Academic Writing from Paragraph to Essay

rh dh die hy — } Lig bl *-*.tate2e 1 Academic Writing from paragraph to essay OE ae LD we vt ‘ i >} Dorothy E Zemach Lisa A Rumisek tea MACMILLAN o{LIo WS Academic Writing from paragraph to essay Dorothy E Zemach_ Lisa A Rumisek AA MACMILLAN Contents To the ‘To the St Introduction: Process Writing ‘* Understanding process writing, the writing met English-speaking university classes 1d used in most Pre-Writing: Getting Ready to Write Choosing and narrowing a topic Gathering ideas Editing ideas The Structure of a Paragraph ‘The definition of a paragraph ‘The parts of a paragraph Identifying and writing topic sentences 3. The Development of a Paragraph ‘© Paragraph support and development © Writing concluding sentences © Peer editing 4. Descriptive and Process Paragraphs ‘© Descriptive paragraphs and reasons for writing them ‘© Organising and writing descriptive paragraphs using adjectives and repos ‘© Process paragraphs and reasons for writing them © Using transition words to write a process paragraph 5. Opinion Paragraphs Distinguishing between fact and opinion Organising and writing paragraphs expressing opinions and arguments ion words to express cause and effect Using modal expressions to make recommendations 6 Comparison | Contrast Paragraphs mn /contrast paragraphs and reasons for writing them ing comparison / contrast paragraphs ‘contents "7 25 33 40 7 Problem / Solution Paragraphs 50 4 Writing about problems and solutions Using first conditionals Writing a two-paragraph text with linking phrases & The Structure of an Essay 56 ‘© The definition of an essay © Formatting an essay © Writing a thesis statement 9 Outlining an Essay 63 ‘© The purpose of an outline © Writing an outline 10 Introductions and Conclusions mW pose of an introduction of information in introductions ey ‘© The purpose of a conclusion ‘© Writing conclusions I Unity and Coherence 78 ‘©. Tho importance of unity in essay writing © Editing an essay for unity © The importance of coherence in essay writing © Creating coherence 12 Essays for Examinations 88 co 2 Ws mon instructions for essay tests ing timed essays and managing time Additional Materials 95 ‘© Sample essay: brainstorming ‘© Sample essay: first draft ‘© Sample essay: second draft © Punctuation ‘© Sample information letter ‘Sample personal statement Sample CV 1 Sample CV 2 ‘Addressing an env Answer Key 108 Photocopiable Materials ci ONTENTS To the Teacher ‘Non-native English speakers who enrol in a college or university want to develop writing skills that will lead to academic success. This book is a combination text and workbook. Its focused lessons, specific exercises, and ample opportunities for practice are designed to help your students gain confidence in writing academic proso, ‘This book is designed to take university-level students with an intermediate ability in English as a Foreign Language from paragraph writing to essay writing. The course combines a process approach to writing (where students work on invention, poor response, editing, and writing multiple drafts) with a pragmatic approach to teaching, the basics of writing (with direct instruction on such clements as topic sentences, thesis, statements, and outlines) Preswriting Writing Reviewing and Revising ‘The Introduction presonts process writing to students. The tasks in the main units aro ‘graded. Studonts first work on recognising and identifying key writing structures from model paragraphs and essays. Then they manipulate the structures in short, manageable tasks. Finally, they apply the structures to their own writing. There are opportunities for students to work independently, with a partner, and with a group. The exercises can be done either in class or as homework. Critical thinking is emphasised, so that students become aware of the impact of their choice of words, sentences, and organisational techniques on the effectiveness of their writing. The focus throughout is on academic “writing—the type of writing used in university courses and exams in English-speaking institutions of higher education. In Units 1-6, students analyse and write the types of paragraphs that commonly occur in academic contexts. They practise writing topic sentences and concluding sentences, ‘organising the paragraph coherently, and using appropriate vocabulary, grammar, and transitional devices in the paragraph body. In Unit 7, students write two:paragraph texts, in preparation for longer assignments. In Units 8-11, students apply what they have learned about paragraphs to essay writing. They work on developing and supporting a central thesis, organising an outline from which to write, and writing effective introductions and conclusions. Unit 12 discusses strategies for timed essay writing, including understanding standard instructions, time-management techniques, ‘and methods for organising information. Included in the Student Book are samples of the development of an essay from brainstorming to the final draft. Thore is also a guide to punctuation and examples of a letter requesting information, a personal essay of the type commonly required in university applications, CVs and addressed envelopes. Photocopiable exercises and, activities are also included. TOTHETEACHER To the Student Writing is a very important part of your university study, You will write assignments that may range from one paragraph to several pages long. and will write answers on tests and exams that may be a few sentences long or a complete essay. ‘Academic writing in English may be differont not only from academic writing in your own language, but even from other writing in English. The purpose of this book is to help you recognise and produce the sort of writing that you will do for your university During this course, you will have many opportunities to study and discuss examples of English academic writing. Naturally. you will also have many opportunities to discuss your own academic writing and the writing of your classmates. You will learn how important the reader is to the writer, and how to express clearly and directly what you ‘mean to communicate, We hope that what you learn in this course will help you throughout your academic studies and beyond ‘You should come to your writing class every day with energy and a willingness to work and learn. Your teacher and your classmates have a lot to share with you, and you have ‘lot to share with them, By coming to class with your questions. taking chances and trying new ways, and expressing your ideas in another language, you will add not only to your own world but to the world of those around you. Good luck! ToTHE STUDENT v Introduction: Process Writing In this unit, you will ... ‘= learn about process writing, the writing method used in most English-speaking university classes. The writing process ‘These words are important for understanding the writing process. Match each word with the correct definition. a. step 1. to check a piece of writing for errors b. topic 2. a group of related sentences, ©. gather 3. one thing in a series of things you do a 4. subject: what the piece of writing is about e. 5. to change or correct a piece of writing t 6. a short piece of writing, atleast three paragraphs long 9. proofread % to arrange in a cleat, logical way h. edit 8. to find and collect together The six steps of the writing process 2 Read about the writing process. These are the steps you will practise in this book. Process writing When we write, we de more than just put words together to make sentences. Good writers, go through several steps to produce a piece of writing, Pre-writing STEP ONE: Choose a topic. Before you write, your teacher gives you a specific assignment or some ideas of what to write about. If not, choose your topic yourself. STEP TWO: Gather ideas. When you have a topic, think about what you will write about that topic. STEP THREE: Organise, Decide which of the ideas you want to use and where you ‘want to use them, Choose which idea to talk about first, which to talk about next, and which to talk about last. Drafting ‘STEP FOUR: Write. Write your paragraph or essay from start (o finish. Use your notes about your ideas and organisation. Reviewing and revising ‘STEP FIVE: Review structure and content. Check what you have written. Read your ‘writing silently to yourself or aloud, perhaps toa friend. Look for places where you ccan add more information, and check to see if you have any unnocessary information. ‘Ask a classmate to exchango texts with you. Your classmate reads your text, and you read his or hers. Gotting a reader's opinion is good way to know if your writing is clear and effective. Learning to give opinions about other people's writing helps you to improve your own. You may want (0 go on to step six now and revise the structure ‘and content of your text before you proofread it — ii STEP SIX: Revise structure and content, Use your ideas from step five to rewrite your text, ‘making improvements to the structure and content. You might need to explain something more clearly, or add more details. You may even need to change your organisation so that your text is more logical. Together, steps five and six can be called editing, Proofread. Read your text again, This time, check your spelling and grammar and think about the words you have chosen to use. ‘Make final corrections. Check that you have corrected the errors you discovered in steps five and six and make any other changes you want to make. Now your text is finished? Steps five and six can be repeated many times, INTRODUCTION: PROCESS WAITING 3 Review 3 Complete this chart, summarising the steps of the writing process Pre-writing © STEP Ont Choose a. ‘@ sTEPTWO: Gather © STEPTHREE: Decide = i ((srerroun wits. cages i oo Rewriting © STEP Six: May need to... explain ‘many times. 4 nTrooucmion: Process WRITING ] Pre-Writing: Getting Ready to Write In this unit, you will learn how to ‘© choose and narrow a topi = gather ideas. edit idea D_ What is pre-writing? Before you begin writing, you decide what you are going to write about. Then you plan what {you are going to write. This process is called. pro-writing ave wh Choosing and narrowing a topic D_ How to choose a topic for a paragraph ‘A paragraph is a group of five to ten sentences that give information about a topic. Before you write, you must choose a topic for your paragraph. Choose a topic that isn't too narrow (limited. brief). A narrow topic will not have ‘enough ideas to write about. The ages of my brothers and sisters is too narrow. You ‘can't write very much about it. ‘© Choose a topic that Isn't too broad (general). A broad topic will have too many ideas for just one paragraph. Most paragraphs are five to ten sentonces long. Schools is too general, There are thousands of things you could say about it. A student could narrow this topic by choosing one aspect of schools to discuss. schools me secondary schools in my country popular school clubs tuniversity entrance exams 1 Choose three topics from this list. Narrow each of the three down to a paragraph topic. Then compare with a partner, festivals friends my country dancing REWRITING: GETTING READYTOWRITE 5