The document provides guidance on academic writing at the university level. It discusses establishing clear topics and arguments for essays, as well as organizing essays in a logical manner through drafting and revision. University writing differs from high school writing in several ways, such as not having a predetermined number of paragraphs. Strong introductions present the topic clearly while conclusions should not simply summarize. Additional topics covered include selecting essay topics, using paragraphs and topic sentences, formulating thesis statements, conducting critical reading, and the role of summaries, quotations, abstracts, and bibliographies in academic writing.

1. Academic Writing
University of Toronto writing advice
Instituto superior de formación técnica y docente N.º 18
Lengua y expresión escrita 4
Profesora Saubidet
Britos, Ignacio

2. Setting the topic
 Essays should have an argument.
 They should answer a question. An essay has to prove something.
 A good way of defining the argument is by asking the questions the essay should
answer.
 These questions plus the reading of sources related to the topic would help to
establish the thesis or hypothesis.

3. Essays’ organization
 The order in which info is discovered is not the best way to organize your essay.
 Beginning, development and end should present the argument clearly and be
persuasive.
 Writing should begin by drafting, keeping in mind the overall purpose of the
essay.
 Extensive revision is needed in order to shape the draft. (Only one draft is not
convenient)
 Once organization is clear, the focus should be place on ideas transitions, to end
up revising sentences and the diction (appropriateness) and economy ( not using
more words than needed) of their words.

4. High School and University writing
 University essays are not restricted in number of points to be dealt with.
Therefore, there is no pre-determined number of paragraphs.
 University paragraphs are to begin with a topic sentences and end once enough
data of that topic is provided. Repetition is redundant.
 Transitions in university essays are to appear only if they are needed.
 Not all university essays need a thesis statement. They are not to appear only in
the opening paragraph, it might appear anywhere.
 Thesis statements in university essays can be as long as needed.
 Introductions in university essays should present the topic clearly. Conclusions
shall not be just a summary of the essay.
 Presentations should be in a plain format, with no visual effects.
 Arguments must provide evidence and its source in university writing.

5. Essay topics
 Topics are to be analyzed, compared, evaluated or argued. Being all these ways of
developing the student’s power of reasoning.
 University essays tend to promote the use of concepts learnt through the courses as
well as letting the student explore this new writing field based on his/her view.
 Thesis statements provide the guideline for joining both course methodology and the
student’s idea. This will lead to investigation.
 The selection of the thesis statement provides some path or sense of direction to
follow in the student’s research.

6. Organizing an Essay
 Organization should be taken into consideration during the pre-writing stage.
 Depending on the genre, the writing organization is going to vary.
 Essay structure should be chosen in terms of what it is easier for the reader to
understand.
 The structure of an essay should not be based on the structure of its source
material. Arguments are to be presented, not to restate the original source in the
same way.
 The essay’s outline should be produced before starting to investigate. Reading
and research is better oriented if the argument is already chosen.
 Overplanning, however, is a risk provided that it might leave you with not
sufficient time to write or leads you to trying to cover too much ground.

7. Introductions and Conclusions
 A good introduction should identify topic, provide essential context, and indicate
the focus in the essay. It also needs to engage readers’ interest.
 When writing the introduction, writers should avoid beginning in a too broad or
generalized way. Getting to the point as possible is advisable.
 Conclusions are not just summaries. They should include critical thinking,
reflecting on the writing.
 A good last sentence leaves the reader thinking about the topic s/he has just
read about.
 Different genres imply different types of both introductions and conclusions.

8. Paragraphs
 A paragraph is a series of related sentences developing a central idea, called
the topic.
 To achieve unity in the paragraph, a topic sentence should describe the specific
main point of the paragraph.
 In academic writing, the topic sentence nearly always works best at the beginning
of a paragraph so that the reader knows what to expect.
 the body paragraph demonstrates and develops your topic sentence through an
ordered, logical progression of ideas.

9. Paragraphs length
 Paragraphs vary in length depending on the needs of the paragraph. Usually,
paragraphs are between one-third and two-thirds of a page double spaced.
 A series of long paragraphs can make prose dense and unpleasant to read. Too
short paragraphs make academic writing seem disjointed or skimpy.
 “Flow” describe the way a paragraph moves from idea to idea both within the
paragraph and between paragraphs. Through connectors and transitional
sentences flow occurs.

10. Topic Sentences
 Topic sentences usually appear at the very beginning of paragraphs. They alert
the reader about the important idea of each paragraph.
 Sometimes, they are preceded by transitional sentences.
 To determine the best topic sentence for a paragraph, we should see why that
paragraph is important to the argument. That is to say, the topic sentence should
denote the reason for that paragraph to be in the essay.
 In case a paragraph continues the idea mentioned in the previous one, a topic
sentence would be redundant.

11. Thesis statements
 Thesis statements provide the readers the argument and the position of the
writer.
 They provide a theoretical basis and promise substantial support
 They indicate the methodology of the essay’s argument.
 They produced an assertion to be developed and supported through the essay.
 They express the possible disagreements towards it.

12. Critical Reading
 Reading critically implies going further than just reading. Reading is not just
getting information but analyzing how the text shows it as well how does it
support it.
 Attention should be placed to those passages where the writer explains his
analytical moves.
 Critical reading implies understanding the way of thinking of the writer expressed
through all the elements mentioned before.

13. Skimming and Scanning
 Before reading a text in detail, the first reading should be aimed to get the
general overview of the text.
 Skimming is related to the first reading in which the reader detects the overall
logical progression of the text. Usually paying attention to those sections in which
the topic and focus of the paper is placed.
 Scanning relates to skimming in this sense of not reading everything carefully, but
when scanning the reader looks for specific details or facts (an specific set of
goals).

14. Summarizing
 Summarizing is used for reproduce the ideas in a text, identifying the general
concepts that run through the piece and for expressing the main ideas of the text
using specific language.
 A good summary should include the title and author as well as the idea of it’s
thesis statement.
 Minor details and specific examples are to be avoided. Personal opinions are not
to be present in the summary, since the aim of it is to reproduce the main ideas
of the original text.
 The authors words should not be used.

15. Quotations
 Quoting is not to be used in excess provide that the main idea of writing a text is to
depict our own ideas and not just reproducing what someone else has already said.
 Quotations are to appear if we as writers want to argue about the source or we want
to analyze more about the quote.
 If the whole passage to be quoted is relevant, paraphrasing is a good way to mention
it. If we only want to express the main idea of it, summarizing is the best option for it.
 All quotations should include the source, the authorities in which we as writers rely on.
 Quotations longer than four lines are not placed in quotation marks. Instead, they are
to appear as a block quotation.
 Punctuation should remain as in the original quoted passage. Added punctuation
marks should be placed in square brackets.

16. Abstracts
 These passages previous to a paper give the reader a first impression of the
document that follows. It highlights the key words and concepts that are going to
be dealt with in the paper.
 Abstracts help readers to decide if they are going to keep on reading and, if they
do so, what concepts are they to take into consideration.
 Abstracts are usually read with the title, therefore it is not relevant to restate the
title in the abstract.
 Information that is not present in the document shall not be mentioned.
 Purpose, method and conclusion are to be present in the abstract.

17. Revising
 Revision may imply changing the shape of a paper in terms of organization and
addition or elision of paragraphs.
 In the revision the fulfillment of the given assignment is to be proved.
 Revision shall include checking that the paper follows the rules of the specific
genre it is trying to be.
 Sources and evidence that support the writing should also be checked.

18. Editing
 Editing involves checking language elements such as spelling, register and
appropriateness of the words used.
 Papers should include cover page, number of pages, indentations (both on
paragraphs and quotes), the use of a standard font and bibliography.

19. Punctuation
 Commas are used for: Joining two independent clauses, in introductory phrases that are too
long, when listing, to introduce and finish a parenthetical clause that adds extra, but not crucial,
information.
 Semicolons are used for combining two closely related independent clauses in one sentence and
for separating list elements that are long or complex.
 Colons are a way for urging the reader to continue. The ideas preceding the colon create the
expectation that the words after the colon fulfill.
 Dashes are used for interrupting clauses or phrases but with more force than a comma. They also
lead to a explanatory independent clause after a list.
 Parentheses are another way for using interrupting material jst like commas or dashes.

20. Bibliography:
 Writing Advice (2018). Retrieved May 2018, from Writing at the University of
Toronto Web site: http://writing.utoronto.ca/