Academic Writing: Rhetorical Patterns & Strategies

• Academic texts rely on facts, while creative texts rely on personal experiences.

Rhetorical Patterns in Academic Writing

• Descriptive Writing: Explains a topic by clarifying and giving information using description.
• Analytical Writing: Rearranges facts in a logical sequence.
• Persuasive Writing: Presents information restricted to accommodate opinions.
• Critical Writing: Requires evaluating, assessing, debating, critiquing, disagreeing, and considering assignments.

Understanding Academic Text

• Determining the writer's purpose involves identifying if the aim is to inform, entertain, persuade, or inspire.
• Writer's tone can be formal, casual, or sarcastic
• Determining the relevance of a text involves assessing the worth of the text based on content quality, writing, and appropriateness to specific needs.

Reading Strategies

• Previewing: Getting an overview of a text without fully reading it.
• Skimming: Quickly reading to understand the main idea.
• Scanning: Rapid reading to find particular information.
• Detailed Reading: Careful analysis and interpretation.
• Finding the Main Idea:
• Explicitly stated ideas are clearly and directly expressed.
• Implicitly stated ideas are indirectly suggested or implied.
• Vocabulary Buildings: Sharpens listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills.
• Context Clues: Hints about unfamiliar words' meanings.

Analyzing Key Information Using SQRRR

• Survey: Browse through the article.
• Questions: Ask questions and annotate the margin.
• Read: Answer the questions raised.
• Recite: Recall information, details, and summarize important points.
• Review: Answer questions that were previously unresolved.
• Jargons: Language specific to a profession.
• Colloquial Expressions: Casual, informal expressions.
• Politically Incorrect: Diminishes a person's worth based on sex, race, or economic status.
• Politically Correct: Aims to diminish disparity among people.
• Summarizing: Shortened versions of long, complex texts.
• Descriptive Summary: A list of topics without details, serving as quick references.
• Informative Summary: Longer, provides context, and addresses the problem.
• Abstract: A summary for research papers, theses, or college papers.
• Precis: Summing up a research or official document.
• Paraphrasing: Changes the wording of a passage while maintaining the original meaning.
• Thesis Statement: Summarizes the main concept.

COPI

• Claim: The main argument.
• Overview: A brief summary of the topic.
• Purpose: The reason for the writing.
• Importance: The significance of the topic.
• Outline: Provides visual structure like organizing paper.
• Topic Outline: Uses words or phrases to represent main ideas.
• Sentence Outline: Expresses points as complete sentences.
• Critical Thinking: Analyzing, evaluating, and forming judgments based on logic and evidence.
• Deductive Reasoning: (TOP-DOWN) Reasoning from general assumptions to specific facts.
• Inductive Reasoning: (BOTTOM-UP) Reasoning from specific to general conclusions.
• Reaction Paper: A careful evaluation of experiences with personal thoughts and feelings.
• Review: Analyzing the strengths and weaknesses.
• Critique: A detailed evaluation of strengths and weaknesses.

Critical Approaches

• Formalist Approach: Focuses on the structure, style, and literary elements.
• Historical Approach: Examines the influence of the time period.
• Reader-Response Approach: Analyzes reader interpretation and connection.
• Gender/Feminist Approach: Explores gender roles and their effect.
• Biographical Approach: Considers the author's life and experiences.

Common Logical Fallacies

• Logical Fallacies lead to weak and faulty reasoning.
• Ad Hominem: Attacking the person instead of their argument.
• Appeal to Flattery: Using compliments instead of logic.
• Appeal to Force: Using threats or pressure.
• Appeal to Pity: Trying to win by making others feel sorry.
• Bandwagon: Arguing something is true because "everyone" believes it.
• Begging the Question: Assuming the conclusion is true without proof.
• Either/Or (False Dilemma): Presenting only two choices when more exist.
• False Cause: Assuming correlation equals causation.
• False Analogy: Comparing dissimilar things.
• Hasty Generalization: Making broad conclusions with little evidence.
• Non Sequitur: A conclusion not following the previous statement.
• Oversimplification: Reducing a complex issue to a simple cause or solution.
• Red Herring: Distracting with an unrelated argument.
• Slippery Slope: Claiming one step leads to extreme consequences without proof.
• Straw Man: Misrepresenting an argument to make it easier to attack.
• Concept Paper: A brief document that explains an idea, project, or research topic.
• Outlines the purpose, importance, and key points