Academic Writing and Persuasion

Academic Writing

• Academic writing involves composing texts that are applicable across different disciplines.

Book Review and Article Critique

• Both are thorough and critical analyses of a book's quality, content, delivery, presentation, and significance.
• The primary aim is to support or argue against the presented ideas.
• Summarize the content, interpret the ideas to be argued, and support assertions with evidence.
• Indicate the book's relevance to its subject area.

Position Paper

• Expresses a writer's stance on an issue, along with reasons.
• Writers should provide counterclaims and strong arguments.
• Refute opposing viewpoints with supporting evidence.
• Effective position papers avoid logical fallacies.
• Similes, metaphors, or analogies can be used.

Aristotle's Modes of Persuasion

• Ethos appeals to audience values and author credibility.
• Logos employs logic, structure, and objective evidence, using fact-checked data with explanations.
• Pathos draws on the audience's emotions, aiming to evoke feelings like anger or happiness.

Forms of Arguments

• Deduction moves from general to specific (All A are B, X is A, Thus X is B).
• Induction goes from specific to general (Some A are B, All C are B, Thus all C are A)
• Coercion uses force to persuade.
• Negotiation resolves arguments through bargaining.

Literature Review

• A literature review is an evaluative report of previous studies related to the subject matter of an academic paper.
• Provides a theoretical basis for research and helps determine the nature, scope, and limitations of a study.
• It demonstrates the researcher's understanding of their topic.
• Contents include information from published papers with organization depending on how the information is presented.
• Thematic arrangement organizes information by topic or points.
• Chronological arrangement sequences information by publication date.

Guidelines For Writing A Literature Review

• Conduct a thorough literature survey
• Summarize the strengths and weakness of the study
• Limit the Bias
• Remember to Cite Properly
• Ensure To Present the Research Problem Clearly
• Compare and contrast the different views in the sources
• Mention the paper's methodology, Analysis, Instruments, Equipments, Used in the Study
• A literature review should include title, abstract, index, introduction, corpus, bibliography and appendices

Research Report

• Research reports, also known as scientific reports, often use the IMRD format.
• "I" stands for Introduction, "M" is Method, "R" is Result, and "D" is Discussion.

Citation Styles

• Citation styles offer ways to provide sources incorporated in academic writing.
• APA is for education, psychology, etc.
• MLA is for humanities.
• CMOS is used for business, history, and fine arts.
• IEEE is used for engineering.

APA Citation Guide

• Books: Murray, D.M. (2005). Write to Learn. 8th Edition. Boston, Massachusetts: Thomson Wadsworth
• Magazine articles use the format: Bremmer, I. (2015, June 1). What Does America Stand For? Time, 16-21.
• Newspaper article: Calica, A. (2015, June 7). Noy willing to study Cha-cha proposal. The Philippine Star, pp. A-1, A-10.
• For online periodicals: Weisman, J. (2015, June 12). Obama's Trade Bills Face Tough Battle Against House Democrats. The New York Times.

In-text Citations

• Insert the author's name in parentheses, such as in, (Gass & Varonis, 1984).
• Part of narrative: Gass and Varonis (1984) found that the most important element in comprehending non-native speech is familiarity with the topic.
• First citation of a group as an author: (American Psychological Association [APA], 2015)
• Subsequent citation of a group as an author: (AРА, 2015)
• Separate multiple works with semi-colons
• Direct quote: (include page number) Research shows that listening to a particular accent improves comprehension of accented speech in general (Gass & Varonis, 1984; Krech Thomas, 2004).

Project Proposal

• Project proposals solve problems, provide services, plan events, promote equipment selling, etc.
• They are a way of generating income for companies or seeking funding for projects.
• Project proposals should convince the reader for buying goods or services, funding a project or implementing a program.
• Includes: a project summary, problem highlight, the goals, the significance of the project, description of the solution you are proposing in the project narrative, illustrations, profile or qualifications, funding, budget justification and title.