This document provides guidance on writing academic compositions and essays. It covers topics such as organization, paragraph unity, introductions, conclusions, plagiarism, citations, and bibliographies. The key points emphasized are that academic writing should present a clear and persuasive argument; organization, unity, and coherence are important; introductions should identify the topic and focus; conclusions should stimulate further thinking; and sources must be properly cited to avoid plagiarism. Effective writing involves reasoning and developing one's own thinking in relation to other authors' work.

1. ISFD 41
LENGUA Y EXPRESION ESCRITA IV
TEACHER: STELLA SAUBIDET
SEBASTIAN SZUMOWSKI
May 26th , 2020

2. ACADEMIC COMPOSITION
Index
• Objectives ……………………………………………………………………………….. 3
• Organization …………………………………………………………………………….. 4
• Paragraph unity ……………………………………………………......5 - 6 -7 - 8 - 9
• Essay introduction ……………………………………………………………………. 10
• Effective introduction ………………………………………………………………… 11
• Avoid common pitfalls ………………………………………………………………. 12
• Essay conclusion ……………………………………………………………………….. 13
• Effective conclusion ………………………………………………………………… 14 -15
• Plagiarism ……………………………………………………………………………....16 – 17
• Quotation, paraphrasing and summarizing …………………………….. 18 - 19
• Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………. 20
• Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………………….. 21

3. OBJECTIVES
• An academic composition should be designed to present an argument
clearly and persuasively.
• It should answer a question.
• The purpose of this kind of paper is to show your own thinking.
• Keep the essay’s overall purpose and organization in mind.

4. ORGANIZATION
• Organization is fundamental; how it begins, develops and ends.
• Questions to ask oneself in order to plan the essay:
-What kind of essay am I going to be writing?
-Does it belong to a specific genre?
• The earlier you begin planning the better.
• You will be much more efficient in your reading and research if you have some idea of where your argument
is headed.
• Planning helps you to:
- produce a logical and orderly argument that your readers can follow.
- produce a thorough paper by making it easier to notice whether you have left anything out.
out.
- make drafting the paper easier by allowing you to concentrate on writing issues such as grammar, word
as grammar, word choice and clarity.

5. PARAGRAPH UNITY
• THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO ACHIEVE PARAGRAPH UNIT IS TO
EXPRESS THE CENTRAL IDEA OF THE PARAGRAPH IN A TOPIC
SENTENCE.
• THE FIRST SENTENCE WILL SUMMARIZE THE CONTENT OF THE
PARAGRAPH: “THE TOPIC SENTENCE”
• TOPIC SENTENCES ARE SIMILAR TO MINI THESIS STATEMENTS.

6. AN ESSAY IS UNIFIED IF ALL THE
PARAGRAPHS RELATE TO THE THESIS.
WHEREAS A PARAGRAPH IS UNIFIED IF ALL
THE SENTENCES RELATE TO THE TOPIC
SENTENCE.

7. AVOID ENDING A PARAGRAPH BY MAKING THE
SAME POINT YOU MADE IN THE TOPIC
SENTENCE.
OPENING AND CLOSING PARAGRAPHS DO NOT
NEED A TOPIC SENTENCE SINCE THEY SERVE
DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS FROM BODY
PARAGRAPHS.

8. THE BEST OVERALL STRATEGY TO ENHANCE
FLOW WITHIN A PARAGRAPH IS TO SHOW
CONNECTIONS.
DELIBERATE REPETITION OF KEY WORDS
HELPS.

9. A SERIES OF LONG PARAGRAPHS CAN MAKE
PROSE DENSE AND UNPLEASANT TO READ.
TRY COMBINING SHORT PARAGRAPHS ONLY
TWO OR THREE SENTENCES LONG, BUT
MAKE SURE NOTHING VITAL HAS BEEN
OMITTED.

10. ESSAY INTRODUCTION
• A GOOD INTRODUCTION SHOULD IDENTIFY YOUR TOPIC, PROVIDE
ESSENTIAL CONTEXT AND INDICATE YOUR PARTICULAR FOCUS ON
THE ESSAY.
• IT MAY TAKE MORE THAN ONE PARAGRAPH, BUT MAKE SURE YOU
KNOW WHY.
• THE SIZE OF YOUR INTRODUCTION SHOULD BEAR SOME
RELATIONSHIP TO THE LENGTH AND COMPLEXITY OF YOUR PAPER.
• GET TO THE POINT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
• YOUR THESIS STATEMENT WILL TIPICALLY APPEAR AT THE END OF
YOUR INTRODUCTION.

11. EFFECTIVE INTRODUCTION
• QUOTE AN EXPERT
• GIVE SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION NECESSARY FOR
UNDERSTANDING THE ESSAY.
• USE A BRIEF ANECDOTE THAT EXEMPLIFIES YOUR REASON FOR
CHOOSING THE TOPIC.
• IN A SCIENCE PAPER, EXPLAIN KEY SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS AND REFER
TO RELEVANT LITERATURE.
• IN A MORE TECHNICAL PAPER, DEFINE A TERM THAT IS POSSIBLY
UNFAMILIAR TO YOUR AUDIENCE BUT IS CENTRAL FOR
UNDERSTANDING YOUR ESSAY.

12. AVOID COMMON PITFALLS
• DO NOT PROVIDE DICTIONARY DEFINITIONS.
• DO NOT REPEAT THE ASSIGNMENT SPECIFICATIONS USING THE
PROFESSOR’S WORDING.
• DO NOT GIVE DETAILS AND IN-DEPTH EXPLANATIONS THAT REALLY
BELONG IN YOUR BODY PARAGRAPH.

13. ESSAY CONCLUSION
A CONCLUSION INVOLVES CRITICAL THINKING.
IT ADDS A STIMULUS TO FURTHER THINKING.
A GOOD LAST SENTENCES LEAVES YOUR READING
WITH SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.

14. EFFECTIVE CONCLUSION
• USE AN APT QUOTATION OR EXPERT OPINION TO LEND AUTHORITY
TO THE CONCLUSION.
• GIVE A STARTLING, FACT OR A VIRTUAL IMAGE TO DRIVE HOME THE
ULTIMATE POINT OF YOUR PAPER.
• RETURN TO AN ANECDOTE, EXAMPLE OR QUOTATION THAT YOU
INTRODUCED IN YOUR INTRODUCTION, BUT ADD FURTHER INSIDE
THAT DERIVES FROM THE BODY OF YOUR ESSAY.

15. BE AWARE THAT DIFFERENT GENRES HAVE THEIR
OWN SPECIAL EXPECTATIONS ABOUT
BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS.
SOME ACADEMIC GENRES MAY NOT EVEN
REQUIRE AN INTRODUCTION OR A CONCLUSION.

16. PLAGIARISM
• MENTIONING WHAT OTHER AUTHORS HAVE SAID DOES NOT LESSEN
THE CREDIT YOU GET FOR YOUR OWN THINKING. IT ADDS TO YOUR
CREDIBILITY.
• WHETHER YOU QUOTE DIRECTLY IN QUOTATION MARKS,
PARAPHRASE IT CLOSELY IN YOUR WORDS OR JUST SUMMARIZE IT,
YOU NEED TO IDENTIFY THE SOURCE THEN AND THERE.

17. THE REAL CHALLENGE IS ESTABLISHING THE
RELATIONSHIP OF YOUR THINKING TO THE
READING YOU HAVE DONE.

18. QUOTATION, PARAPHRASES AND SUMMARIES
• USE YOUR OWN WORDS TO PARAPHRASE OR SUMMARIZE THE IDEA
YOU WANT TO DISCUSS, EMPHASISING THE POINTS RELEVANT TO
YOUR ARGUMENT.
BUT BE SURE TO NAME SOURCES EVEN WHEN YOU ARE NOT USING
THE EXACT ORIGINAL WORDS.

19. MENTIONING THE AUTHOR’S NAME
INDICATES WHERE THE BORROWING STARTS
AND STOPS AND GAINS YOU SOME
REFLECTING GLORY FOR RESPONDING TO
THE EXPERTS.

20. AS A CONCLUSION
REMEMBER:
YOU ARE NOT BEING ASKED JUST TO COLLECT
FACTS BUT TO DEVELOP AND DISPLAY YOUR
POWERS OF REASONING.

21. Bibliography
University of Toronto. Writing advice. Organizing an essay. Planning and
organizing. Using thesis statements. Introduction and conclusion.
Paragraphs.
Last visited May 23rd , 2020. Available at:
https://advice.writing.utoronto.ca/