Academic Reading and writing

Contents

 Critical Reading
Advanced reading skills and strategies building on Foundations of
English I & II courses in semesters I and II of a range of text types e.g.
description, argumentation, comparison, contrast and comprehension.

● Advanced Academic Writing

Advance writing skill

 ls and strategies building on English I & II in semesters I and II

respectively
 Writing summaries of articles
 report writing
 Cohesion and coherence in writing
 Presenting an argument in assignments/term-papers and
examination answers
  Summary writing
Summarizing, or writing a summary, means giving a concise overview of a
text’s main points in your own words. A summary is always much shorter
than the original text.

There are five key steps that can help you to write a summary:

 Read the text

 Break it down into sections
 Identify the key points in each section
 Write the summary
 Check the summary against the article

Writing a summary does not involve critiquing or analyzing the source. You
should simply provide an accurate account of the most important
information and ideas (without copying any text from the original).

Summary Writing Format

 When writing a summary, remember that it should be in the form of a

paragraph.
 A summary begins with an introductory sentence that states the text’s
title, author and main point of the text as you see it.
 A summary is written in your own words.
 A summary contains only the ideas of the original text. Do not
insert any of your own opinions, interpretations, deductions or
comments into a summary.
 Identify in order the significant sub-claims the author uses to defend
the main point.
 Copy word-for-word three separate passages from the essay that you
think support and/or defend the main point of the essay as you see it.
  Cite each passage by first signaling the work and the author, put
“quotation marks” around the passage you chose, and put the
number of the paragraph where the passages can be found
immediately after the passage.
 Using source material from the essay is important. Why? Because
defending claims with source material is what you will be asked to do
when writing papers for your college professors.
 Write a last sentence that “wraps” up your summary; often a simple
rephrasing of the main point.

 Report writing

What is a report? 

Reports are closely related to essay writing, although there are some clear
distinctions. While both rely on facts, essays add the personal opinions and
arguments of the authors. Reports typically stick only to the facts, although
they may include some of the author’s interpretation of these facts, most
likely in the conclusion. 

Moreover, reports are heavily organized, commonly with tables of contents

and copious headings and subheadings. This makes it easier for readers to
scan reports for the information they’re looking for. Essays, on the other
hand, are meant to be read start to finish, not browsed for specific insights. 

Types of reports

There are a few different types of reports, depending on the purpose and
to whom you present your report. Here’s a quick list of the common types
of reports:
Academic report: Tests a student’s comprehension of the subject matter,
such as book reports, reports on historical events, and biographies 

Business reports: Identifies information useful in business strategy, such as

marketing reports, internal memos, SWOT analysis, and feasibility reports

Scientific reports: Shares research findings, such as research papers and

case studies, typically in science journals

Reports can be further divided into categories based on how they are
written. For example, a report could be formal or informal, short or long,
and internal or external. In business, a

 vertical report shares information with people on different levels of the

hierarchy (i.e., people who work above you and below you), while a

 lateral report is for people on the author’s same level, but in different
departments. 

There are as many types of reports as there are writing styles, but in this
guide, we focus on academic reports, which tend to be formal and
informational. 

What is the structure of a report?

The structure of a report depends on the type of report and the

requirements of the assignment. While reports can use their own unique
structure, most follow this basic template:

Executive summary: Just like an abstract in an academic paper, an

executive summary is a standalone section that summarizes the findings in
your report so readers know what to expect. These are mostly for official
reports and less so for school reports. 

Introduction: Setting up the body of the report, your introduction explains

the overall topic that you’re about to discuss, with your thesis statement
and any need-to-know background information before you get into your
own findings. 
Body: The body of the report explains all your major discoveries, broken up
into headings and subheadings. The body makes up the majority of the
entire report; whereas the introduction and conclusion are just a few
paragraphs each, the body can go on for pages. 

Conclusion: The conclusion is where you bring together all the information

in your report and come to a definitive interpretation or judgment. This is
usually where the author inputs their own personal opinions or inferences.  

If you’re familiar with how to write a research paper, you’ll notice that

report writing follows the same introduction-body-conclusion structure,
sometimes adding an executive summary. Reports usually have their own
additional requirements as well, such as title pages and tables of content,
which we explain in the next section. 

What should be included in a report?

There are no firm requirements for what’s included in a report. Every school,
company, laboratory, task manager, and teacher can make their own
format, depending on their unique needs. In general, though, be on the
lookout for these particular requirements—they tend to crop up a lot: 

Title page: Official reports often use a title page to keep things organized; if
a person has to read multiple reports, title pages make them easier to keep
track of. 

Table of contents: Just like in books, the table of contents helps readers go

directly to the section they’re interested in, allowing for faster browsing. 

Page numbering: A common courtesy if you’re writing a longer report, page

numbering makes sure the pages are in order in the case of mix-ups or
misprints.

Headings and subheadings: Reports are typically broken up into sections,

divided by headings and subheadings, to facilitate browsing and scanning. 

Citations: If you’re citing information from another source, the citations

guidelines tell you the recommended format.
Works cited page: A bibliography at the end of the report lists credits and
the legal information for the other sources you got information from. 

As always, refer to the assignment for the specific guidelines on each of

these. The people who read the report should tell you which style guides or
formatting they require. 

Essay writing

An essay is generally a short piece of writing outlining the writer’s perspective

or story. It is often considered synonymous with a story or a paper or an
article. Essays can be formal as well as informal. Formal essays are generally
academic in nature and tackle serious topics. We will be focusing on informal
essays which are more personal and often have humorous elements.

Types of Essays

The type of essay will depend on what the writer wants to convey to his
reader. There are broadly four types of essays. Let us see.

1. Narrative Essays: This is when the writer is narrating an incident or

story through the essay. So these are in the first person. The aim when
writing narrative essays is to involve the reader in them as if they were
right there when it was happening. So make them as vivid and real as
possible. One way to make this possible is to follow the principle of
‘show, don’t tell’. So you must involve the reader in the story.

2. Descriptive Essays: Here the writer will describe a place, an object, an

event or maybe even a memory. But it is not just plainly describing
things. The writer must paint a picture through his words. One clever
way to do that is to evoke the senses of the reader. Do not only rely on
 sight but also involve the other senses of smell, touch, sound etc.
A descriptive essay when done well will make the reader feel the
emotions the writer was feeling at the moment.

3. Expository Essays: In such an essay a writer presents a balanced study

of a topic. To write such an essay, the writer must have real and
extensive knowledge about the subject. There is no scope for the writer’s
feelings or emotions in an expository essay. It is completely based on
facts, statistics, examples etc. There are sub-types here like contrast
essays, cause and effect essays etc.

4. Persuasive Essays: Here the purpose of the essay is to get the reader to
your side of the argument. A persuasive essay is not just a presentation
of facts but an attempt to convince the reader of the writer’s point of
view. Both sides of the argument have to presented in these essays. But
the ultimate aim is to persuade the readers that the writer’s argument
carries more weight.

Format of an Essay

Now there is no rigid format of an essay. It is a creative process so it should

not be confined within boundaries. However, there is a basic structure that is
generally followed while writing essays. So let us take a look at the general
structure of an essay.

Introduction

This is the first paragraph of your essay. This is where the writer introduces
his topic for the very first time. You can give a very brief synopsis of your
essay in the introductory paragraph. Some paragraph writing skills can be a
help here. Generally, it is not very long, about 4-6 lines.
There is plenty of scopes to get creative in the introduction of essays. This will
ensure that you hook the reader, i.e. draw and keep his attention. So to do so
you can start with a quote or a proverb. Sometimes you can even start with a
definition. Another interesting strategy to engage with your reader is to start
with a question.

Body

This is the main crux of your essays. The body is the meat of your essay
sandwiched between the introduction and the conclusion. So the most vital
and important content of the essay will be here. This need not be confined to
one paragraph. It can extend to two or more paragraphs according to the
content.

Usually, we have a lot of information to provide in the body. And the

mistakes writers generally make is to go about it in a haphazard manner
which leaves the reader confused. So it is important to organize your
thoughts and content. Write the information in a systematic flow so that the
reader can comprehend. So, for example, you were narrating an incident. The
best manner to do this would be to go in a chronological order.

Conclusion

This is the last paragraph of the essay. Sometimes a conclusion will just mirror
the introductory paragraph but make sure the words and syntax are different.
A conclusion is also a great place to sum up a story or an argument. You can
round up your essay by providing some moral or wrapping up a story. Make
sure you complete your essays with the conclusion, leave no hanging threads.

Tips for Essay Writing

 Give your essays an interesting and appropriate title. It will help draw the
attention of the reader and arouse their curiosity.
 Keep it between 300-500 words. This is the ideal length, though you can
increase or decrease it according to your need.

 Keep your language simple and crisp. Unnecessary complicated and

difficult words break the flow of the sentence.

 Do not make grammar mistakes, use correct punctuation and spellings.

If this is not done it will distract the reader from the content.

 Before beginning the essay organize your thought and plot a rough

draft. This way you can ensure the story will flow and not be an
unorganized mess.

Cohesion and coherence

Creating Cohesive and Coherent Paragraphs

Cohesive writing is “based on how each sentence ends and the next
begins” (Williams & Bizup, 2017, p. 65). Each sentence should, in terms of
their content, connect to the sentences surrounding it.

Cohesion means flow. This is how well your ideas follow from one to the
next with seamless and logical transition. As you develop your paragraph,
your ideas must be related to each other and they should be logically
linked with referencing and linking words.

Referencing words refer to pronouns, like this, these, it, etc. You can use
these to link an idea in one sentence to an idea in the previous sentence.

Here are a few tips for composing cohesive paragraphs: 

  Begin sentences with information familiar to your readers.
 End sentences with information that readers cannot anticipate.
 Begin sentences with information that readers will find simple; end
with information they will find complex”     

       (Williams & Bizup, 2017, p. 67). 

Coherent writing is “based on how all the sentences in it cumulatively

begin” (Williams & Bizup, 2017, p. 65). The ideas of the sentences in the
passage ought to be related in topic and structured so the reader increases
their understanding within each sentence and between sentences.  

 Simply put, coherence means “structure” (paragraph and essay structure).

Here are a few tips for composing coherent paragraphs: 

Analyze: Find the subjects (or noun phrases) of your sentences.

Assess: Do these subjects reference related ideas? Will your reader see this
relatedness of ideas? Are they referencing your “actors” (subject) doing the
main “actions” (action verb)?

Rewrite: Rewrite your paragraphs so that you answer ‘yes’ to the questions
above (Williams & Bizup, 2017)

Differences

To illustrate the difference between cohesion and coherent writing,

consider these paragraphs. Subjects are underlined in the first paragraph
and bolded in the second paragraph.  

"Consistent ideas toward the beginnings of sentences, especially in their

subjects, help readers understand what a passage is generally about. A
sense of coherence arises when a sequence of topics comprises a narrow
set of related ideas. But the context of each sentence is lost by seemingly
random shifts of topics. Unfocused, even disorganized paragraphs result
when that happens" (Williams & Bizup, 2017, p. 71).

 “Readers understand what a passage is generally about when they see

consistent ideas toward the beginnings of sentences, especially in their
subjects. They feel a passage is coherent when they read a sequence of
topics that focuses on a narrow set of related ideas. But when topics seem
to shift randomly, readers lose their context of each sentence.
When that happens, they feel they are reading paragraphs that are
unfocused and even disorganized” (Williams & Bizup, 2017, p. 71-72). 

The subjects in the second paragraph are only ‘readers’ and ‘topics,'
whereas the subjects in the first paragraph are more scattered. By unifying
the subjects of your paragraphs to one or two kinds of subjects, you can
write coherently. By following these tips, writers may establish a flow of
information that helpfully and logically organizes information for the
reader.  

The purpose of these aspects of writing is to think about, understand, and

write for your readers. You can improve the clarity and organization of your
writing by knowing the differences between concrete versus abstract
language and making your paragraphs cohesive and coherent. 

Steps to Writing an Argument

Introduce Your Argument

When we prepare an argument, there are several things we consider. 

  We can critically analyze our own ideas and the ideas of others to
weigh evidence and claims and make judgments about them.
 We examine our methods of thinking and investigating. 
 We present our ideas effectively and persuasively. 

Writing an effective argument follows certain steps:

Introduce

Introduce your argument by setting the context. Your introduction should

draw your reader into your subject and build common ground for your
argument. 

Establish

Establish your context for writing the argument and the context for your
topic. In your introduction, establish your tone, style, and credentials—tell
the reader why you are competent to write this argument. 

Clarify

Clarify the issues; explain why the topic is important.

Review

The goal of a review is to evaluate or judge something. We judge things

every day. For example, you have a favorite band or television show, and
you like one supermarket more than you like another. These are judgments.
When you write a review, your job is to state your opinion or judgment and
support it. You do this by presenting reasons and evidence.

 Read, watch, or listen to the work more than once

The first time you read or watch something, get an overall sense of the
work. Then think about its strengths and weaknesses. Read or watch it
again to confirm your first impressions. This time, take careful notes. Be
ready to change your mind if a closer look sends you in a different
direction.

 Provide essential information

Tell readers the complete title of the work and the name of its author or
creator. Supply the publisher, publication date, and other information about
when the piece was created and where readers or viewers can find it. Check
your facts. The details in a review must be accurate.

 Understand your audience

Reviews appear in all sorts of places. You’ll find them in local and national
publications, online, and also in specialized journals and neighbourhood
newsletters. Research the places you hope to publish your review, and write
accordingly. Think about what you need to explain. General readers will
need more background information than readers of a publication aimed at
experts.

 Take a stand

State your opinion of the work you’re evaluating. Your review can be
negative, positive, or mixed. Your job is to support that opinion with details
and evidence. Even if readers disagree with you, they need to see how you
reached your conclusions.

 Explain how you’re judging the work

Decide on your criteria, the standards you’ll use to judge the book, show, or
film. You might believe a novel is successful when it has characters you care
about and a plot that makes you want to keep reading. State these criteria
so your readers understand what you believe.

 Introduce evidence to support your criteria

Support your judgments with quotations or descriptions of scenes from the

work. Also consult outside sources. Have other critics agreed with your
opinion of this work? You may want to mention these reviews, too. Always
make sure to cite other writers’ work correctly, if used.

 Know the conventions of the genre

Every type of writing or art has specific elements. A mystery has to have
suspense, while a romance must have characters you believe would be
attracted to one another. Consider theme, structure, characters, setting,
dialogue, and other relevant factors. Understand these conventions and
take them into account as part of your criteria.

Compare and contrast

Comparison can be a great way to develop your evaluation. Suppose you

claim that a film has wonderful, original dialogue. Demonstrate this by
sharing some dialogue from another film that has stiff, wooden,
or clichéd dialogue. Use the contrast to prove your point.

 Do not summarize the entire plot

Books, films, and television shows have beginnings, middles, and endings.
People read and watch these works in part because they want to know
what happens. Let them enjoy their stories. Provide a general idea of what
happens, but don’t give away important secrets, especially the end.