Reading and Writing Academic Paper

1. Modes of Paragraph
Development

2. 1. Causal Analysis
Tackles the causes and effects of a
particular event, phenomenon, or situation.
Relationship between or among at least
two happenings.
It answers the questions “why”and “how”

3. Writer’s Purpose
1. Informative – which primarily explains
2. Persuasive – attempts to convince the
reader to believe what the writer is
saying
3. Speculative – suggest possibilities

4.  A casual chain is a set of cause and effect that leads to
multiple other sets – all happening one after the other.
 The primary and secondary causes and effects of the
situation. This is to maintain order and coherence in
your essay, and also to avoid losing focus.

5.  Concentrate on the immediate rather than the
remote causes and/or effects.
 Root cause – a primary cause is studying well for
the past few days.
 Be wary of the logical fallacy of faulty causality or
propter hoc, ergo propter hoc (Latin for “after
this, therefore because of this”)

6. 2. Narrative Writing
 Storytelling
 Sequence of events, not necessarily arranged in
chronological order, told by a narrator,
happening in a particular place at a particular
time.
 Creating a world based on the writer’s
imagination.

7. “
”
Show rather than tell
A RULE OF THUMB THAT MOST WRITERS ABIDE BY
Vivid Description of Details

8. Consistent Point of View (POV)
 Three most commonly used points of view:
 FIRST, SECOND, THIRD POINTS OF VIEW
 Third person POV – used to convey the narrator
as an omniscient and dispassionate observer.
- narrator is all-knowing; enables the
reader to see not only the dialogue, but also the
innermost thoughts and desire.

9. Consistent Verb Tense
To make clear to the reader whether the story:
 had already happened;
 has been happening for some time now;
 happens on a regular basis;
 is currently happening; and
 Will do so indefinitely, or will happen sometime in
the future

10. Well – Defined Point or Significance
Theme
– unifying thought or idea born
out of all the other elements of
the story.

11. Narrative Devices – technique writers utilizes to add
flavor and enrich the meaning of their stories.
Anecdote – brief narratives that are written from the
writer’s memory.
Flashback – event that happened in the past

12. Time Stretch – a single event in the story that the author
focuses writing about.
Time Summary – a single event is prolonged, a time summary
is characterized by jamming together multiple events and/or
shortening a relatively long period of time.
Flash-forward – an event that has yet to happen in the story.
Dialogue – a word or a series of words enclosed in a pair of
quotation marks, which signal the characters’ spoken language.

13. 3. Definition
 Understanding the essence of a word, an idea, a
concept, or an expression.
 It should be done clearly or through specific
terms so that even the most abstract concepts
can be easily understood and relatable to the
human perception.
 To give information to the reader as to what the
author intends to explain.

14. Denotation and Connotation
Denotation – primary, explicit, or
literal definition of a word.
Connotation – secondary meaning of
a word.

15.  Analysis
– process of breaking down a concept into its constituent
parts.
 Collocation
- there are words or expressions that are usually almost
immediately associated with the concept you are trying to
define.

16.  Comparison
- Make abstract concepts more understandable by
using comparison to appeal to the human senses.
 Contrast
- Understanding how at least two similar concept are
different from each other

17.  Etymology
- The history of a word. It explains the evolution of a word or
how it has come to be.
 Exemplification and Illustration
- Exemplification: Defining something by giving examples
- Illustration: Giving an example and focusing on it to
elaborate on the concept you are trying to define.

18.  Extended Definition – a personal interpretation of an author to an
abstract and multifaceted concept.
 Function – another way of understanding what a word or concept
means is to know its purpose.
- answers the question: “What is it used for?”
 Negation – a technique that you can use to define a word or
concept by explaining what it is not.
 Synonyms – a single word or phrase that share almost the same
meaning with the concept you are trying to define
* SLANG or COLLOQUIAL LANGUAGE
- Considered under the umbrella term of synonyms.

19. 4. Division and Classification
 are essential not just in writing but also in everyday
concepts.
 Enables humans to have some sense of order and
predictability in otherwise chaotic and
unpredictable life.

20.  DIVISION
 Breaks down a concept into its constituent parts.
 Process necessitates separating items.
 CLASSIFICATION
 Entails categorization which enables one to group
together items according to their similarities.
 To further organize data that have already been defined
and classified.

21. Principles to consider
 Consistency
- Parallel similarities in the divisions you make in writing.
 Exclusiveness
- No overlapping between or among the items divided and classified
together.
 Completeness
- No important part is omitted from the writing.

22. 5. Comparison and Contrast
 Weighing your choices’ pros and cons,
consequently shedding light to a well-thought
of decision/judgement.
 Banks so much on the use of figurative
language as the use of such adds artistic and
literary value to, and deepens the meaning
and interpretation of discourse

23. ANALOGY
 Common technique that writers use to demonstrate
comparison and contrast
 Delves beneath the surface differences of at
least two subjects expose unperceived and
unsuspecting similarities and/or differences.

24. Figurative Language
 SIMILE – direct comparison between or among subjects.
- “like” or “as”
 METAPHOR – indirect comparison between or among subjects
 OXYMORON – two seemingly opposite terms are juxtaposed
next to – or near – each other in a single expression.
 PERSONIFICATION – process of making something human.

25. 6. Exemplification
 Considered as one wat to define a concept
 Process of enumerating or giving
examples.
 Provide specific instances to support a
claim.

26.  Visual Illustrations
- Appeals to the sense of sight
 Facts
- concepts, ideas, and statement that are generally
assumed true, realm and/or existing

27.  Anecdotes
- Brief narratives within a piece of writing
 Details
- Entails analyzing, process of breaking down a
concept or idea into its constituent parts.

28.  Opinions
- Individual interpretations of people on certain
events, situations, ideas, and/or concepts.
 Observations
- Similar to describing; make use of description –
appealing to the five senses.

29. 7. Persuasion
 Based on the assumption that all essays are essentially
assertive; the writer always, whether consciously or not,
fights for something in his/her paper.
 Always coupled with argumentation.
 Argumentation is the use of facts and logic to convince
an audience while in persuasion, there is an addition of
using emotional appeal or pathos.

30. Make use of …
 Logos - appealing to the audience’s logic; that is, when
you argue, you use facts, and well-supported and well-
developed claims to support an argument.
 Pathos – appealing to the audience’s emotions.
 Ethos – the appeal to credibility. As a source of
information, you are credible, reputable, and respectable.
Through honesty and sound judgement.

31. Types of Audiences
 The Supportive Audience
- Who are briefed on the issue at hand.
- Logos in not much needed; Pathos should be
maximized to drive your point home.
(-Logos ; +Pathos)

32.  The Wavering Audience
- Not readily accepting to your ideas.
- Make use of your logos to win their support.
And since their belief is wavering, build up on
your ethos as well.
(Logos = Ethos)

33.  The Hostile Audience
- Most difficult to please and win.
- Lessen the use of pathos, for they are antagonistic.
Stick to your logos as you have a good chance of being
somewhat believed – but not necessarily sided with-by
the hostile audience.
(-Pathos; ~Logos)