Materials for Students: Writing the Academic Paper: What is an academic paper? - The Diigo Meta page

• 21 May 13
  

  leehowell999
• 29 Apr 13
  

  Alex Sanchez

  Tech Writing Writing Academic Papers ENG 131

• 10 Feb 13
  

  melissacjohnson

  FI Academic-Style Writing

• 26 Sep 12
  

  V Pallo

  academic_writing

• 25 Sep 12
  

  A Hughes

  writing paper academicwriting academic writing thesis research academic students

• 29 Jul 12
  

  jalittle

  questions to ask before research

  research

• 11 Jun 12
  

  Patrick Clark

  Tips from Dartmouth concerning the transition from high school to college writing.

  college writing

• 26 Apr 12
  

  Jayanna Killingsworth

  academicwriting

• 23 Apr 12
  

  Elaine Jolayemi

  paper thesis students research academicwriting academic writing Writing esl Teaching Resources

• 04 Apr 12
  

  tanchoongkheng
  • ou will want to write clearly, to have an interesti
  • to write clearly, to have an interesting and arguable thesis, to construct paragraphs that are coherent and focused, and so on.
  • Academic writing is writing done by scholars for other scholars.
  • engaged in activities that scholars have been engaged in for centuries: you will read about, think about, argue about, and write about great ideas.
  • requires that you read, think, argue, and write in certain ways.
  • 2. Academic writing is devoted to topics and questions that are of interest to the academic community.
  • find a topic or a question that is relevant and appropriate
  • paper should be of interest to other students and scholar
  • Academic writing should present the reader with an informed argument
  • consider what is known about a subject and then to determine what you think about it.
  • Don't confuse evidence, assumption, and opinion.

  9 more annotations...

• 01 Apr 12
  

  Hsiao-yun Chan

  Includes a useful section on choosing an appropriate topic.

  academic writing

• 27 Feb 12
  

  Clebson Braga
  • who, what, when, where, why, how?
  • After all, it's not enough to summarize in a paper what is already known and talked about. You must also add something of your own to the conversation.
  • experiences
  • reactions
  • associations
  • What in the text is leading you to respond a certain way? What's not in the text that might be contributing to your response?
  • In order to make sure that your stance on a topic is appropriately analytical, you might want to ask yourself some questions. Begin by asking why you've taken this particular stance. Why did you find some elements of the text more important than others? Does this prioritizing reflect some bias or preconception on your part? If you dismissed part of a text as boring or unimportant, why did you do so? Do you have personal issues or experiences that lead you to be impatient with certain claims? Is there any part of your response to the text that might cause your reader to discount your paper as biased or un-critical? If so, you might want to reconsider your position on your topic.

  5 more annotations...

• 10 Feb 12
  

  Arif Maftuhin

  writing

• 26 Jan 12
  

  Stephanie Galberth
  • Academic writing is writing done by scholars for other scholars.
  • 2. Academic writing is devoted to topics and questions that are of interest to the academic community
  • : Academic writing should present the reader with an informed argument.

  • What do I know about my topic?

     
     
    • Can I answer the questions who, what, when, where, why, how?
     
    • What do I know about the context of my topic?
     
    • What historical or cultural influences do I know about that might be important to my topic?
     
    • Does my topic belong to any particular genre or category of topics?
     
    • What do I know about this genre?
     
      

    What seems important to me about this topic?

     
     
    • If I were to summarize what I know about this topic, what points would I focus on?
     
    • What points seem less important?
     
    • Why do I think so?
     
      

    How does this topic relate to other things that I know?

     
     
    • What do I know about the topic that might help my reader to understand it in new ways?
     
      

    What DON'T I know about my topic?

     
     
    • What do I need to know?
     
    • How can I find out more?
     
      
  • What You Think
  • Summarize.
  • Evaluate.
  • Analyze.
  • Synthesize.
  • Choosing An Appropriate Topic

  8 more annotations...

• 21 Dec 11
  

  Janet Frazer
• 19 Dec 11
  

  cspiret
• 28 Nov 11
  

  Sung Jun Jo

  writing paper academic writing

• 

  Heidi Bazilian

  writing paper thesis academicwriting

• 28 Sep 11
  

  Zachary Blair

  Dartmouth College

  Writing

• 22 Aug 11
  

  Barbara Stefanics

  writing writing_synthesis

• 01 Aug 11
  

  Kevin Branson

  How It Differs From Writing in High School
  One of the first things you'll discover as a college student is that writing in college is different from writing in high school. Certainly a lot of what your high school writing teachers taught you will be useful to you as you approach writing in college: you will want to write clearly, to have an interesting and arguable thesis, to construct paragraphs that are coherent and focused, and so on.

  Institute academic_writing

• 29 Jul 11
  

  Jim Parker

  One of the first things you'll discover as a college student is that writing in college is different from writing in high school. Certainly a lot of what your high school writing teachers taught you will be useful to you as you approach writing in college

  academic research education paper reference writing

• 17 Jul 11
  

  Lea Morris
  • Still, many students enter college relying on writing strategies that served them well in high school but that won't serve them well here. Old formulae, such as the five-paragraph theme, aren't sophisticated or flexible enough to provide a sound structure for a college paper. And many of the old tricks - such as using elevated language or repeating yourself so that you might meet a ten-page requirement - will fail you now.
  • Be aware of discipline-specific differences. Each of the academic disciplines has its own conventions when it comes to matters of tone and style. If you need more information about discipline-specific matters, check out a style manual, such as the MLA or APA style sheets.
  • Written by Karen Gocsik

  1 more annotation...

• 09 Jun 11
  

  Rob Merkus

  research writing academic

• 17 Apr 11
  

  Michele Day

  "Still, many students enter college relying on writing strategies that served them well in high school but that won't serve them well here. Old formulae, such as the five-paragraph theme, aren't sophisticated or flexible enough to provide a sound structure for a college paper. And many of the old tricks - such as using elevated language or repeating yourself so that you might meet a ten-page requirement - will fail you now."

  writing-academic teaching-writing

• 11 Apr 11
  

  IAN MARS

  TEACHING & LEARNING

• 05 Apr 11
  

  emhowd
• 27 Mar 11
  

  sue sterrett

  writing

• 08 Mar 11
  

  Maureen Frei

  writing research paper academic college reference education english teaching

• 01 Mar 11
  

  MJ Waite

  academic thesis academic writing synthesis college_writing

• 28 Feb 11
  

  Megan Elisabeth
  • try to sort out what you know about a subject from what you think  about a subject
  • try to sort out what you know  about a  subject  from what you think about a subject.
  • from what you think about a subject
  • you will want to write clearly, to have an interesting and arguable thesis, to  construct paragraphs that are coherent and focused
  • writing in college is for the most part a particular kind of writing, called  "academic writing."
  • Academic writing is writing done by scholars for other scholars
  • you will read about, think about, argue about, and write about great ideas. Of  course, being a scholar requires that you read, think, argue, and write in  certain ways. Your education will help you to understand the expectations,  conventions, and requirements of scholarship. If you read on, so will this Web  site.
  • Academic writing is devoted to topics and questions that are of interest to  the academic community.
  • try to find a topic or a question that is relevant and appropriate.
  • pay attention to what your professor is saying
  • your paper should be of interest to other students and scholars
  • must be more than personal response
  • helps your reader to better understand your topic, or to see it in a new way.
  • your readers will find useful
  • Academic writing should present the reader with an informed argument
  • Your introduction should accomplish two things: it should declare your argument,  and it should place your argument within the larger, ongoing conversation about  your topic
  • "Place" your argument for your reader by naming the text, the author, the issues  it raises, and your take on these issues.
  • Your thesis should also be an arguable point
  • leave the reader with something to think about, but you will want to avoid  preaching
  • You will want to sum up, but you will want to do more than say what you have  already said

  18 more annotations...

• 23 Feb 11
  

  safranit

  writing paper

• 22 Feb 11
  

  Christina Ljungvall

  academic writing ENG 1010 structure argument style tone thesis reference

• 13 Jan 11
  

  Ge Vue

  writing academic

• 19 Dec 10
  

  Elon Fischer
• 30 Nov 10
  

  Kaleb Kohart

  writing academicwriting paper

• 16 Nov 10
  

  Glenn Hoyle

  GS112 writing academicwriting

• 05 Nov 10
  

  Jenny Davis

  grammar writing students academic writing college resources

• 22 Oct 10
  

  Cecilia Moretti

  paper writing

• 18 Oct 10
  

  ohbeautifulamerica

  UNAM 2

• 16 Sep 10
  

  Thomas Steele-Maley
• 05 Aug 10
  

  Ray Mitsch
  • When you sit down to write an academic paper, you'll first want to consider what you know about your topic.
• 26 Jul 10
  

  biardjd
  • However, if you are asked to write an acad
• 11 Jul 10
  
  • 1. Academic writing is writing done by scholars for other scholars.
  • When you write an academic paper, you must first try to find a topic or a question that is relevant and appropriate.
  • In other words, you will want to write something that helps your reader to better understand your topic, or to see it in a new way.
  • To construct an informed argument, you must first try to sort out what you know about a subject from what you think about a subject.
  • Or, to put it another way, you will want to consider what is known about a subject and then to dete

    rmine w

    h

    at you think about it. If your paper fails to inform, or if it fails to argue, then it will fail to meet the expectations of the academic reader
  • What do I know about my topic?
  • What seems important to me about this topic?
  • How does this topic relate to other things that I know?
  • What DON'T I know about my topic?
  • In other words, your writing must show that your associations, reactions, and experiences of a text have been framed in a critical, rather than a personal, way.

  •  

    First, summarize what the primary text is saying.
  • When you evaluate for an academic purpose, it is important to be able to clearly articulate and to support your own personal response. What in the text is leading you to respond a certain way? What's not in the text that might be contributing to your response?
  • In asking these questions, you are straddling two intellectual processes: experiencing your own personal response, and analyzing the text.
  • This step in constructing an in

    formed argument asks you first to consider the parts of your topic and then to examine how these parts relate to each other or to the whole.
  • When you analyze, you break the whole into parts so that you might see the whole differently. In the process of analysis, you find things that you might say.
  • When you synthesize, you look for connections between ideas.
  • This intellectual exercise requires that you create an umbrella argument - some larger argument under which several observations and perspectives might stand.
  • At the very least, you'll want to find out if the professor wants a report or a paper. In other words, is your professor looking for information or argument?
  • • Have you
      formed an intellectual question? In othe
      r words, have you constructed a question that will require a complex, thoughtful answer?
     
    • Is the question provocative? Startling? Controversial? Fresh?
     
    • Will you be able to answer this question adequately in a few pages? Or is the question impossibly broad?
     
    • If the question seems broad, how might you narrow it?
     
    • Does your question address both text and context? In other words, have you considered the historical and cultural circumstances that influenced this text? Have you considered what other scholars have said about it?
     
    • Will your reader care about this question? Or will she say, "So what?"
     
      
  • In other words, it's important to determine not only what you think about a topic, but also what your audience is likely to think. What are your audience's biases? Values? Expectations? Knowledge? To whom are you writing, and for what purpose?
  • Your introduction should accomp

    lish two things: it should declare your argument, and it should place your argument within the larger, ongoing conversation about your topic.
  • Still, if you want to be safe, your paper will have a declared thesis and it will appear where the reader expects it to appear: at the end of the introduction. Your thesis should also be an arguable point - that is, it should declare something that is interesting and controversial.
  • Consider what your opponents might say against your argument. Then determine where and how you want to deal with the opposition.
  • Your argument's support will be organized in your paper's paragraphs. These paragraphs must each declare a point, usually formed as that paragraph's topic sentence.
  • A topic sentence is like a thesis sentence - except that instead of announcing the argument of the entire paper, it announces the argument of that particular paragraph
  • If the student didn't care to write the paper, the professor probably won't care to read it.
  • Keep the personal in check.
  • . But if you haven't been invited to make a personal response, then it's better not to digress.
  • Rely on evidence over feeling.
  • they won't mean much to your professor unless you back those pretty phrases with facts.
  • Watch your personal pronouns.
  • Watch your gendered pronouns.
  • We'll acknowledge that the he/she solution is a bit cumbersome in writing.
  • Be aware of discipline-specific differences.

  32 more annotations...

• 05 Jul 10
  

  Leonardo Langaro

  style apa ac_writing

• 19 May 10
  

  margie nunez

  WRITING PROGRAM

• 12 Mar 10
  

  Brittany Amor
  • Finding a Rhetorical Stance
  • Appropriate Topic
  • Appropriate Topic
  • Finding a Rhetorical Stance
  • Rhetorical Stance
  • Finding a Rhetorical Stance
  • Appropriate Topic
  • scholars for other scholars
  • scholars
  • you are part of a community of scholars
  • context
  • What do I know about my topic?
  • who, what, when, where, why, how
  • historical or cultural influences
  • any particular genre or category of topics
  • What do I know about this genre?
  • seems important
  • focus on
  • less important?
  • DON'T
  • need to know
  • find out more
  • Summarize.
  • Evaluate.
  • Analyze.
  • Synthesize.
  • constructed a question that will require a complex, thoughtful answer
  • formed an intellectual question
  • provocative
  • Controversial
  • Startling
  • Fresh
  • answer this question adequately in a few pages
  • impossibly broad?
  • how might you narrow it?

  33 more annotations...

• 22 Feb 10
  

  Ximena Gallardo

  writing

• 11 Feb 10
  

  Mariam EmeraldPen

  Dartmouth College provides a tutorial on writing academic papers

  writing masters academic_papers thesis dissertation

• 18 Aug 09
  

  Brief summary of academic writing skills that might be useful to send to students.

  academic writing students research paper

  • using elevated language or repeating yourself so that you might meet a ten-page requirement
  • you will read about, think about, argue about, and write about great ideas
  • How does one move from personal response to analytical writing?
  • clearly articulate
  • When you analyze, you break the whole into parts so that you might see the whole differently
  • you look for connections between ideas
  • To whom are you writing, and for what purpose?

  5 more annotations...

• 25 May 09
  

  peter chan

  What is an academic paper

  writing paper

• 29 Apr 09
  

  Cathy Booth

  writing article ToStudy

• 15 Mar 09
  

  Keaney Chow

  writing

• 12 Mar 09
  

  mark richards

  curriculum cms

• 04 Mar 09
  

  FCPE Adelphi

  Writing.Help

• 28 Jan 09
  

  Tamara Hagen

  academicwriting students

• 24 Jan 09
  

  Laura Scala

  I was just researching students and writing and I came across this article, its kinda interesting but it also shows how teachers try to limit students and thier writing! Its basially a guideline for college students in english classes

• 01 Nov 08
  

  Nashrawan taha

  AcademicWriting

• 08 Jul 08
  

  brenda burgar

  AP Writing

• 12 Apr 08
  

  Bertha Leiva

  writing academic_paper Dartmouth

• 23 Mar 08
  

  Wendy Commons

  academic essay composition teaching

• 22 Dec 07
  

  elissaf

  for writing spring 2008

  criticalthinking critical

• 10 Oct 07
  

  dilaycock

  academicwriting del.icio.us imported

• 03 Oct 07
  

  mic sad

  writing academic research paper

• 06 Aug 06
  

  Kather Heenan

  eng215

• 26 Jul 06
  

  Doug Golden

  college writing

• 01 Apr 06
  

  albert chen

  Research academic Writing

Page Comments

• 
  silvia enríquez on 2010-02-12
  para los alumnos de la facultad

Would you like to comment?

Join Diigo for a free account, or sign in if you are already a member.