The document provides advice on academic writing and essay composition. It discusses the key components of an academic essay, including having an argument, evidence, and citations. It outlines 5 methods for composing an essay, such as starting writing early for exploration, keeping the overall purpose in mind, and revising from beginning to end. The document also discusses outlining, thesis statements, reading and researching sources, avoiding plagiarism, and revising and editing essays.

1. ACADEMIC ESSAY- WRITING
ADVICE ON ACADEMIC WRITING

2. GENERAL
An essay should have:
•An argument which should answer a question
•The argument have to prove something providing reasons and evidence as
well, including citations of any source.
•It should contain a Topic. The writer will formulate a question in order to
answer it in the body, reinforcing the text with hyphotesis.
•The essay’s organization is crucial to present a clear argument.

3. 1.THEY START WRITING EARLY AS A MEANS OF EXPLORATION AND DISCOVERY
2. THEY WRITE WHAT SEEMS READIEST TO BE WRITTEN
3. THEY KEEP THE ESSAY'S OVERALL PURPOSE AND ORGANIZATION IN MIND
4. THEY REVISE THE ESSAY FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE END.
5. ONCE THEY HAVE FINISHED THE REVISION, THEY REVISE DEEPLY THE SENTENCES TO CONCLUDE A
WELL-ORGANIZED ESSAY.
Methods of composing an essay

4. • FIRST OF ALL, THE ORGANIZATION OF AN ESSAY’S WRITING IS DURING THE PRE-WRITING STAGE.
IT ALLOWS YOU TO PAY MORE ATTENTION TO SENTENCE-LEVEL ISSUES.
ASKING THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: WHAT TYPE OF ESSAY AM I GOING TO BE WRITING?
DOES IT BELONG TO A SPECIFIC GENRE? THE GENRES COULD BE , A BOOK REVIEW, A LAB
REPORT, A DOCUMENT STUDY, OR A COMPARE-AND-CONTRAST ESSAY,ETC.
BEING AWARE OF GENRES NOT TO BE FIXED.
WRITERS MUST BE READY TO COME UP WITH WHATEVER ESSAY STRUCTURE HELPS THEM TO
CONVINCE THE READER OF THE VALIDITY OF THEIR POSITION.
 Planning and organization

5. • THERE ARE THREE METHODS TO PROVIDE GREATER FLEXIBILITY TO THE ESAAY
METHOD 1: WRITE AN OUTLINE WITH THE ESSENTIAL POINTS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT
METHOD 2: “THE COMPUTER” THE WRITER IS ABLE TO COLLECT THE POINTS CONSECUTIVELY,
JUST AS HE OR SHE WOULD ON PAPER.
METHOD 3: “THE CIRCLE METHOD” THIS METHOD IS DESIGNED TO GET ALL THE IDEAS ONTO A
SINGLE PAGE.
REVERSE OUTLINE
THE WRITER SHOULD READ THROUGH THE ESSAY, AND EVERY TIME THAT IS MAKING A NEW
POINT, IT’S NECESSARY TO SUMMARIZE IT IN THE MARGIN.
 Techniques for integrating note-taking and planning

6. PLANNING PROVIDES THE FOLLOWING ADVANTAGES:
• THE PRODUCTION OF A LOGICAL AND ORDERLY ARGUMENT THAT THE READERS
CAN FOLLOW
• THE PRODUCTION OF AN ECONOMICAL PAPER BY ALLOWING TO SPOT REPETITION
• THE PRODUCTION OF A PAPER WHICH MAKES EASIER FOR THE WRITER TO NOTICE
WHETHER SOMETHING HAS BEEN MISSING
• MAKES DRAFTING THE PAPER EASIER BY ALLOWINGTHE WRITER TO CONCENTRATE
ON WRITING ISSUES SUCH AS GRAMMAR, WORD CHOICE, AND CLARITY
 Planning

7.  USING THESIS STATEMENTS
 At first, the writer should write a clear statement of his
position.
 There are some characteristics of good thesis statements
 1. It makes a definite and limited assertion that needs to be
explained and supported by further discussion (irrelevant,
intriguing)
 2. It shows the emphasis of your argument and
indicates its methodology (emotional, vague, worth
attention)
 3. It shows awareness of difficulties and
disagreements. (sweeping, vague, suitably complex)

8.  Reading and researching
 Methods for an academic work
 By first skimming a text, you can get a sense of its overall logical
progression. Skimming can also help the reader to make
decisions about where to place his or her greatest focus when
there is a limited time for reading.
 Scanning is basically skimming with a more tightly focused
purpose: skimming to locate a particular fact or figure, or to see
whether this text mentions a subject which is researched

9. 1. HOW NOT TO PLAGIARIZE
2 .STANDARD DOCUMENTATION FORMATS
3. USING QUOTATIONS
4. PARAPHRASE AND SUMMARY
PARAPHRASE AND SUMMARY
TO PARAPHRASE MEANS TO RESTATE SOMEONE ELSE’S IDEAS IN YOUR OWN LANGUAGE AT ROUGHLY THE SAME
LEVEL OF DETAIL. TO SUMMARIZE MEANS TO REDUCE THE MOST ESSENTIAL POINTS OF SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK INTO
A SHORTER FORM. ALONG WITH QUOTATION, PARAPHRASE AND SUMMARY PROVIDE THE MAIN TOOLS FOR
INTEGRATING YOUR SOURCES INTO YOUR PAPERS
HOW DO I PARAPHRASE?
WHENEVER YOU PARAPHRASE, REMEMBER THESE TWO POINTS:
YOU MUST PROVIDE A REFERENCE.
THE PARAPHRASE MUST BE IN YOUR OWN WORDS. YOU MUST DO MORE THAN MERELY SUBSTITUTE PHRASES HERE
AND THERE. YOU MUST ALSO CREATE YOUR OWN SENTENCE STRUCTURES.
HOW DO I SUMMARIZE?
WHEN YOU SUMMARIZE A PASSAGE, YOU NEED FIRST TO ABSORB THE MEANING AND THEN TO CAPTURE IN YOUR
OWN WORDS THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS FROM THE ORIGINAL PASSAGE. A SUMMARY IS
NECESSARILY SHORTER THAN A PARAPHRASE.
 Using Sources

10. Specific Types of Writing
APPLICATION LETTERS AND RESUMES
Specific points about the application letter
1.. Write a letter for each application, tailored for the specific situation
2.Use standard letter format, with internal addresses (spell names correctly!)
and salutations
3.Most application letters are one or two pages or screens in length.
4.Stating information clearly (name of the job, where the add was)
5. Refer to specific information in terms of examples leading to the reader
from an interpretive point to another

11.  A COMPARATIVE ESSAY IS USED TO COMPARE AT LEAST TWO (POSSIBLY MORE) ITEMS. THESE ITEMS WILL
DIFFER DEPENDING ON THE ASSIGNMENT. FOR EXAMPLE:
POSITIONS ON AN ISSUE (E.G., RESPONSES TO MIDWIFERY IN CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES)
THEORIES (E.G., CAPITALISM AND COMMUNISM)
FIGURES (E.G., GDP IN THE UNITED STATES AND BRITAIN)
TEXTS (E.G., SHAKESPEARE’S HAMLET AND MACBETH)
EVENTS (E.G., THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS OF 2008–9)
DEVELOP A LIST OF SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES
ONCE KNOWING THE BASIS FOR COMPARISON, THINK CRITICALLY ABOUT THE SIMILARITIES AND
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE ITEMS THAT ARE COMPARING, AND COMPILE A LIST OF THEM
DEVELOP A THESIS BASED ON THE RELATIVE WEIGHT OF SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES
COME UP WITH A STRUCTURE FOR YOUR ESSAY
1. ALTERNATING METHOD: POINT-BY-POINT PATTERNIN THE ALTERNATING METHOD, YOU FIND RELATED
POINTS COMMON TO YOUR CENTRAL SUBJECTS A AND B, AND ALTERNATE BETWEEN A AND B ON THE
BASIS OF THESE POINTS
2. BLOCK METHOD: SUBJECT-BY-SUBJECT PATTERN IN THE BLOCK METHOD (AB), YOU DISCUSS ALL OF A,
THEN ALL OF B.
 The Comparative Essay

12.  ORAL PRESENTATION TIPS
 1. Sign up early.
 2.It helps to know what’s expected of you
 3. Choose your topic carefully
 4. Define the scope of your research.
 5. Organize your talk as you would an essay.
 6.Try to make use of supplementary media to illustrate or iluminate
aspects of your talk.
 7.Leave time to rehearse your presentation.
 8. Feeling comfortable and to be relaxed.
 9.Treat your presentations as a well-planned performance.
 10. Handle questions with confidence.
 11. Self assessment of the performance.

13.  Using Gerunds and Infinitives
 Gerunds and infinitives are verb forms that can take the place of
a noun in a sentence. The following guidelines and lists will help
you figure out whether a gerund or infinitive is needed.
 Following a verb (gerund or infinitive
 Following a preposition (gerund only)
 Gerunds can follow a preposition; infinitives cannot
 Following an indirect object (infinitive only)
 Some verbs are followed by a pronoun or noun referring to a
person, and then an infinitive. Gerunds cannot be used in this
position

14. 1.REVISING AND EDITING
2.HIT PARADE OF ERRORS IN GRAMMAR, PUNCTUATION, AND STYLE
3.USING THE COMPUTER TO IMPROVE YOUR WRITING
4.WORDINESS: DANGER SIGNALS AND WAYS TO REACT
5.UNBIASED LANGUAGE
6.PUNCTUATION
7.FIXING COMMA SPLICES
8.FAULTY PARALLELISM
9.PASSIVE VOICE: WHEN TO USE IT AND WHEN TO AVOID IT
10.FIXING DANGLING MODIFIERS
11.SOME TOOLS AND RULES TO IMPROVE YOUR SPELLING
12.PLURALS
13.POSSESSIVES
14.SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
15.SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
 Style and editing

15.  Revising And Editing
 Revising gives the writer the chance to preview his or her work on
behalf of the eventual reader.
 First check whether you have fulfilled the intention of the
assignment.
 Then look at the whole organization. It’s worthwhile to print out
everything so that it is easier to revise the entire document
 Polish and edit your style by moving to smaller matters such as
word choice, sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and
spelling

16.  English as a second language
• Using Articles
• Special Cases in the Use of the Definite Article
• Expressions of Quantity: Special Cases of Subject-Verb Agreement
• Using Gerunds and Infinitives
• Verbs for Referring to Sources

17.  Using articles:What are articles?
 Articles are special modifiers that appear before nouns or noun
phrases. Like other adjectives, they help clarify the meaning of
the noun in your sentence. There are only two articles in the
English language: the and a (and its variant an, used before a
word that starts with a vowel sound)
 Special Cases in the Use of the Definite Article
 To decide if you should use the word the, ask yourself these three
questions:Is the noun indefinite (unspecified) or definite
(specific)?
 Is the noun modified?
 Is the noun generic?

18.  Expressions of Quantity: Special Cases of Subject-Verb Agreement
 Subject-verb agreement is generally quite straightforward in English. Check any handbook
for the general rules. However, with subjects that introduce the idea of quantity, some
additional rules of thumb are needed. Here are a few that are useful for academic writing.
 With fractions, percentages and indefinite quantifiers (e.g., all, few, many, much, some), the
verb agrees with the preceding noun or clause:
 With a singular or non-count noun or clause, use a singular verb
 With a plural noun, use a plural verb
 With a collective noun, use either a singular or a plural verb, depending on whether you want
to emphasize the single group or its individual members
 The words majority and minority are used in a variety of ways:
 When majority/minority mean an unspecified number more or less than 50%, use a singular
verb
 When majority/minority mean a specific percentage, you may use either a singular or a
plural verb
 When majority/minority refers to a specified set of persons, use a plural verb
 Expressions of time, money and distance usually take a singular verb
 Adjectives preceded by the and used as plural nouns take a plural verb
 Expressions using the phrase number of depend on the meaning of the phrase (They take a
singular verb when referring to a single quantity, They take plural verbs when they are used as
indefinite quantifiers)

19.  FURTHER RESOURCES
 ADVICE ON ACADEMIC WRITING:
 The advice files on this site answer the kinds of questions that
University of Toronto students aks about their written assignments.

20. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Prof. C.A Silber, Department of English. “Some general advice on
Academic Writing Essay” Toronto, Canada.: University of Toronto.
Website:https://advice.writing.utoronto.ca