University of Toronto

1. Advice on Academic Writing
Subject: Language and written
expression IV
Teacher: Saubidet Oyhamburu, Stella
Maris
Institute: Instituto Superior de
Formación Docente N° 41.
Student: Belinche, Giovanna

2. Some General Advice on Academic
Essay-Writing
• An essay should have an argument. It should answer a question or a few related
questions. It should try to prove something—develop a single “thesis” or a short
set of closely related points—by reasoning and evidence, especially including apt
examples and confirming citations from any particular text or sources your
argument involves.
• Formulate as exactly as possible the question(s) you will seek to answer in your
essay. Next, develop by thinking, reading, and jotting a provisional thesis
or hypothesis.
• An essay’s organization should be designed to present your argument clearly and
persuasively.

3. Understanding Essay Topics: A
Checklist
• Note the key terms, including those naming parts of the topic and those giving
directions for dealing with it. Look especially for words that define the kind of
reasoning you should be using: why, how, analyse, compare, evaluate, argue, etc.
• Note which concepts or methods the topic asks you to use. An essay assignment
expects you to use course concepts and ways of thinking; it encourages you to
break new ground for yourself in applying course methodology.
• Ask yourself questions about the specific topic in terms of the concepts or
methods that seem applicable, to generate ideas from which you can choose the
direction of your research or preliminary analysis.
• For an essay of argument, formulate a tentative thesis statement at a fairly early
stage—that is, a statement of your own likely position in the controversy that most
interests you, or your preliminary answer to an important interpretive question.

4. Organizing an Essay
• When you begin planning, ask the following questions: What type of essay am I
going to be writing? Does it belong to a specific genre? In university, you may be
asked to write, say, a book review, a lab report, a document study, or a compare-
and-contrast essay. Knowing the patterns of reasoning associated with a genre can
help you to structure your essay.
• The earlier you begin planning, the better. It is usually a mistake to do all of your
research and note-taking before beginning to draw up an outline. Of course, you
will have to do some reading and weighing of evidence before you start to plan.
But as a potential argument begins to take shape in your mind, you may start to
formalize your thoughts in the form of a tentative plan. You will be much more
efficient in your reading and your research if you have some idea of where your
argument is headed. You can then search for evidence for the points in your
tentative plan while you are reading and researching. As you gather evidence,
those points that still lack evidence should guide you in your research

5. Organizing an Essay
• Planning provides the following advantages:
• helps you to produce a logical and orderly argument
that your readers can follow
• helps you to produce an economical paper by allowing
you to spot repetition
• helps you to produce a thorough paper by making it
easier for you to notice whether you have left anything
out
• makes drafting the paper easier by allowing you to
concentrate on writing issues such as grammar, word
choice, and clarity

6. Using Thesis Statements
• When you are asked to write an essay that creates an
argument, your reader will probably expect a clear statement
of your position. Typically, this summary statement comes in
the first paragraph of the essay, though there is no rigid rule
about position.
• Characteristics of a good thesis statement:
• It makes a definite and limited assertion that needs to be explained and
supported by further discussion.
• It shows the emphasis and indicates the methodology of your argument.
• It shows awareness of difficulties and disagreements

7. Introductions and Conclusions
• Introductions and conclusions play a special role in the academic essay, and they
frequently demand much of your attention as a writer. A good introduction should
identify your topic, provide essential context, and indicate your particular focus in
the essay. It also needs to engage your readers’ interest. A strong conclusion will
provide a sense of closure to the essay while again placing your concepts in a
somewhat wider context. It will also, in some instances, add a stimulus to further
thought. Since no two essays are the same, no single formula will automatically
generate an introduction and conclusion for you.
• Strategies for capturing your readers’ attention and for fleshing out your
introduction: find a startling statistic that illustrates the seriousness of the problem
you will address, quote an expert, mention a common misperception that your
thesis will argue against.
• Some general advice about conclusions: remind the reader of how the evidence
you’ve presented has contributed to your thesis, reflect upon the significance of
what you’ve written. Try to convey some closing thoughts about the larger
implications of your argument.

8. Paragraphs and topic sentences
• A paragraph is a series of related sentences developing a central idea, called
the topic. Try to think about paragraphs in terms of thematic unity: a paragraph is
a sentence or a group of sentences that supports one central, unified idea.
Paragraphs add one idea at a time to your broader argument.
• The most effective way to achieve paragraph unity is to express the central idea of
the paragraph in a topic sentence.
• Topic sentences are similar to mini thesis statements. Like a thesis statement, a
topic sentence has a specific main point. Whereas the thesis is the main point of
the essay, the topic sentence is the main point of the paragraph. Like the thesis
statement, a topic sentence has a unifying function. But a thesis statement or topic
sentence alone doesn’t guarantee unity. An essay is unified if all the paragraphs
relate to the thesis, whereas a paragraph is unified if all the sentences relate to the
topic sentence. Note: Not all paragraphs need topic sentences. In particular,
opening and closing paragraphs, which serve different functions from body
paragraphs, generally don’t have topic sentences.

9. How do I develop my ideas in a
paragraph?
• The definition paragraph does exactly what you would expect: it defines a
term, often by drawing distinctions between the term and other related
ones. The definition that you provide will often be specific to your subject
area.
• The analysis or classification paragraph develops a topic by distinguishing
its component parts and discussing each of these parts separately.
• A comparison or a contrast paragraph zeroes in on a key similarity or
difference between, for instance, two sources, positions, or ideas. Decide
whether to deal only with similarities or only with differences, or to cover
both. Also, keep in mind that a single comparison can be spread out over
two separate paragraphs.
• A qualification paragraph acknowledges that what you previously asserted
is not absolutely true or always applicable.
• The process paragraph involves a straightforward step-by-step description.
Process description often follows a chronological sequence.

10. Critical Reading
• To read critically is to make judgements about how a text is argued. This is a highly
reflective skill requiring you to “stand back” and gain some distance from the text you
are reading.
• THE KEY IS THIS:
• don’t read looking only or primarily for information
• do read looking for ways of thinking about the subject matter
• When you are reading, highlighting, or taking notes, avoid extracting and compiling lists
of evidence, lists of facts and examples. Avoid approaching a text by asking “What
information can I get out of it?” Rather ask “How does this text work? How is it argued?
How is the evidence (the facts, examples, etc.) used and interpreted? How does the text
reach its conclusions?
How Do I Read Looking for Ways of Thinking?
• First determine the central claims or purpose of the text.
• Begin to make some judgements about context
• Distinguish the kinds of reasoning the text employs.
• Examine the evidence the text employs.
• Critical reading may involve evaluation

11. Research Readings
• In going through sources for a research essay, you are looking for facts to support
or modify your original view of the topic, and for others’ opinions to bolster and to
challenge your own.
• If you take notes efficiently, you can read with more understanding and also save
time and frustration when you come to write your paper. These are three main
principles:
• Know what kind of ideas you need to record.
• Don’t write down too much.
• Label your notes intelligently
Research Using the Internet:
Don’t rely exclusively on Net resources.
Narrow your research topic before logging on.
Keep a detailed record of sites you visit and the sites you use

12. Summarizing
• Summarizing a text, or distilling its essential concepts into a paragraph or two, is a
useful study tool as well as good writing practice. A summary has two aims: (1) to
reproduce the overarching ideas in a text, identifying the general concepts that
run through the entire piece, and (2) to express these overarching ideas
using precise, specific language.
• Here are some methods for summarizing: First, prior to skimming, use some of
the previewing techniques:
- Include the title and identify the author in your first sentence.
- The first sentence or two of your summary should contain the author’s thesis, or
central concept, stated in your own words.
- When summarizing a longer article, try to see how the various stages in the
explanation or argument are built up in groups of related paragraphs.
- Omit ideas that are not really central to the text.
- Omit minor details and specific examples.
- Avoid writing opinions or personal responses in your summaries.
- Be careful not to plagiarize the author’s words.

13. Using Quotations
• The focus of your essay should be on your understanding of the topic. If you
include too much quotation in your essay, you will crowd out your own ideas.
Consider quoting a passage from one of your sources if any of the following
conditions holds:
- The language of the passage is particularly elegant or powerful or memorable.
- You wish to confirm the credibility of your argument by enlisting the support of an
authority on your topic.
- The passage is worthy of further analysis.
- You wish to argue with someone else’s position in considerable detail.
• If an argument or a factual account from one of your sources is particularly
relevant to your paper but does not deserve to be quoted verbatim, consider
- paraphrasing the passage if you wish to convey the points in the passage at roughly
the same level of detail as in the original
- summarizing the relevant passage if you wish to sketch only the most essential
points in the passage

14. Revising And Editing
• Revising gives you the chance to preview your work on behalf of the eventual
reader. Revision is much more than proofreading, though in the final editing stage
it involves some checking of details. Good revision and editing can transform a
mediocre first draft into an excellent final paper. It’s more work, but leads to real
satisfaction when you find you’ve said what you wanted.
- First check whether you have fulfilled the intention of the assignment.
- Then look at overall organization. It’s worthwhile to print out everything so that
you can view the entire document.
- Now polish and edit your style by moving to smaller matters such as word choice,
sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and spelling. You may already have
passages that you know need further work. This is where you can use computer
programs and reference material such as handbooks and handouts.

15. Specific Types of Writing
• The Book Review or Article Critique: An analytic or critical review of a book or
article is not primarily a summary; rather, it comments on and evaluates the work in
the light of specific issues and theoretical concerns in a course. The literature review
puts together a set of such commentaries to map out the current range of positions on
a topic; then the writer can define his or her own position in the rest of the paper.
• The Literature Review: A literature review is an account of what has been
published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers. In writing the literature
review, your purpose is to convey to your reader what knowledge and ideas have been
established on a topic, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. As a piece of
writing, the literature review must be defined by a guiding concept It is not just a
descriptive list of the material available, or a set of summaries. Besides enlarging your
knowledge about the topic, writing a literature review lets you gain and demonstrate
skills in two areas
• information seeking: the ability to scan the literature efficiently, using manual or
computerized methods, to identify a set of useful articles and books
• critical appraisal: the ability to apply principles of analysis to identify unbiased and valid
studies.

16. Specific Types of Writing
• The Abstract: Abstracts are important because they give a first impression of the
document that follows, letting readers decide whether to continue reading and
showing them what to look for if they do. Though some abstracts only list the
contents of the document, the most useful abstracts tell the reader more. An
abstract should represent as much as possible of the quantitative and qualitative
information in the document, and also reflect its reasoning.
• The Comparative Essay: A comparative essay asks that you compare at least
two (possibly more) items. These items will differ depending on the assignment.
You might be asked to compare
• positions on an issue
• theories
• figures
• texts
• events

17. Specific Types of Writing
• Application Letters and Résumés: Your application letter and résumé may be
the most important documents you write during your time at university—and
being able to write good applications will keep on being important during your
working life.
• Employers say they want to hire people who can communicate clearly, handle
personal interactions, and analyse complex situations. Use your application
package to demonstrate these qualities.
• Keep the reader’s interests in mind.
• Balance facts and claims.
• Write concisely.

18. Specific Types of Writing
• Effective Admission Letters: When you write a letter or personal statement as
part of applying for graduate or professional school, you will make your case as
much by the way you write as by what you say. Here are some of the qualities to
aim for.
• Be focussed.
• Be coherent.
• Be interpretive.
• Be specific.
• Be personal.
Options for Organizing an Admission Letter:
• Narrative
• Analytic
• Technical

19. Specific Types of Writing
• The Academic Proposal: An academic proposal is the first step in producing a
thesis or major project. Its intent is to convince a supervisor or academic
committee that your topic and approach are sound, so that you gain approval
to proceed with the actual research. As well as indicating your plan of action,
an academic proposal should show your theoretical positioning and your
relationship to past work in the area.
• An academic proposal is expected to contain these elements:
• a rationale for the choice of topic, showing why it is important or useful within
the concerns of the discipline or course.
• a review of existing published work (“the literature”) that relates to the topic.
• an outline of your intended approach or methodology

20. Specific Types of Writing
• Oral Presentations: Like anything else, oral presentations become easier
with preparation and practice:
• Sign up early.
• It helps to know what’s expected of you
• Choose your topic carefully.
• Define the scope of your research.
• Organize your talk as you would an essay.
• Try to make use of supplementary media to illustrate or illuminate aspects of your
talk.
• Leave time to rehearse your presentation.
• It’s important to feel comfortable about the way you look, and to be relaxed and
confident, during your presentation.
• Treat your presentation like a well-planned performance.

21. Bibliography
• University of Toronto (n.d.).Writing advice.
http://advice.writing.utoronto.ca/