Writing Concepts (R)
List two qualities of an effective thesis statement.
- Specific/focused
- Presents an argument
- Presents an perspective to ongoing academic discourse
Is the following sentence common knowledge or requires a citation: "Many people of color living in early 20th century America did not have the same freedoms as their white wealthy male counterparts."
This is common knowledge; most people with even a cursory understanding of U.S. history understand that people of color had limited freedom in the 20th century.
What type of thesis statement is the following sentence: "Despite the popularity of shows such as The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, and Chicago, musical theater is a dying art form."
Indirect thesis statement
Define "topic sentence"
A topic sentence states the main idea of the paragraph
True or False: It's okay to include graphs, charts, and other images in your essay as long as the genre is a scientific research article.
False: Graphs, charts, and other images can be in any academic research paper as long as it serves a specific purpose of illustrating and clarifying evidence.
True or False: Thesis statements are always placed in the introduction paragraph.
False! (depends on your writing context and purpose)
Provide an example of a scholarly source
Examples: .org/.edu sites, academic journals, most books, Wikipedia’s sources
True or False: The period at the end of the sentence comes before the in-text citation.
False! The period should be placed after the in-text citation.
Schreiner (2018) phrases it as "I feel hot, therefore I am" (British Literature, p. 75).
True or False: By the end of the essay, the author should respond to the "so what? who cares? questions.
True!
Name two ineffective intro methods
- The "dawn of man" intro
- The dictionary definition intro
- The recycled prompt intro
- The placeholder intro
- The book report intro
What are the two major levels of peer review?
Macrolevel and microlevel
Name one discipline that uses APA
Engineering, Psychology, Linguistics, Sociology, Economics, and Criminology
Identify the issue(s) with this sentence: One metadiscursive study (2011) finds that many scholars often describe the Titans as personified forms of the natural elements. (Littleton, 31).
The period should outside of the in-text citation and MLA does not include a comma in its in-text citations / APA needs a "p." before the page number.
Name one discipline that uses MLA
English Studies (Literature), Literary Criticism, Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies
What is the difference between a primary and secondary source?
- Primary source: What is studied (i.e., historical documents, eyewitness accounts, lab studies, field research, movies/videos, etc.)
- Secondary source: What is written about what has been studied (i.e., books and articles, biographies, movie reviews, any other work that interprets or discusses primary sources)
True or False: In the academic research paper, the thesis does not always need to present an arguable statement.
False! For this genre of academic writing, thesis statements should present an arguable statement.
What is the general order of a bibliographic citation, regardless of citation style?
Author's Name. (Year of publication). Title of text. Additional publication information.
What is a dependent clause?
A dependent clause may contain a subject and verb, but it is an incomplete idea
Name two methods of brainstorming
- Mind-mapping
- Outlining
- Free-writing
- Clustering
- Field research
- Textual research (reading relevant sources of info)
What is a claim?
Claim: a clear and specific statement or assertion about a topic; aka a thesis or topic sentence
A claim can argue, convince, persuade, suggest, and/or prove something to a reader
Includes a reason which explains the rationale behind a claim, oftentimes answering the question “why?”
What should your conclusion include? Name at least one element
Summarize and Synthesize your argument and supporting points
Thesis: restate and reconnect your thesis
Analyze what your thesis means to both you and your audience, given the evidence you've provided
Reflect and Respond: so what? after all this, why might your audience care? If you've presented a problematic aspect of something as your topic, what solution might you offer? How might you respond to the topic in your own life?
Fill in the blanks: ____ ____ is word-for-word borrowing from an unacknowledged source, whether intentional or not.
Direct plagiarism is word-for-word borrowing from an unacknowledged source, whether intentional or not.
The following is an example of which type of sentence:
Colorless green ideas dream furiously.
Simple sentence
True or False: It is always inappropriate to use "I" in academic writing.
False! Depends on the writing context
Your instructor recently completed her MA with UOG's English program. What was her specific field of study?
Linguistics (internet linguistics, digital composition)