This document provides guidance for students on drafting and revising academic papers. It discusses establishing a purpose, using the writing process, developing a central thesis with supporting evidence, organizing ideas, addressing common writing challenges, and setting goals for improvement. Key points include developing an expert voice, choosing precise vocabulary, varying sentence structures, and maintaining proper conventions. Cause-effect transition words are also listed to help explain relationships between ideas.

1. Draft and revise papers Working towards independence

2. Why write? Strong writing opens doors! Students and professionals write to Critique (movies, food, celebrities, sports …) Explain (ideas, processes, patterns, history …) Advertise (clothes, cars, apartments, schools …) Prepare (notes, emails, memos, policy briefs …) In this class, your writing helps to prepare you for future opportunities

3. Get started Good writers Set a purpose for writing Use each part of the writing process best accomplish goals Generally, teachers as you to Explain ideas as if you are an expert Tell what the text suggests (not just what it says) Completely support each of your ideas with textual evidence

4. How? Key parts of this kind of writing (rubric categories) Develop a strong central idea Support every idea: use specific textual evidence to show your understanding Organize ideas: introduction, body paragraphs & conclusion Read out loud: look for the best words and grammar to share your point Submit with appropriate font size, heading, spacing and works cited

5. I’m stuck | Ideas No thesis? Pull together several moments in the text that relate to the prompt or topic. Ask yourself: what do these suggest ? Push towards expert ideas No clue? Scan worksheets or the back of the book Resist the temptation to stop thinking for yourself. Research beyond what we have finished or discussed in class Cite any borrowed ideas this inspires as you start writing (that includes ideas , not just copy-paste)

6. I’m stuck | Organization Don’t know where ideas go? Use the outline to help Group similar ideas Rambling? Push your idea to the next level. Thesis check: start with a strong thesis that completely responds to the prompt. Then, be sure that each paragraph completely relates to your thesis.

7. I’m stuck | Voice Don’t feel like an expert? Revisit the parts of the text that relate to the prompt and ignore everything else Understand key terms; try to make a list of 10 words you want to use in the paper Sounds like a conversation or advice? Look in your text for more expert vocabulary Push for specifics rather than general pronouns. Use names instead of ‘he’ ‘she’ and ‘they.’ Name items, rather than using ‘it’ ‘that’ and ‘things’

8. I’m stuck | word choice Feeling repetitive? Use a thesaurus to help you find synonyms. Avoid using words that you do not know or understand. Moody  emotional, irritable, temperamental, unstable, grumpy Use different forms of the same word. Fear  fearful, fearing, fearsome Don’t feel convincing? Use strong verbs for your best ideas Use simple sentences to get right to the point

9. I’m stuck | Sentence fluency Writing fragments? Look for a subject and verb in each sentence Avoid using these words at the beginning of sentences: how, when, if, since, because, and, so Every sentence sounds the same? Move your expert phrases to a new place in the sentence. Pollan effectively shows that ______ (can become)  ______, as Pollan effectively shows. Make long sentences even more simple. Combine short sentences into longer ones.

10. I’m stuck | conventions Don’t understand conventions (apostrophes, commas, quotations, citations, etc)? Use a writing manual (like your English textbook) Visit the Writing Center Can’t choose the right version? Try using Word’s spell check (avoid using the grammar check – it does not work as well) Reword the sentence into one you’re sure about

11. Goals What are your goals for your next paper? Which strategies will you try?

12. Cause-effect vocabulary Helpful phrases for explaining cause-effect. B since A. OR Since A, B. B, because A. A. Consequently, B. As a result of A, B. A. Therefore, B. A. For this reason, B. B because of A. B due to A. A, so B.