later.

Even when a text does not have built-in comprehension features, you can actively monitor your own comprehension. Try these strategies, adapting them as needed to suit different kinds of texts:

- Summarize: At the end of each section, pause to summarize the main points in a few sentences. If you have trouble doing so, revisit that section.

- Ask and answer questions: When you begin reading a section, try to identify two to three questions you should be able to answer after you finish it. Write down your questions and use them to test yourself on the reading. If you cannot answer a question, try to determine why. Is the answer buried in that section of reading but just not coming across to you? Or do you expect to find the answer in another part of the reading?

- Do not read in a vacuum: Look for opportunities to discuss the reading with your classmates and make use of sources that help you to put the work in context. Use resources to look up unfamiliar terms; recent history; and references to people, places, events, and works of art and literature made in the reading.

Many instructors set up online discussion forums or blogs specifically for that purpose. Participating in these discussions can help you determine whether your understanding of the main points is the same as your peers'.

These discussions can also serve as a reality check. If everyone in the class struggled with the reading, it may be exceptionally challenging. If it was a breeze for everyone but you, you may need to see your instructor for help.

As a working mother, Crystal found that the best time to get her reading done was in the evening, after she had put her four-year-old to bed. However, she occasionally had trouble concentrating at the end of a long day. She found that by actively working to summarize the reading and asking and answering questions, she focused better and retained more of what she read. She also found that evenings were a good time to check the class discussion forums that a few of her instructors had created.

Exercise 2

Choose any text that you have been assigned to read for one of your college courses. In your notes, complete the following tasks:

- Summarize the main points of the text in two or three sentences.

- Write down two or three questions about the text that you can bring up during class discussion.

Tip: Some students are often reluctant to seek help. Some may feel like doing so marks them as slow, weak, or demanding. The truth is, every learner occasionally struggles. If you are sincerely trying to keep up with the course reading but feel like you are in over your head, seek out help. Speak up in class, schedule a meeting with your instructor, or visit with Columbia State Community College's academic support staff or Tutoring and Learning Center.

Deal with the problem as early in the semester as you can. Instructors respect students who are proactive about their own learning. Most instructors will work hard to help students who make the effort to help themselves.

Taking It to the Next Level: Active Reading

Now that you have acquainted (or reacquainted) yourself with useful planning and comprehension strategies, college reading assignments may feel more manageable. You know what you need to do to get your reading done and make sure you grasp the main points. However, the most successful students in college are not only competent readers but active, engaged readers.

Using the S.Q.3.R Strategy

One strategy you can use to become a more active, engaged reader is the S.Q.3.R strategy, a step-by-step process to follow before, during, and after reading. You may already use some variation of it. In essence, the process works like this:

- Survey the text in advance.

- Form questions before you start reading.

- Read the text.

- Recite and/or record important points during and after reading.

- Review and reflect on the text after you read.

Before you read, you survey, or preview, the text. As noted earlier, reading introductory paragraphs and headings can help you begin to figure out the author's main point and identify what important topics will be covered. However, surveying does not stop there. Look over sidebars, photographs, and any other text or graphic features that catch your eye.

Skim a few paragraphs. Preview any boldfaced or italicized vocabulary terms. This will help you form a first impression of the material.

Next, start brainstorming questions about the text. What do you expect to learn from the reading? You may find that some questions come to mind immediately based on your initial survey or based on previous readings and class discussions.

If not, try using headings and subheadings in the text to formulate questions. For instance, if one heading in your textbook reads “Medicare and Medicaid,” you might ask yourself these questions:

- When was Medicare and Medicaid legislation enacted? Why?

- What are the major differences between these two programs?

Although some of your questions may be seeking simple, factual answers, try to come up with a few that are more open-ended. Asking in depth questions will help you stay more engaged as you read.

The next step is simple: read. As you read, notice whether your first impressions of the text were correct. Are the author's main points and overall approach about the same as what you predicted—or does the text contain a few surprises?

Also, look for answers to your earlier questions and begin forming new questions. Continue to revise your impressions and questions as you read.

While you are reading, pause occasionally to recite or record important points. It is best to do this at the end of each section or when there is an obvious shift in the writer's train of thought. Put the book aside for a moment and recite aloud the main points of the section or any important answers you found there. You might also record ideas by jotting down a few brief notes in addition to, or instead of, reciting aloud. Either way, the physical act of articulating information makes you more likely to remember it.

After you have completed the reading, take some time to review the material more thoroughly. If the textbook includes review questions or your instructor has provided a study guide, use these tools to guide your review. You will want to record information in a more detailed format than you used during reading, such as in an outline or a list.

As you review the material, reflect on what you learned. Did anything surprise you, upset you, or make you think? Did you find yourself strongly agreeing or disagreeing with any points in the text?

What topics would you like to explore further? Jot down your reflections in your notes. (Instructors sometimes require students to write brief response papers or maintain a reading journal. Use these assignments to help you reflect on what you read.)

Using Other Active Reading Strategies

The S.Q.3.R process encompasses a number of valuable active reading strategies: previewing a text, making predictions, asking and answering questions, and summarizing. You can use the following additional strategies to further deepen your understanding of what you read.

Connect what you read to what you already know: Look for ways the reading supports, extends, or challenges concepts you have learned elsewhere.

Plan to talk or write about what you read: Jot down a few questions or comments in your notebook so you can bring them up in class. (This also gives you a source of topic ideas for papers and presentations later in the semester.) Discuss the reading on a class discussion board.

Visualize: For both fiction and nonfiction texts, try to picture what is described. Visualizing is especially helpful when you are reading a narrative text, such as a novel or a historical account, or when you read expository text that describes a process, such as how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (C.P.R).

Pay attention to graphics as well as text: Photographs, diagrams, flow charts, tables, and other graphics can help make abstract ideas more concrete and understandable.

Understand the text in context: Understanding context means thinking about who wrote the text, when and where it was written, the author's purpose for writing it, and what assumptions or agendas influenced the author's ideas. For instance, two writers might both address the subject of health care reform, but if one article is an opinion piece and one is a news story, the context is different.

Relate the reading to your own life: What statements, people, or situations relate to your personal experiences?

Tip: When coming across new or unfamiliar terminology, be sure to write the words with their definitions in your class notes. Ask your instructor for assistance for unfamiliar terms.

Active reading can benefit you in ways that go beyond just earning good grades. By practicing these strategies, you will find yourself more interested in your courses and better able to relate your academic work to the rest of your life. Being an interested, engaged student also helps you form lasting connections with your instructors and with other students that can be personally and professionally valuable. In short, it helps you get the most out of your education.

Writing in Action

Many college courses require students to participate in interactive online components, such as a discussion forum, a page on a social networking site, or a class blog. These tools are a great way to reinforce learning. Do not be afraid to be the student who starts the discussion.

Remember that when you interact with other students and teachers online, you need to project a mature, professional image. You may be able to use an informal, conversational tone, but complaining about the work load, using off-color language, or gas lighting other participants is inappropriate.

College Writing Assignments

College writing assignments serve a different purpose than the typical writing assignments you completed in high school. In high school, teachers generally focus on teaching you to write in a variety of modes and formats, including personal writing, expository writing, research papers, creative writing, and writing short answers and essays for exams. Over time, these assignments help you build a foundation of writing skills.

Your college composition courses will focus on writing for its own sake, helping you make the transition to college-level writing assignments. However, in most other college courses, writing assignments serve a different purpose. In those courses, you may use writing as one tool among many for learning how to think about a particular academic discipline.

Additionally, certain assignments teach you how to meet the expectations for professional writing in a given field. Depending on the class, you might be asked to write a lab report, a case study, a literary analysis, a business plan, or an account of a personal interview. You will need to learn and follow the standard conventions for those types of written products.

Finally, personal and creative writing assignments are less common in college than in high school. College courses emphasize expository writing, writing that explains or informs. Often expository writing assignments will incorporate outside research. Some classes will also require persuasive or argumentative writing assignments in which you state and support your position on an issue. College instructors will hold you to a higher standard when it comes to supporting your ideas with reasons and evidence.

Table 1.2 “Common Types of College Writing Assignments” lists some of the most common types of college writing assignments. It includes minor, less formal assignments as well as major ones. Which specific assignments you encounter will depend on the courses you take and the learning objectives developed by your instructors.

Table 1.2 summary: Common types of college writing assignments and their defining characteristics. The assignments range from brief, subjective tasks like Personal Response Papers, which explain a student's reaction to a reading or quote, to objective tasks like Summaries that restate main points of a passage. More complex academic forms include Arguments that defend a position, Proposal Papers that suggest solutions to problems, and Literary Analysis which interprets literary works. The table also covers research-heavy formats, such as Research Reviews that sum up available findings, Case Studies that investigate specific subjects to draw larger conclusions, Lab Reports detailing experiments with hypotheses and results, Research Journals for tracking long-term projects, and comprehensive Research Papers that support a thesis with original or existing research.

Part of managing your education is communicating well with others at your college. For instance, you might need to email your instructor to request an office appointment or explain why you will need to miss a class. You might need to contact administrators with questions about your tuition or financial aid. Later, you might ask instructors to write recommendations on your behalf.

Treat this interaction as professional communications. Address the recipient politely; state your question, problem, or request clearly; and use a formal, respectful tone. Doing so helps you make a positive impression.

Key Takeaways

- College level reading and writing assignments differ from high school assignments not only in quantity but also in quality.

- Managing college reading assignments successfully requires you to plan and manage your time, set a purpose for reading, practice effective comprehension strategies, and use active reading strategies to deepen your understanding of the text.

- College writing assignments place greater emphasis on learning to think critically about a particular discipline and less emphasis on personal and creative writing.

Chapter 2: The Writing Process

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Introduction

If you think that a blank sheet of paper or a blinking cursor on the computer screen is a scary sight, you are not alone. Many writers, students, and employees find that beginning to write can be intimidating. When faced with a blank page, however, experienced writers remind themselves that writing, like other everyday activities, is a process. Every process, from writing to cooking, bike riding, and learning to use a new cell phone, will get significantly easier with practice.

Just as you need a recipe, ingredients, and proper tools to cook a delicious meal, you also need a plan, resources, and adequate time to create a good written composition. In other words, writing is a process that requires following steps and using strategies to accomplish your goals.

These are the five steps in the writing process:

- Prewriting

- Outlining the structure of ideas

- Writing a rough draft

- Revising

- Editing

Effective writing can be simply described as good ideas that are expressed well and arranged in the proper order. This chapter will give you the chance to work on all these important aspects of writing. Although many more prewriting strategies exist, this chapter covers six: using experience and observations, reading, freewriting, asking questions, brainstorming, and idea mapping. Using the strategies in this chapter can help you overcome the fear of the blank page and confidently begin the writing process.

Apply Prewriting Models

Prewriting

Prewriting is the stage of the writing process during which you transfer your abstract thoughts into more concrete ideas in ink on paper (or in type on a computer screen). Although prewriting techniques can be helpful in all stages of the writing process, the following four strategies are best used when initially deciding on a topic:

Using experience and observations

Reading

Freewriting

Asking questions

At this stage in the writing process, it is okay if you choose a general topic. Later you will learn more prewriting strategies that will narrow the focus of the topic.

Choosing a Topic

In addition to understanding that writing is a process, writers also understand that choosing a good topic for an assignment is an essential step. Sometimes your instructor will give you an idea to begin an assignment, and other times your instructor will ask you to come up with a topic on your own. A good topic not only covers what an assignment will be about but also fits the assignment's purpose and its audience.

In this chapter, you will follow a writer named Mariah as she prepares a piece of writing. You will also be planning one of your own. The first step is for you to tell yourself why you are writing (to inform, to explain, or some other purpose) and for whom you are writing. Write your purpose and your audience on your own sheet of paper and keep the paper close by as you read and complete exercises in this chapter.

My purpose: _ _

My audience: ___ _

Using Experience and Observations

When selecting a topic, you may also want to consider something that interests you or something based on your own life and personal experiences. Even everyday observations can lead to interesting topics. After writers think about their experiences and observations, they often take notes on paper to better develop their thoughts. These notes help writers discover what they have to say about their topic.

Reading

Reading plays a vital role in all the stages of the writing process, but it first figures in the development of ideas and topics. Different kinds of documents can help you choose a topic and also develop that topic. For example, a magazine advertising the latest research on the threat of global warming may catch your eye in the supermarket. This cover may interest you, and you may consider global warming as a topic. Or maybe a novel's courtroom drama sparks your curiosity of a particular lawsuit or legal controversy.

After you choose a topic, critical reading is essential to the development of a topic. While reading almost any document, you evaluate the author's point of view by thinking about their main idea and their support. When you judge the author's argument, you discover more about not only the author's stance but also your own. If this step already seems daunting, remember that even the best writers need to use prewriting strategies to generate ideas.

The steps in the writing process may seem time consuming at first, but following these steps will save you time in the future. The more you plan in the beginning by reading and using prewriting strategies, the less time you may spend writing and editing later because your ideas will develop more swiftly.

Prewriting strategies depend on your critical reading skills. Reading prewriting exercises (and outlines and drafts later in the writing process) will further develop your topic and ideas. As you continue to follow the writing process, you will see how Mariah uses critical reading skills to assess her own prewriting exercises.

Freewriting

Freewriting is an exercise in which you write freely about any topic for a set amount of time (usually three to five minutes). During the time limit, you may jot down any thoughts that come to your mind. Try not to worry about grammar, spelling, or punctuation. Instead, write as quickly as you can without stopping. If you get stuck, just copy the same word or phrase over and over until you come up with a new thought.

Writing often comes easier when you have an interest with the topic you have chosen. Remember, to generate ideas in your freewriting, you may also think about readings that you have enjoyed or that have challenged your thinking. Doing this may lead you to think differently about your topic.

Quickly recording your thoughts on paper will help you discover what you have to say about a topic. When writing quickly, try not to doubt or question your ideas. Allow yourself to write freely. Once you start writing with few limitations, you may find you have more to say than you first realized.

Your flow of thoughts can lead you to discover even more ideas about the topic. Freewriting may even lead you to discover another topic that excites you even more.

Look at Mariah's example. The instructor allowed the members of the class to choose their own topics, and Mariah thought about her experiences as a communications major. She used this freewriting exercise to help her generate more concrete ideas from her own experience.

Last Semester my favorite class was about mass media. We got to study radio and television. People say we watch too much television, and even though I try not to, I end up watching a few reality shows just to relax. Everyone has to relax! It's too hard to relax when something like the news (my husband watches all the time) is on because it's too scary now.

Too much bad news, not enough good news. News. Newspapers I don't read as much anymore. I can get the headlines on my homepage when I check my e-mail. E-mail could be considered mass media too these days.

I used to go to the video store a few times a week before I started school, but now the only way I know what movies are current is to listen for the Oscar nominations. We have cable but we can't afford the movie channels, so I sometimes look at older movies late at night. ugh. A few of them played again and again until you're sick of them. My husband thinks I'm crazy, but sometimes there are old black-and-whites on from the 1930's and '40's. I could never live my life in black-and-white. I like the home decorating shows and love how people use color on their walls. Makes rooms look so bright. When we buy a home, if we ever can, I'll use lots of color. Some of those shows even show you how to do major renovation by yourself. Knock down walls and everything. Not for me or my husband. I'm handier than he is. I wonder if they could make a reality show about us!

Free write about something of your choosing. With this in mind, write without stopping for five minutes. After you finish, read over what you wrote. Does anything stand out to you as a good general topic to write about?

Asking Questions

Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? In everyday situations, you pose these kinds of questions to get more information. Who will be my partner for the project? When is the next meeting? Why is my car making that odd noise?

You seek the answers to these questions to gain knowledge, to better understand your daily experiences, and to plan for the future. Asking these types of questions will also help you with the writing process. As you choose your topic, answering these questions can help you revisit the ideas you already have and generate new ways to think about your topic.

You may also discover aspects of the topic that are unfamiliar to you and that you would like to learn more about. All these idea gathering techniques will help you plan for future work on your assignment.

Tip:

Prewriting is very purpose driven; it does not follow a set of hard-and-fast rules. The purpose of prewriting is to find and explore ideas so that you will be prepared to write. A prewriting technique like asking questions can help you both find a topic and explore it. The key to effective prewriting is to use the techniques that work best for your thinking process. Freewriting may not seem to fit your thinking process, but keep an open mind. Perhaps brainstorming a list of topics might better fit your personal style.

Choose a general topic idea from the prewriting you completed earlier, and then try to answer each question:

5.W.H Questions

Now that you have completed some of the prewriting exercises, you may feel less anxious about starting a paper from scratch. By having some ideas down on paper (or saved on a computer), writers are often more comfortable continuing the writing process. After identifying a good general topic, you, too, are ready to continue the process.

You may find that you need to adjust your topic as you move through the writing stages (and as you complete the exercises in this chapter). If the topic you have chosen is not working, you can repeat the prewriting activities until you find a better one.

Narrowing the Focus

Narrowing the focus means breaking up the topic into subtopics, or more specific points. Generating multiple of subtopics will help you eventually select the ones that fit the assignment and appeal to you and your audience.

After rereading her assignment, Mariah realized her general topic, mass media, is too broad for her class's short paper requirement. Three pages are not enough to cover all the concerns in mass media today. Mariah also realized that although her readers are other communications majors who are interested in the topic, they may want to read a paper about a particular issue in mass media.

More Prewriting Techniques

The prewriting techniques of freewriting and asking questions help you think more about your topic, but the following prewriting strategies can help you narrow the focus of the topic:

- Brainstorming

- Idea mapping

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is similar to list making. You can make a list on your own or in a group with your classmates. Start with a blank sheet of paper (or a blank computer document) and write your general topic across the top.

Underneath your topic, make a list of more specific ideas. Think of your general topic as a broad category and the list items as things that fit in that category. Often you will find that one item can lead to the next, creating a flow of ideas that can help you narrow your focus to a more specific paper topic.

The following is Mariah's brainstorming list:

1. Mass Media 2. Magazines 3. Newspapers 4. Broadcasting 5. Radio 6. Television 7. Streaming 8. Internet

From this list, Mariah could narrow her focus to a particular technology under the broad category of mass media.

Writing in Action

Brainstorming often works great by yourself by creating a list, but having a partner or a small group can generate even more specific ideas through talking aloud.

Idea Mapping

Idea mapping allows you to visualize your ideas on paper using circles, lines, and arrows. This technique is also known as clustering because ideas are broken down and clustered or grouped together. Many writers like this method because the shapes show how the ideas relate or connect, and writers can find a focused topic from the connections mapped. Using idea mapping, you might discover interesting connections between topics that you had not thought of before.

To create an idea map, start with your general topic in a circle on a blank sheet of paper. Typically starting in the center is helpful. Then write specific ideas around it and use lines or arrows to connect them together. Add and cluster as many ideas as you can think of.

In addition to brainstorming, Mariah tried idea mapping. Review the following idea map that Mariah created: specific ideas: high definition and digital recording from cable and Blu-ray from D.V.D's. The radio topic led Mariah to draw connections between music, downloads versus C.D's, and, finally, piracy.

From this idea map, Mariah saw she could consider narrowing the focus of her mass media topic to the more specific topic of music piracy.

- All writers rely on steps and strategies to begin the writing process.

- The steps in the writing process are prewriting, outlining, writing a rough draft, revising, and editing.

- Prewriting is the transfer of ideas from abstract thoughts into words, phrases, and sentences on paper.

- A good topic interests the writer, appeals to the audience, and meets the purpose of the assignment.

• Writers often choose a general topic first and then narrow the focus to a more specific topic.

Notice Mariah's largest circle contains her general topic, mass media. Then, the general topic branches into two subtopics written in two smaller circles: television and radio. The subtopic television branches into even more specific topics: cable and DVDs. From there, Mariah drew more circles and wrote more

Figure 2.2 summary: An idea map centering on Mass Media, which branches into subgroups for TV, Music, and Radio. The TV branch further divides into Cable and DVDs, with Cable leading to High Definition and Digital Recording, and DVDs leading to Blu-ray. The Music branch connects to Radio and a comparison of Downloads versus CDs, which in turn links to Piracy. The diagram serves to categorize and link various technological formats and concepts within the mass media landscape.

Outlining

Introduction

Your prewriting activities and readings have helped you gather information for your assignment. The more you sort through the pieces of information you found, the more you will begin to see the connections between them. Patterns and gaps may begin to stand out. However, when you start to organize your ideas you will be able to translate your thoughts into a form that will communicate meaning to your audience.

Organizing Ideas

The writing you complete in all your courses exposes how analytically and critically your mind works. When you write, you need to organize your ideas in an order that makes sense. Order refers to your choice of what to present first, second, third, and so on in your writing.

The order you pick closely relates to your purpose for writing that particular assignment. For example, when telling a story, it may be important to first describe the background for the action, or you may need to first describe a 3-D movie projector or a television studio to help readers visualize the setting and scene. You may want to group your support effectively to convince readers that your point of view on an issue is well reasoned.

In longer pieces of writing, you may organize different parts in different ways so that your purpose stands out clearly and all parts of the paper work together.

Methods of Organizing Writing

Three common methods of organizing writing are chronological order, spatial order, and order of importance. You will learn more about these later; however, you need to keep these methods of organization in mind as you plan how to arrange the information you have gathered in an outline. An outline is a written plan that serves as a skeleton for the paragraphs you write. Later, when you draft paragraphs in the next stage of the writing process, you will add support to create flesh and muscle for your assignment.

When you write, your goal is not only to complete an assignment but also to write for a specific purpose— perhaps to inform, to explain, to persuade, or for a combination of these purposes. Your purpose for writing should always be in the back of your mind, because it will help you decide which pieces of information belong together and how you will order them. In other words, choose the order that will most effectively fit your purpose and support your main point.

Table 2.1 summary: Three types of organizational order are mapped to their specific purposes. Chronological Order is used for explaining history, telling stories or experiences, and detailing steps in a process. Spatial Order is used to help readers visualize a scene or create an impression using the five senses. Order of Importance is used to rank items based on their significance, benefit, or importance.

Writing a Thesis Statement

One legitimate question readers always ask about a piece of writing is “What is the big idea?” You may even ask this question when you are the reader, critically reading an assignment or another document. Every nonfiction writing task—from the short essay to the ten-page term paper to the lengthy senior thesis—needs a main idea as the spine for the work. The main idea is what you want to present and develop.

The main idea you want to present in an essay is expressed in a thesis statement. A thesis statement is often one sentence long, and it states the focus of your work. The thesis statement is not the topic of the piece of writing but rather what you have to say about that topic and what is important to tell readers.

: Table 2.2 summary: Examples of Mariah's topics and thesis statements. For music piracy, the thesis argues against the recording industry's fear that piracy will destroy markets. On the topic of consumer choices in media gear, the thesis highlights that while there is high demand for new technology, the extensive choices and specifications are often confusing. Regarding the growth of eBooks and online newspapers, the thesis predicts an end to print media. Finally, for online education and new media, the thesis envisions a future where students and teachers use avatars in online classrooms.

Exercise 1

Develop a working thesis statement that states a main idea. On a sheet of paper, write your working thesis statement.

You will make several attempts before you devise a working thesis statement that you think is effective. Each draft of the thesis statement will bring you closer to the wording that expresses your meaning exactly.

Writing an Outline

For an essay question on a test or a brief oral presentation in class, all you may need to prepare is a short, informal outline in which you write down key ideas in the order you will present them. This kind of outline reminds you to stay focused in a stressful situation and to include all the good ideas that help you explain or prove your point.

For a longer assignment, like an essay or a research paper, many college instructors require students to submit a formal outline before writing a major paper as a way to be sure you are on the right track and are working in an organized manner. A formal outline is a detailed guide that shows how all your supporting ideas relate to each other. It helps you distinguish between ideas that are of equal importance and ones that are of lesser importance. You build your paper based on the framework created by the outline.

Here is what the skeleton of a traditional formal outline looks like. The indentation helps clarify how the ideas are related.

1. Introduction A. Hook Sentence B. Introduce the topic C. Thesis statement

2. Main Support point 1 to becomes the topic sentence A. Evidence B. Analysis --Explanation of how evidence relates to the point.

3. Main Support point 2 to becomes the topic sentence A. Evidence B. Analysis --Explanation of how evidence relates to the point.

4. Main Support point 3 to becomes the topic sentence A. Evidence B. Analysis --Explanation of how evidence relates to the point.

5. Conclusion --Reiterate thesis statement and tie together

Drafting

Drafting is the stage of the writing process in which you develop a complete first version of a piece of writing.

Even professional writers admit that an empty page scares them because they feel they need to come up with something fresh and original every time they open a blank document on their computers. Because you have completed the first two steps in the writing process, you have already recovered from empty page syndrome. You have hours of prewriting and planning already done. You know what will go on that blank page: what you wrote in your outline.

Making the Process Work for You

What makes the writing process so beneficial to writers is that it encourages alternatives to standard practices while motivating you to develop your best ideas. For instance, the following approaches, done alone or in combination with others, may improve your writing and help you move forward in the writing process:

- Keep your audience and purpose in mind as you write. These aspects of writing are just as important when you are writing a single paragraph for your essay as when you are considering the direction of the entire essay.

- Begin writing with the part you know the most about. You can start with the third paragraph in your outline if ideas come easily to mind. You can start with the second paragraph or the first paragraph, too.

- Write one paragraph at a time and then stop. As long as you complete the assignment on time, you may choose how many paragraphs you complete in one sitting. Pace yourself. On the other hand, try not to procrastinate. Writers should always meet their deadlines.

- Take short breaks to refresh your mind. This tip might be most useful if you are writing a multi-page report or essay. Still, if you are antsy or cannot concentrate, take a break to let your mind rest. But do not let breaks extend too long. If you spend too much time away from your essay, you may have trouble starting again. You may forget key points or lose momentum. Try setting an alarm to limit your break, and when the time is up, return to your desk to write.

- Be reasonable with your goals. If you decide to take ten-minute breaks, try to stick to that goal. If you told yourself that you need more facts, then commit to finding them. Holding yourself to your own goals will create successful writing assignments.

Of all of these considerations, keeping your purpose and your audience at the front of your mind is the most important key to writing success. If your purpose is to persuade, for example, you will present your facts and details in the most logical and convincing way you can.

The purpose will guide your sentence structure. The audience will guide word choice. Are you writing for experts, for a general audience, for other college students, or for people who know very little about your topic?

Keep asking yourself what your readers, with their background and experience, need to be told in order to understand your ideas? How can you best express your ideas so they are totally clear and your communication is effective?

Setting Goals for Your First Draft

A draft is a complete version of a piece of writing, but it is not the final version. The step in the writing process after drafting, as you may remember, is revising. During revising, you will have the opportunity to make changes to your first draft before you put the finishing touches on it during the editing and proofreading stage. A first draft gives you a working version that you can later improve.

Discovering the Basic Elements of a First Draft

You have been using the information in this chapter step by step to create a formal sentence outline to direct your writing. Knowing what a first draft looks like will help you make the creative leap from the outline to the first draft. A first draft should include the following elements:

1. An introduction piques the audience's interest, tells what the essay is about, and motivates readers to keep reading.

2. A thesis presents the main point of the entire piece of writing.

3. For each main point, a topic sentence will state the main idea and imply how that main idea connects to the thesis statement.

4. Supporting sentences develop or explain the topic sentence. These can be backed up with evidence from research.

5. A conclusion restates or rephrases the thesis statement and provides the audience with a sense of closure.

The Role of Topic Sentences

Topic sentences are the first sentence in your paragraph. The topic sentence will allow the reader to see exactly what you are addressing and will directly relate to your thesis. When writing a topic sentence, it is important to not restate your thesis, nor be so vague that your readers lose sight of the main idea. Each topic sentence should add another layer to your main argument.

Starting Your First Draft

Now we are finally ready to look over Mariah's shoulder as she begins to write her essay about digital technology and the confusing choices that consumers face. As she does, you should have in front of you your outline, with its thesis statement and topic sentences, and the notes you wrote earlier in this lesson on your purpose and audience. Reviewing these will put both you and Mariah in the proper mindset to start.

The following is Mariah's thesis statement:

“Everyone wants the newest and the best digital technology, but the choices are many, and the specifications are often confusing.”

Here are the notes that Mariah wrote to herself to characterize her purpose and audience.

Purpose: My purpose is to inform readers about the wide variety of consumer digital technology available in stores and to explain why the specifications for these products, expressed in numbers that average consumers don't understand, often cause bad or misinformed buying decisions.

Audience: My audience is my instructor and members of this class. Most of them are not heavy into technology except for the usual laptops, cell phones, and tablets, which are not topics I'm writing about. I'll have to be as exact and precise as I can be when I explain possibly unfamiliar product specifications. At the same time, they're more with it electronically than my grandparents' V.C.R-flummoxed generation, so I won't have to explain every last detail.

Mariah chose to begin by writing a quick introduction based on her thesis statement. She knew that she would want to improve her introduction significantly when she revised. Right now, she just wanted to give herself a starting point. You will read her introduction again later on when she revises it.

Mariah then began to expand the ideas in her outline into a paragraph. Notice how the outline helped her guarantee that all her sentences in the body of the paragraph develop the topic sentence.

EBook readers are changing the way people read, or so eBook developers hope. The main selling point for these handheld devices, which are sort of the size of a paperback book. Is that they

make books easy to access and carry. Electronic version of printed books can be downloaded online for a few bucks or directly from your cell phone. These devices can store hundreds of books in memory and, with text-to-speech features, can even read the texts. The market for e-books and ebook readers keeps expanding as a lot of companies enter it. Online and traditional booksellers have been the first to market e-book readers to the public, but computer companies, especially the ones already involved in cell phone, online music, and laptop technology, will also enter the market. The problem for consumers, however, is which device to choose. Incompatibility is the norm. EBooks can be read only on the devices they were intended for. Furthermore, use is restricted by the same kind of D.R.M systems that restrict the copying of music and videos. As a result, book buyers are often unable to lend books to other readers, as they can with a real book. Few accommodations have been made to fit the other way Americans read: by borrowing books from libraries. What is a buyer to do?

Writing a Title

A writer's best choice for a title is one that alludes to the main point of the entire essay. Like the headline in a newspaper or the big, bold title in a magazine, an essay's title gives the audience a first peek at the content. If readers like the title, they are likely to keep reading.

Following her outline carefully, Mariah crafted each paragraph of her essay. Moving step by step in the writing process, Mariah finished the draft including the conclusion. She then decided, as the final touch for her writing session, to add an engaging title.

Thesis Statement: Everyone wants the newest and the best digital technology, but the choices are many, and the specifications are often confusing.

Working Title: Digital Technology: The Newest and the Best at What Price?

Writing Your Own First Draft

Now you may begin your own first draft, if you have not already done so. Follow the suggestions and the guidelines presented in this section.

- Make the writing process work for you. Use any and all of the strategies that help you move forward in the writing process.

- Always be aware of your purpose for writing and the needs of your audience. Cater to those needs in every sensible way.

- Remember to include all the key structural parts of an essay: a thesis statement that is part of your introductory paragraph, three or more body paragraphs as described in your outline, and a concluding paragraph. Then add an engaging title to draw in readers.

- Write paragraphs of an appropriate length for your writing assignment. Paragraphs in college-level writing can be a page long, as long as they cover the main topics in your outline.

- Use your outline to guide the development of your paragraphs and the elaboration of your ideas. Each main idea, indicated by a roman numeral in your outline, becomes the topic of a new paragraph. Develop it with the supporting details and the evidence of those details that you included in your outline.

Revising and Editing

Introduction

Revising and editing are the two tasks you undertake to significantly improve your essay. Both are very important elements of the writing process. You may think that a completed first draft means little improvement is needed. However, even experienced writers need to improve their drafts and rely on peers during revising and editing.

You may know that athletes miss catches, fumble balls, or overshoot goals. Dancers forget steps, turn too slowly, or miss beats. For both athletes and dancers, the more they practice, the stronger their performance will become. Writing has the same capacity to profit from improvement and revision.

Understanding the Purpose of Revising and Editing

Revising and editing allow you to examine two important aspects of your writing separately, so that you can give each task your undivided attention.

- When you revise, you take a second look at your ideas. You might add, cut, move, or change information in order to make your ideas clearer, more accurate, more interesting, or more convincing.

- When you edit, you take a look at technical aspects of your essay. You add or change words. You fix any problems in grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. You improve your writing style. You make your essay into a polished, mature piece of writing, the end product of your best efforts.

How do you get the best out of your revisions and editing? Here are some strategies that writers have developed to look at their first drafts from a fresh perspective. Try them over the course of this semester; then keep using the ones that bring results.

1. Take a break. You are proud of what you wrote, but you might be too close to it to make changes. Set aside your writing for a few hours or even a day until you can look at it objectively.

2. Ask someone you trust for feedback and constructive criticism.

3. Pretend you are one of your readers. Are you satisfied or dissatisfied? Why?

4. Use the resources that your college provides. Find out where your school's writing lab is located and ask about the assistance they provide online and in person. The Tutoring and Learning Center and/or Smartthinking are valuable resources for Columbia State Community College students.

Many people hear the words critical or criticism and pick up only negative vibes. However, as a writer and a thinker, you need to learn to be critical of yourself in a positive way and have high expectations for your work. You also need to train your eye and trust your ability to fix what needs fixing.

Creating Unity and Coherence

Following your outline closely offers you a reasonable guarantee that your writing will stay on purpose and not drift away from the main idea. However, when writers are rushed, tired, or cannot find the right words, they may no longer be clear and concise, and they may be adding information that is not needed to develop the main idea.

When a piece of writing has unity, all the ideas in each paragraph and in the entire essay clearly belong and are arranged in an order that makes logical sense. When the writing has unity, the ideas flow smoothly. The wording clearly indicates how one idea leads to another within a paragraph and throughout the paper.

: Table summary: A tip suggesting that reading writing aloud helps identify problems with unity and coherence by allowing the writer to listen for the flow of ideas and note areas of confusion for future fixes.

Creating Coherence

Careful writers use transitions to clarify how the ideas in their sentences and paragraphs are related. These words and phrases help the writing flow smoothly. Adding transitions is not the only way to improve coherence, but they are often useful and give a mature feel to your essays.

Table 2.3 summary: A comprehensive collection of common transitional words and phrases categorized by their rhetorical function. Transitions that show sequence or time include words like after, before, later, and meanwhile. Position is indicated by terms such as above, across, beside, and behind. For drawing conclusions, the table lists indeed, hence, thus, and therefore. To continue a line of thought, it suggests additionally, furthermore, and moreover, while changing a line of thought is signaled by but, yet, however, and on the other hand. Importance is highlighted with phrases like above all, especially, and most important. All-purpose transitions for opening paragraphs or connecting ideas include admittedly, certainly, and obviously. Finally, the table provides transitions for introducing examples, such as for instance and for example, and phrases to clarify the order of events, including first, second, third and in the first place, furthermore, finally.

Being Clear and Concise

Some writers are very methodical when they write a first draft. Other writers unleash a lot of words in order to get out all that they feel they need to say. Do either of these writing styles match your style? Or is your writing style somewhere in between? No matter which description best fits you, the first draft of almost every piece of writing, no matter its author, can be made clearer and more concise. If you have a tendency to write too much, you will need to look for unnecessary words. If you have a tendency to be vague or imprecise in your wording, you will need to find specific words to replace any general language.

Identifying Wordiness

Sometimes writers use too many words when fewer words will appeal more to their audience and better fit their purpose. Here are some common examples of wordiness to look for in your draft. Eliminating wordiness helps all readers, because it makes your ideas straightforward.

_are.

Wordy: There are two major experiments that the Biology Department sponsor.

Revised: The Biology Department sponsors two major experiments.

2. Sentences with unnecessary modifiers.

Wordy: Two extremely famous and well-known consumer advocates spoke eloquently in favor of the proposed important legislation.

Revised: Two well-known consumer advocates spoke in favor of the proposed legislation.

3. Sentences with deadwood phrases that add little to the meaning. Be judicious when you use phrases such as in terms of, with a mind to, on the subject of, as to whether or not, more or less, as far as...is concerned, and similar expressions. You can usually find a more straightforward way to state your point.

Wordy: As a world leader in the field of green technology, the company plans to focus its efforts in the area of geothermal energy.

A report as to whether or not to use geysers as an energy source is in the process of preparation. Revised: As a world leader in green technology, the company plans to focus on geothermal energy. A report about using geysers as an energy source is in preparation.

4. Sentences in the passive voice or with forms of the verb to be. Sentences with passive voice verbs often create confusion, because the subject of the sentence does not perform an action. Sentences are clearer when the subject of the sentence performs the action and is followed by a strong verb. Use strong active voice verbs in place of forms of to be, which can lead to wordiness. Avoid passive voice when you can.

Wordy: It might perhaps be said that using a G.P.S device is something that is a benefit to drivers who have a poor sense of direction.

Revised: Using a G.P.S device benefits drivers who have a poor sense of direction.

5. Sentences with constructions that can be shortened.

Wordy: The eBook reader, which is a recent invention, may become as commonplace as the cell phone. My over sixty uncle bought an eBook reader, and his wife bought an eBook reader, too.

Revised: The eBook reader, a recent invention, may become as commonplace as the cell phone. My over sixty uncle and his wife both bought eBook readers.

Choosing Specific, Appropriate Words

Most college essays should be written in formal English suitable for an academic situation. Follow these principles to be sure that your word choice is appropriate.

1. Avoid slang. Find alternatives to bummer, cool, and B.4, etcetera

2. Avoid language that is overly casual. Write about “men and women” rather than “girls and guys” unless you are trying to create a specific effect. A formal tone calls for formallanguage.

3. Avoid contractions. Use do not in place of don't, I am in place of I'm, have not in place of haven't, and so on. Contractions are considered casual speech.

4. Avoid clichés. Overused expressions such as green with envy, face the music, better late than never, and similar expressions are empty of meaning and may not appeal to your audience.

5. Be careful when you use words that sound alike but have different meanings. Some examples are allusion/illusion, complement/compliment, concurrent/consecutive, council/counsel, founder/flounder, and historic/historical. When in doubt, check a dictionary.

6. Choose words with the connotations you want. Choosing a word for its connotation is as important in formal essay writing as it is in all kinds of writing. Compare the positive connotations of the word proud and the negative connotations of arrogant and conceited.

7. Use specific words rather than overly general words. Find synonyms for thing, people, nice, good, bad, interesting, and other vague words. Or use specific details to make your exact meaning clear.

Now read the revisions Mariah made to make her third paragraph clearer and more concise. She has already incorporated the changes she made to improve unity and coherence.

Nothing is more confusing to me than choosing among televisions. It confuses lots of people who want a new high-definition digital television (H.D.T.V) with a large screen to watch sports and D.V.D's on. There is good reason for this confusion. You face decisions you never had to make with the old, bulky picture tube televisions.

The first big decision is the screen resolution you want. Screen resolution means the number of horizontal scan lines the screen can show. This resolution is often 1080p, or full H.D, or 768p. The trouble is that if you have a smaller screen, 32 inches or 37 inches diagonal, you will not be able to tell the difference with the naked eye.

The second important decision you face as you walk around the sales floor is whether to get a plasma screen or an L.C.D screen. Plasma flat panel television screens can be much larger in diameter than their L.C.D rivals. Plasma screens show truer blacks and can be viewed at a wider angle that current L.C.D screens. However, larger flat panel plasma screens are much more expensive than flat screen L.C.D models. Do not buy more television that you need!

Completing a Peer Review

After working so closely with a piece of writing, writers often need to step back and ask for a more objective reader. What writers most need is feedback from readers who can respond only to the words on the page. When they are ready, writers show their drafts to someone they respect and who can give an honest response about its strengths and weaknesses.

You, too, can ask a peer to read your draft when it is ready. After evaluating the feedback and assessing what is most helpful, the reader's feedback will help you when you revise your draft. This process is called peer review.

You can work with a partner in your class and identify specific ways to strengthen each other's essays. Although you may be uncomfortable sharing your writing at first, remember that each writer is working toward the same goal: a final draft that fits the audience and the purpose. Maintaining a positive attitude when providing feedback will put you and your partner at ease.

Using Feedback Objectively

The purpose of peer feedback is to receive constructive criticism of your essay. Your peer reviewer is your first real audience, and you have the opportunity to learn what confuses and delights a reader so that you can improve your work before sharing the final draft with your intended audience.

It may not be necessary to incorporate every recommendation your peer reviewer makes. Determine if the feedback is going to improve your paper. However, if you start to observe a pattern in the responses you receive from peer reviewers, you might want to take that feedback into consideration in future assignments. For example, if you read consistent comments about a need for more research, then you may want to consider including more research in future assignments.

Editing Your Draft

If you have been incorporating each set of revisions as Mariah has, you have produced multiple drafts of your writing. So far, all your changes have been content changes. Perhaps with the help of peer feedback, you have made sure that you sufficiently supported your ideas.

You have checked for problems with unity and coherence. You have examined your essay for word choice, revising to cut unnecessary words and to replace weak wording with specific and appropriate wording.

The next step after revising the content is editing. When you edit, you examine the surface features of your text. You examine your spelling, grammar, usage, and punctuation. You also make sure you use the proper format when creating your finished assignment.

Tip:

Editing often takes time. Budgeting time into the writing process allows you to complete additional edits after revising. Editing and proofreading your writing helps you create a finished work that represents your best efforts. Here are a few more tips to remember about your readers:

1. Readers do not notice correct spelling, but they do notice misspellings.

2. Readers look past your sentences to get to your ideas—unless the sentences are awkward, poorly constructed, and frustrating to read.

3. Readers notice when every sentence has the same rhythm as every other sentence, with no variety.

4. Readers do not cheer when you use there, their, and they're correctly, but they notice when you do not.

5. Readers will notice the care with which you handled your assignment and your attention to detail in the delivery of an error-free document.

The following offers a useful review of grammar, mechanics, and usage. Use it to help you eliminate major errors in your writing and refine your understanding of the conventions of language. Do not hesitate to ask for help from peer tutors in your academic department or in the college's writing lab.

Checklist

Editing Your Writing

Grammar

• Are some sentences actually sentence fragments?

• Are some sentences run-on sentences? How can I correct them?

- Do some sentences need conjunctions between independent clauses?

• Does every verb agree with its subject?

• Is every verb in the correct tense?

• Are tense forms, especially for irregular verbs, written correctly?

- Have I used subject, object, and possessive personal pronouns correctly?

- Have I used who and whom correctly?

- Is the antecedent of every pronoun clear?

- Do all personal pronouns agree with their antecedents?

- Have I used the correct comparative and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs?

- Is it clear which word a participial phrase modifies, or is it a dangling modifier?

Sentence Structure

• Are all my sentences simple sentences, or do I vary my sentence structure?

- Have I chosen the best coordinating or subordinating conjunctions to join clauses?

- Have I created long, over packed sentences that should be shortened for clarity?

- Do I see any mistakes in parallel structure?

Punctuation

• Does every sentence end with the correct punctuation?

- Have I used apostrophes correctly to write all singular and plural possessive forms?

- Have I used quotation marks correctly?

Mechanics and Usage

- Can I find any spelling errors? How can I correct them?

- Have I used capital letters where they are needed?

- Have I written abbreviations, where allowed, correctly?

- Can I find any errors in the use of commonly confused words, such as to/too/two?

Tip:

Be careful about relying too much on software for spelling and grammar. A spellchecker cannot recognize that you meant to write principle but wrote principal instead. A grammar checker often queries constructions that are perfectly correct. The program does not understand your meaning; it makes its check against a general set of formulas that might not apply in each instance.

Tip:

Proofreading requires patience; it is very easy to read past a mistake. Set your paper aside for at least a few hours, if not a day or more, so your mind will rest. Some professional proofreaders read a text backward so they can concentrate on spelling and punctuation. Another helpful technique is to slowly read a paper aloud, paying attention to every word, letter, and punctuation mark.

If you need additional proofreading help, ask a reliable friend, a classmate, or a peer tutor to make a final pass on your paper to look for anything you missed.

Formatting

Remember to use proper format when creating your finished assignment. Sometimes an instructor, a department, or a college will require students to follow specific instructions on titles, margins, page numbers, or the location of the writer's name. To ensure the format is correct and follows any specific instructions, make a final check before you submit an assignment.

With the help of the checklist, edit and proofread your essay.

- Revising and editing are the stages of the writing process in which you improve your work before producing a final draft.

- During revising, you add, cut, move, or change information in order to improve content.

- During editing, you take a second look at the words and sentences you used to express your ideas and fix any problems in grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure.

- Unity in writing means that all the ideas in each paragraph and in the entire essay clearly belong together and are arranged in an order that makes logical sense.

- Coherence in writing means that the writer's wording clearly indicates how one idea leads to another within a paragraph and between paragraphs.

- Transitional words and phrases effectively make writing more coherent.

- Writing should be clear and concise, with no unnecessary words.

- Effective formal writing uses specific, appropriate words and avoids slang, contractions, clichés, and general words.

- Peer reviews, done properly, can give writers objective feedback about their writing. It is the writer's responsibility to evaluate the results of peer reviews and incorporate useful feedback.

- Remember to budget time for careful editing and proofreading. Use all available resources, including editing checklists, peer editing, and your institution's writing lab, to improve your editing skills.

Chapter 3: Rhetorical Strategies

Photo by Pixabay

Introduction

We make arguments all day long in our lives. We argue for our favorite sports team, convince our friends where to eat, and even persuade ourselves that college is a good career stepping stone. Some people consider all writing a form of argument, or at the minimum persuasion.

Even when writing a letter of thanks after a job interview, you are persuading (or arguing) that you are the best candidate for the job. However, formal or academic writing is specific to its genre.

In the past, you may have written a persuasive essay but not used a formal argumentative structure. Some instructors delineate between persuasive writing and argumentative writing. Persuasive writing serves as a broader definition for any kind of persuasion, and argumentative writing serves as a more specific term for a type of writing that follows specific structures of argument and anticipates active opposition from the audience. The focus on certain types of evidence and reliance on logic and specific rhetorical strategies creates the formal essay.

Before we get started keep in mind that argumentative writing and critical thinking skills can also help you beyond your college career. Understanding how to appeal to an audience in both formal and informal ways will make you a valuable employee and friend. Appealing to a specific audience, clearly and with appropriate logic, is a sign of clear thinking and makes you highly prized among employers.

Argument & Audience

When writing an argument, you have to be aware of your target audience. The reason you are writing is to convince your audience of something. Different audiences require different approaches and the most important thing to understand is how the argument you are writing is for the audience you are addressing. Getting to know your audience will allow you to tailor your writing strategies to address their potential bias opinions. Doing a bit of background research about your audience at the beginning of the process will help you as you move through the writing process.

An example of this could be writing an essay about reducing the cost of college textbooks. Who would be the most likely audience for this type of essay? Most of your peers would agree that college textbooks are too expensive, so they are not the audience you are looking to persuade. College administrators would be a next step in the audience list as they often set the contracts for bookstores. Conducting an interview or two with a campus administrator in advance of writing will help you focus the purpose of your writing and give you insight into your audience.

Analyzing Your Audience. Copy these questions into your notebook and answer them about your audience.

1. Who is my audience for this? What do I know about them?

2. What does my audience need to know about this subject? How much do they already know?

3. What aspect of my subject is most important to the audience?

4. What are the audience's most likely objections to my stance?

5. What do I want them to understand and care about?

6. How can I organize my essay so that my audience will think about my subject in a new way?

7. What in my research have I found to be especially interesting or relevant to my audience? 8. What

do I want my audience to think, learn, or assume about this subject?

9. What impression do I want to leave with my audience?

Remember your writing is not just for you and that part of the role as writer is to keep the audience in mind as you write. Unless you are writing in a personal journal, you are always writing for someone else and being highly aware of your audience's needs as you write will help you keep their perspective in mind as you work to persuade them. If you offend your audience they will not listen to your side of the issue.

Strategies of Persuasion

As described in the rhetorical styles below, the strategies of persuasion you are about to learn on the following pages go back thousands of years to Aristotle, a Greek rhetorician. In his teachings, we learn about three basic strategies of persuasion—or ways to persuade people. These strategies appeal to human nature and continue to be used today in writing of all kinds, politics, and advertisements.

These strategies are particularly important to argumentative writing because you will be constantly looking for the right angle to take in order to be persuasive with your audience. These strategies work together to create a well-rounded, well-developed argument that your audience will find credible.

By thinking about the basic ways in which human beings can be persuaded and practicing your skills, you can learn to build strong arguments and develop flexible argumentative strategies. Developing flexibility as a writer is very important and a critical part of making good arguments. Every argument should be different because every audience is different and every situation is different. As you write, you will want to make decisions about how you appeal to your particular audience using the strategies of persuasion.

ee-thoss

Appealing to {ee-thoss} is all about using credibility, either your own as a writer or of your sources, in order to be persuasive. Essentially, ee-thoss is about believability. Will your audience find you believable? What can you do to ensure that they do?

You can establish ee-thoss—or credibility—in two basic ways: you can use or build your own credibility on a topic, or you can use credible sources, which, in turn, builds your credibility as a writer.

Credibility is extremely important in building an argument, so, even if you do not have a lot of built-in credibility or experience with a topic, it is important for you to work on your credibility by integrating the credibility of others into your argument.

Aristotle argued that ee-thoss was the most powerful of the strategies of persuasion, and while you may disagree, you cannot discount its power. After all, think about the way advertisers use ee-thoss to get us to purchase products. Taylor Swift sells us perfume, and Peyton Manning sells us pizza. But, it is really their fame and name they are selling.

With the power of ee-thoss in mind, here are some strategies you can use to help build your ee-thoss in your arguments.

- If you have specific experience or education related to your issues, mention it in some way. *Some Instructors will not be in favor of this method depending on the formality of the assignments. Be sure to check in with your instructor if you have questions.

- If you do not have specific experience or education related to your issue, make sure you find sources from authors who do. When you integrate that source information, it is best if you can address the credibility of your sources. When you have credible sources, you want to let your audience know about them.

- Use a tone of voice that is appropriate to your writing situation and will make you sound reasonable and credible as a writer. Controversial issues can often bring out some extreme emotions in us when we write, but we have to be careful to avoid sounding extreme in our writing, especially in academic arguments. You may not convince everyone to agree with you, but you at least need your audience to listen to what you have to say.

- Provide good balance when it comes to pathos and logos, which will be explored in the following pages.

- Avoid flaws in logic—or logical fallacies—which are explored later in Chapter 13 of this book.

Pathos

Appealing to pathos is about appealing to your audience's emotions. Pathos is a powerful mode of persuasion because people can be moved by their emotions. When you think about appealing to pathos, you should consider all the potential emotions people experience.

While we often see or hear arguments that appeal to sympathy or anger, appealing to pathos is not limited to these specific emotions. You can also use emotions such as humor, joy, or even frustration, to note a few, in order to convince your audience.

It is important, however, to be careful when appealing to pathos, as arguments with an overly strong focus on emotion are not considered as credible in an academic setting. This means you could, and should, use pathos, but you have to do so carefully. An overly emotional argument can cause you to lose your credibility as a writer.

You have probably seen many arguments based on an appeal to pathos. In fact, a large number of the commercials you see on television or the internet actually focus primarily on pathos. For example, many car commercials tap into our desire to feel special or important. They suggest that, if you drive a nice car, you will automatically be respected.

With the power of pathos in mind, here are some strategies you can use to carefully build pathos in your arguments.

- Think about the emotions most related to your topic in order to use those emotions effectively. For example, if you are calling for change in animal abuse laws, you would want to appeal to your audience's sense of sympathy, possibly by providing examples of animal cruelty. If your argument is focused on environmental issues related to water conservation, you might provide examples of how water shortages affect metropolitan areas in order to appeal to your audience's fear of a similar occurrence.

- In an effort to appeal to pathos, use examples to illustrate your position. Just be sure the examples you share are credible and can be verified.

- In academic arguments, be sure to balance appeals to pathos with appeals to logos (which will be explored on the next page) in order to maintain your ee-thoss or credibility as a writer.

- When presenting evidenced based on emotion, maintain an even tone of voice. If you sound too emotional, you might lose your audience's respect.

Logos

Logos is about appealing to your audience's logical side. You have to think about what makes sense to your audience and use that as you build your argument. As writers, we appeal to logos by presenting a line of reasoning in our arguments that is logical and clear. We use evidence, such as statistics and factual information, when we appeal to logos.

In order to develop strong appeals to logos, we have to avoid faulty logic. Faulty logic can be anything from assuming one event caused another to making blanket statements based on little evidence. Logical fallacies should always be avoided. We will explore logical fallacies in Chapter 13.

Appeals to logos are an important part of academic writing, but you will see them in commercials as well. Although they more commonly use pathos and ee-thoss, advertisers will sometimes use logos to sell products. For example, commercials based on saving consumers' money, such as car commercials that focus on miles-per-gallon, are appealing to the consumers' sense of logos.

As you work to build logos in your arguments, here are some strategies to keep in mind.

Both experience and source material can provide you with evidence to appeal to logos. While outside sources will provide you with excellent evidence in an argumentative essay, in some situations, you can share personal experiences and observations. Just make sure they are appropriate to the situation and you present them in a clear and logical manner.

- Remember to think about your audience as you appeal to logos. Just because something makes sense in your mind, does not mean it will make the same kind of sense to your audience. You need to try to see things from your audience's perspective. Having others read your writing, especially those who might disagree with your position, is helpful.

Be sure to maintain clear lines of reasoning throughout your argument. One error in logic can negatively impact your entire position. When you present faulty logic, you lose credibility.

When presenting an argument based on logos, it is important to avoid emotional overtones and maintain an even tone of voice. Remember, it is not just a matter of the type of evidence you are presenting; how you present this evidence is important as well.

Writing in Action

It is time to think about how you will use ee-thoss, pathos, and logos to appeal to your audience. Depending upon where you are in your process, maybe even draft a few rough paragraphs using your source material as support. Wherever you are in your process, it is a good time to start thinking of the appeals and asking yourself questions about your own credibility, the credibility of your sources, how much emotion you want to convey, and what you can do to appeal to the logical thinking of your audience. Write down your plans in a journal or in notes and share with your professor and / or classmate for some additional feedback.

Chapter 4: Purpose, Audience, Tone, and Content

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Introduction

Imagine reading one long block of text, with each idea blurring into the next. Even if you are reading a thrilling novel or an interesting news article, you will likely lose interest in what the author has to say very quickly. During the writing process, it is helpful to position yourself as a reader. Ask yourself whether you can focus easily on each point you make. One technique that effective writers use is to begin a fresh paragraph for each new idea they introduce.

Paragraphs separate ideas into logical, manageable chunks. One paragraph focuses on only one main idea and presents coherent sentences to support that one point. Because all the sentences in one paragraph support the same point, a paragraph may stand on its own. To create longer essays and to discuss more than one point, writers group together paragraphs.

Three elements shape the content of each paragraph:

1. Purpose: The reason the writer composes the paragraph.

2. Tone: The attitude the writer conveys about the paragraph's subject.

3. Audience: The individual or group whom the writer intends to address.

Image summary: A diagram of a blue triangle with labels at its three vertices: Audience at the top, Tone at the bottom left, and Purpose at the bottom right. Double-headed and single-headed arrows connect these three elements to a central label called Content. This structure illustrates that content is shaped by and interacts with the audience, tone, and purpose of the communication.

The assignment's purpose, audience, and tone dictate what the paragraph covers and how it will support one main point. This section covers how purpose, audience, and tone affect reading and writing paragraphs.

Identifying Common Academic Purposes

The purpose for a piece of writing identifies the reason you write a particular document. Basically, the purpose of a piece of writing answers the question "Why?" For example, why write a play? To entertain a packed theater. Why write instructions to the babysitter?

To inform them of your schedule and rules. Why write a letter to your member of Congress? To persuade them to address your community's needs.

In academic settings, the reasons for writing will fulfill a main purpose: to summarize, to analyze, to synthesize, to evaluate, to inform, to entertain, or to persuade. You will encounter these purposes not only as you read for your classes but also as you read for work or pleasure. Because reading and writing work together, your writing skills will improve as you read.

As you will see, the purpose for writing will guide you through each part of the paper, helping you make decisions about content and style. For now, identifying these purposes by reading paragraphs will prepare you to write individual paragraphs and to build longer assignments.

Identifying the Audience

Imagine you must give a presentation to a group of executives in an office. Weeks before the big day, you spend time creating and rehearsing the presentation. You must make important, careful decisions not only about the content but also about your delivery. Will the presentation require technology to project figures and charts? Should the presentation define important words, or will the executives already know the terms? Should you wear a suit? The answers to these questions will help you develop an appropriate relationship with your audience, making them more receptive to your message.

Now imagine you must explain the same business concepts from your presentation to a group of high school students. Those important questions you previously answered may now require different answers. The figures and charts may be too sophisticated, and the terms will certainly require definitions. You may even reconsider your outfit and sport a more casual look. Because the audience has shifted, your presentation and delivery will shift as well to create a new relationship with the new audience.

In these two situations, the audience—the individuals who will watch and listen to the presentation—plays a role in the development of presentation. As you prepare the presentation, you visualize the audience to anticipate their expectations and reactions. What you imagine affects the information you choose to present and how you will present it. Then, during the presentation, you meet the audience in person and discover immediately how well you perform.

Although the audience for writing assignments—your readers—may not appear in person, they play an equally vital role. Even in everyday writing activities, you identify your readers' characteristics, interests, and expectations before making decisions about what you write. In fact, thinking about audience has become so common that you may not even detect the audience-driven decisions.

For example, you update your status on a social networking site with the awareness of who will digitally follow the post. If you want to brag about a good grade, you may write the post to please family members. If you want to describe a funny moment, you may write with your friends' senses of humor in mind. Even at work, you send emails with an awareness of an unintended receiver who could intercept the message.

In other words, being aware of invisible readers is a skill you most likely already possess and one you rely on every day. When writing your own paragraphs, you must engage with your audience to build an appropriate relationship given your subject. Imagining your readers during each stage of the writing process will help you make decisions about your writing. Ultimately, the people you visualize will affect what and how you write.

While giving a speech, you may articulate an inspiring or critical message, but if you left your hair a mess and laced up mismatched shoes, your audience would not take you seriously. They may be too distracted by your appearance to listen to your words.

Similarly, grammar and sentence structure serve as the appearance of a piece of writing. Polishing your work using correct grammar will impress your readers and allow them to focus on what you have to say.

Because focusing on audience will enhance your writing, your process, and your finished product, you must consider the specific traits of your audience members. Use your imagination to anticipate the readers' demographics, education, prior knowledge, and expectations.

- Demographics: These measure important data about a group of people, such as their age range, their ethnicity, their religious beliefs, or their gender. Certain topics and assignments will require these kinds of considerations about your audience. For other topics and assignments, these measurements may not influence your writing in the end. Regardless, it is important to consider demographics when you begin to think about your purpose for writing.

- Education: Education considers the audience's level of schooling. If audience members have earned a doctorate degree, for example, you may need to elevate your style and use more formal language. Or, if audience members are still in college, you could write in a more relaxed style. An audience member's major or emphasis may also dictate your writing.

- Prior knowledge: This refers to what the audience already knows about your topic. If your readers have studied certain topics, they may already know some terms and concepts related to the topic. You may decide whether to define terms and explain concepts based on your audience's prior knowledge. Although you cannot peer inside the brains of your readers to discover their knowledge, you can make reasonable assumptions. For instance, a nursing major would presumably know more about health-related topics than a business major would.

- Expectations: These indicate what readers will look for while reading your assignment. Readers may expect consistencies in the assignment's appearance, such as correct grammar and traditional formatting like double-spaced lines and legible font. Readers may also have content-based expectations given the assignment's purpose and organization. In an essay titled “The

Economics of Enlightenment: The Effects of Rising Tuition," for example, audience members may expect to read about the economic repercussions of college tuition costs.

Selecting an Appropriate Tone

Tone identifies a speaker's attitude toward a subject or another person. You may pick up a person's tone of voice fairly easily in conversation. A friend who tells you about their weekend may speak excitedly about a fun skiing trip. An instructor who means business may speak in a low, slow voice to emphasize their serious mood. Or, a coworker who needs to let off some steam after a long meeting may crack a sarcastic joke.

Just as speakers transmit emotion through voice, writers can transmit through writing a range of attitudes, from excited and humorous to somber and critical. These emotions create connections among the audience, the author, and the subject, ultimately building a relationship between the audience and the text. To build these connections, writers represent their attitudes and feelings with useful devices, such as sentence structure, word choice, punctuation, and formal or informal language. Keep in mind that the writer's attitude should always appropriately match the audience and the purpose.

Choosing Appropriate, Interesting Content

Content refers to all the written substance in a document. After selecting an audience and a purpose, you must choose what information will make it to the page. Content may consist of examples, statistics, facts, anecdotes, testimonies, and observations, but no matter the type, the information must be appropriate and interesting for the audience and purpose. An essay written for third graders that summarizes the legislative process, for example, would have to contain succinct and simple content.

Content is also shaped by tone. When the tone matches the content, the audience will be more engaged, and you will build a stronger relationship with your readers. Consider that audience of third graders. You would choose simple content that the audience will easily understand, and you would express that content through an enthusiastic tone. The same considerations apply to all audiences and purposes.

• Paragraphs separate ideas into logical, manageable chunks of information.

- The content of each paragraph and document is shaped by purpose, audience, and tone.

- The four common academic purposes are to summarize, to analyze, to synthesize, and to evaluate.

- Identifying the audience's demographics, education, prior knowledge, and expectations will affect how and what you write.

- Devices such as sentence structure, word choice, punctuation, and formal or informal language communicate tone and create a relationship between the writer and the audience.

• Content may consist of examples, statistics, facts, anecdotes, testimonies, and observations.

- All content must be appropriate and interesting for the audience, purpose, and tone.

Chapter 5: Developing Critical Thinking

Although there are numerous definitions of critical thinking, this chapter will use "the ability to analyze and interpret relevant information and apply it to novel situations and problems" (Badeau and Evans). This definition is applicable for multiple disciplines.

Reading is an automatic part of academic studies. Understanding what you read is expected. Critical thinking comes in when you must question, investigate, evaluate, analyze, and form conclusions from your analysis to create your own interpretation. Critical thinking encompasses the following steps.

Questioning

Critical thinkers do not automatically presume that what they read or listen to are necessarily the complete and absolute truth. They realize that there can be authorial bias (intentional or unintentional), noncredible sources, or misinformation. Thus, a critical thinker will ask questions to determine whether a text is giving them the complete and accurate picture. Critical thinkers should also be aware of their own biases so that they are not simply looking for something that reinforces their own opinions. Some critical thinking questions to ask about a text are as follows:

Questions about Authorial Bias

• Who wrote this?

• Could they be biased?

• If so, would the author's bias impact the topic?

• In what way, should I be looking for their bias?

Example:

A researcher who is arguing for better environmental sustainability might be biased when using sources that discuss pollution or recycling. Of course, this does not mean that the research is biased. It is a possibility of authorial bias that the critical thinker should acknowledge and be on the lookout for while reading.

If the author states “30% of people are contributing to the daily pollution of the earth,” a critical thinker may look at the text and realize they are basing this claim off a survey that said, “7 out of 10 people recycle.” The researcher then spins this to say those remaining three do not recycle and presumes that they are contributing to the daily pollution of the earth. There are a couple of potential caution flags that the critical thinker will notice.

The first is the researcher is deliberately focusing on the negative (the majority were recycling). The second is the researcher assumes the other 30% are contributing to daily pollution. Does the lack of recycling automatically mean more pollution?

What if one of the three does not recycle since they are not using recyclable material? What if one of the three does not recycle due to a lack of access to recycling? What if one does not recycle but repurposes for their own use? How is recycling defined in the survey?

If one discovers that recycling was defined as using the recycle trash bin versus a regular trash bin, then we may realize there are other gaps in assumptions that the researcher is making. Perhaps, the lack of recycling is not an issue of uncaring people or uninformed people; perchance, it is a lack of opportunity or a lack of need. One person might not be recycling plastic bottles since they already drink out of a reusable container every day.

Notice how a critical thinker will ask more questions as more information becomes provided. It does not mean a critical thinker is going to necessarily disagree with the researcher at the end of the article, but it does mean the critical thinker will want the researcher to provide more reasons than this one survey to substantiate the claim.

Questions of Sources

Not all sources are reliable or relevant for an argument. Relevancy and accuracy should be required criteria to determine whether a source should be employed in an argument. Some questions to ask while you are conducting research that should assist you in determining the quality of sources are as follows:

- What types of sources does the text use?

• Primary (first-hand accounts) or secondary (research works, other scholarly articles, essays, etcetera)?

• Who wrote these other sources?

- What kind of credibility do those authors have (expert in the field, a degree in that field, work experience, etcetera)?

- Was it peer reviewed (assessed by other experts in the field)?

Example:

A blogger who can post without anyone reviewing the accuracy of information or contribution to the field would be a potentially unreliable source. A more credible source would be a scholar who published their online article through a peer-reviewed process. A person who has experience in the field or a degree in that discipline is often more credible than someone untrained or unfamiliar with the topic.

Questions of Misinformation

This may feel like a catch-twenty-two. You are not an expert in the field, which is why you are researching sources to begin with, so how do you determine if the information is accurate? Critical thinkers will use questions to help them navigate the world of information:

- What types of information is provided in the text?

- Is only a select type of information given in the text?

• Is the information complete or only partially given?

• Is the information accurate?

• Is the information current?

• Is the information relevant?

Example:

Sometimes, information may be accurate and even credible, but it may not be relevant to the topic under discussion. Pretend you are writing a research essay about whether a certain nursing home deserves funding for newer facilities. You find a well-documented and convincing scholarly article in a peer-reviewed journal about positive benefits of incorporating pets or pet visits in nursing homes.

While this may provide valuable information about companionship, it does not further support an essay arguing for newer facilities in the nursing home. Pets can visit in an old building or a new building, so the research on the benefits of pet companionship are not applicable or useful for the actual argument at hand.

Investigation

The term investigation can refer to a crime scene and a detective trying to deduce the identity of the perpetrator. This is a description, but it is not the only situation where investigative skills are learned, developed, or employed. Many jobs will require strong investigative skills, which is an important aspect of critical thinking.

Scholars must investigate the academic conversation surrounding an issue or problem to deduce an answerable and useful solution or even multiple solutions. You should investigate the problem at hand and—what may be surprising—investigate whether this is the actual issue. Sometimes, a problem is presented that is not the true issue.

Example:

You have been given the information to solve a disagreement between coworkers about whether the new educational building should be designed in modern or classic architecture. Coworkers are becoming angry about this, so please resolve this argument over style before it becomes a hostile work environment.

A false solution would be to do a survey and see what the majority want. Although this may seem like a logical solution, the actual problem the coworkers are having is not what it appears to be.

A critical thinker will ask the question, “Why are coworkers divided on this issue?” The critical thinker should not presume that this must be about personal taste. They need to go to the source (in this case, the coworkers specifically) to discover why there is such a disagreement. A critical thinker should also ask, “What are the reasons behind the two stances?” The critical thinker wants to understand both sides before taking a stance, compromising, or proposing a solution.

As the critical thinker begins to investigate and discover the answers to these questions, they may discover that the problem is not about style like the problem originally was presented. The critical thinker discovers the actual issue is not about modern or classic architecture but about the purpose of the classrooms. The reason the coworkers are disagreeing is a modern-style architecture will have primarily glass classrooms.

For the art professors, the glass classrooms will allow students more opportunities for creative observations of their surroundings as well as provide more natural lighting that will enhance their artistic endeavors. However, the computer science faculty want classic architecture, arguing that primarily glass classrooms will create major hinderances. They point out the best way to teach their courses is to have a large screen for students to model the task at hand and then long tables with chairs and computers for them to practice the class concepts. The computer science professors point out that glass classrooms would provide a distraction, and a difficulty of viewing screens that will hinder their students learning. Whereas a classic style classroom would give them the electrical outlets, space, and lighting to enhance their students' learning experience.

Thanks to investigating, the critical thinker now knows the actual problem that needs to be addressed. A survey is not a viable solution since this is not a popularity or personal problem. The issue is what would be the best for the students, and both sets of coworkers have valid points. Thus, the critical thinker should investigate how the issues could be resolved and benefit both teaching disciplines.

The critical thinker realizes that the coworkers are actually in agreement. Both sides want their students to have the best learning experience in their discipline. The critical thinker will investigate if there is a way to make the architecture-choice fulfill this mutual goal.

It turns out that modern-style architecture may primarily be made of glass classrooms, but there are tempered glass options, meaning that the glass can be darkened, thereby eliminating the computer science faculty's concern that the light will cause glare on their computer screens. This does not yet solve the other issues. The critical thinker researches and discovers that though outlets may not be placed in the walls that the glass classrooms can still have the same number of outlets by placing them on the floor and ceiling instead of the walls.

Technically, the space itself remains the same, so all concerns of the computer science faculty have been resolved. Now, both disciplines can enhance their students' learning experience without hurting one another.

Investigation requires employing questions to find out important answers to a problem. The following are some additional questions that can further the investigation process whether you are writing an essay on literature or resolving a work conflict:

Investigative Questions:

• How does the author define terms?

- Are these definitions logical and useful for the task at hand?

• How is the author backing up their claims?

• Are these sources credible?

• Are these logical options or are there more options that the author should consider?

Evaluation

The term evaluation is one of assessment. A critical thinker evaluates the validity and the veracity of a source's claims. Some sources will use logical fallacies that are not valid (please see Argument chapter). Other sources may lack veracity (truthfulness) by skating around an issue or changing the definition, which may also be a type of logical fallacy. A critical thinker evaluates whether a point was presented effectively.

You must evaluate various sources' and assess their argument's veracity and validity.

Questions of Evaluation:

• Does the author effectively and persuasively make their point?

• Does they consider potential objections or counterarguments and offer thoughtful rebuttals?

• Are there any assumptions or fallacies that undermine the author's efficacy?

Analysis

Scholars often analyze claims, evidence, and reasoning to evaluate their validity and strength. Recognizing that not all arguments are equally valid or persuasive can be challenging. However, this does not mean that any argument or interpretation is acceptable or that all perspectives hold equal weight.

Imagine someone is trying to solve the problem of finding a suitable mode of transportation to get to work. Are all transportation options equally viable? When we examine this closely, the answer is no. If this individual cannot drive due to a disability, would offering them a car they cannot operate be a good solution? Of course not.

Would suggesting this individual drive themselves to work be a reasonable or useful solution? It would not.

Similarly, if public transit is unreliable or unavailable in their area, that option becomes less practical. On the other hand, even if ride-sharing services are more expensive, they might be the most viable solution in the given context. This demonstrates that while multiple solutions exist to the transportation problem, not all are equally applicable or feasible.

The same principle applies to critical thinking. Not all arguments are equally compelling, logical, or relevant. When you analyze an issue or construct your argument, you must evaluate its validity by considering the evidence, its connection to the claim, and its practical implications. While there may be multiple ways to approach a topic, a strong argument will be thoughtful, well-supported, and tailored to the context. Your goal is to present an argument that is purposeful, insightful, and contributes meaningfully to the discussion, just as a viable transportation solution addresses the specific needs of the individual.

Questions of Analysis:

- What are the specific needs and constraints of the individual (e.g., physical ability, financial resources, time constraints)?

- What options are realistically available in their area?

• Are there any assumptions being made about the individual's preferences or priorities?

- How do evidence and reasoning affect the viability of an argument?

• How does the context (audience, purpose, setting) shape the argument's effectiveness?

Form a Conclusion or a Solution:

You may have noticed by now that these aspects of critical thinking may occur sequentially but often will occur at the same time. You may be questioning a source for misinformation while you are also evaluating its veracity. This is part of why critical thinking is difficult for scholars to define since it will often encompass several skills working together for an eventual result.

Scholars are wanting these critical thinking skills to lead to thoughtful, well supported solution.

Hopefully, you realize that this skill set is applicable to multiple disciplines. The skills of questioning, investigating, evaluating, and analyzing are core objectives in your academic courses. Critically thinking about a situation or a text and proposing a thoughtful solution or interpretation are foundational concepts taught throughout your academic courses.

Employers place incredible value on problem solving as an aspect of critical thinking since often work situations or problems may not have obvious solutions. It will often take creative, critical thinking to resolve conflicts, create plans, propose solutions, and communicate those ideas effectively, clearly, and persuasively.

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Developing a Strong, Clear Thesis Statement

Introduction

Have you ever known a person who was not very good at telling stories? You probably had trouble following their train of thought as they 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 they told the end of the story first, then moved to the beginning and later added details to the middle.

Their 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 a working thesis before you begin to organize an essay, and you will find that it needs multiple revisions as the essay develops.

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 must form a specific stance, and then articulate that into a 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, demonstrable, and confident.

A thesis is typically one sentence long and appears toward the end of your introduction. 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 shows what you are proving in your essay and must be debatable.

A Strong Thesis Statement

A strong thesis statement contains the following qualities:

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

Precision: A strong thesis statement must be precise enough to allow for a coherent argument and to remain focused on the topic. For example, if the specific topic is options for individuals without health care coverage, 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 demonstrated: For any claim, you make in your thesis, you must be able to provide reasons and examples for your stance. You can rely on personal observations 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.

Confidence: You must also use confidence in your claim. Phrases such as I feel or I believe 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 are saying.

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.

Exercise 1

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

Topics

1. Texting while driving

2. Social media

3. Online courses

4. College

5. High School

Examples of Appropriate Thesis Statements

Each of the following thesis statements meets the following requirements:

• Ability to be argued

• Precision

- Ability to be demonstrated

• Confidence

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

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

3. 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.

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

Now that you have read about the contents of a good thesis statement and have seen examples, 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.

s weak when it contains an obvious fact, something that no one can disagree with.

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. List the reasons why. Then revise the weak statements so that they conform to the requirements of a strong thesis.

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

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

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

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

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

• Because many children's toys have potential safety hazards that could lead to injury, not all children's toys are safe.

• 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

Your thesis will change as you draft your essay, so, once you have finished drafting, you will need to go back and modify the thesis statement to reflect exactly what you have discussed in your essay. Remember that your thesis statement begins as a working thesis statement that you make about your topic early in the writing process to plan and guide your writing.

Working thesis statements often become stronger as you gather information and form stronger arguments. Revision helps you strengthen your thesis so that it matches what you have presented in the body of the paper.

Tip:

The best way to revise your thesis statement is to ask yourself 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:

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

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

Revised thesis: Recent college graduates must have discipline and persistence 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 their research and gain more direction in their writing.

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 luring 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 joke. The writer should ask themselves questions similar to the 5.W.H questions. By incorporating the answers to these questions into a thesis statement, the writer more accurately defines their stance, which will better guide the writing of the essay.

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 themselves questions 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?

Omit any general claims that are hard to support.

Working thesis: Today, adults are pet-crazy.

Revised thesis: Some American adults treat their pets like children and pay more attention to the dogs and cats they live with than to the children who live in their communities.

It is true that some adults in today's society seem to care more about pets than children, but this is not true for all adults--and pet-crazy will mean something different to every reader. Are you pet crazy if you hire a pet sitter to take care of your dog when you are traveling? Are you pet crazy if you have four cats in the house? The writer of this thesis should ask the following questions:

- What does pet crazy mean?

- Why are some adults behaving this way?

- Where does this behavior show up?

Key Takeaways

- Proper essays require a thesis statement to provide a specific focus and suggest how the essay will be organized.

- A thesis statement is your stance of the subject, not the topic itself.

- A strong thesis is arguable, precise, able to be demonstrated, and confident,

- A strong thesis challenges readers with a point of view that can be debated and is supported with evidence.

- A weak thesis is simply a declaration of your topic or contains an obvious fact that cannot be argued.

- Revise your thesis by ensuring all words are specific, all ideas are exact, and all verbs express action.

Writing Body Paragraphs

Introduction

If your thesis gives the reader a roadmap 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 lend credibility to what you are trying to prove.

Select Primary Support for Your Thesis

Without support, your argument will not be convincing. Supporting points 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 supporting points are, in turn, supported by evidence and analysis within the paragraphs.

Tip:

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

Identify the Characteristics of Good Support

To fulfill the requirements of good support, the information you choose must meet the following standards:

1. Be relevant to the thesis. Support is considered strong when it relates directly to the thesis. Support should show, explain, or prove your main argument without delving into irrelevant details. When faced with lots 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.

2. 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, 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.

Prewrite to Identify Main Supporting Points for a Thesis Statement

Recall that when you prewrite, you prepare a list of examples or reasons why you support your stance. Stemming from each point, you further provide evidence 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.

Exercise 1

Choose one of the following working thesis statements. On a separate sheet of paper, write for at least five minutes using one of the prewriting techniques.

1. Unleashed dogs on city streets are a dangerous nuisance.

2. Students cheat for many different reasons.

3. The most important change that should occur at my college or university is ___ _.

Select the Most Effective Main 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 main support must be relevant to your thesis. Remind yourself of your thesis, 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.

Refer to the previous exercise and select three of your most compelling reasons to support the thesis statement. Remember that the points you choose must be specific and relevant to the thesis. The statements you choose will be your main support points, and you will later incorporate them into the topic sentences for the body paragraphs.

When you support your thesis, you are introducing 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 cannot be disputed. They can support your stance by providing background information, or a solid foundation, for your point of view. However, some facts may still need explanation. For example, the sentence “The most populated state in the United States is California” is a pure fact, but it may require some explanation to make it relevant to your specific argument.

- Testimony: Testimony consists of direct quotes from either an eyewitness or an expert witness. An eyewitness is someone who has direct experience with a subject; they add 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.

Tip:

Note: Keep in mind that for most of the assignments in this course, you will be using source material (researched facts, testimony) as evidence.

You can consult a vast pool of resources to gather support for your stance. Citing relevant information from reliable sources ensures that your reader will take you seriously and consider your assertions. Use any of the following unbiased sources for your essay: newspapers or news organization websites, magazines, encyclopedias, and scholarly journals, which are periodicals that address topics in a specialized field.

Choose Topic Sentences

Each body paragraph contains a topic sentence that states the point you are discussing and then expands upon it. Like the thesis statement, each topic sentence should be specific and supported by concrete details, facts, and analysis.

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 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.

Exercise 3

In Exercise 2, you chose three of your most convincing points to support the thesis statement you selected from the list. Take each point and incorporate it into a topic sentence for each body paragraph.

Supporting point 1:

Topic sentence:

Supporting point 2:

Topic sentence:

Supporting point 3:

Topic sentence:

Supply Evidence for Each Topic Sentence

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

The writer drafts supporting detail sentences for each topic sentence based on the thesis statement:

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

Topic Sentence 1: Dogs can scare cyclists and pedestrians

Supporting details

• Cyclists are forced to zigzag on the road.

- School children panic and turn wildly on their bikes.

- People who are walking at night freeze in fear.

Topic Sentence 2: Loose dogs are traffic hazards.

Supporting details

- Dogs in the street make people swerve their cars.

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

• Children coaxing dogs across busy streets create danger.

Topic Sentence 3: Unleashed dogs damage gardens.

Supporting details

• They step on flowers and vegetables.

• They destroy hedges by urinating on them.

- They mess up lawns by digging holes.

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

Salinger, a World War II veteran, suffered from posttraumatic disorder, a disorder that influenced 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 W.W.2 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.

Table summary: A tip for essay drafting that suggests printing the first draft and highlighting topic sentences in body paragraphs to ensure they are clearly stated, accurately reflect the thesis, and align with the information presented in the rest of the paragraph, recommending a rewrite if the topic sentence contains information not supported by the paragraph content.

- Your body paragraphs should relate back to your thesis statement.

• Strong body paragraphs contain evidence that supports your thesis.

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

• Strong supporting points are specific, detailed, and relevant to the thesis.

- Prewriting helps you determine your most compelling supporting points.

• Evidence can include facts, judgments, and testimony.

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

Organizing Your Writing

Introduction

The method of organization you choose for your essay is just as important as its content. Without a clear organizational pattern, your reader could become confused and lose interest. The way you structure your essay helps your readers draw connections between the body and the thesis, and the structure also keeps you focused as you plan and write the essay.

Choosing your organizational pattern before you outline ensures that each body paragraph works to support and develop your thesis. This section covers three ways to organize body paragraphs:

• Chronological order

• Spatial order

Order of importance

When you begin to draft your essay, your ideas may seem to flow from your mind in a seemingly random manner. Your readers, who bring to the table different backgrounds, viewpoints, and ideas, need you to clearly organize these ideas to help process and understand them.

A solid organizational pattern gives your ideas a path that you can follow as you develop your draft. Knowing how you will organize your paragraphs allows you to better express and analyze your thoughts. Planning the structure of your essay before you choose supporting evidence helps you conduct more effective and targeted research.

Chronological Order

Chronological arrangement has the following purposes:

• To explain the history of an event or a topic

• To tell a story or relate an experience

- To explain the steps in a process

Chronological order is mostly used in expository writing, which is a form of writing that narrates, describes, informs, or explains a process. When using chronological order, arrange the events in the order that they happened, or will happen if you are giving instructions. This method requires you to use words such as first, second, then, after that, later, and finally. These transition words guide you and your reader through the paper as you expand your thesis.

For example, if you are writing an essay about the history of the airline industry, you would begin with its conception and detail the essential timeline events up until present day. You would follow the chain of events using words such as first, then, next, and so on.

Exercise 1

Choose an accomplishment you have achieved in your life. The important moment could be in sports, schooling, or extracurricular activities. On your own sheet of paper, list the steps you took to reach your goal.

Try to be as specific as possible with the steps you took. Pay attention to using transition words to focus your writing.

Keep in mind that chronological order is most appropriate for the following purposes:

• Writing essays containing heavy research

• Writing essays with the aim of listing, explaining, or narrating

• Writing essays that analyze literary works such as poems, plays, or books

Tip:

When using chronological order, your introduction should indicate the information you will cover and in what order, and the introduction should also establish the relevance of the information. Your body paragraphs should then provide clear divisions or steps in chronology. You can divide your paragraphs by time (such as decades, wars, or other historical events) or by the same structure of the work you are examining (such as a line-by-line explication of a poem).

Exercise 2

On a separate sheet of paper, write a paragraph that describes a process you are familiar with and can do well. Assume that your reader is unfamiliar with the procedure. Remember to use the chronological key words, such as first, second, then, and finally.

Spatial Order

Spatial order is best used for the following purposes:

- Helping readers visualize something as you want them to see it

- Create a main impression using the senses (sight, touch, taste, smell, and sound)

• Writing a descriptive essay

When you use spatial order, you explain or describe objects as they are arranged around you in your space, for example in a bedroom. As the writer, you create a picture for your reader, and their perspective is the viewpoint from which you describe what is around you.

The view must move in an orderly, logical progression, giving the reader clear directional signals to follow from place to place. The key to using this method is to choose a specific starting point and then guide the reader to follow your eye as it moves in an orderly trajectory from your starting point.

Pay attention to the following student's description of her bedroom and how she guides the reader through the viewing process, foot by foot:

Attached to my bedroom wall is a small wooden rack dangling with red and turquoise necklaces that shimmer as you enter. Just to the right of the rack is my window, framed by billowy white curtains. The peace of such an image is a stark contrast to my desk, which sits to the right of the window, layered in textbooks, crumpled papers, coffee cups, and an overflowing ashtray. Turning my head to the right, I see a set of two bare windows that frame the trees outside the glass like a 3D painting. Below the windows is an oak chest from which blankets and scarves are protruding. Against the wall opposite the billowy curtains is an antique dresser, on top of which sits a jewelry box and a few picture frames. A tall mirror attached to the dresser takes up most of the wall, which is the color of lavender.

The paragraph incorporates two objectives you have learned in this chapter: using an implied topic sentence and applying spatial order. Often in a descriptive essay, the two work together.

The following are possible transition words to include when using spatial order:

- Just to the left or just to the right

• Behind

• Between

- On the left or on the right

• Across from

• A little further down

- To the south, to the east, and so on

• A few yards away

• Turning left or turning right

Exercise 3

On a separate sheet of paper, write a paragraph using spatial order that describes your commute to work, school, or another location you visit often.

Order of Importance

Recall that the order of importance is best used for the following purposes:

• Ranking items by their importance, benefit, or significance

• Illustrating a situation, problem, or solution

Most essays move from the least to the most important point, and the paragraphs are arranged to build the essay's strength. Sometimes, however, it is necessary to begin with your most important supporting point, such as in an essay that contains a thesis that is highly debatable. When writing a persuasive essay, it is best to begin with the most important point because it immediately captivates your readers and compels them to continue reading.

For example, if you were supporting your thesis that homework is detrimental to the education of high school students, you would want to present your most convincing argument first, and then move on to the less important points for your case.

Some key transitional words you should use with this method of organization are most importantly, almost as importantly, just as importantly, and finally.

Exercise 4

On a separate sheet of paper, write a paragraph that discusses a passion of yours. Your passion could be music, a particular sport, filmmaking, and so on. Your paragraph should be built upon the reasons why you feel so strongly. Briefly discuss your reasons in the order of greatest to least importance.

Key Takeaways

- The way you organize your body paragraphs ensures you and your readers stay focused on and draw connections to, your thesis statement.

- A strong organizational pattern allows you to articulate, analyze, and clarify your thoughts.

- Planning the organizational structure for your essay before you begin to search for supporting evidence helps you conduct more effective and directed research.

- Chronological order is most commonly used in expository writing. It is useful for explaining the history of your subject, for telling a story, or for explaining a process.

- Spatial order describes things as they are arranged in space and is best for helping readers visualize something as you want them to see it; it creates a dominant impression.

- Order of importance is most appropriate in an argumentative paper as well as for essays in which you rank things, people, or events by their significance.

Writing Introductory and Concluding Paragraphs

Introduction

Picture your introduction as a storefront window: you have a certain amount of space to attract your customers (readers) to your goods (subject) and bring them inside your store (discussion). Once you have enticed them with something intriguing, you then point them in a specific direction and try to make the sale (convince them your thesis is valid).

Your introduction is an invitation to your readers to consider what you have to say and then to follow your train of thought as you expand upon your thesis statement.

An introduction serves the following purposes:

• Introduces the general topic of the essay.

• States the thesis that will be supported in the body paragraphs.

• Establishes your voice and tone toward the subject.

- Provides background information your reader needs to know to understand your thesis statement.

First impressions are crucial and can leave lasting effects in your reader's mind, which is why the introduction is so important to your essay. If your introductory paragraph is dull or disjointed, your reader probably will not have much interest in continuing with the essay.

Attracting Interest in Your Introductory Paragraph

Your introduction should begin with an engaging statement devised to provoke your readers' interest. In the next few sentences, introduce them to your topic by stating general facts or ideas about the subject. As you move deeper into your introduction, you gradually narrow the focus, moving closer to your thesis. Moving smoothly and logically from your introductory remarks to your thesis statement can be achieved using a funnel technique. Broad statements lead to general introductory remarks which leads to the thesis.

Immediately capturing your readers' interest increases the chance of having them read what you are about to discuss. You can garner curiosity for your essay in a number of ways. Try to get your readers personally involved by doing any of the following:

• Using logic

• Appealing to their emotions

• Opening with a statistic or fact

• Raising a question

Presenting an explanation or rationalization for your essay

• Opening with a relevant quotation or incident

• Opening with a striking image

• Creating a profile of someone connected to the topic

Providing background information a reader needs to know (event that has provoked the essay, summary of a literary work)

In the Writing Process chapter, you followed Mariah as she moved through the writing process. In this chapter, Mariah writes her introduction and conclusion for the same essay. Mariah incorporates some of the introductory elements into her introductory paragraph. Her thesis statement is underlined.

Play Atari on a General Electric brands television set? Maybe watch Dynasty? Or read old newspaper articles on microfiche at the library? Twenty-five years ago, the average college student did not have many options when it came to entertainment in the form of technology. Fast forward to the twenty-first century, and the digital age has revolutionized the way people entertain themselves. In today's rapidly evolving world of digital technology, consumers are bombarded with endless options for how they do most everything, from buying and reading books to taking and developing photographs. In a society that is obsessed with digital means of entertainment, it is easy for the average person to become baffled. Everyone wants the newest and best digital technology, but the choices are many and the specifications are often confusing.

In your job field, you may be required to write a speech for an event, such as an awards banquet or a dedication ceremony. The introduction of a speech is similar to an essay because you have a limited amount of space to attract your audience's attention. Using the same techniques is an effective way to engage your listeners. Using the funnel approach also introduces your audience to your topic and then presents your main idea in a logical manner.

Reread each sentence in Mariah's introductory paragraph. Indicate which techniques she used and comment on how each sentence is designed to attract her readers' interest.

Writing a Conclusion

It is not unusual to want to rush when you approach your conclusion, and even experienced writers may fade. But what good writers remember is that it is vital to put just as much attention into the conclusion as in the rest of the essay. After all, a hasty ending can undermine an otherwise strong essay.

A conclusion that does not correspond to the rest of your essay, has loose ends, or is unorganized can unsettle your readers and raise doubts about the entire essay. However, if you have worked hard to write the introduction and body, your conclusion can often be the most logical part to compose.

The Anatomy of a Strong Conclusion

Keep in mind that the ideas in your conclusion must conform to the rest of your essay. In order to tie these components together, restate your thesis at the beginning of your conclusion. This helps you assemble, in an orderly fashion, all the information you have explained in the body. Repeating your thesis reminds your readers of the major arguments you have been trying to prove and indicates that your essay is drawing to a close. A strong conclusion also reviews your main points and emphasizes the importance of the topic.

The construction of the conclusion is similar to the introduction, in which you make general introductory statements and then present your thesis. The difference is that in the conclusion you first paraphrase, or state in different words, your thesis and then follow up with general concluding remarks.

These sentences should progressively broaden the focus of your thesis and maneuver your readers out of the essay.

Many writers like to end their essays with a final emphatic statement. This strong closing statement will cause your readers to continue thinking about the implications of your essay; it will make your conclusion, and thus your essay, more memorable. Another powerful technique is to challenge your readers to make a change in either their thoughts or their actions. Challenging your readers to see the subject through new eyes is a powerful way to ease yourself and your readers out of the essay.

When closing your essay, do not expressly state that you are drawing to a close. Relying on statements such as in conclusion, it is clear that, as you can see, or in summation is unnecessary and can be considered trite.

Table summary: A tip for writing conclusions, advising against four specific actions: introducing new material, contradicting your thesis, changing your thesis, and using apologies or disclaimers.

Introducing new material in your conclusion has an unsettling effect on your reader. When you raise new points, you make your reader want more information, which you could not possibly provide in the limited space of your final paragraph.

Contradicting or changing your thesis statement causes your readers to think that you do not actually have a conviction about your topic. After all, you have spent several paragraphs adhering to a singular point of view. When you change sides or open up your point of view in the conclusion, your reader becomes less inclined to believe your original argument.

By apologizing for your opinion or stating that you know it is tough to digest, you are in fact admitting that even you know what you have discussed is irrelevant or unconvincing. You do not want your readers to feel this way. Effective writers stand by their thesis statement and do not stray from it.

Mariah incorporates some of these pointers into her conclusion. She has paraphrased her thesis statement in the first sentence:

In a society fixated on the latest and smartest digital technology, a consumer can easily become confused by the countless options and specifications. The ever changing status of digital technology challenges consumers with its updates and add-ons and expanding markets and incompatible formats and restrictions, a fact that is complicated by salesmen who wants to sell them anything. In a world that is increasingly driven by instant gratification, it is easy for people to buy the first thing they see. The solution for many people should be to avoid buying on impulse. Consumers should think about what they really need, not what is advertised.

Tip:

Make sure your essay is balanced by not having an excessively long or short introduction or conclusion. Check that they match each other in length as closely as possible, and try to mirror the formula you use in each. Parallelism strengthens the message of your essay.

Writing in Action

On the job you will sometimes give oral presentations based on research you have conducted. A concluding statement to an oral report contains the same elements as a written conclusion. You should wrap up your presentation by restating the purpose of the presentation, reviewing its main points, and emphasizing the importance of the material you presented. A strong conclusion will leave a lasting impression on your audience.

Key Takeaways

- A strong opening captures your readers' interest and introduces them to your topic before you present your thesis statement.

- The funnel technique to writing the introduction begins with generalities and gradually narrows your focus until you present your thesis.

- A good introduction engages people's emotions or logic, questions or explains the subject, or provides a striking image or quotation.

- Carefully chosen diction in both the introduction and conclusion prevents any confusing or boring ideas.

- A conclusion should restate your thesis, review your main points, and emphasize the importance of the topic.

- A conclusion that does not connect to the rest of the essay can diminish the effect of your paper.

- The conclusion should remain true to your thesis statement. It is best to avoid changing your tone or your main idea and avoid introducing any new material.

- Closing with a final emphatic statement provides closure for your readers and makes your essay more memorable.

Writing Essays: End-of-Chapter Exercises

1. On a separate sheet of paper, choose one of the examples of a proper thesis statement from this chapter (one that interests you) and form three supporting points for that statement. After you have formed your three points, write a topic sentence for each body paragraph. Make sure that your topic sentences can be backed up with examples and details.

2. Choose one of the topics from “Exercise 1” in “Developing a Strong, Clear Thesis Statement” and form a yes or no question about that topic. Then, take a survey of the people in your class to find out how they feel about the subject. Using the majority vote, ask those people to write on slips of paper the reasons for their opinion. Using the data you collect, form a thesis statement based on your classmates' perspectives on the topic and their reasons.

3. On a separate sheet of a paper, write an introduction for an essay based on the thesis statement from activity #2 using the techniques for introductory paragraphs that you learned in this chapter.

4. Read an article. See if you can pinpoint the thesis statement as well as the topic sentence for each paragraph and its supporting details.

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Introduction

Rhetorical modes simply mean the ways in which we can effectively communicate through language. This chapter covers the first of nine common rhetorical modes. As you read about these nine modes, keep in mind that the rhetorical mode a writer chooses depends on their purpose for writing. Sometimes writers incorporate a variety of modes in any one essay.

The Purpose of Narrative Writing

Narration means the art of storytelling, and the purpose of narrative writing is to tell stories. Any time you tell a story to a friend or family member about an event or incident in your day, you engage in a form of narration. While any narrative essay, paragraph, or passage you write for this class will probably be nonfiction (i.e. a true story), a narrative can be factual or fictional. A factual story is one that is based on, and tries to be faithful to, actual events as they unfolded in real life. A fictional story is a made-up, or imagined, story; the writer of a fictional story can create characters and events as they see fit.

The big distinction between factual and fictional narratives is based on a writer's purpose. The writers of factual stories try to recount events as they actually happened, but writers of fictional stories can depart from real people and events because the writers' intention is not to retell real life events.

Biographies and memoirs are examples of factual stories, whereas novels and short stories are examples of fictional stories.

An essay writer, unlike the writer of short stories or novels, tells a story in order to support a point. A narrative essay tells a story to support a thesis statement or tells a short story (or anecdote) to support a topic sentence. Your story should be carefully crafted to convince your readers that a point is valid, not just to entertain them or build suspense.

Tip:

Ultimately, whether a story is fact or fiction, narrative writing tries to relay a series of events in an emotionally engaging way. You want your audience to be moved by your story, which could mean through laughter, sympathy, fear, anger, and so on. The more clearly you tell your story, the more emotionally engaged your audience is likely to be.

The Structure of a Narrative Essay

Major narrative events are most often conveyed in chronological order, the order in which events unfold from first to last. Stories typically have a beginning, a middle, and an end, and these events are typically organized by time. Certain transitional words and phrases aid in keeping the reader oriented in the sequencing of a story. Some of these phrases are listed in Table 6.1.

: Transition words and phrases for expressing time. This list includes common temporal markers such as after and afterward, currently, next, and finally, as well as phrases like as soon as, at last, and first, second, and third.

There are many types of narratives in an English composition classroom: personal, historical, scientific, and literacy narratives. A personal narrative retells a life experience including both telling a story and reflecting upon it. A literary narrative is focused on one's personal relationship to literacy. This would reflect upon accomplishments, challenges, or learning experiences.

When interviewing candidates for jobs, employers often ask about conflicts or problems a potential employee has had to overcome. They are asking for a compelling personal narrative. To prepare for this question in a job interview, write out a scenario using the narrative mode structure. This will allow you to troubleshoot rough spots, as well as better understand your own personal history. Both processes will make your story better and your self-presentation better, too.

Writing a Narrative Essay

When writing a narrative essay, you may want to start by freewriting about topics that are of general interest to you. Once you have a general idea of what you will be writing about, you should outline the major events of the story. Often, these events will be revealed chronologically. The use of strong details is crucial as you describe the events and people in your narrative. You want the reader to emotionally engage with the world that you create in writing.

Tip:

To create strong details, keep the five senses in mind. You want your reader to be immersed in the world that you create, so focus on details related to sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch as you describe people, places, and events in your narrative.

Key Takeaways

- Narration is the art of storytelling.

- Narratives can be either factual or fictional. In either case, narratives should emotionally engage the reader.

- Most narratives are composed of major events sequenced in chronological order.

- Time transition words and phrases are used to orient the reader in the sequence of a narrative.

- The use of sensory details is helpful to emotionally engage the reader.

- A strong introduction is important to hook the reader. A strong conclusion should reflect upon the narrative theme.

Examples of Narrative Essays Available Online

• “Indian Education,” by Sherman Alexie

• “Us and Them,” by David Sedaris

• “Sixty-Nine Cents,” by Gary Shteyngart

• “Only Daughter,” by Sandra Cisneros

Chapter 8: Description

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The Purpose of Description in Writing

Writers use description in writing to make sure that their audience is fully immersed in the words on the page. This requires a concerted effort by the writer to describe their world through the use of sensory details.

Sensory details are descriptions that appeal to our sense of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Your descriptions should try to focus on the five senses because we all rely on these senses to experience the world. The use of sensory details, then, provides you the greatest possibility of relating to your audience and thus engaging them in your writing. Descriptive writing is important not only during your education but also during everyday situations.

Figurative Language

Figurative language is non-literal language used to further clarify an idea or image. Two common types of figures of speech are similes and metaphors. They help us better understand or visualize by comparing an unknown to a known. We use similes and metaphors all the time, probably without even realizing it. For instance, if a friend told you that their brother just bought a used Dodge Charger that is “the ugliest green,” you would be on your own to guess what ugliest green meant. However, if the friend said, “My brother just bought an ugly old Dodge Charger; it looks like a bruised Granny Smith apple,” you would have a much clearer picture of the car's color, and because they also included bruised, you would also picture rust spots. Similes and metaphors add precision.

Simile: comparing essentially unlike things using the words like, than, or as.

- “The mound of chocolate dropped like a horrible turd upon my bed spread” (from David Sedaris's “Us and Them”).

- Her skin was rougher than burlap.

- His broken nose had swelled as big as a ripe plum.

Metaphor: a comparison between otherwise dissimilar things without using the words like, than, or as.

- “He's a human being, but also he's a pig, surrounded by trash and gorging himself so that others may be denyed” (from David Sedaris's “Us and Them”).

- The traffic bled out of the city's major arteries.

Table summary: Avoid mixing metaphors to ensure clarity. The example provided shows that combining a dog barking with a snake hissing creates a confusing image, whereas changing the second verb to growled maintains a consistent metaphor of an angry dog.

Exercise 1

If you already have a narrative or descriptive essay assignment, come up with one simile and one metaphor about someone or something in your essay. If you are not currently working on an assignment, come up with one simile and one metaphor about someone or something within ten feet of where you are now. Use figurative language to clarify an image or idea.

Simile example clarifying an image: Uncle John's belly didn't just jiggle as he jogged toward me; it bounced like a tough-skinned water balloon against his giant belt buckle.

Metaphor example clarifying an idea: Grandma was the anchor that kept the family from drifting toward life's waterfalls.

Showing versus Telling

Good description leaves readers with vivid, memorable images. When writing description, avoid empty descriptors if possible. Empty descriptors are adjectives that can mean different things to different people. Some examples are good, beautiful, terrific, and nice.

The use of such words in descriptions can lead to misreading and confusion. A good day, for instance, can mean far different things depending on one's age, personality, or tastes. These types of words are also considered generic since they say very little. This being said, when you write descriptively, try to use specific details that create a picture in the reader's mind as they move through the text.

For example, which statement below is more effective? Which are you more likely to remember and enjoy reading?

• Dinner was badly burned.

- The cheese in the lasagna began to bubble up and over the pan and onto the oven's surface where the heat turned it black. Smoke then rose from the stains and poured out of the oven doors as the charred smell made its way across the kitchen and into the smoke detectors, which started to blame.

Most likely, you selected statement two because it creates a concrete picture in your mind. Do you notice the visual details and the use of smells and sounds? This technique is called showing vs telling. Statement one tells. Statement two shows.

It may be tempting to simply tell because it is easy. As writers, we know what we experienced when we write, “I was really nervous.” To our readers, however, “I was really nervous” does not convey precise information. As a writer, I need to think how I can show rather than just tell. How did I feel and exhibit nervousness on that occasion?

Did I imagine the worst possible outcome? Was my breathing shallow and rapid? Did my hands tremble?

Telling: I was really nervous when I asked my boss for a raise.

Showing: As I approached the door, certain that I would instantly be fired for asking for a raise, I wiped my clammy hands on the front of my pants one last time. Beads of sweat formed on my upper lip, and I could feel my paltry breakfast of dry toast and too much coffee buzzing in my stomach.

Exercise 2

If you already have a narrative or descriptive essay assignment, turn a telling statement about someone or something in your essay into a showing passage. If you are not currently working on an assignment, turn a telling statement about someone or something within ten feet of where you are now into a showing passage.

The Structure of a Description Essay

Description essays typically describe a person, a place, or an object using sensory details. The structure of a description essay is more flexible than in some of the other rhetorical modes. The introduction should set up the tone and point of the essay. The thesis should convey the writer's overall impression of the person, place, or object described in the body paragraphs.

The organization of the essay may best follow spatial order, an arrangement of ideas according to physical characteristics or appearance. Depending on what the writer describes, the organization could move from top to bottom, left to right, near to far, warm to cold, frightening to inviting, and so on.

For example, if the subject were a client's kitchen in the midst of renovation, you might start at one side of the room and move slowly across to the other side, describing appliances, cabinetry, and so on. Or you might choose to start with older remnants of the kitchen and progress to the new installations. Maybe start with the floor and move up toward the ceiling.

Writing a Description Essay

Choosing a subject is the first step in writing a description essay. Once you have chosen the person, place, or object you want to describe, your challenge is to write an effective thesis statement to guide your essay. The remainder of your essay describes your subject in a way that best expresses your thesis.

Remember, you should have a strong sense of how you will organize your essay. Choose a strategy and stick to it. Every part of your essay should use vivid sensory details. The more you can appeal to your readers' senses, the more they will be engaged in your essay.

- Description essays should describe something vividly to the reader using strong sensory details.

- Sensory details appeal to the five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.

- A description essay should start with the writer's main impression of a person, a place, or an object.

- Use spatial order to organize your description essay.

Examples of Description Essays Available Online

• “Fish Cheeks,” by Amy Tan

• “Shooting an Elephant,” by George Orwell

• “Where Nothing Says Everything,” by Suzanne Berne

Chapter 9: Exemplification

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The Purpose of Using Exemplification in Writing

To illustrate or exemplify means to show or demonstrate something clearly. An effective illustration or exemplification essay clearly demonstrates and supports a point through the use of evidence.

As you learned earlier, the main idea of an essay is called a thesis. A writer can use different types of evidence to support their thesis. Using scientific studies, experts in a particular field, statistics, historical events, current events, and analogies are all ways in which a writer can illustrate a thesis. Ultimately, you want the evidence to help the reader see your point, as one would see a good illustration in a magazine or on a website. The stronger your evidence is, the more clearly the reader will consider your point.

Using evidence effectively can be challenging. The evidence you choose will usually depend on your subject and your audience. When writing an exemplification essay, keep in mind the following:

- Use evidence that is appropriate to your topic as well as appropriate for your audience.

- Assess how much evidence you need to adequately explain your point depending on the complexity of the subject and the knowledge of your audience regarding that subject.

For example, if you were writing about a new communication software and your audience was a group of English undergrads, you might want to use an analogy or a personal story to illustrate how the software worked. You might also choose to add a few more pieces of evidence to make sure the audience understands your point. However, if you were writing about the same subject and you audience members were information technology (I.T) specialists, you would likely use more technical evidence because they would be familiar with the subject.

Keeping in mind your subject in relation to your audience will increase your chances of effectively illustrating your point.

The Structure of an Exemplification Essay

The thesis belongs at the beginning of the essay. Evidence is then presented in the essay's body paragraphs to support the thesis. You can start supporting your main point with your strongest evidence first, or you can start with evidence of lesser importance and have the essay build to increasingly stronger evidence.

Time transition words are also helpful in ordering the presentation of evidence. Words like first, second, third, currently, next, and finally all help orient the reader and sequence evidence clearly. Because an exemplification essay uses so many examples, it is also helpful to have a list of words and phrases to present each piece of evidence.

Table summary: Phrases of Exemplification, including common expressions used to provide examples. These include case in point, for example, for instance, in particular, in this case, one example, another example, specifically, and to illustrate.

Tip:

Vary the phrases of exemplification you use. Do not rely on just one. Variety in choice of words and phrasing is critical when trying to keep readers engaged in your writing.

Writing an Exemplification Essay

First, decide on a topic that you are interested in writing about. Then create an interesting introduction to engage the reader. The main point, or thesis, should be stated at the end of the introduction. Gather evidence that is appropriate to both your subject and your audience. Be sure to fully explain all of your examples using strong, clear supporting details.

- An exemplification essay clearly supports a point using evidence.

- When choosing evidence, always gauge whether the evidence is appropriate for the subject as well as the audience.

• Organize the evidence in terms of importance, either from least important to most important or from most important to least important.

- Use time transitions to order evidence.

- Use phrases of exemplification to call out examples.

Examples of Exemplification Essays Available Online

• “Homeless,” by Anna Quindlen

• “Black Men and Public Space,” by Brent Staples

• “The Dark Side of Web Fame,” by Jessica Bennet

• “That's So Mysto: What Makes Slang Stick,” by Juliet Lapidos

Image summary: A close-up photograph of interlocking metal gears of various sizes within a complex機械 system. The image depicts the intricate mechanical arrangement of a gear train, illustrating how power or motion is transmitted through a series of connected cogs.

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The Purpose of Process Analysis in Writing

The purpose of a process analysis essay is to explain how to do something or how something works. In either case, the formula for a process analysis essay remains the same. The process is articulated into clear, definitive steps.

Almost everything we do involves following a step-by-step process. From riding a bike as children to learning various jobs as adults, we initially needed instructions to effectively execute the task. We have likely had to instruct others, so we know how important good directions are—and how frustrating it is when they are poorly put together.

The Structure of a Process Analysis Essay

The process analysis essay opens with a discussion of the process and a thesis statement that states the goal of the process.

The organization of a process analysis essay typically follows chronological order. The steps of the process are conveyed in the order in which they usually occur. Body paragraphs will be constructed based on these steps. If a particular step is complicated and needs a lot of explaining, then it will likely take up a paragraph on its own. But if a series of simple steps is easier to understand, then the steps can be grouped into a single paragraph.

The time transition phrases covered in the Narration and Illustration sections are also helpful in organizing process analysis essays. Words such as first, second, third, next, and finally are helpful cues to orient the reader and organize the content of the essay.

Always have someone else read your process analysis to make sure it makes sense. Once we get too close to a subject, it is difficult to determine how clearly an idea is coming across. Having a friend or coworker read it over will serve as a good way to troubleshoot any confusing spots.

Writing a Process Analysis Essay

Choose a topic that is interesting, is relatively complex, and can be explained in a series of steps. As with other rhetorical writing modes, choose a process that you know well so that you can easily describe the finer details about each step in the process. In fact, the process should be one in which you can add relevant personal examples, including tips, tricks, and anecdotes to make it your own. It should not read like a recipe or an instructional manual; it should be personal and engaging. Furthermore, your thesis statement should come at the end of your introduction, and it should state the final outcome of the process you are describing.

Body paragraphs are composed of the steps in the process. Each step should be expressed using strong details and clear examples. Use time transition phrases to help organize steps in the process and to orient readers. The conclusion should thoroughly describe the result of the process described in the body paragraphs.

Key Takeaways

- A process analysis essay explains how to do something, how something works, or both.

- The process analysis essay opens with a discussion of the process and a thesis statement that states the outcome of the process.

- The organization of a process analysis essay typically follows a chronological sequence.

- Time transition phrases are particularly helpful in process analysis essays to organize steps and orient the reader.

Examples of Process Analysis Essays Available Online

• “How to Make it in College, Now That You're Here,” by Brian O'Keeney

• “Orientation,” by Daniel Orozco

Jürgen

“Behind the Formaldehyde Curtain,” by Jessica Mitford

Chapter 11: Comparison and Contrast

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The Purpose of Comparison and Contrast in Writing

Comparison in writing discusses elements that are similar, while contrast in writing discusses elements that are different. A compare and contrast essay, then, analyzes two subjects by comparing them, contrasting them, or both.

The key to a good compare and contrast essay is to choose two or more subjects that connect in a meaningful way. The purpose of conducting the comparison or contrast is not to state the obvious but rather to illuminate subtle differences or unexpected similarities. For example, if you wanted to focus on contrasting two subjects you would not pick apples and oranges; rather, you might choose to compare and contrast two types of oranges or two types of apples to highlight subtle differences.

For example, Red Delicious apples are sweet while Granny Smiths are tart and acidic. Drawing distinctions between elements in a similar category will increase the audience's understanding of that category, which is the purpose of the compare and contrast essay.

Similarly, to focus on comparison, choose two subjects that seem at first to be unrelated. For a comparison essay, you likely would not choose two apples or two oranges because they share so many of the same properties already. Rather, you might try to compare how apples and oranges are quite similar. The more divergent the two subjects initially seem, the more interesting a comparison essay will be.

Comparing and contrasting is also an evaluative tool. In order to make accurate evaluations about a given topic, you must first know the critical points of similarity and difference. Comparing and contrasting is a primary tool for many workplace assessments.

You have likely compared and contrasted yourself to other colleagues. Employee advancements, pay raises, hiring, and firing are typically conducted using comparison and contrast. Comparison and contrast could be used to evaluate companies, departments, or individuals. Many business presentations are conducted using comparison and contrast.

The organizing strategies, by subject or individual points, could also be used for organizing a presentation.

Compare versus Contrast

Comparison and contrast are important habits of mind that most of us have developed unconsciously throughout our lives and use every day.

Comparing

Although you often use the word compare to refer to both comparing and contrasting (for example, "Let's compare these two methods"); you actually do more contrasting than comparing when you make everyday decisions. The mental habit of comparing helps you to see hidden or subtle similarities between things and people that, on the surface, look very different.

For example, you might notice that the trees your neighbors plant in their yards differ widely: in foliage, flowers, growth rate, and required care. But if you exert yourself to identify similarities among them, you'll think of less obvious things: for example, that all of them are well suited to the climate in Middle Tennessee. These different varieties are obviously different, and those differences make the neighborhood's landscaping more interesting and attractive. But none would be sold locally if they weren't going to thrive locally.

Comparison is a mental habit that helps you find surprising commonalities and patterns: that a young female character and an elderly male character are both motivated by anger or that a human being and a duck-billed platypus are both mammals.

So, remember that when you are asked to complete a comparison and contrast writing assignment, you will probably do a bit of both comparing and contrasting, but your emphasis should be on what is surprising and interesting, not on what is obvious:

- Two obviously different things or people: focus on comparing them.

- Two obviously similar things or people: focus on contrasting them.

Contrasting

You use your ability to contrast, to detect differences, when you shop for groceries or new shoes. Shopping for a particular item, you narrow your search down to two very similar things (two eggplants, two cuts of meat, two pair of black boots).

But you are interested in how they are different, not how they are similar. You study them carefully to distinguish between them: which eggplant is larger, plumper, and fresher? Which cut of meat suits your appetite or the requirements of our recipe?

Which pair of black boots has higher heels, sturdier soles, and more stylish details? If you see nothing but similarities between them, you will never make a choice of which one to buy. You look for differences between them to see what makes each one unique, and which one you really want. Without contrasting them, you would not notice at least some of the differences that are important to you.

The example of shopping is a simple one, but you have the ability to identify contrasts when you make more difficult decisions, too: about whether to move to a new home or a new city; about which job or career will best suit your ambitions and your talents; about which university to attend: or about which candidate to vote for. In every case, contrasting two apparently similar things or people enables you to ask questions you might otherwise not ask: what is unique or distinctive about each one.

The Structure of a Comparison and Contrast Essay

The compare and contrast essay starts with a thesis that clearly states the two subjects that are to be compared, contrasted, or both and the reason for doing so. The thesis will usually lean more toward comparing, contrasting, or both. Remember, the point of comparing and contrasting is to provide useful knowledge to the reader. Take the following thesis as an example that leans more toward contrasting.

Thesis statement: Organic vegetables may cost more than those that are conventionally grown, but when put to the test, they are definitely worth every extra penny.

Here the thesis sets up the two subjects to be compared and contrasted (organic versus conventional vegetables), and it makes a claim about the results that might prove useful to the reader.

You may organize compare and contrast essays in one of the following two ways:

According to the subjects themselves, discussing one then the other

• According to individual points, discussing each subject in relation to each point

Organize By Subject

Thesis: Organic vegetables may cost more than those that are conventionally grown, but when put to the test they are definitely worth every extra penny.

- Subject 1: Organic Vegetables

- Point 1: Chemicals/ Pesticides

- Point 2: Nutrition

- Point 3: Taste

- Subject 2: Conventional Vegetables

- Point 1: Chemicals/Pesticides

- Point 2: Nutrition

- Point 3: Taste

- Conclusion

The word subject in this subject-by-subject format refers to each of the two things that you are comparing and contrasting. Here you are comparing two types of vegetables, so Subject 1 is organic vegetables, and Subject 2 is conventional vegetables.

Most students want to use the subject-by-subject structure, covering everything they want to say about one subject (organic vegetables) before saying anything about the other subject (conventional vegetables).

The problem with using this format all the time is that you tend to end up with two essays: one about Subject 1 and one about Subject 2. You may not notice until you hear from your instructor that you have actually not done any comparing and contrasting at all, discussing instead two unrelated sets of characteristics: for example, the methods of raising organic vegetables in Section 1 and the cost and taste of conventional vegetables in the other.

Organize By Point

Thesis: Organic vegetables may cost more than those that are conventionally grown, but when put to the test, they are definitely worth every extra penny.

Point 1: Chemicals/Pesticides

Subject 1: Organic

Subject 2: Conventional

Point 2: Nutrition

Subject 1: Organic

Subject 2: Conventional

Point 3: Taste

Subject 1: Organic

Subject 2: Conventional

Conclusion

The point-by-point structure looks more complicated, but it is more foolproof. The word point in this point-by-point structure refers to something that you have to say about your two subjects. For example, in contrasting organic vegetables and conventional vegetables, Point 1 will demonstrate that the two types of vegetables are raised differently, with different types of pesticides and fertilizers; Point 2 will demonstrate that the two types provide different levels of nutrition; and Point 3 will demonstrate that the two types taste different. In a different essay, some points might establish similarities while others might establish differences between the two subjects.

The organizational structure you choose depends on the nature of the topic, your purpose, and your audience. Given that compare and contrast essays analyze the relationship between two subjects, it is helpful to have some phrases on hand that will cue the reader to such analysis.

Table summary: Phrases used for comparison and contrast. Comparison terms include one similarity, another similarity, both, and like, while contrast terms include one difference, another difference, conversely, and in contrast.

Writing a Comparison and Contrast Essay

First choose whether you want to compare seemingly different subjects, contrast seemingly similar subjects, or compare and contrast subjects. Once you have decided on a topic, introduce it with an engaging opening paragraph. Your thesis should come at the end of the introduction, and it should establish the subjects you will compare, contrast, or both as well as state what can be learned from doing so.

The body of the essay can be organized in one of two ways: by subject or by individual points. The organizing strategy that you choose will depend on, as always, your audience and your purpose. You may also consider your particular approach to the subjects as well as the nature of the subjects themselves; some subjects might better lend themselves to one structure or the other. Make sure to use comparison and contrast phrases to cue the reader to the ways in which you are analyzing the relationship between the subjects.

After you finish analyzing the subjects, write a conclusion that summarizes the main points of the essay and reinforces your thesis.

Key Takeaways

- A compare and contrast essay analyzes two subjects by either comparing them, contrasting them, or both.

- The purpose of writing a comparison or contrast essay is not to state the obvious but rather to illuminate subtle differences or unexpected similarities between two subjects.

- The thesis should clearly state the subjects that are to be compared, contrasted, or both, and it should state what is to be learned from doing so.

- There are two main organizing strategies for compare and contrast essays: Organize by the subjects themselves, one then the other or organize by individual points, in which you discuss each subject in relation to each point.

- Use phrases of comparison or phrases of contrast to signal to readers how exactly the two subjects are being analyzed.

Examples of Compare and Contrast Essays Available Online

• “Neat People versus Sloppy People,” by Suzanne Britt

• “Friending: Ancient or Otherwise,” by Alex Wright

• “A Brother's Murder,” by Brent Staples

• “Homeward Bound,” by Janet Wu

Chapter 12: Classification

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The Purpose of Classification in Writing

The purpose of classification is to break down broad subjects into smaller, more manageable, more specific parts. We classify things in our daily lives all the time, often without even thinking about it. College classes, for example, have now become part of a broad category. They can be classified as face to face traditional, hybrid, online, or live streaming.

Smaller categories, and the way in which these categories are created, help us make sense of the world. Keep both of these elements in mind when writing a classification essay.

To classify, you have to create a system for grouping things or people according to shared characteristics: for example, the social classes in the population of your hometown or the types of volcanic formations tourists see at Craters of the Moon National Monument. Like compare and contrast, classification involves looking for similarities and differences to classify things and people into logical groups or to break a single entity into distinct parts.

As a rhetorical mode, classification (often called division and classification) is a way of reporting on the products of the mental activity of dividing and classifying. In order to divide a population of students by level of fitness, you have to first determine what the appropriate levels are and who belongs in each one. In order to classify extracurricular activities available at your school into categories based on least to most strenuous, you have to have figured out what, exactly, strenuous means and which activity belongs in which category.

Choose topics that you know well when writing classification essays. The more you know about a topic, the more you can break it into smaller, more interesting parts. Adding interest and insight will enhance your classification essays.

The Structure of a Classification Essay

The classification essay opens with an introductory paragraph that introduces the broader topic. The thesis should then explain how that topic is divided into subgroups and why. Take the following introductory paragraph, for example:

When people think of New York, they often think of only New York City. However, New York is actually a diverse state with a full range of activities to do, sights to see, and cultures to explore. In order to better understand the diversity of New York State, it is helpful to break it into these five separate regions: Long Island, New York City, Western New York, Central New York, and Northern New York.

The thesis explains not only the category and subcategory but also the rationale for breaking it into those categories. Through this classification essay, the writer hopes to show their readers a different way of considering the state.

Each body paragraph of a classification essay is dedicated to fully illustrating each of the subcategories. In the previous example, then, each region of New York would have its own paragraph.

The conclusion should bring all the categories and subcategories back together again to show the reader the big picture. In the previous example, the conclusion might explain how the various sights and activities of each region of New York add to its diversity and complexity.

To avoid settling for an overly simplistic classification, make sure you break down any given topic at least three different ways. This will help you think outside the box and perhaps even learn something entirely new about a subject.

Writing a Classification Essay

Start with an engaging opening that will adequately introduce the general topic that you will be dividing into smaller subcategories. Your thesis should come at the end of your introduction. It should include the topic and the reason you are choosing to break down the topic in the way that you are.

The organizing strategy of a classification essay is dictated by the initial topic and the subsequent subtopics. Each body paragraph is dedicated to fully illustrating each of the subtopics. In a way, coming up with a strong topic pays double rewards in a classification essay. Not only do you have a good topic, but you also have a solid organizational structure within which to write.

Be sure you use strong details and explanations for each subcategory paragraph that help explain and support your thesis. Also, be sure to give examples to illustrate your points. Finally, write a conclusion that links all the subgroups together again. The conclusion should successfully wrap up your essay by connecting it to your topic initially discussed in the introduction.

Key Takeaways

- The purpose of classification is to break a subject into smaller, more manageable, more specific parts.

- Smaller subcategories help us make sense of the topic.

- A classification essay is organized by its subcategories.

Examples of Classification Essays Available Online

• “But What Do You Mean?” Deborah Tannen

• “The Plot against People,” by Russell Baker

• “Deadly Mind Traps,” by Jeff Wise

This is a derivative of Engl 101: Rhetoric and Composition by Bay College and is used under C.C B.Y-N.C-S.A. This work, unless otherwise expressly stated is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

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The Purpose of Cause and Effect in Writing

It is often considered human nature to ask, “why?” and “how?” We want to know how our child got sick so we can better prevent it from happening in the future, or why our colleague received a pay raise because we want one as well. We want to know how much money we will save over the long term if we buy a hybrid car. These examples identify only a few of the relationships we think about in our lives, but each shows the importance of understanding cause and effect.

A cause is something that creates an event or condition; an effect is what results from an event or condition. The purpose of the cause and effect essay is to determine how various phenomena relate in terms of origins and results. Sometimes the connection between cause and effect is clear, but often determining the exact relationship between the two is very difficult. For example, the following effects of the common cold virus may be easily identifiable: a sore throat, runny nose, and a cough. However, determining the cause of the sickness can be far more difficult.

A number of causes are possible, and to complicate matters, these possible causes could have combined to cause the sickness. That is, more than one cause may be responsible for any given effect. Therefore, cause and effect discussions are often complicated and frequently lead to debates and arguments.

The Structure of a Cause and Effect Essay

The cause and effect essay opens with a general introduction to the topic, which then leads to a thesis that identifies the main cause(s) or main effect(s) of a condition or event.

The cause and effect essay can be organized in one of the following two primary ways:

1. Start with the cause and then discuss the effects.

2. Start with the effect and then discuss the causes.

For example, in an essay about the causes of childhood obesity, you would introduce the subject of childhood obesity and then focus on the causes: medical, psychological, and social. In an essay about the effects of childhood obesity, you would introduce the subject and then focus on the effects: problems it produces for children's health, for their families, and/or for their community. In either essay, the particular causes and effects you choose to discuss will depend upon your purpose for writing and on your audience.

Organizing the Essay that Focuses on Causes

Introduction: Provide background about the subject, stressing its importance to your audience. In an essay that will focus on causes, the introduction is a good place, perhaps the best place, to inform the reader about effects of the subject, in this case, prediabetes/diabetes and joint/bone complications.

Thesis: Childhood obesity is caused by a number of factors including dietary habits, physical inactivity, depression, societal factors, and mass media.

Cause 1: Societal Factors

- Point 1: Lack of Access to Healthy Alternatives

- Point 2: Fewer Open Spaces for Physical Activities

- Point 3: Increased Dependence on Cars

Cause 2: Mass Media

- Point 1: Marketing of Junk Food Toward Adolescents

Cause 3: Dietary Habits

- Point 1: Poor Nutrition

- Point 2: Overeating

Cause 4: Physical Inactivity

Point 1: Increase in Sedentary Activities (computer browsing, video-gaming, television)

Point 2: Lack of Physical Education and/or Activities

Cause 5: Depression and other Emotional Issues

Point 1: Food as Coping Mechanism

Point 2: Withdrawal from Society and Activity

Conclusion

Organizing the Essay that Focuses on Effects

Introduction: Provide background about the subject, stressing its importance to your audience. In an essay that will focus on effects, the introduction is a good place, perhaps the best place, to inform the reader about causes of the subject, in this case, lack of physical activity, societal factors, and mass media.

Thesis: Obesity in childhood has both immediate and long-term effects on the health of a child as well as their well-being.

Effect 1: Immediate Effects

Point 1: Pre-diabetes

Point 2: Joint and Bones Complications

Point 3: Sleep Apnea

Point 4: Psychosocial Issues such as Low Self-Esteem and Stigmatization

Effect 2: Long-term Effects

Point 1: Adult Obesity

Point 2: High Risk of Heart Disease

Point3: High Risk for Several Types of Cancer

Conclusion

Notice that, in each outline, the writer addresses subtle, less obvious causes and not just primary (short-term), but also secondary (long-term) effects, which become causes of remote effects. As a writer, you should never be satisfied with discussing just the most obvious causes of a particular event or situation; and do not be satisfied with discussing the most obvious or immediate effects.

The organizational structure you choose depends on the nature of the topic, your purpose, and your audience. Regardless of which approach you choose, be sure to explain and support each element of the essay fully and completely. Explaining complex relationships requires the full use of evidence, such as scientific studies, expert and eyewitness testimony, statistics, and anecdotes. Because cause and effect essays determine how phenomena are linked, they make frequent use of certain words and phrases that denote such linkage.

Phrases of Causation

Table summary: A collection of logical connectors and transition phrases grouped in pairs, such as as a result and consequently, because and due to, hence and since, and thus and therefore.

Tip:

Be careful of resorting to empty speculation. In writing, speculation amounts to unsubstantiated guessing. Writers are particularly prone to such trappings in cause-and-effect arguments due to the complex nature of finding links between phenomena. Be sure to have clear evidence to support the claims that you make.

Writing a Cause and Effect Essay

Choose an event or condition that you think has an interesting cause-and-effect relationship. Introduce your topic in an engaging way. End your introduction with a thesis that states the main cause, the main effect, or both.

Organize your essay by starting with either the cause then effect structure or the effect then cause structure. Within each section, you should clearly explain and support the causes and effects using a full range of evidence. If you are writing about multiple causes or multiple effects, you may choose to sequence either in terms of order of importance.

Use the phrases of causation when trying to forge connections between various events or conditions. This will help organize your ideas and orient the reader. End your essay with a conclusion that summarizes your main points and reinforces your thesis.

Sometimes, as you think about the effects of an event or phenomenon, a kind of causal chain emerges: in which A causes B, B causes C, and C causes D: in other words, primary effects become causes of secondary effects. For example, an ice storm may cause property damage, that property damage may cause economic hardship for business owners, and that economic hardship may cause unemployment in the community. When you find yourself in a writing situation like this one, you might switch modes and use process analysis to organize your essay.

Key Takeaways

- The purpose of the cause and effect essay is to determine how various phenomena are related.

- The thesis states what the writer sees as the main cause, main effect, or various causes and effects of a condition or event.

- The cause and effect essay can be organized in one of these two primary ways: Start with the cause and then discuss the effect. Start with the effect and then discuss the cause.

- Strong evidence is particularly important in the cause and effect essay due to the complexity of determining connections between phenomena.

- Phrases of causation are helpful in signaling links between various elements in the essay.

Examples of Cause and Effect Essays Available Online

• “Blood Loss,” by Christopher Beam

• “1 in 7 Parents: Pay to Play Sidelines Some Kids,” by Robin Erb

• “Why Everyone Should Read Harry Potter,” by Bret Stetka

• “A New Kind of Social Anxiety in the Classroom,” by Alexandra Ossola

• “Why It's Hard to Be a Poor Boy With Richer Neighbors,” by Dana Goldstein

Chapter 14: Argument

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Persuasion versus Argumentation: the Purpose of Argument

Essentially every essay you write in a college English class will aim to persuade an audience that a point you have is valid. While you may encounter other types of writing assignments, for example, poems or short stories in a creative writing class; resumes in a business writing class; or even summaries during a research project, essays are always persuasive. They are designed to convince an audience that a thesis is valid, even if that thesis is as uncontroversial as "Mitosis is a complex process," "College students work hard," or "The Great Gatsby presents us with an accurate picture of 1920s New York."

We all know the term argument, but that word often conjures up images of two people yelling and screaming in anger. However, a formal argument, the kind you will produce in college classes, is an essay that takes a stance and defends it logically. This kind of essay will also address the most likely counter argument to that stance. This stance is the writer's thesis.

The key difference between argumentation and persuasion is that, when you argue, you assume that you have opponents in your audience—and that you cannot convince those opponents that your stance is valid unless you address their potential objections to it. These opponents in your audience will also demand the most authoritative and unbiased evidence that you can find in support of your thesis.

Types of Argument

There are three basic structures or types of argument you are likely to encounter in college: the Toulmin argument, the Rogerian argument, and the Classical or Aristotelian argument. Although the Toulmin method was originally developed to analyze arguments, some professors will ask you to model its components. Each of these serves a different purpose, and deciding which type to use depends upon the rhetorical situation: In other words, you have to think about what is going to work best for your audience given your topic and the situation in which you are writing.

Toulmin

This type of argument works well when there are no clear truths or absolute solutions to a problem.

Toulmin arguments take into account the complex nature of most situations.

There are six elements for analyzing, and, in this case, presenting arguments that are important to the Toulmin method.

These elements of a Toulmin analysis can help you as both a reader and a writer. When you are analyzing arguments as a reader, you can look for these elements to help you understand the argument and evaluate its validity. When you are writing an argument, you can include these same elements in to ensure your audience will see the validity in your claims.

There are six elements for analyzing, and, in this case, presenting arguments that are important to the Toulmin method.

Claim: The claim is a statement of opinion that the author is asking their audience to accept as true.

Grounds: The grounds are the facts, data, or reasoning upon which the claim is based. Essentially, the grounds are the facts making the case for the claim.

Warrant: The warrant is what links the grounds to the claim. This is what makes the audience understand how the grounds are connected to supporting the claim.

Backing: The backing gives additional support for the claim by addressing different questions related to your claim.

Qualifier: The qualifier is essentially the limits to the claim or an understanding that the claim is not true in all situations.

Rebuttal: The rebuttal is when the author addresses the opposing views.

Rogerian

When most of us think of argument, we think about winners and losers of arguments. Arguments, even sometimes academic arguments, can be strong and forceful. An Aristotelian or classical argument is a strong, “this is my assertion and here's why I am right” kind of argument. But that kind of argument is not going to work in all situations. When your audience is a really difficult one in the sense that you know your audience is not going to completely agree with your side of the issue, it can be a good idea to try to find a middle ground.

The Rogerian argument finds that middle ground. This type of argument can be extremely persuasive and can help you, as a writer, understand your own biases and how you might work to find common ground with others.

Find common ground: Because a Rogerian argument will help you find common ground with your audience, you should consider this style of argument when you have a difficult or controversial topic and want to use a connection with your audience as a part of your persuasive style. But what is common ground? Finding a common ground involves meeting your opposition in the middle.

Know your audience: Is your audience going to be reluctant to change on this issue? If so, a Rogerian argument can be persuasive. It is also going to be an exercise in helping you see things from your audience's perspective, as your goal is to understand the other side of an issue and then meet your audience in the middle. Some brainstorming can help you as you think about how you are going to approach your audience and find the common ground you need.

Introduce the problem: When you begin your argumentative essay, you should introduce the problem or issue in a way that makes it clear to an opposing audience that you understand their position.

Acknowledge other side: Unlike some other argument structures, in a Rogerian argument, you should address the opposition in the very beginning of your essay. After your introduction, you should explain the contexts in which the opposition's viewpoints make sense and are valid.

State your position: It is now time to present your side. Your goal is to evenly and carefully make the case for your position in order to be as persuasive as possible to the other side. Explain the contexts in which your side of the issue makes sense.

Bring two sides together: After you present your position, your next step is to explain how the opposition would benefit from considering at least certain parts of your position. Focus on the value of your position while remembering the value of the other side.

Reach a conclusion: As you reach the end of your Rogerian essay, remember to remind your audience of your main points and try to leave your audience with something to consider, even if they are still not convinced by the balanced presentation on the issue you have presented.

Aristotelian

The Aristotelian or classical argument is a style of argument developed by the famous Greek philosopher and rhetorician, Aristotle. In this style of argument, your goal as a writer is to convince your audience of something. The goal is to use a series of strategies to persuade your audience to adopt your side of the issue. Although ee-thoss, pathos, and logos play a role in any argument, this style of argument utilizes them in the most persuasive ways possible.

Of course, your professor may require some variations, but here is the basic format for an Aristotelian, or classical, argumentative essay:

Introduce your issue: At the end of your introduction, most professors will ask you to present your thesis. The idea is to present your readers with your main point and then dig into it.

Present your case: You must explain the issue in detail and why something must be done or a way of thinking is not working. This will take place over several paragraphs.

Address the opposition: Use a few paragraphs to explain the other side. Refute the opposition one point at a time.

Provide your proof: After you address the other side, you will want to provide clear evidence that your side is the best side.

Present your conclusion: In your conclusion, you should remind your readers of your main point or thesis and summarize the key points of your argument. If you are arguing for some kind of change, this is a good place to give your audience a call to action.

Argumentative Thesis: Taking a Stand

The core of the argumentative essay is its thesis. A formal argument will fail without a thesis that takes a clear stance on an issue, one with which some readers may disagree. Therefore, the following kinds of statements will all fail to generate an argument:

- An announcement of the topic ("This essay will discuss the pros and cons of requiring elderly drivers to undergo periodic cognitive testing.")

- A non-committal reference to controversy surrounding the issue ("There are many people for and many people against mandatory cognitive testing for elderly drivers.")

- An indefensible statement of opinion ("Elderly people are all dangerous drivers!")

- A statement of fact ("The elderly experience cognitive decline over time.")

Your thesis will be an opinion, but it must be a clear and logically defensible one. For example, "Given the tendency of elderly drivers' to experience cognitive decline over time, it is not unreasonable to require that drivers over 65 undergo cognitive testing when they renew their licenses."

Once you have come up with a clear, unequivocal stand, your opponents' position(s) will become clear to you, and you can start to consider the evidence that you will need to oppose them.

Addressing a Counterargument

A counterargument is an argument opposed to your thesis or any part of your thesis. Once you learn how to seek out possible objections or counters to your own arguments and incorporate them fairly, you increase your power to build credibility with your readers. Refutations can feel satisfying (“No, you're just wrong!”), and there are certainly situations in which they are the best or only ethical approach.

However, most of the time counterarguments bring your readers to your side more effectively. This is because they are empathetic and invitational by nature (“I can see where in situation X.Y.Z, what you suggest would make the most sense; however, in this situation, my approach works best because A.B.C…”)

A counterargument is a type of rebuttal.

Rebuttals are your way of acknowledging and dealing with objections to your argument, and they can take two different forms:

Refutations: Refutations are an often more confrontational form of rebuttal that work by targeting the weaknesses in a possible objection to your argument. Think of refutations as the more sophisticated and mature older sibling of, “that's not true!” Generally, they work by pointing out weaknesses with rationale of the objection's claim itself (what the objector says about the argument) or of its evidence (the support offered for the claim).

Counterarguments: Counterarguments are a more cooperative form of rebuttal. In counterarguments, a writer acknowledges the strengths or validity of someone else's argument, but then makes a case for why their approach is still the best, most effective, or most viable.

Once you have determined how you are going to present the opposing argument in your essay, come back and think about your audience. What is the most likely argument that is made against your thesis that they may have? Using this as your opposition will keep the essay focused and allow you, the writer, to maintain your authority.

Use some of the following suggestions to help you determine what your counterargument could look like:

- Do good research. Dive in and be sure to research all aspects of your topic. You will find multiple pieces of research along the way that will disagree with your thesis. Keep track of these in your research folder to come back to when you are ready for your counterargument.

- Talk to people. As you research talk to or interview people who have knowledge of this topic. What arguments are they making and how do those align (or not) with your thesis?

Once you have an idea for your counterargument, use one or two of these strategies to oppose your refutation.

- Challenge the data. Make sure the research from the opposition is accurate and up to date. Present the most recent research to act as a counterclaim to their argument.

- Do not make an emotional argument. Often times, people will base their arguments on emotion rather than using data. Be sure to recognize if the opposition is based in emotion and refute the claim logically.

- Make sure the person presenting the opposition is a credible source. The person stating the opposition should be an expert in the field in order for their statements to be credible.

Structure of an Academic Argument

Although all three of Aristotle's appeals are at work in a successful academic argument, most instructors will encourage you to rely on logos, which is support that you generate with research. ee-thoss is important because you want to build your reputation with your readers (including your instructors) by showing them that you are attentive to detail. This includes showing that you have done your research and done it carefully, that you have documented all your sources, and that you present your argument in formal language. Many instructors will actively discourage the appeal to pathos, which will appear manipulative or inappropriate in an argument among scholars. Scholars in any academic field are held to a high standard for unbiased, objective observation and analysis, and most actively resist the suggestion that their objectivity can be undermined by emotion.

Fact and Opinion in the Academic Argument

Facts are statements that can be definitely proven using objective data. The statement that is a fact is absolutely valid. In other words, the statement can be pronounced as true or false. For example, 2 + 2 = 4 . This expression identifies a true statement, or a fact, because it can be proved with objective data.

Opinions are personal views, or judgments. An opinion is what an individual believes about a particular subject. However, an opinion in argumentation must have legitimate backing; adequate evidence and credibility should support the opinion. Consider the credibility of expert opinions. Experts in a given field have the knowledge and credentials to make their opinion meaningful to a larger audience.

For example, you seek the opinion of your dentist when it comes to the health of your gums, and you seek the opinion of your mechanic when it comes to the maintenance of your car. Both have knowledge and credentials in those respective fields, which is why their opinions matter to you. Conversely, the authority of your dentist may be greatly diminished should they offer an opinion about your car, and vice versa.

In academic writing, you must be careful to establish the credentials of your sources for facts and opinions. Many instructors will restrict your research to materials available in your college library's databases or to sources located using specialized search engines like Google Scholar. Although individual assignments may allow you to study less authoritative sources of information and opinion, in general, your instructors will expect you to avoid commercial websites and sites like blogs and personal websites that have not been reviewed by scholars or scientists in a given field. Be sure to follow up with your instructor if you have a question about the validity of any source.

Word Choice in the Academic Argument

Diction (word choice) and style should be formal in academic arguments. Instructors will expect you to avoid unnecessary references to yourself--unless you are writing about personal experiences that constitute support for your thesis. Using first-person qualifiers like "I think," "I believe," and "in my opinion" weaken your authority and stand out as clumsy or inappropriate in scholarly writing.

They are also unnecessary: your argument is, by definition, a statement of what you believe and why. In addition, you should use precise vocabulary suited to the particular discipline (English, psychology, biology, business administration) that you are writing about. You should do your best to write as though you are a scholar in the discipline you are studying, which means, again, understanding your audience and speaking their language.

Writing an Academic Argument

Pay careful attention to your instructor's assignment when you prepare to write any academic argument. In particular, make sure that you know whether your instructor expects your support to come from your own past experience, first-hand research in the field, or research in the library and/or online. Sometimes an assignment will limit you to certain types of resources or a particular set of sources: mainstream magazines and newspapers; articles in scholarly journals; or even essays and articles in your textbook.

Consider your purpose and audience. Some information about them will be provided in the assignment. If you are given no specifics, you will need to provide your readers with background information and key definitions so that they understand the context of the argument and the reasons that it is important. Defining keywords will also help you to set the terms of the argument. For example, if you are writing about whether or not a local community is a healthy one, you should define healthy so that you can focus in your argument on those characteristics that you think are most important and de-emphasize characteristics that your essay will not cover in depth (or at all). If your definition is at all controversial, you may have to do some counterargument to establish that your definitions are mainstream ones, shared by the public or endorsed by experts.

Start your prewriting and research with a working thesis. As you develop your ideas, you may change this stance, even more than once, but it will be difficult to get started without one.

Imagine that the assignment requires that you take a stance on a problem you have identified on campus. You must use expert sources in your argument, but you are allowed to refer to your own experiences if they are relevant. You have taken the following stance:

Pets should not be allowed in campus dormitories.

Many readers will wonder why this is an issue at all. Are not most pets banned from campus? You will need to provide some background to help the reader understand why pets on campus are an issue at all and even define pets in order to set the terms of the argument:

Introduction: Although keeping pets in dormitory rooms is forbidden by the college, there are a great many cats and small mammals like hamsters, guinea pigs and even pampered rats living secretly in students' rooms. The rare dormitory-wide inspection, conducted after warnings required by Student Services, allows those housing their pets to hide them or rotate them among friends' dorm rooms. Even a locked closet door, which inspectors are not allowed to open, can keep small pets out of sight and the problem unaddressed. But pets (defined by the college as anything but fish in a fish tank, which are allowed) in dormitory rooms are a hazard to students' health, safety, and comfort. Student Services must take action to discover them in students' rooms and punish students who have brought them on campus.

You have taken a stance (in bold type), and you can imagine that, among some students, it is not a popular one. What are your opponents thinking? What are their reasons for believing that they should be allowed to keep their pets or even argue to have the campus policy changed?

Again, counterargument is what distinguishes the argument from most of the other types of essays you will write in college. What is your opponents' stance and why have they taken it? Do not just acknowledge their stance and then counter it. Show them that you have thought of their best reasons and can counter them, too:

First, you concede: Certainly, the college acknowledges that students are mature enough to handle the responsibilities that come with living on campus. For many, it is the first time in their lives that they have to keep their rooms clean, use the dorm kitchens safely, deal with conflict among residents, and report suspicious or dangerous behavior to authorities. Coping with all of these new stressors demonstrates that students are responsible and should be afforded the respect of campus administrators. In fact, dorm residents are permitted to keep tropical fish, a hobby that, students argue, requires much more consistent effort than any kitten would. And there is the problem of loneliness: for most students, the college dorm is their first home away from home, and some long for the companionship of a small dog, cat, or gerbil to prevent homesickness, even depression. Then, you rebut: But the dorm room is very different from the student's bedroom at home. Students live in close quarters, sometimes three to a crowded room, and many are sensitive to pet dander, nighttime noise, and the stench of the dirty hamster cage. Coping with all of their other new responsibilities and spending long hours away from the room in class, athletic practices, labs, and libraries makes it difficult for even a conscientious student to keep up with pet care. After the early weeks of homesickness, most students are too busy with their new friends to have much time for a cat or dog that is happier at home than it would be in the dorm.

You have dispensed, to the best of your ability, with the opposition's best points, so you can move to your own best points now.

Sample supporting paragraph: First, it is simply not fair to inflict an uninvited roommate on dorm residents. Students sign contracts when they arrange for their rooms and agree to a set of rules that apply to everyone. Once on campus, it is difficult for a new student to take a hard line with a new roommate or neighbor who has smuggled a pet into their room. Everyone wants to be polite and get along. Everyone wants to fit in and make friends quickly.

But no new student should have to live with a pet that they might be afraid of or just not like. The pet constitutes an infringement on campus housing policy, which is very clear on the matter: "No pets or animals of any kind are allowed in the residence halls or University apartments, with the exception of fish contained in aquariums no larger than 10 gallons" (M.T.S.U). Helping to hide the pet forces the roommate to collaborate in breaking the rules. Clearly, it is the responsibility of the dorm R.A's and Student Services to make things fair and not expect students to police themselves.

Sample supporting paragraph: Allergies are more common than ever in today's college students, and allergic reactions to pet dander and fur are unpleasant and can lead to sinus infections, asthma attacks, and even more serious risks. Scientists have found, "Allergies to dogs and cats affect 10%–20% of the population worldwide and is a growing public health concern as these rates increase" (Chan 1). But it is not just dogs and cats that can provoke severe reactions: "[T]here are a number of case reports on anaphylactic reactions following hamster bites and on asthmatic symptoms following exposure to these animals" (Curin 5). An anaphylactic reaction shuts down the respiratory system and can be fatal. So even a small animal can pose a significant risk to the health and safety of students.

More possible supporting points:

In addition, life in a dorm room is uncomfortable, even cruel, for an animal. (You might even bring in authoritative evidence from your experience here, comparing and contrasting the life of an animal in a house with a yard to the life of the same animal in a cramped dorm room with a largely absentee owner.)

Even small pets can make a lot of noise in a confined space, interfering with what is perhaps a busy student's most precious asset: a good night's sleep. (A vivid narrative recounting a real or hypothetical bad night might be effective here.)

Even pets that are well cared for can spread diseases, including Covid-19 and cat-scratch fever, tick-borne diseases like Lyme and Erlichiosis, and various bite-inflicted bacterial infections. (You cannot cover every health threat here, but some good examples will be very convincing accompanied by vivid description of symptoms or the course of a disease.)

In the end, your essay should be well supported, logical, and convincing. There is even a legitimate appeal to pathos here, to the feelings of the new student and the helpless pet, in spite of its being an academic essay. Expert sources make the essay especially credible; and each should be cited in the essay's text and listed on a Works Cited page at the end of the essay.

A Few Words about Logical Fallacies

Since argument can be provoked by strong feelings, writers are sometimes tempted to exaggerate their logic to try to sway their readers. Sometimes, writers manipulate readers with false or misleading logic in the hopes that they will get away with it. Readers often fall for it, failing to examine a writer's logic carefully. A writer relying heavily on appeals to ee-thoss and pathos can sometimes encourage a reader to ignore logical errors. Propaganda is full of intentional logical fallacies.

Here are common fallacies that you should avoid in your writing and watch for in your reading:

- post hoc, ergo propter hoc (after this, therefore because of this): if someone next door to you buys a goat to trim their grass, and you begin to experience power outages at your house, there is a chance that the goat is responsible for them. But that is unlikely! Assuming that something that happened is automatically responsible for what happened next is misleading logic.

- false dilemma: if a politician tells you that street demonstrations will lead to chaos, that statement is based on a false dilemma: that we can have peace in the community without demonstrations or chaos in the community with them. The idea that there are only these two possibilities is misleading logic.

- ad hominem ("to the person"): if your friend tells you that you cannot trust a journalist's conclusions about the minimum wage because that journalist was once convicted of driving under the influence, that friend is distracting you from the issues by impugning the journalist's credentials. Is the conviction relevant to the issue at hand? No.

- bandwagon fallacy: if an opponent argues that a new bridge is dangerous because everyone agrees that it is, that opponent is dodging the need to establish the fact that the bridge is dangerous. When you are told that a particular position is legitimate because it is widely popular, you should think for yourself and do your own research. strawman: arguments built on non-substantial reasons (like straw) that do not hold up. A strawman fallacy occurs when someone distorts or exaggerates another person's argument, and then attacks the distorted version of the argument instead of refuting the original point.

tu quoque (you also): a retort charging an adversary with being or doing what the adversary criticizes in others. Although this may appear to be a way to gain the upper hand, it does not mean that the speaker does not have a good argument. A speaker might be a hypocrite, but they may still have a logically sound argument (even if they do not follow it in their own life).

Example: “Smoking is bad for your health.”

Tu Quoque Fallacy: “You smoke!”

The speaker being a smoker is not the argument at hand. The argument is that smoking is bad for one's health, which is supported by scientific and medical evidence.

jumping to a conclusion: a speaker will form a specific conclusion without considering all the variables involved.

Example: Greg kept talking about how he should receive a promotion in January. The next month Greg is smiling, wearing a new suit, and offers to treat his coworkers to lunch. Greg must have received that promotion.

Although it is plausible that Greg received the promotion, it is not the only possibility. Greg could have received an inheritance or become engaged and wanted to celebrate the news with his coworkers. There are several possibilities, so assuming it is the promotion is jumping to a conclusion without enough facts in evidence.

non sequitur (that does not follow): a conclusion that does not follow from the statements that lead to it. This fallacy is tricky since sometimes it can be paired with other fallacies. Nevertheless, it links one idea illogically with another.

Example: We want to improve the environment, so we are restricting how many cans of beans are bought in the supermarket.

false analogy: comparing two things that do not actually go together.

Example: “Children have a lot of energy and can be taught to do things like children. Like puppies, children should be placed in a crate at night and given a food and water bowl.”

- equivocation (ambiguity): deliberately become vague or change the definition midway through an argument.

- slippery slope: making one unfounded assumption after another resulting in a snowball effect.

There are many common logical fallacies. Trust your instincts when, as a reader, you feel that you are being manipulated or given inadequate evidence for a stance. As a writer, be aware that careless or intentionally warped logic will ruin your argument, and your reputation.

Key Takeaways:

- What distinguishes the argument essay from persuasive writing is the need for counterargument to address active opposition.

- Your thesis in an argument must be a stance on the issue in question.

- An effective argument is driven by three Aristotelian appeals or strategies: logos, pathos, and ee-thoss.

- The academic argument is based on the same principles as the everyday argument, but it is more formal in language, style, and supported by authoritative evidence, drawn from respected and scholarly sources. In most cases, it relies less on the appeal to pathos than the everyday argument does.

- All source material, whether it is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized, must be documented following M.L.A guidelines: cited in your essay and listed on a Works Cited page.

- Avoid careless diction, sloppy sentences, biased sources, logical fallacies, and informal references to yourself.

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Purpose of a Proposal

The purpose of the proposal in writing is to convince the audience of a problem and present a viable solution. The proposal argument is one of the most common forms of argument. A proposal can be used to address problems in a variety of ways and are used every day in a variety of settings. Problems that are addressed by proposal arguments can be local or global.

Problem solving strategies include brainstorming to find the exact problem and strategies to solve it. Below is a worksheet to help you determine, and pinpoint the specific problem. By finding the advantages and disadvantages, you will narrow down your solutions to the most feasible solution to present. Remember, the most obvious solution is not always the best solution.

Proposal Worksheet

The purpose of using a worksheet to determine the most feasible solution is to not only narrow down the problem, but also to view multiple solutions to determine the best solution. When using the proposal worksheet, you will be addressing the following areas.

What is the problem? Narrow down the problem. When narrowing down your problem, determine who is the decision maker.

Who is going to say yes and have the power to implement the solution? This will determine how large of a problem you have. The bigger the problem, the higher up the ladder you need to go to get to the decision maker. Narrow your problem to a level of management that would gain you access to the decision maker.

What are the possible solutions? You should come up with a minimum of two possible solutions so you can determine the most feasible solution. Make an advantage and disadvantage comparison of each solution by creating a side by side list of all solutions with their advantages and disadvantages.

Which one has the most beneficial advantages? Remember advantages become your benefits. When presenting benefits, you are showing the decision maker the biggest benefits.

The decision makers are more apt to be interested in the solution if they are going to see benefits to them directly and the bottom line. From your lists, determine the best, most feasible, solution.

Exercise 1

Think of your community. The community can be where you live, a work community, school community, or any type of organization you may belong to. Make a list of two to three problems there may be in this community. Using the Proposal Worksheet determine two possible solutions for one of the problems and find the disadvantages as well as the advantages of both solutions. What is the most feasible solution?

Problem:

Solution #1:

Table summary: A blank template comparing advantages and disadvantages, containing no data entries.

The most viable solution is:

Writing the Proposal

You have determined the most viable solution to your specific problem. Now is the time to start putting it together. In writing the proposal essay, it is important to address all the elements needed to write a convincing argument.

State the Problem: This goes beyond just stating the problem. The writer must demonstrate that a problem truly exists. Before going into details of the problem, you must give context to the problem. Location and what kind of setting are important to show how impactful this problem is. The problem must then be explained in detail to show the audience why this is a problem. Who does it effect? Giving the details of a problem gives the audience a chance to be invested in the issue.

State the Solution: After it has been established that a problem does exist, a solution must be presented. You have determined the most feasible solution from your worksheet. Details of this solution must now be presented. Provide evidence as to how this solution will work and how it will solve the problem. Presenting the solution is more than just stating what the solution is, but you will also need to spell out the steps it will take to implement the solution.

Benefits of the Solution: Presenting benefits of the solution will strengthen your argument for this solution and convince your audience that the proposal has merit. When presenting benefits, the biggest benefits to the decision maker are going to be the first ones you exhibit.

Opposing Argument: There will always be objection to any proposal that is made. You need to be able to anticipate questions and objections, and be able to refute them. When writing a proposal essay, you will introduce one of these opposing arguments and with the use of evidence, refute that opposition.

Proposal Outline

1. Introduction a. Context of the problem b. Thesis - A thesis statement is a clear statement of what the problem is.

2. Explanation of problem a. Identify the problem b. Explain why it needs to be solved

3. Explanation of the solution a. Propose a solution b. Explain how it will solve the problem and steps to implement it

4. Benefits of the solution a. Explain the positive results of the proposed solution

5. Refuting opposing arguments a. Introduce an objective to the solution b. Refute it with evidence

6. Conclusion

a. Reinforce the main point of the proposal

b. Strong concluding statement

Exercise 2

Being able to verbalize in a clear and concise manner helps with the writing process. With a classmate, from your proposed solution from Exercise 1, discuss the objection you will be addressing. Refute it.

This work, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Chapter 16: Research Strategies

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Academic Research Writing: What is it?

Writing That Is Not Research Writing

Not all useful and valuable writing automatically involves research or can be called academic research writing.

While poets, playwrights, and novelists frequently do research and base their writings on that research, what they produce does not constitute academic research writing. The film Shakespeare in Love incorporated facts about Shakespeare's life and work to tell a touching, entertaining, and interesting story, but it was nonetheless a work of fiction since the writers, director, and actors clearly took liberties with the facts to tell their story. If you were writing a research project for a literature class which focuses on Shakespeare, you would not want to use Shakespeare in Love as evidence about how Shakespeare wrote his plays.

Essay exams are usually not a form of research writing. When an instructor gives an essay exam, they usually are asking students to write about what they learned from the class readings, discussions, and lectures. While writing essay exams demand an understanding of the material, this is not research writing because instructors are not expecting students to do additional research on the topic.

So, what is research writing?

Research writing is writing that uses evidence (from journals, books, statistics, the Internet, experts, etcetera) to persuade or inform an audience about a particular point.

Academic research writing: The specific focus of this chapter and the writing project you will need to write in this class is a form of research writing. Academic research writing projects are different from other kinds of research writing projects in three significant ways:

Thesis: Academic research projects are organized around a main point or a thesis that members of the intended audience would not accept as factual. What an audience accepts as factual depends a great deal on the audience, which is one of the many reasons why what counts as academic research varies from field to field. But audiences want to learn something new either by being informed or by reading a unique interpretation on the issue or the evidence.

Evidence: Academic research projects rely almost exclusively on evidence in order to support the main point. Academic research writers use evidence in order to convince their audiences that the point they are making is valid. Of course, all writing uses other means of persuasion, but the readers of academic research writing projects are likely to be more persuaded by evidence than by anything else. Evidence, the information you use to support your point, includes readings you find in the library (journal articles, books, statistics, newspapers and many other kinds of documents); materials from the Internet (credible web pages, information from databases); and information you might be able to gather in other ways (interviews, field research, experiments, and so forth).

Citation: Academic research projects use a detailed citation process in order to demonstrate to their readers where the evidence that supports the writer's point came from. Unlike most types of nonacademic research writing, academic research writers provide their readers with a great deal of detail about where they found the evidence they are using to support their point. This process is called citation, or citing of evidence. It can sometimes seem intimidating and confusing to writers new to the process of academic research writing, but it is really nothing more than explaining to your reader where your evidence came from.

What is Research and Why Should I Use It?

Research often begins with the goal of answering a question. In your quest to answer basic research questions, you turn to a variety of different sources for evidence: reference resources, people, evaluative articles, editorials, and other sources. All along the way, you continually evaluate and reevaluate the credibility of your sources.

For example, if you wanted to find out where you could buy the best computer within your budget, your question might be “what kind of computer should I buy and where should I buy it?” To answer your questions about computers, you might ask your friends where they got their computers and what they thought were the best (and worst) stores to go to. You would probably also talk to them about the kind of computer they bought: a P.C versus a Mac, or a desktop versus a laptop, for example. You could go to a computer store and ask the salespeople for their advice, though you would perhaps be more critical of what they tell you since they are biased. After all, salespeople are trying to sell you a computer that they sell in their stores, not necessarily the best computer for the amount of money you want to spend. To get the opinions of computer experts, you might do research in computer magazines or web sites, looking for reviews and ratings of different models of computers in your price range.

Of course, you could skip this research process entirely. You could simply go to a store and buy the first computer in your budget based on nothing more than a gut feeling or based on some criteria that has little to do with the quality of the computer—the color, for example.

Who knows? By just guessing like this, you might actually end up with a computer as good as you would have ended up with after your research. After all, researchers can never be certain that the evidence they find to answer their research questions is entirely correct. The fact that there are different kinds of computers available suggests it is possible for people to look at the research and reach different conclusions about what is the best computer. Talk to loyal Mac owners and you will get a very different answer about the best kind of computer than you will from loyal P.C owners.

Nonetheless, the likelihood is quite high that the computer you bought after careful research is a better choice than the computer you would have bought after conducting no research at all. Most of us would agree that you have a better chance of being right about your choice of computer (and just about anything else) if that choice is informed by research.

Exercise 1

Working alone or collaboratively in small groups, answer the following questions:

- What are some examples of a decision you have made that were based on a research method similar to the one described here? What do you think would have been the result of your decision had you not done any research?

• Can you think of any decisions that you have made that were not based on research? Would these decisions have turned out more favorably had you conducted some basic research?

• What kinds of decisions do you think are potentially best made without research?

What is Different about Academic Research?

The reasons scholars conduct research are essentially the same as the reasons someone does research on the right computer to buy: to find information and answers to questions with a method that has a greater chance of being accurate versus a guess or a gut feeling. College professors all the way down to students in an introductory research writing class are members of the academic community, and they all use research to provide evidence to support their thesis.

As a student, you might not think of yourself as being a part of the same group as college professors or graduate students, but when you enter a college classroom, you are joining the academic community in the sense that you are expected to use your research to support your ideas and you are agreeing to the conventions of research within your discipline. Another way of looking at it: first-year college students and college professors follow the same rules when it comes to making points supported by research and evidence.

Reasons for Research

When you perform research, you are essentially trying to solve a mystery—you want to know how something works or why something happened. In other words, you want to answer a question that you (and other people) have about the world. This is one of the most basic reasons for performing research.

The research process does not end when you have solved your mystery. Imagine what would happen if a detective collected enough evidence to solve a criminal case, but they never shared her solution with the authorities. Presenting what you have learned from research can be just as important as performing the research.

Research results can be presented in a variety of ways, but one of the most popular, and effective, presentation forms is the research paper. A research paper presents an original thesis, or purpose statement, about a topic and develops that thesis with information gathered from a variety of sources.

If you are curious about the possibility of life on Mars, for example, you might choose to research the topic. What will you do, though, when your research is complete? You will need a way to put your thoughts together in a logical, coherent manner. You may want to use the facts you have learned to create a narrative or to support an argument. You may want to show the results of your research to your friends, your teachers, or even the editors of magazines and journals. Writing a research paper is an ideal way to organize thoughts, craft narratives or make arguments based on research, and share your newfound knowledge with the world.

Knowing how to write a good research paper is a valuable skill that will serve you well throughout your career. Whether you are developing a new product, studying the best way to perform a procedure, or learning about challenges and opportunities in your field of employment, you will use research techniques to guide your exploration. You may even need to create a written report of your findings.

Because effective communication is essential to any company, employers seek to hire people who can write clearly and professionally. For example, a medical laboratory technician or information technology professional might do research to learn about the latest technological developments in either of these fields. A small business owner might conduct research to learn about the latest trends in their industry.

A freelance magazine writer may need to research a given topic to write an informed, up-to-date article.

Exercise 2

Think about your dream job. How might you use research writing skills to perform that job? Create a list of ways in which strong researching, organizing, writing, and critical thinking skills could help you succeed at your dream job. How might these skills help you obtain that job?

Steps of the Research Writing Process

How does a research paper grow from a folder of brainstormed notes to a polished final draft? No two projects are identical, but most projects follow a series of six basic steps.

These are the steps in the research writing process:

1. Choose a topic.

2. Plan and schedule time to research and write.

3. Conduct research.

4. Organize research and ideas.

5. Draft your paper.

6. Revise and edit your paper.

Each of these steps will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter. For now, though, we will take a brief look at what each step involves.

Step 1: Choosing a Topic

To narrow the focus of your topic, you may try freewriting exercises, such as brainstorming. You may also need to ask a specific research question—a broad, open-ended question that will guide your research—as well as propose a possible answer, or a working thesis. You may use your research question and your working thesis to create a research proposal. In a research proposal, you present your main research question, any related sub-questions you plan to explore, and your working thesis.

A topic might be too broad if it cannot be covered in detail in your assignment, if there is too much information (1000s of results), or all you can write is general statements. For example, the research question “What is communication?” is too broad for a four-page assignment. There is no way to adequately sum up all of the information you will encounter about communication when trying to answer this question.

A topic might be too narrow if it can be discussed in great detail in less than the required size of your essay, or if there is little to no information or relevant results available. For example, the research question 'What percentage of Ford Escorts were recalled in 2020 due to faulty airbags?' would be too narrow to adequately discuss in a four-page research paper. The question can be simply answered with a percentage, and the date of 2020 might be too current to retrieve enough research.

Step 2: Planning and Scheduling

Before you start researching your topic, take time to plan your researching and writing schedule. Research projects can take days, weeks, or even months to complete. Creating a schedule is a good way to ensure that you do not end up being overwhelmed by all the work you have to do as the deadline approaches.

During this step of the process, it is also a good idea to plan the resources and organizational tools you will use to keep yourself on track throughout the project. Flowcharts, calendars, and checklists can all help you stick to your schedule.

In addition, it may be helpful (and even required by some instructors) to construct an outline that serves as a blueprint for your project. The outline will include your thesis statement, the main ideas that will support your thesis, examples to illustrate those main ideas, and counterarguments. By constructing an outline, you are more likely to stay focused and not repeat key ideas.

Step 3: Conducting Research

When going about your research, you will likely use a variety of sources—anything from books and periodicals to video presentations and in-person interviews.

Your sources will include both primary sources and secondary sources. Primary sources provide firsthand information or raw data. For example, surveys, in-person interviews, and historical documents are primary sources.

Secondary sources, such as biographies, literary reviews, or magazine articles, include some analysis or interpretation of the information presented. As you conduct research, you will take detailed, careful notes about your discoveries. You will also evaluate the reliability of each source you find.

Step 4: Organizing Research and the Writer's Ideas

When your research is complete, you will organize your findings and decide which sources to cite in your paper. You will also have an opportunity to evaluate the evidence you have collected and determine whether it supports your thesis. You may decide to adjust your thesis or conduct additional research to ensure that your thesis is well supported.

Tip:

Remember, your working thesis is a work in progress. You can and should change your working thesis throughout the research writing process if the evidence you find does not support your original thesis. Never try to force evidence to fit your argument. For example, your working thesis is “Mars cannot support life-forms.” Yet, a week into researching your topic, you find an article in the New York Times detailing new findings of bacteria under the Martian surface. Instead of trying to argue that bacteria are not life forms, you might instead alter your thesis to “Mars cannot support complex life-forms.”

Step 5: Drafting Your Paper

Now you are ready to combine your research findings with your critical analysis of the results in a rough draft. You will incorporate source materials into your paper and discuss each source thoughtfully in relation to your thesis statement.

When you cite your research, it is important to pay close attention to standard conventions for citing sources in order to avoid plagiarism, or the practice of using someone else's words without acknowledging the source. Later in this chapter, you will learn how to incorporate sources in your paper and avoid some of the most common pitfalls of attributing information.

Step 6: Revising and Editing Your Paper

In the final step of the research writing process, you will revise and polish your paper. You might reorganize your paper's structure or revise for unity and cohesion, ensuring that each element in your paper flows into the next logically and naturally. You will also make sure that your paper uses an appropriate and consistent tone.

Once you feel confident in the strength of your writing, you will edit your paper for proper spelling, grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and formatting. When you complete this final step, you will have transformed a simple idea or question into a thoroughly researched and well-written paper.

Key Takeaways

People undertake research projects throughout their academic and professional careers in order to answer specific questions, share their findings with others, increase their understanding of challenging topics, and strengthen their researching, writing, and analytical skills.

The research writing process generally comprises six steps: choosing a topic, scheduling and planning time for research and writing, conducting research, organizing research and ideas, drafting a paper, and revising and editing the paper.

Strategies for Gathering Reliable Information

Now that you have planned your research project, you are ready to begin the research. This phase can be both exciting and challenging. As you read this section, you will learn ways to locate sources efficiently, so you have enough time to read the sources, take notes, and think about how to use the information.

Of course, the technological advances of the past few decades—particularly the rise of online media—mean that, as a twenty-first-century student, you have countless sources of information available at your fingertips, but how can you tell whether a source is reliable? This section will discuss strategies for evaluating sources critically so that you can be a media-savvy researcher.

Locating Useful Resources

When you choose a paper topic and determine your research questions, you conduct preliminary research to stimulate your thinking. Your research proposal includes some general ideas for how to go about your research—for instance, interviewing an expert in the field or analyzing the content of popular magazines. You may even identify a few potential sources. Now it is time to conduct a more focused, systematic search for informative primary and secondary sources.

Using Primary and Secondary Sources

Writers classify research resources in two categories: primary sources and secondary sources. Primary sources are direct, firsthand sources of information or data. For example, if you were writing a paper about the First Amendment right to freedom of speech, the text of the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights would be a primary source.

Other primary sources include the following:

• Research articles

• Literary texts

• Historical documents such as diaries or letters

• Autobiographies or other personal accounts

Secondary sources discuss, interpret, analyze, consolidate, or otherwise rework information from primary sources. In researching a paper about the First Amendment, you might read articles about legal cases that involved First Amendment rights, or editorials expressing commentary on the First Amendment. These sources would be considered secondary sources because they are one step removed from the primary source of information.

The following are examples of secondary sources:

• Magazine articles

• Biographical books

• Literary and scientific reviews

• Television documentaries

Your topic and purpose determine whether you must cite both primary and secondary sources in your paper. Ask yourself which sources are most likely to provide the information that will answer your research questions. If you are writing a research paper about reality television shows, you will need to use some reality shows as a primary source, but secondary sources, such as a reviewer's critique, are also important. If you are writing about the health effects of nicotine, you will probably want to read the published results of scientific studies, but secondary sources, such as magazine articles discussing the outcome of a recent study, may also be helpful.

Once you have thought about what kinds of sources are most likely to help you answer your research questions, you may begin your search for print and electronic resources. The challenge here is to conduct your search efficiently. Writers use strategies to help them find the sources that are most relevant and reliable while steering clear of sources that will not be useful.

Finding Print Resources

Print resources include a vast array of documents and publications. Regardless of your topic, you will consult some print resources as part of your research. You will use electronic sources as well, but it is not wise to limit yourself to electronic sources only, because some potentially useful sources may be available only in print form. The table below lists different types of print resources available at public and university libraries.

: Table summary: Library print resources for reference works, which provide summarized information on specific topics. Examples include The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2010 and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual published by the American Psychiatric Association. This category also encompasses atlases, encyclopedias, medical reference books, and scientific abstracts, some of which may be restricted from being checked out of a library.

Table summary: Common information sources categorized by their format and purpose. Nonfiction books offer deep dives into topics, ranging from general trade books like The Low-Carb Solution: A Slimmer You in 30 Days to specialized academic texts. Periodicals and news sources, such as the New York Times, PC Magazine, and JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association, provide updates at regular intervals. Government publications from federal, state, and local agencies include a broad array of public records and data, exemplified by The Census 2000 Profile and The Business Relocation Package. Reference works are also noted as useful starting points but are often brief and removed from primary sources.

Some of these resources are also widely available in electronic format. In addition to the resources noted in the table, library holdings may include primary texts such as historical documents, letters, and diaries.

Businesses, government organizations, and nonprofit organizations produce published materials that range from brief advertisements and brochures to lengthy, detailed reports. In many cases, producing these publications requires research. A corporation's annual report may include research about economic or industry trends. A charitable organization may use information from research in materials sent to potential donors.

Regardless of the industry you work in, you may be asked to assist in developing materials for publication. Often, incorporating research in these documents can make them more effective in informing or persuading readers.

Tip:

As you gather information, strive for a balance of accessible, easy-to-read sources and more specialized, challenging sources. Relying solely on lightweight books and articles written for a general audience will drastically limit the range of useful, substantial information. On the other hand, restricting oneself to dense, scholarly works could make the process of researching extremely time-consuming and frustrating.

10 tind print resources efficiently, first identify the major concepts and terms you will use to conduct your search—that is, your keywords. These, along with the research questions will help you find sources using any of the following methods:

• Using the library's online catalog

- Using periodical indexes and databases

• Consulting a reference librarian

You probably already have some keywords in mind based on your preliminary research and writing. Another way to identify useful keywords is to visit the Library of Congress's website at id dot loc dot gov U.R.L. This site allows you to search for a topic and see the related subject headings used by the Library of Congress, including broader terms, narrower terms, and related terms. Other libraries use these terms to classify materials. Knowing the most used terms will help you speed up your keyword search.

Jorge used the Library of Congress site to identify general terms he could use to find resources about low-carb dieting. His search helped him identify potentially useful keywords and related topics, such as carbohydrates in human nutrition, glycemic index, and carbohydrates and metabolism. These terms helped Jorge refine his search.

Knowing the right keywords can sometimes make all the difference in conducting a successful search. If you have trouble finding sources on a topic, consult a librarian to see whether you need to modify your search terms.

Using Periodicals, Indexes, and Databases

Library catalogs can help you locate book-length sources, as well as some types of non-print holdings, such as C.D's, D.V.D's, and audiobooks. To locate shorter sources, such as magazine and journal articles, you will need to use a periodical index or an online periodical database. These tools index the articles that appear in newspapers, magazines, and journals. Like catalogs, they provide publication information about an article and often allow users to access a summary or even the full text of the article.

Print indexes may be available in the periodicals section of your library. However, most libraries use online databases that users can access through the library website. A single library may provide access to multiple periodical databases. These can range from general news databases to specialized databases.

Table summary: Commonly used indexes and databases include one print resource, the New York Times Index, which provides a guide to articles published in the New York Times, and two online databases: ProQuest, which archives content from newspapers, magazines, and dissertations, and PsycINFO, which archives journals in psychology and psychiatry.

: Table summary: A list of three online databases. Business Source Complete archives business-related content from magazines and journals, MEDLINE and PubMed archive articles in medicine and health, and EBSCOhost is a general database providing access to articles on a wide variety of topics.

Reading Popular and Scholarly Periodicals

When you search for periodicals, be sure to distinguish among different types. Mass-market publications, such as newspapers and popular magazines, differ from scholarly publications in their accessibility, audience, and purpose. Newspapers and magazines are written for a broader audience than scholarly journals.

Their content is usually quite accessible and easy to read. Trade magazines that target readers within a particular industry may presume the reader has background knowledge, but these publications are still reader-friendly for a broader audience. Their purpose is to inform and, often, to entertain or persuade readers as well.

Scholarly or academic journals are written for a much smaller and more expert audience. The creators of these publications assume that most of their readers are already familiar with the main topic of the journal. The target audience is also highly educated.

Informing is the primary purpose of a scholarly journal. While a journal article may advance an agenda or advocate a position, the content will still be presented in an objective style and formal tone. Entertaining readers with breeze comments and splashy graphics is not a priority.

Because of these differences, scholarly journals are more challenging to read. That does not mean you should avoid them. On the contrary, they can provide in-depth information unavailable elsewhere. Because knowledgeable professionals carefully review the content before publication, scholarly journals are far more reliable than much of the information available in popular media.

Seek out academic journals along with other resources. Just be prepared to spend a little more time processing the information.

Periodicals databases are not just for students writing research papers. They also provide a valuable service to workers in various fields. The owner of a small business might use a database such as Business Source Premiere to find articles on management, finance, or trends within a particular industry. Health care professionals might consult databases such as MedLine to research a particular disease or medication. Regardless of what career path you plan to pursue, periodical databases can be a useful tool for researching specific topics and identifying periodicals that will help you keep up with the latest news in your industry.

Consulting a Reference Librarian

Visit your library's website or consult with a reference librarian to determine what periodical indexes or databases would be useful for your research. Depending on your topic, you may rely on a general news index, a specialized index for a particular subject area, or both. Search the catalog for your topic and related keywords. Print out or bookmark your search results.

1. Identify at least one to two relevant periodicals, indexes, or databases.

2. Conduct a keyword search to find potentially relevant articles on your topic.

3. Save your search results. If the index you are using provides article summaries, read these to determine how useful the articles are likely to be.

4. Identify at least three to five articles to review more closely. If the full article is available online, set aside time to read it. If not, plan to visit the library within the next few days to locate the articles you need.

Tip:

One way to refine your keyword search is to use Boolean operators. These operators allow you to combine keywords, find variations on a word, and otherwise expand or limit your results. Here are some of the ways you can use Boolean operators:

1. Combine keywords with and or plus to limit results to citations that include both keywords—for example, diet plus nutrition.

2. Combine keywords with not or – to search for the first word without the second. This can help you eliminate irrelevant results based on words that are similar to your search term. For example, searching for obesity not childhood locates materials on obesity but excludes materials on childhood obesity.

3. Enclose a phrase in quotation marks to search for an exact phrase, such as “morbid obesity.”

4. Use parentheses to direct the order of operations in a search string. For example, since Type 2 diabetes is also known as adult-onset diabetes, you could search (Type 2 or adult-onset) and diabetes to limit your search results to articles on this form of the disease.

5. Use a wildcard symbol such as #, ?, or after a word to search for variations on a term. For instance, you might type diabet to search for information on diabetes and diabetics. The specific symbol used varies with different databases.

Finding and Using Electronic Resources

With the expansion of technology and media over the past few decades, a wealth of information is available to you in electronic format. Some types of resources, such as a television documentary, may only be available electronically. Other resources—for instance, many newspapers and magazines—may be available in both print and electronic form. The following are some of the electronic sources you might consult:

• Online databases

• Popular web search engines

- Websites maintained by businesses, universities, nonprofit organizations, or government agencies

• Newspapers, magazines, and journals published on the web

- eBooks

• Audiobooks

• Radio and television programs and other audio and video recordings

• Online discussion groups

The techniques you use to locate print resources can also help you find electronic resources efficiently. Libraries usually include eBooks, audiobooks, and audio and video recordings among their holdings. You can locate these materials in the catalog using a keyword search. The same Boolean operators used to refine database searches can help you filter your results in popular search engines.

Using Internet Search Engines Efficiently

When faced with the challenge of writing a research paper, some students rely on popular search engines as their first source of information. Typing a keyword or phrase into a search engine instantly pulls up links to dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of related websites—what could be easier? Unfortunately, despite its apparent convenience, this research strategy has the following drawbacks to consider:

Results do not always appear in order of reliability. The first few hits that appear in search results may include sites whose content is not always reliable, such as online encyclopedias that can be edited by any user. Because websites are created by third parties, the search engine cannot tell you which sites have accurate information.

Results may be too numerous for you to use. The amount of information available on the web is far greater than the amount of information housed within a particular library or database. Realistically, if your web search pulls up thousands of hits, you will not be able to visit every site, and the most useful sites may be buried deep within your search results.

Search engines are not connected to the results of the search. Search engines find websites that people visit often and list the results in order of popularity. The search engine, then, is not connected to any of the results. When you cite a source found through a search engine, you do not need to cite the search engine. Only cite the source.

A general web search can provide a helpful overview of a topic and may pull up genuinely useful resources. To get the most out of a search engine, however, use strategies to make your search more efficient. Use multiple keywords and Boolean operators to limit your results.

Click on the Advanced Search link on the homepage to find additional options for streamlining your search. Depending on the specific search engine you use, the following options may be available:

1. Limit results to websites that have been updated within a particular time frame.

2. Limit results by language or country.

3. Limit results to scholarly works available online.

4. Limit results by file type.

5. Limit results to a particular domain type, such as dot edu (school and university sites) or dot gov (government sites). This is a quick way to filter out commercial sites (such as some dot com sites), which can often lead to more objective results.

Use the Bookmarks or Favorites feature of your web browser to save and organize sites that look promising.

Using Other Information Sources: Interviews

With so many print and electronic media readily available, it is easy to overlook another valuable information resource: other people. Consider whether you could use a person or group as a primary source. For instance, you might interview a professor who has expertise in a particular subject, a worker within a particular industry, or a representative from a political organization. Interviews can be a great way to get firsthand information.

To get the most out of an interview, you will need to plan ahead. Contact your subject early in the research process and explain your purpose for requesting an interview. Prepare detailed questions. Open ended questions, rather than questions with simple yes or no answers, are more likely to lead to an in-depth discussion.

Schedule a time to meet, and be sure to obtain your subject's permission to record the interview. Take careful notes and be ready to ask follow-up questions based on what you learn.

Tip:

If scheduling an in-person meeting is difficult, consider arranging a telephone interview or asking your subject to respond to your questions via e-mail. Recognize that any of these formats takes time and effort. Be prompt and courteous, avoid going over the allotted interview time, and be flexible if your subject needs to reschedule.

Evaluating Research Resources

As you gather sources, you will need to examine them with a critical eye. Smart researchers continually ask themselves two questions: “Is this source relevant to my purpose?” and “Is this source reliable?” The first question will help you avoid wasting valuable time reading sources that stray too far from your specific topic and research questions. The second question will help you find accurate, trustworthy sources.

Determining Whether a Source is Relevant

At this point in your research process, you may have identified dozens of potential sources. It is easy for writers to get so caught up in checking out books and printing out articles that they forget to ask themselves how they will use these resources in their research. Now is a good time to get a little ruthless. Reading and taking notes takes time and energy, so you will want to focus on the most relevant sources.

To weed through your stack of books and articles, skim their contents. Read quickly with your research questions and subtopics in mind. The table below explains how to skim to get a quick sense of what topics are covered. If a book or article is not especially relevant, put it aside. You can always come back to it later if you need to.

Table summary: Effective skimming strategies for books and articles. For books, focus on the dust jacket, table of contents, and index to gauge topic coverage, while flipping through for subtitles and key terms. For articles, prioritize the abstract, introduction, and conclusion for summaries, and skim subheadings, sidebars, and keywords to determine relevance to your research.

Determining Whether a Source is Reliable

All information sources are not created equal. Sources can vary greatly in terms of how carefully they are researched, written, edited, and reviewed for accuracy. Common sense will help you identify obviously questionable sources, such as tabloids that feature tales of alien abductions, or personal websites with glaring typos. Sometimes, however, a source's reliability, or lack of it, is not so obvious.

To evaluate your research sources, you will use critical thinking skills consciously and deliberately. You will consider criteria such as the type of source, its intended purpose and audience, the author's (or authors') qualifications, the publication's reputation, any indications of bias or hidden agendas, how current the source is, and the overall quality of the writing, thinking, and design.

Evaluating Types of Sources

The different types of sources you will consult are written for distinct purposes and with different audiences in mind. This accounts for other differences, such as the following:

• How thoroughly the writers cover a given topic

• How carefully the writers research and document facts

• How editors review the work

- What biases or agendas affect the content

A journal article written for an academic audience for the purpose of expanding scholarship in a given field will take an approach quite different from a magazine feature written to inform a general audience. Textbooks, hard news articles, and websites approach a subject from different angles as well. To some extent, the type of source provides clues about its overall depth and reliability. The table below ranks different source types.

Table summary: High-Quality Sources are defined as those researched and written by subject matter experts and carefully reviewed to provide in-depth information. Examples include scholarly books and journals, trade publications for an educated audience like Nature or Smithsonian Magazine, government documents, and web pages from reputable research institutes or universities. Textbooks and reference books are also listed as usually reliable, though they may lack great depth.

: Table summary: Guidelines for evaluating source quality, categorizing them into varied-quality and questionable sources. Varied-quality sources, like news stories from reputable organizations such as Newsweek or the Public Broadcasting Service, business and nonprofit documents, and popular magazine articles, are often useful but should be used with caution because they may lack depth, rigorous research, or may be written to market a product. Questionable sources should be avoided entirely as they are often unreviewed and written to attract a large readership or present opinions; examples include blogs, personal websites, chat rooms, internet discussion boards, free online encyclopedias, and media content with obvious political biases like certain talk radio or television news shows.

Tip:

Free online encyclopedias and wikis may seem like a great source of information. They usually appear among the first few results of a web search. They cover thousands of topics, and many articles use an informal, straightforward writing style. Unfortunately, these sites have no control system for researching, writing, and reviewing articles.

Instead, they rely on a community of users to police themselves. At best, these sites can be a starting point for finding other, more trustworthy sources. Never use them as final sources.

Evaluating Credibility and Reputability

Even when you are using a type of source that is generally reliable, you will still need to evaluate the author's credibility and the publication itself on an individual basis. To examine the author's credibility—that is, how much you can believe of what the author has to say—examine their credentials. What career experience or academic study shows that the author has the expertise to write about this topic?

Keep in mind that expertise in one field is no guarantee of expertise in another, unrelated area. For instance, an author may have an advanced degree in physiology, but this credential is not a valid qualification for writing about psychology. Check credentials carefully.

Just as important as the author's credibility is the publication's overall reputability. Reputability refers to a source's standing and reputation as a respectable, reliable source of information. An established and well-known newspaper, such as the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, is more reputable than a college newspaper put out by comparatively inexperienced students. A website that is maintained by a well-known, respected organization and regularly updated is more reputable than one created by an unknown author or group.

If you are using articles from scholarly journals, you can check databases that keep count of how many times each article has been cited in other articles. This can be a rough indication of the article's quality or, at the very least, of its influence and reputation among other scholars.

Checking for Biases and Hidden Agendas

Whenever you consult a source, always think carefully about the author's or authors' purpose in presenting the information. Few sources present facts completely objectively. In some cases, the source's content and tone are significantly influenced by biases or hidden agendas.

Bias refers to favoritism or prejudice toward a particular person or group. For instance, an author may be biased against a certain political party and present information in a way that subtly—or not so subtly—makes that organization look bad. Bias can lead an author to present facts selectively, edit quotations to misrepresent someone's words, and distort information.

Hidden agendas are goals that are not immediately obvious but influence how an author presents the facts. For instance, an article about the role of beef in a healthy diet would be questionable if it were written by a representative of the beef industry—or by the president of an animal-rights organization. In both cases, the author would likely have a hidden agenda.

Using Current Sources

Be sure to seek out sources that are current, or up to date. Depending on the topic, sources may become outdated relatively soon after publication, or they may remain useful for years. For instance, online social networking sites have evolved rapidly over the past few years. An article published in 2002 about this topic will not provide current information. On the other hand, a research paper on elementary education practices might refer to studies published decades ago by influential child psychologists.

When using websites for research, check to see when the site was last updated. Many sites publish this information on the homepage, and some, such as news sites, are updated daily or weekly. Many non-functioning links are a sign that a website is not regularly updated. Do not be afraid to ask your professor for suggestions if you find that many of your most relevant sources are not especially reliable—or that the most reliable sources are not relevant.

Evaluating Overall Quality by Asking Questions

When you evaluate a source, you will consider the criteria previously discussed as well as your overall impressions of its quality. Read carefully, and notice how well the author presents and supports their statements. Stay actively engaged—do not simply accept an author's words as truth. Ask questions to determine each source's value. The checklist below lists ten questions to ask yourself as a critical reader.

Source Evaluation Checklist

1. Is the type of source appropriate for my purpose? Is it a high-quality source or one that needs to be looked at more critically?

2. Can I establish that the author is credible and the publication is reputable?

3. Does the author support ideas with specific facts and details that are carefully documented? Is the source of the author's information clear? (When you use secondary sources, look for sources that are not far removed from primary research.)

4. Does the source include any factual errors or instances of faulty logic?

5. Does the author leave out any information that I would expect to see in a discussion of this topic?

6. Do the author's conclusions logically follow from the evidence that is presented? Can I see how the author got from one point to another?

7. Is the writing clear and organized, and is it free from errors, clichés, and empty buzzwords? Is the tone objective, balanced, and reasonable? (Be on the lookout for extreme, emotionally charged language.)

8. Are there any obvious biases or agendas? Based on what I know about the author, are there likely to be any hidden agendas?

9. Are graphics informative, useful, and easy to understand? Are websites organized, easy to navigate, and free of clutter like flashing ads and unnecessary sound effects?

10. Is the source contradicted by information found in other sources? (If so, it is possible that your sources are presenting similar information but taking different perspectives, which requires you to think carefully about which sources you find more convincing and why. Be suspicious, however, of any source that presents facts that you cannot confirm elsewhere.)

The critical thinking skills you use to evaluate research sources as a student are equally valuable when you conduct research on the job. If you follow certain periodicals or websites, you have probably identified publications that consistently provide reliable information. Reading blogs and online discussion groups is a great way to identify new trends and hot topics in a particular field, but these sources should not be used for substantial research.

Exercise 1

Use a search engine to conduct a web search on your topic. Refer to the tips provided earlier to help you streamline your search. Evaluate your search results critically based on the criteria you have learned. Identify and bookmark one or more websites that are reliable, reputable, and likely to be useful in your research.

Managing Source Information

As you determine which sources you will rely on most, it is important to establish a system for keeping track of your sources and taking notes. There are several ways to go about it, and no one system is necessarily superior. What matters is that you keep materials in order; record bibliographical information you will need later; and take detailed, organized notes.

Keeping Track of Your Sources

Think ahead to a moment a few weeks from now, when you have written your research paper and are almost ready to submit it for a grade. There is just one task left: writing your list of sources.

As you begin typing your list, you realize you need to include the publication information for a book you cited frequently. Unfortunately, you already returned it to the library several days ago. You do not remember the U.R.L's for some of the websites you used or the dates you accessed them— information that also must be included in your Works Cited. With a sinking feeling, you realize that finding this information and preparing your Works Cited will require hours of work.

This stressful scenario can be avoided. Taking time to organize source information now will ensure that you are not scrambling to find it at the last minute. Throughout your research, record bibliographical information for each source as soon as you begin using it. You may use pen and paper methods, such as a notebook or note cards, or maintain an electronic list.

The table below shows the specific details you should record for commonly used source types. Use these details to develop a working Works Cited, a preliminary list of sources that you will later use to develop the references section of your paper. You may wish to record information using the formatting system of the American Psychological Association (A.P.A) or the Modern Language Association (M.L.A), which will save a step later on.

Table summary: Required information for commonly used source types. For books, include author or authors, title and subtitle, publisher, and year of publication. For essays or articles in books, add the container, editors, and page numbers. Periodicals require the publication title, volume and issue number, and page numbers. Online sources need the sponsoring organization, database name if applicable, URL, and the date the site was accessed. Interviews require the name of the person interviewed, the method of communication, and the date of the interview.

Taking Notes Efficiently

Good researchers stay focused and organized as they gather information from sources. Before you begin taking notes, take a moment to step back and think about your goal as a researcher: to find information that will help you answer your research question. When you write your paper, you will present your conclusions about the topic supported by research. That goal will determine what information you record and how you organize it.

Writers sometimes get caught up in taking extensive notes, so much so that they lose sight of how their notes relate to the questions and ideas they started out with. Remember that you do not need to write down every detail from your reading. Focus on finding and recording details that will help you answer your research questions. The following strategies will help you take notes efficiently.

Use Headings to Organize Ideas

Whether you use index cards or organize your notes using word-processing software, record just one major point from each source at a time, and use a heading to summarize the information covered. Keep all your notes in one file, digital or otherwise. Doing so will help you identify connections among different pieces of information. It will also help you make connections between your notes and the research questions and subtopics you identified earlier.

Know When to Summarize, Paraphrase, or Directly Quote a Source

Your notes will fall under three categories: summary notes, paraphrased information, and direct quotations from your sources. Effective researchers make choices about which type of note is most appropriate for their purpose.

Summary notes sum up the main ideas in a source in a few sentences or a short paragraph. A summary is considerably shorter than the original text and captures only the major ideas. Use summary notes when you do not need to record specific details but you intend to refer to broad concepts the author discusses.

Paraphrased notes restate a fact or idea from the source using your own words and sentence structure. Paraphrased sections should be one or two sentences versus a longer section of the source.

Direct quotations use the exact wording used by the original source and enclose the quoted material in quotation marks. It is a good strategy to copy direct quotations when an author expresses an idea in an especially lively or memorable way. However, do not rely exclusively on direct quotations in your note taking.

Most of your notes should be paraphrased from the original source. Paraphrasing as you take notes is usually a better strategy than copying direct quotations, because it forces you to think through the information in your source and understand it well enough to restate it. In short, it helps you stay engaged with the material instead of simply copying and pasting. Synthesizing, combining multiple sources and ideas, will help you later when you begin planning and drafting your paper. Whether you directly quote, paraphrase or synthesize, you must give credit to the original source via citations to avoid plagiarism.

Maintain Complete, Accurate Notes

Regardless of the format used, any notes you take should include enough information to help you organize ideas and locate them instantly in the original text if you need to review them. Make sure your notes include the following elements:

- Heading that sums up the main topic covered

• Author's name and title of source

• Page number

• Full U.R.L of any pages buried deep in a website

Throughout the process of taking notes, be scrupulous about making sure you have correctly attributed each idea to its source. Always include source information so you know exactly which ideas came from which sources. Use quotation marks to set off any words for phrases taken directly from the original text. If you add your own responses and ideas, make sure they are distinct from ideas you quoted or paraphrased.

Finally, make sure your notes accurately reflect the content of the original text. Make sure quoted material is copied verbatim. If you omit words from a quotation, use ellipses to show the omission and make sure the omission does not change the author's meaning. Paraphrase ideas carefully, and check your paraphrased notes against the original text to make sure that you have restated the author's ideas accurately in your own words.

Use a System That Works for You

There are several formats you can use to take notes. No technique is necessarily better than the others—it is more important to choose a format you are comfortable using. Choosing the format that works best for you will ensure your notes are organized, complete, and accurate. Consider implementing one of these formats when you begin taking notes:

- Use index cards. This traditional format involves writing each note on a separate index card. It takes more time than copying and pasting into an electronic document, which encourages you to be selective in choosing which ideas to record. Recording notes on separate cards makes it easy to later organize your notes according to major topics. Some writers color-code their cards to make them still more organized.

- Use note-taking software. Word-processing and office software packages often include different types of note-taking software. Although you may need to set aside some time to learn the software, this method combines the speed of typing with the same degree of organization associated with handwritten note cards.

- Maintain a research notebook. Instead of using index cards or electronic note cards, you may wish to keep a notebook or electronic folder, allotting a few pages (or one file) for each of your sources. This method makes it easy to create a separate column or section of the document where you add your responses to the information you encounter in your research.

- Annotate your sources. This method involves making handwritten notes in the margins of sources that you have printed or photocopied. If using electronic sources, you can make comments within the source document. For example, you might add comment boxes to a P.D.F version of an article. This method works best for experienced researchers who have already thought a great deal about the topic because it can be difficult to organize your notes later when starting your draft.

Key Takeaways

- A writer's use of primary and secondary sources is determined by the topic and purpose of the research. Sources used may include print sources, such as books and journals; electronic sources, such as websites and articles retrieved from databases; and human sources of information, such as interviews.

- Strategies that help writers locate sources efficiently include conducting effective keyword searches, understanding how to use online catalogs and databases, using strategies to narrow web search results, and consulting reference librarians.

• Writers evaluate sources based on how relevant they are to the research question and how reliable their content is.

• Skimming sources can help writers determine their relevance efficiently.

• Writers evaluate a source's reliability by asking questions about the type of source (including its audience and purpose); the author's credibility, the publication's reputability, the source's currency, and the overall quality of the writing, research, logic, and design in the source.

In their notes, effective writers record organized, complete, accurate information. This includes bibliographic information about each source as well as summarized, paraphrased, or quoted information from the source.

Appendix A: Plagiarism and A.I

What is Plagiarism?

In simple terms, it is the act of using someone else's work, ideas, or expressions without proper acknowledgement by presenting them as one's own. This is an ethical violation in academic, professional, and creative contexts. When we look at plagiarism, we see different types of plagiarism.

Direct Plagiarism: This is the act of copying someone else's work verbatim without giving proper credit. This is the most straightforward form of plagiarism.

Self-Plagiarism: Many do not realize that you can self-plagiarize. This is the act of reusing your own previously published work or parts of it without proper citation. This includes submitting the same paper for different assignments.

Accidental Plagiarism: This happens when one neglects to cite their sources, or misquotes them unintentionally. Even though it is accidental, it is still considered a breach of academic integrity.

Paraphrasing Plagiarism: When one paraphrases another person by using the gist of what is being said, but it is not their own original idea, and does not give proper credit to the original author.

Source-Based Plagiarism: This includes:

- Citing Incorrect Sources: Citing a source that is incorrect or does not exist.

- □ Secondary Source Plagiarism: Citing a secondary source but only referencing the primary source.

- Data Fabrication and Falsification: Making up or altering data to fit one's conclusions.

Cyber Plagiarism: This involves copying a text, image, or ideas from the internet and using them without proper attribution. Think about doing a presentation and putting in graphics from the internet, you must give proper credit to those graphics or it is considered cyber-plagiarism.

Artificial Intelligence (A.I)

Artificial Intelligence (A.I) has been around for years. This is not a new concept. We have seen this in spell check in Google Docs or M.S Word, grammar check programs such as Grammarly, and online in predicted phrases when doing a search. But how does it directly relate to plagiarism and academic integrity?

As a reminder academic integrity is “the expectation that teachers, students, researchers and all members of the academic community act with: honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility” (teqsa). How does using A.I fail to comply with academic integrity? There are many issues that surround the use of A.I and where the line is that becomes the boundary. Using A.I to generate papers constitutes cheating and violates academic integrity.

All students are required to produce original work that reflects their understanding and effort. When a student submits A.I-generated content as their own, it misrepresents the abilities and knowledge of the student. It is often not even a matter of a good paper, but one that does not align with the expectations of the assignment.

Students do not realize they are hurting their own learning when using A.I generated work. It deprives the student of the opportunity to develop critical thinking, writing, and research skills. This can have a negative effect on their education and career.

It also will instill a lack of confidence as a student becomes dependent on A.I for their work. They become less confident in their own abilities and increasingly reliant on technology to complete assignments.

There are also ethical concerns when a student decides to submit a paper that has been A.I-generated. This is a form of intellectual dishonesty. It eliminates the effort to produce honest work, which further leads to distrust between students and educators.

Is there a time and place to use A.I? Absolutely. A.I is not going anywhere. It has been around for years and will continue to be in the forefront of technology. However, teaching students to use it appropriately and responsibly does a lot to deter students from using it. It can be used to help students with research, helping them determine key words needed for research and appropriate sources to use. It can be used for generating an outline to help a student determine the best course to write their paper. There needs to be clear expectations for the student to follow. A.I generated work needs to be cited appropriately like any other source. With that expectation of using A.I generated work as a source, it is limited on how much one can use in their work.

A writer will sometimes use just one rhetorical mode to demonstrate that a thesis statement is valid or to defend a stance. You can see many examples of essays developed using just one strategy: for example, a narrative essay in which a writer makes a point and supports it with a detailed story; or a descriptive essay, in which a writer creates a dominant impression of a place or person, positive or negative, using a long passage of physical description.

But far more often, a writer will employ a variety of different rhetorical modes to illustrate different points in a single work.

Imagine that you are writing to convince a prospective employer that you are a great candidate for a particular job. You will want to demonstrate that you have specific skills, talents, and experiences that make you a strong candidate. Think about how you know that you have each one of these strengths:

• You have completed a successful internship in a related field and remember a difficult issue that you helped your team to deal with.

• You have a certain style that other people find engaging and authoritative.

• You have completed a lengthy educational program that has prepared you for this position.

• You know that you have some weaknesses that your reader may find concerning but that you know should not concern them.

• You can demonstrate that you can perform better in this job than people who are more experienced than you.

You are sure of yourself and can defend each of these points. Now you should choose the best strategy or mode to make each of these points convincingly. You might choose the following:

• Narration: You have completed a successful internship in a related field and remember a difficult issue that you helped your team to deal with. Recount this incident: how you provided leadership to your team and dealt with this difficult issue, hour by hour.

• Description: You can describe how you look and talk so that you reflect your confidence and make yourself likeable to other people.

• Process analysis: You can explain how you have prepared yourself for this job, step by step--in college, in volunteer work, and in internships.

• Comparison and contrast: You can contrast yourself to other applicants, showing the reader what makes you better than they are, or compare yourself to much more experienced employees.

Outside of a Composition I or Composition 2 class, you are much more likely to pick and choose among rhetorical modes to find the one that best suits your purposes in each section or paragraph than you are to write an essay using just one.

So how do you choose the best strategy or mode for the particular point you want to make?

Narration and Description are full of concrete details that appeal to the senses. If you want a reader to feel, through you, how uncomfortable, scary or frustrating a real experience was (or might be), you can use this strategy. Let readers see for themselves how charming a person is, how long they had have to wait in line at a particular intersection during rush hour, or how rudely they might be treated (as you were) at a particular office on campus or in a particular department at a local retail store.

Process analysis can show a reader how easy it is to solve a common problem or how complicated it might be to solve one. After demonstrating that a problem exists in a workplace or community, it can instruct a reader in the process for addressing that problem.

Comparing and contrasting can highlight something subtle or surprising that is unique about a particular person or thing when contrasted with others that appear to be similar. Or it can illuminate patterns or universal truths that are not immediately obvious.

$ ^{1} $ “What is Academic Integrity?” TEQSA. 2022, https://www.teqsa.gov.au/students/understanding-academic-integrity/what-academic-integrity#:~:text=Academic%20integrity%20is%3A,