Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
We care about good writing: You know good writing when you see it.
To describe exactly what makes it good, however, can be more of a
challenge.
Know your reader: When you write, you write for an audience, for a
particular set of readers. As writers, you must identify those readers. Who
are they? What do they know? What do they care about? Knowing your
readers puts you in a position to understand what they are likely to
expect from your writing, and to effectively anticipate and respond to the
kinds of questions they are likely to ask about your writing.
Embrace the art of editing: While you draft a paper, you are constantly
thinking and refining your ideas. In fact, some of your ideas may only
become clear after you have drafted. All writing is provisional. When you
edit, you give yourself the opportunity to work towards clearer and more
coherent writing.
Locate the action in the verb: The action may be movement, a mental
process, a feeling, etc. Typically, action words are ones that could end in
ing. Readers tend to look for actions in verbs.
(example:
1. Overworked and underpaid, the worker (subject) described in the
case addressed at length in the journal article assigned last week, may
find (verb) that he is too tied up to visit us in class tomorrow.
2. The journal article assigned last week addressed the case of a
particular overworked and underpaid worker. That worker may find
(subject + verb core) that he is too tied up to visit us in class tomorrow.
The second example is clearer than the first, because the subject and
verb were placed close together.)
KEY TERMS: NEW INFORMATION and OLD INFORMATION
In the sentences above, you will notice that new information from
one sentence is repeated at the beginning of the subsequent
sentence.)
You may write a series of clear sentences, but find that when read
together they confuse your reader. To make sure that a series of clear
sentences is easy to follow, you need to manage the flow of information
both within and across those sentences. Each sentence in a series should
reflect the a consistent message, one that fits within the broader context
of your paper.
Tips
Types of orientors:
Ones that help readers evaluate subsequent information.
(examples: unfortunately, it is important to note, perhaps,
apparently, remarkably, etc.)
About topics:
They are the ideas and concepts located toward the beginning of a
sentence, which define for your readers what that sentence is
about.
A topic is not always located in the grammatical subject. But the
topic is clearest when it is located in the grammatical subject.
A topic is often a noun phrase.
(example: Regarding the proposed regulations (topic), it
(grammatical subject) is hardly evident how the administration
will respond.
In the example above, you will note that the topic is different from
the grammatical subject. The sentence is not about it; the
sentence is about proposed regulations.)
You have already learned, for example, how readers tend to approach
sentences. Readers tend to search for characters and actions in order to
make sense of a sentence. And they tend to look for characters in the
grammatical subjects and actions in the verbs.
The Discussion:
o It is analogous to the verb or stress. Like the verb and stress, the
discussion expands upon what came before it.
About themes:
o These are the words that get indexed in the Index Position.
o They are the words that your readers will think are most important.
o To make sense of the paragraph or section, readers will look for
these words throughout.
Grab the attention of your readers: You need to get your readers
interested in what you have written (unless, of course, these readers are
being paid to read your writing). The introduction should capture their
attention and make them want to learn what you have to say.
In the above example, the writer first establishes a shared context. She is
writing to UChicago students as a fellow UChicago student. She also
addresses a problem that she thinks her readers are likely to care about.
She then acknowledges the legitimacy of widespread explanations for
crowdedness at the Reg, but then attacks those explanations and
introduces new data that has become available. After destabilizing the
status quo, she articulates a solution to the problem of crowdedness:
keep temperatures constant across all libraries.
KEY TERMS: CLAIM, REASONS, EVIDENCE, WARRANT
What is a claim?
It is the answer/solution that you present in response to the main
question/problem you pose.
It is a statement your readers will doubt/be skeptical about. It is
not a statement that your readers will accept at face value.
You know you have a claim when it is contestable, specific,
supportable with evidence, and can be restated as its own opposite.
(example: During Chicago winters, an individual is more likely to
strike up conversation with a stranger in a neighborhood pub than
in a neighborhood caf.
In the example above, the claim is qualified and limited. It also
hedges and states conditions needed for the claim to apply. The
claim only applies to neighborhood (qualified) pubs and cafes.
These neighborhood pubs and cafes must be located in Chicago
(limited). An individual is only more likely (hedge) to strike up
conversation with a stranger, so he/she will not definitely strike up
conversation in a bar over a cafe. The claim is only applicable
during winters (stated conditions), not during any other time of
year.)
Reasons: These are the statements that explain why your reader
should accept your claim. Reasons rest on evidence.
What is a warrant?
This is an assumption that connects reasons and evidence to a
claim. It is a generalized inference about the world.
You can identify a warrant with if (reason), then (claim)
constructions. You can also do so with whenever (generalized
version of reason), then (generalized version of claim)
constructions.
(example: If/whenever an individual drinks alcohol, then he/she is
more likely to strike up conversation with a stranger.
Consider the example above. Do you, as a reader, agree with the
warrant?)