Academic Texts: Features and Types - PDF

MODULE 1: ACADEMIC TEXTS: Features and Types PRECISE Academic Text  Facts are given accurately and precisely.  They are defined as critical, objective, specialized...

MODULE 1: ACADEMIC TEXTS: Features and Types PRECISE Academic Text  Facts are given accurately and precisely.  They are defined as critical, objective, specialized  In academic writing you need to be precise when you texts written by experts or professionals in a given use information, dates or figures. For an instance, do field using formal language. not use "a lot of people" when you can say “5  Academic texts are objective. thousand people".  Academic texts use formal words and may contain  Being precise means to choose the right words for technical terms that are related to a certain field. the intended purpose. To be selective in an effort to  These often take years to publish because of intense clearly convey the purpose and meaning of the writing and review. writing. Features of Academic Text OBJECTIVE COMPLEX  Academic texts are unbiased rather than personal.  Written language has longer words, it is lexically  It has fewer words that refer to the writer or the denser, and it has a more varied vocabulary. reader.  Written texts are shorter, and the language has more  Its main emphasis is on the information that the grammatical complexity, including more subordinate writer wants to give and the arguments he wants to clauses and more passives. make, rather than his personal view. FORMAL EXPLICIT  Academic texts are free of colloquial words and  It is the responsibility of the writer in English to make expressions. it clear to the reader how the various parts of the text  Formal language is less personal than informal are related. language. It is used when writing for a professional or  Explicit means that there is a clear presentation of academic purposes such as university assignments. ideas in the paper. The text should have a well-  Formal language does not use colloquialisms, organized structure and be easy for the reader to contractions, or first-person pronouns. follow.  One way to accomplish clarity and structure in your Formal Vs. Informal text is by signposts. Signposts are words and phrases Tell Inform that you can use in your text in order to guide the reader along. Say no Reject Give Provide ACCURATE  According to ThoughtCo, “accuracy is how close a Cheap Inexpensive value is to its true value.”  In academic writing you need to be accurate in your Seem Appear use of vocabulary. Help Assist  Choose words with narrow specific meaning. HEDGING information), with the addition of your own point of  The content of an academic text is written in full view. conviction and supports towards the claim presented  Most essays are persuasive, and there is a persuasive in the text itself. element in at least the discussion and conclusion of a  Using hedge words and phrases in academic research article. writing allows you to be academically cautious, to  The kinds of instructions for a persuasive assignment acknowledge the degrees of uncertainty in your include: 'argue', 'evaluate', 'discuss', and 'take a statements and claims. position'. CRITICAL  It has all the features of persuasive writing, with the added feature of at least one other point of view.  While persuasive writing requires you to have your own point of view on an issue or topic, critical writing requires you to consider at least two points of view, including your own.  For example, you may explain a researcher's interpretation or argument and then evaluate the merits of the argument or give your own alternative Types of Academic Text interpretation. DESCRIPTIVE  The simplest type of academic writing is descriptive. MODULE 2: TEXT STRUCTURES  Its purpose is to provide facts or information. An example would be a summary of an article or a report TEXT STRUCTURE of the results of an experiment.  It refers to how the information within a written text  The kinds of instructions for a purely descriptive is organized. assignment include: 'identify', 'report', 'record',  Knowing how to recognize text structures may help 'summarize' and 'define'. you to easily understand what the text means.  Recognizing common text structures can help you ANALYTICAL monitor your comprehension.  Analytical writing includes descriptive writing, but also requires you to re-organize the facts and COMMON TYPES OF TEXT STRUCTURE information you describe into categories, groups, DESCRIPTION parts, types or relationships.  This type of text structure features a detailed  The kinds of instructions for an analytical assignment description of a subject. It gives the readers a mental include: 'analyse', 'compare', 'contrast', 'relate', and picture of it. 'examine'. A book may tell everything about whales or describe PERSUASIVE what the geography is like in a particular region.  Persuasive writing has all the features of analytical writing (that is, information plus re-organizing the  Feature of a Descriptive Text Structure Types of Cause/Effect Relationship Spatial Indicators  adverbs, prepositions, adverbial phrases which are  Stated cause/effect relationships: the relationship is essential in the description of a place, a person, stated clearly placement of an object in space, and for the  Unstated cause/effect relationships: you will need to definition of the parts that make it up make inferences or “read between the linked” to make connections in the relationship Adjectives  Reciprocal cause/effect relationships: effects may be  used to indicate quality of the subject part of a chain. In this kind of structure, one effect goes on to cause a second effect, which may then Short Sentences cause a third effect, etc.  short sentences are used to give the readers clarity of COMPARISON AND CONTRAST description.  This type of text examines the similarities and Term Richness and Variety differences between two or more people, events,  The richness and variety in the use of terms, which is concepts, ideas, etc. essential to provide a clear, accurate, and a representative conception of the referent and its Example: components. A book about ancient Greece may explain how the Spartan women were different from the Athenian CAUSE AND EFFFECT women.  This structure presents the causal relationship between a specific event, idea, or concept and the Signal Words events, ideas, or concept that follow. Different from The government suspended flights a little late that is Same as why the virus had a massive widespread. Similar to As opposed to Instead of Although Signal Words for Cause and Effect However Compared with CAUSE As well as EFFECT For Either…or As a result Because But As a consequence Since On the other hand Therefore As Unless Thus Consequently To result from Hence Due to So Because of To result in The effect of ORDER OR SEQUENCE To cause As a result of To have an effect on As a consequence of  This text structure gives readers a chronological of To affect events or a list of steps in a procedure. The cause of The reason for EXAMPLE: A book about the American revolution might Thereby list the events leading to the war. Signal Words  Elements  after, afterward, at that moment, at last, at length,  Features before, by that time, during, earlier, first, from then  Kinds on, later, meanwhile, next, presently, since, second,  Types soon afterward, the next day, then, when, while,  Varieties within an hour  methods PROBLEM-SOLUTION MODULE 3: TECHNIQUES IN SUMMARIZING  This type of structure sets up a problem or problems, explains the solution, and then discusses the effects What is summarizing? of the solution.  Summarizing is distilling a text’s essential concepts EXAMPLE: There has been a surge in teenage pregnancies into a paragraph or two. recently, so the government proposes to add sex education as one of the subjects in school. A summary has two aims: (1) to reproduce the overarching ideas in a text, APPROACHES TO PROBLEM-SOLUTION identifying the general concepts that run through the entire piece, and  identify the problem and present the possible (2) to express these overarching ideas using precise, solutions to it specific language.  identify a solution and present problems that motivated it REMEMBER!  identify a problem, present possible solutions, and  Summarizing is retelling the important parts of a read then determine the best solution from the possible text. solutions presented  Summaries are shorter than the original but must include the most essential ideas. CLASSIFICATION-DIVISION  It is an organizational structure in which writers sort METHODS OF SUMMARIZING items or ideas into categories according to Preparing to Write commonalities.  Skim the text, noting in your mind the subheadings. If  It allows the author to take an overall idea and split it there are no subheadings, try to divide the text into into parts for the purpose of providing clarity and sections. description.  Try to determine what type of text you are dealing EXAMPLE: A textbook is classified into units and each unit with. This can help you identify important is further divided into lessons. information.  Read the text, highlighting important information and SIGNAL WORDS taking notes.  Categories  In your own words, write down the main points of  Classifications each section.  Groups  Write down the key support points for the main topic,  Classes but do not include minor detail.  Go through the process again, making changes as TYPES OF SUMMARY appropriate. Informative Summary  Informative summaries accurately convey the Writing the Summary information contained in a text or in other type of  STEP 1: Include the title and identify the author in resource. your first sentence.  The main types of informative summaries are  STEP 2: The first sentence or two of your summary outlines, abstracts, and synopses. should contain the author’s thesis, or central concept,  Outlines present the plan or the “skeleton” of a stated in your own words. written material. They show the order and the  STEP 3: When summarizing a longer article, try to see relation between the parts of the written material. how the various stages in the explanation or  Abstracts present the major point of long piece of argument are built up in groups of related paragraphs. text or an article. They help readers to decide  STEP 4: Omit ideas that are not really central to the whether or not they want to read the longer text. text.  A synopsis is a brief overview of an article, story,  STEP 5: In general, omit minor details and specific book, film, or other works. It is a concise, examples. chronological description of a historical event, news  STEP 6: Avoid writing opinions or personal responses event, or other experiences as they develop in time. in your summaries.  STEP 7: (A)Be careful not to plagiarize the author’s The Notebook (film) words.  In 1940s South Carolina, mill worker Noah Calhoun (B)If you do use even a few of the author’s (Ryan Gosling) and rich girl Allie (Rachel McAdams) words, they must appear in quotation marks. are desperately in love. But her parents don't approve. When Noah goes off to serve in World War Tips in Summarizing II, it seems to mark the end of their love affair. In the  The summary should cover the original as a whole. interim, Allie becomes involved with another man  The material should be presented in a neutral fashion. (James Marsden). But when Noah returns to their  The summary should be a condensed version of the small town years later, on the cusp of Allie's marriage, material, presented in your own words. it soon becomes clear that their romance is anything  Read the text that you are to summarize for several but over. times until the message of the text is clear to you.  Identify the main idea or the thesis statement of the The Fault in our Stars (novel) text.  This tells the story of Hazel, a young sixteen-year-old  In making the summary, ensure a smooth flow of girl who struggles with thyroid cancer. She meets ideas using proper transitional devices. Augustus and falls for him. However, her life changes  Limit your summary into a few sentences. when she meets the writer she has always cherished  Proofread your work or let your classmate go over and discovers he is far from the person she imagined. your work. Descriptive Summary  Descriptive summaries depict the original text  Greek for “original pattern” from which all copies are (material) rather than directly presenting the made; a prototype. information it contains.  A descriptive summary should portray, in an objective  These patterns reveal universal meaning and basic way, the texts structure and main themes. truths about the human conditions for readers  Descriptive summaries often play the role of reviews (regardless of where and when they live) for fictional or literary works.  These archetypes may be themes, such as love, characterizations, such as the hero; or patterns, such MODULE 4: LITERARY CRITICISM as death and rebirth.  Archetypal criticism draws on the works of the LITERARY CRITICISM psychoanalyst Carl Jung, literary critic Northrop Frye,  Literary criticism or literary analysis is the comparison, and others. analysis, interpretation, and/or evaluation of works  Unlike psychoanalytic critics, archetypal critics such of literature. as Frye do not attempt to explain why the archetypes  Literary criticism is principally an opinion, supported exist. by evidence, relating to theme, style, setting or historical or political context. Forms of Archetypes in Literature  It typically includes discussion of the work’s content Character Archetype and integrates your ideas with other insights gained  A character archetype in novel terms is a type of from research. character who represents a universal pattern, and  Literary criticism may have a positive or a negative therefore appeals to our human ‘collective bias and may be a study of an individual piece of unconscious’. literature or an author’s body of work.  The most common character archetypes are: hero, opponent, mentor, leader, and love interest.  Literary Criticism is NOT a plot summary or an author’s biography. Situation Archetype  Situational archetypes are a way of looking at the  Researching, reading, and writing works of literary world that is based on how people react to certain criticism will help you to make better sense of the situations. work, form judgments about literature, study ideas  The most common situation archetypes are: battle of from different points of view. good and evil, a hero’s journey, rags to riches, and the like. ARCHETYPAL CRITICISM  a critical approach to literature that seeks to find and Setting Archetype understand the purpose of archetypes within  A place or a time that represents a universal literature. correspondence among the readers.  The most common setting archetypes are: sea, forest,  Archetype is defined as something that represents abandoned structure, night, and the like. the essential elements of its category or class of things. Symbolic Archetype 3. An examination or exploration of the relationship  It can take in the form of color, elements, shapes, and between dominant cultures and the dominated is natural events. essential.  The most common symbolic archetypes are: heart 4. When looking at a text through the perspective of which means love, dark which means evil, light or marginalized people, new understandings emerge. sunrise which means hope, and circle which pertains to eternity. FEMINIST CRITICISM  Feminist Criticism is literary criticism based on CULTURAL CRITICISM feminist theories.  This criticism sees the text as the representative of a  It considers texts with the knowledge that societies culture’s beliefs, values, laws, etc. treat men and women inequitably.  Works are therefore considered in light of their  Feminist criticism is concerned with "the ways in historical and cultural contexts. which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social,  Cultural criticism is a literary theory that challenges and psychological oppression of women" (Tyson 83). the artificial distinction between high and low culture.  This school of theory looks at how aspects of our  This distinction is based on what is believed to be culture are inherently patriarchal and aims to expose traditional and worthy elements in a particular misogyny in writing about women. culture. Common Space in Feminist Theories  This form of criticism examines how different  Though a number of different approaches exist in religions, ethnicities, class identifications, political feminist criticism, there exist some areas of beliefs, and views affect the ways in which texts are commonality. This list is excerpted from Tyson (92): created and interpreted.  Cultural Criticism suggests that being a part of—or 1. Women are oppressed by patriarchy economically, excluded from—a specific group or culture politically, socially, and psychologically; patriarchal contributes to and affects our understanding of texts. ideology is the primary means by which women are oppressed. The following statements reflect four common 2. In every domain where patriarchy reigns, woman is assumptions in the use of Cultural Criticism as a lens for other: she is marginalized, defined only by her understanding literature. difference from male norms and values. 3. All of Western (Anglo-European) civilization is deeply 1. Ethnicity, religious beliefs, social class, and so on are rooted in patriarchal ideology. crucial components in formulating plausible 4. While biology determines our sex (male or female), interpretations of text. culture determines our gender (scales of masculine 2. While the emphasis is on diversity of approach and and feminine). subject matter, Cultural Criticism is not the only 5. All feminist activity, including feminist theory and means of understanding ourselves and our art. literary criticism, has as its ultimate goal to change the world by prompting gender equality. 6. Gender issues play a part in every aspect of human Whom does it benefit? production and experience, including the production  Theorists are interested in answering the overarching and experience of literature, whether we are question, whom does it [the work, the effort, the consciously aware of these issues or not. policy, the road, etc.] benefit?  The elite? The middle class? The lower class? TYPICAL QUESTIONS  How is the relationship between men and women  Marxist critics are also interested in how the lower or portrayed? working classes are oppressed - in everyday life and  What are the power relationships between men and in literature. women (or characters assuming male/female roles)?  How are male and female roles defined? KARL MARX  What constitutes masculinity and femininity?  “It’s not the consciousness of men that determines  How do characters embody these traits? their being, but on the contrary, their social being  Do characters take on traits from opposite genders? that determines their consciousness”. How so? How does this change others’ reactions to them? TYPICAL QUESTIONS  What does the work reveal about the operations  Whom does it benefit if the work or effort is (economically, politically, socially, or psychologically) accepted/ successful/ believed, etc.? of patriarchy?  What is the social class of the author?  What does the work imply about the possibilities of  Which class does the work claim to represent? sisterhood as a mode of resisting patriarchy?  What values does it reinforce?  What does the work say about women's creativity?  What values does it subvert?  What does the history of the work's reception by the  What conflict can be seen between the values the public and by the critics tell us about the operation of work champions and those it portrays? patriarchy?  What social classes do the characters represent?  What role does the work play in terms of women's  How do characters from different classes interact or literary history and literary tradition? (Tyson) conflict? MARXIST CRITICISM NEW CRITICISM  this school of thought contends that history and  New Criticism is a movement in literary criticism that culture is largely a struggle between economic classes, proposes close reading and textual analysis of the and literature is often a reflection of the attitudes text itself. and interests of the dominant class.  Practitioners focus on both the “external form” (e.g.  Based on the theories of Karl Marx (and so influenced ballad, ode) by philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel), this  “internal forms” (e.g. structure, repetition, school concerns itself with class differences, patterns of figurative language, plot/content, economic and otherwise, as well as the implications syntax/diction, tone, mood, context/setting, style, and complications of the capitalist system. literary devices, theme).   It emphasized close reading, particularly of poetry, to  Practitioners of the critical movement developed it discover how a work of literature functioned as a self- by examining a wide range of texts such as contained, self-referential aesthetic object. newspapers, advertisements, popular music,  New Critics believed the structure and meaning of historical accounts, poetry, novels, and diaries. the text were intimately connected and should not be analyzed separately.  New Historicism is  In order to bring the focus of literary studies back to "...a practice that has developed out of contemporary analysis of the texts, they aimed to exclude the theory, particularly the structuralist realization that all reader’s response, the author’s intention, historical human systems are symbolic and subject to the rules of and cultural contexts, and moralistic bias from their language, and the deconstructive realization that there is analysis. no way of positioning oneself as an observer outside the  The movement is also referred to as formalism or closed circle of textuality" (Richter 1205). structuralism.  New Historicism holds that we are hopelessly TYPICAL QUESTIONS subjective interpreters of what we observe.  How does the work use imagery to develop its own symbols? TYPICAL QUESTIONS  What is the quality of the work's organic unity? In  What language/characters/events present in the other words, does how the work is put together work reflect the current events of the author’s day? reflect what it is?  Are there words in the text that have changed their  How are the various parts of the work interconnected? meaning from the time of the writing?  How do paradox, irony, ambiguity, and tension work  How are such events interpreted and presented? in the text?  How are events' interpretation and presentation a  How do these parts and their collective whole product of the culture of the author? contribute to or not contribute to the aesthetic  Does the work's presentation support or condemn quality of the work? the event?  What does the form of the work say about its content?  How does this portrayal criticize the leading political  Is there a central or focal passage that can be said to figures or movements of the day? sum up the entirety of the work?  How does the literary text function as part of a  How do the rhythms and/or rhyme schemes of a continuum with other historical/cultural texts from poem contribute to the meaning or effect of the the same period? piece?  How can we use a literary work to "map" the interplay of both traditional and subversive NEW HISTORICISM discourses circulating in the culture in which that  New Historicism is a range of critical practices that work emerged and/or the cultures in which the work examine works in their cultural and historical has been interpreted? contexts.  How does the work consider traditionally  It seeks to reconnect a work with the time period in marginalized populations? which it was produced and identify it with the cultural and political movements of the time. POST-STRUCTURALISM The Unconscious, the Desires, and the Defenses  Post-structuralism refers to a critical approach to  The Unconscious is the notion that human beings are language, literature, and culture that questions or motivated, even driven, by desires, fears, needs, and criticizes structuralism. conflicts of which they are unaware..." (Tyson 14-15).  Post-structuralists believe that language is inherently unstable in meaning and the meaning of the texts is  The Desires – the pleasures ultimately indecipherable.  The best-known post-structuralist approach is  Defenses – Freud argued that we develop defenses: deconstructionism. selective perception, selective memory, denial, displacement, projection, regression, fear of intimacy, Deconstructionism and fear of death, among others.  Deconstructionism (or sometimes just  Deconstruction) is a 20th Century school in Id, Ego, and Superego philosophy initiated by Jacques Derrida in the 1960s.  It is a theory of literary criticism that questions traditional assumptions about certainty, identity, and truth; asserts that words can only refer to other words; and attempts to demonstrate how statements about any text subvert their own meanings. Time flies like an arrow.  Time (noun) flies (verb) like an arrow (adverb clause) = Time passes quickly.  Time (verb) flies (object) like an arrow (adverb clause) = Get out your stopwatch and time the speed of flies  It argues that literary texts, like dreams, express the as you would time an arrow's flight. secret unconscious desires and anxieties of the  Time flies (noun) like (verb) an arrow (object) = Time author. flies are fond of arrows (or at least of one particular  It also suppose that a literary work is a manifestation arrow). of the author's own neuroses.  Critics believe that we can "...read PSYCHOANALYTIC CRITICISM psychoanalytically...to see which concepts are  Psychoanalytic criticism is literary criticism grounded operating in the text in such a way as to enrich our in Psychoanalytic Theory of the founder of understanding of the work and, if we plan to write a psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). paper about it, to yield a meaningful, coherent  Psychoanalytic criticism adopts the methods of psychoanalytic interpretation" (Tyson 29). "reading" employed by Freud (and other theorist) to interpret text. TYPICAL QUESTIONS  How do the operations of repression structure or inform the work?  Are there any Oedipal dynamics - or any other family TYPICAL QUESTIONS dynamics - at work here?  How does the interaction of text and reader create  How can characters' behavior, narrative events, meaning? and/or images be explained in terms of  What does a phrase-by-phrase analysis of a short psychoanalytic concepts of any kind? literary text, or a key portion of a longer text, tell us  What does the work suggest about the psychological about the reading experience prestructured by (built being of its author? into) that text?  What might a given interpretation of a literary work  Do the sounds/shapes of the words as they appear suggest about the psychological motives of the on the page or how they are spoken by the reader reader? enhance or change the meaning of the word/work?  Are there prominent words in the piece that could  How might we interpret a literary text to show that have different or hidden meanings? Could there be a the reader's response is, or is analogous to, the topic subconscious reason for the author using these of the story? "problem words"?  What does the body of criticism published about a literary text suggest about the critics who interpreted READER-RESPONSE CRITICISM that text and/or about the reading experience  Reader-response criticism is a critical approach that produced by that text? shifts the emphasis to the reader from the text or the work’s author and context. MODULE 5: APPLYING CRITICAL READING SKILLS  At its most basic level, reader-response criticism considers readers' reactions to literature as vital to What is Critical Reading? interpreting the meaning of the text.  Critical reading means reading with the goal of finding a deep understanding of the material.  A critic deploying reader-response theory can use a psychoanalytic lens, a feminist lens, or even a  It is the act of analyzing and evaluating what you are structuralist lens. reading as you make your way through the text or as  The readers, through their own values and you reflect back upon your reading. experiences and evolving response to the text “create” the meaning of the text. What is the difference between critical reading and that of normal reading? Reader-response theorists share two beliefs:  that the role of the reader cannot be omitted from our understanding of literature, and;  that readers do not passively consume the meaning presented to them by an objective literary text; rather they actively make the meaning they find in literature REMEMBER:  Read the first few sentences of the first few Critical reading goes further than just being satisfied with paragraphs what a text says. It also involves reflecting on what the  Identify the main thesis. text describes and analyzing what the text actually means  Underline the thesis (the main argument or in the context of your studies. viewpoint, one or two sentences) and write it in your own words in the margin. CRITICAL READING SKILLS  Continue reading the first sentence or two of the Annotating body paragraphs.  Annotating is any action that deliberately interacts  Highlight the point of each paragraph and summarize with a text to enhance the reader's understanding of, it in the margin in your own words. recall of, and reaction to the text.  It usually involves highlighting or underlining key 3. Read: This is your third time through the reading pieces of text and making notes in the margins of the  Now that you have a good idea of the article’s thesis, text. read through the entire article and look for more details. Highlight supporting evidence. Why Annotate?  Write any questions you have in the margins.  By annotating a text, you will ensure that you  Circle any words you don’t recognize, look them up in understand what is happening in a text after you've a dictionary, and write their meanings in the margins. read it.  As you annotate, you should note the following: Annotating Strategies  the author's main points,  You can annotate by hand or by using document  shifts in the message or perspective of the text, software.  key areas of focus, and;  You can also annotate on post-its if you have a text  your own thoughts as you read. you do not want to mark up.  As you annotate, use these strategies to make the Steps to Annotating a Source most of your efforts: 1. Survey: This is your first time through the reading  Include a key or legend on your paper that indicates  Look through the article/chapter/book. what each marking is for and use a different marking  Ask if the article is a useful and trustworthy source. for each type of information. (Who wrote it? Who published it? Who is the  Example: Underline for key points, highlight for audience?) vocabulary, and circle for transition points.  Note the title--what does it tell you about the article’s topic/argument?  If you use highlighters, consider using different colors  Is there an Abstract (paragraph that summarizes for different types of reactions to the text. topic, questions, research methods, findings)?  Example: Yellow for definitions, orange for questions,  Subheadings--what do they tell you? and blue for disagreement/confusion.  Note bold/italicized terms  Dedicate different tasks to each margin: 2. Skim: This is your second time through the reading  Use one margin to make an outline of the text (thesis  Tip: You can also divide a text into different sections statement, description, definition #1, counter for more focus when you are reading a long material. argument, etc.)  and summarize main ideas, and use the other margin What to analyze in a text? to note your thoughts, questions, and reactions to the text. Purpose/Context  If you are reading from an MS Word file or a PDF,  What, specifically, is the text about? In other words, then you can make use of the comment boxes what content does it attempt to cover and/or explain? feature of the software to insert your notes.  What "type" of text is it? That is, under what discipline or field would you categorize it? Outlining  What overall purpose does the text serve? For  this is presenting the important main details in a example, is it meant to answer a question, pose a particular text. problem, add to research on a given topic, introduce a new idea, etc.  Usually, the main idea per paragraph or main section in a text is written first, followed by the supporting Authors details.  Who are the authors of the text?  Is any biographical information given about them?  What qualifies them to write on this subject?  Are the authors "present" in the text through the use of personal pronouns ("I" or "we") or self-reference, or are they never referred to? Audience  Where does this text appear?  What can you tell about its anticipated readers?  What specific details lead you to these conclusions about the audience?  Do you feel you are part of the intended audience of this text? Why or why not? Topic and Position  Is the authors' opinion clear or is the information presented as "objective"?  Do the authors include and/or critique other Analyzing viewpoints?  this is examining the content by breaking down the  Are other viewpoints presented as critique of the different elements of the text. authors' viewpoint, so that the authors can refute them, or simply presented?  How do the authors position this piece? Proof/Evidence  What type of proof, if any, is used to defend conclusions or main ideas in the text (e.g., references to other work, interpretations of other work, original research, personal experience, author's opinions, critical analysis, etc.)?  Do the authors simply present something as a fact? Do they argue for a conclusion's validity?  Do they analyze a piece of information in a certain way? What kind of proof seems to carry the most weight?  What proof is the most authoritative in terms of the SENTENCE OUTLINE audience accepting it without question?  The sentence outline is done in full sentences. Summarizing  It is normally used when your paper focuses on  Summarizing is giving the gist of a text. complex details.  Thus, a summary presents the ideas and important supporting details.  More so, summarizing is one of the skills that you must have in doing your research. MODULE 6: OUTLINING ACADEMIC TEXTS OUTLINE  Outlining is a tool we use in the writing process to Benefits of writing sentence outline help organize our ideas, visualize our paper's potential structure, and to further flesh out and  Clarity. If you can't write a clear sentence develop points. summarizing the paragraph's point, you certainly  Based on the previous lesson, there are two types of cannot write a clear paragraph. outline: topic outline and sentence outline.  Flow of argument. It is much easier to quickly judge whether the present order of paragraphs (as TOPIC OUTLINE sentences in the outline) really makes the argument  arranges your ideas hierarchically (showing which are in the most effective way. main and which are sub-points), in the sequence you  Efficiency. Revision of the plan of paper is much want, and shows what you will talk about easier and quicker if you have only to delete or re-  As the name implies, it identifies all the mini topics order sentences. Doing this on the completed draft that your paper will comprise and shows how they involves much more work. relate.  Writing to length. With a sentence outline you can  When presented, the concept paper should give a easily judge how long the manuscript will be and clear picture of what the research, project, or modify it to keep the essential material within the feasibility study is all about. prescribed length.  It clarifies from the beginning what the purpose is and what process is necessary to carry out that OUTLINING ACADEMIC TEXTS purpose.  OUTLINES BASED ON PURPOSE  It should demonstrate the worth of the idea and its Aside from types of outline based on how it is to be significance to the beneficiaries. written, there are also what we call outlines based on purpose: reading outline and working outline. PARTS OF A CONCEPT PAPER 1. NAME/TITLE OF THE CONCEPT  READING OUTLINE 2. INTRODUCTION  A reading outline is done after reading a text. 3. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM  It is outlining a reading text to have better 4. OBJECTIVES understanding of it 5. QUESTIONS 6. STAKEHOLDERS/BENEFICIARIES  WORKING OUTLINE 7. SHORT DESCRIPTION  A working outline, on the other hand, is an outline 8. METHODOLOGY you use for developing your speech or academic 9. TIMETABLE writing. 10. CONCLUSION  It undergoes many changes on its way to completion. This is the outline where you lay out the basic WRITING PROCESS structure of your speech/ paper. STEP 1: PREWRITING STEP 2: RESEARCH STEP 3: DRAFTING WHAT IS A CONCEPT PAPER? STEP 4: MAKE IT BETTER  A concept paper is a precedent of a full proposal, and STEP 5: MAKE IT CORRECT a full proposal is a precedent of something big such as research study, a study, a project, or feasibility study. Definition and Purpose  In the workplace, a concept paper is asked before a full proposal.  It contains a proposed idea.  It may not be detailed yet, but it provides a framework of an idea that can be carried out into a proposal (and eventually, from the proposal into a full paper).