Presentation : Seven Steps for Writing an Academic Essay

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Seven Steps for Writing an Academic Essay

Abstract: Many students do not understand that there is a process to writing. This lesson provides students with seven steps for writing an academic essay at the first-year university level. It can be easily modified for grade 11-12 students.

1. pick a topic

* often a teacher will assign you a topic, but if you have a choice, pick something that you are personally interested in.

2. brainstorm (or research)

* benefits of brainstorming: it will indicate if you have enough information to write a full paper & it will generate new ideas for you

* ask yourself, "what are the connections between these ideas?"

* topics for brainstorming

o discuss the effects of global warming

o should animals be used for cosmetic testing

* Types of Brainstorming

a. web brainstorming

b. compare/contrast brainstorming

c. Burke's brainstorming target

o I would suggest using Burke's target for literature papers

o http://web.educ.ubc.ca/marileef/Burke'sTarget.pdf∞

o source∞

d. clustering - jot down only words or very short phrases. Use different colored pens as ideas seem to suggest themselves in groups. Use printing or longhand script to suggest that ideas are main thoughts or supportive ideas. Don't bother to organize too neatly, though, because that can impede the flow of ideas. Don't cross anything out because you can't tell where an idea will lead you. When you get a few ideas written down, you can start to group them, using colored circles or whatever. Draw linking lines as connections suggest themselves

3. develop a thesis statement/sentence

* a university level academic essay usually requires you to take a position in an arguement and then support your position. Arguement doesn't mean you are fighting. It means that you are trying to convince your readers of an idea or persuade them to act.

* you will want to pick something that reasonable people will disagree over and that you are interested in.

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