Basic overview or writing for beginners.

1. Writing 101
Academic writing
By Stuart from Virginia!

2. What is academic writing?
• There are many forms of writing such as creative writing, personal
writing, or academic writing.
• Creative writing and personal writing are for things like stories,
emails, and letters to family and friends. Both creative and personal
writing are informal, so writers can use slang, contradictions,
abbreviations, and even incomplete sentences.

3. Academic writing is DIFFERENT
• Academic is a formal style of writing used in universities and
business.
• There are several paragraph structure you need to learn and practice.
• Narrative- writing a story in order of events, as they happen. You use
time order to organize your paragraphs.

4. Narrative example
• This past weekend I had the time of my life. First, Friday night, I had
my best friend over and we made a delicious, mouth-watering pizza.
After we ate, we had a friendly video game competition. On Saturday,
my dad took us out on the boat. The weather was perfect and the
water was warm. It was a great day to go for a swim. Later that night,
we went to the movies. We saw an action packed thriller and ate a lot
of popcorn. Finally, on Sunday, we rode our bikes all over town. By
the end of the day, my legs were very tired. I only hope that next
weekend can be as fun as this one.

5. Descriptive paragraph
• Appeals to the readers sense of smell, look, feel, taste and/or sound.
Descriptive writing describes an object, image, place, or person so
well that the reader gets a clear picture in their mind of what you are
describing.

6. Inside, the school smelled smartly of varnish and wood smoke from the potbellied stove. On gloomy days, not
unknown in upstate New York in this region south of Lake Ontario and east of Lake Erie, the windows emitted a vague,
gauzy light, not much reinforced by ceiling lights. We squinted at the blackboard, that seemed far away since it was on
a small platform, where Mrs. Dietz's desk was also positioned, at the front, left of the room. We sat in rows of seats,
smallest at the front, largest at the rear, attached at their bases by metal runners, like a toboggan; the wood of these
desks seemed beautiful to me, smooth and of the red-burnished hue of horse chestnuts. The floor was bare wooden
planks. An American flag hung limply at the far left of the blackboard and above the blackboard, running across the
front of the room, designed to draw our eyes to it avidly, worshipfully, were paper squares showing that beautifully
shaped script known as Parker Penmanship.

7. Process Paragraph
Process paragraphs explain a process.
They explain how to do or make
something. They are sometimes called
“how to” paragraphs. You use listing or
time order to organize the paragraph.

8. A boring example:
There are many steps to making pancakes. First, collect
your ingredients. You will need, flour, sugar, milk, and
eggs. You will also need a frying pan. Next, mix a cup of
flour with half a cup of sugar. Add a teaspoon of salt. After
that, mix the eggs and milk in a separate bowl. Add a
tablespoon of oil. Then mix the liquids and solids together
until you have a smooth batter. Pour some batter into a
frying pan. Wait for the pancake to start to bubble. Then
flip it over. Last, take the pancake out of the pan.

9. A better example:
My country is famous for its hamburgers and hot dogs, but there is one food we make
that doesn’t get enough attention: the pancake. Pancakes are a delicious breakfast food
that we eat with maple syrup. Making pancakes is easy, as it requires only basic
ingredients and a few simple steps. First, collect all your ingredients together. You will
need sugar, flour, salt, milk, eggs, and oil, as well as a frying pan. The first step is to mix
the dry ingredients. Measure a cup of flour, and mix it with half a cup of sugar and a
tablespoon of salt. After you have finished mixing the dry ingredients, you should
pull out a separate bowl to mix the liquids. Crack an egg into your bowl and pour in a
cup of milk and a tablespoon of oil. Break the yolk and stir vigorously. Once the liquids
are properly mixed, add them to the solids. Stir until the batter is consistent. It should
be about as viscous as honey. If it is too wet, add some flour. Likewise, if it is too
dry, add some milk or water. To cook the pancake, pour a half cup of batter into a
greased frying pan. Once the batter starts to bubble, flip the pancake with a spatula.
Be careful not to drop the pancake down too hard on the pan because it could splash
batter everywhere. When the pancake is brown around the edges, likely after about
a minute, remove it from the pan with a spatula. It is now ready to eat. Serving
pancakes with butter and syrup is traditional, but you could serve it with jam or whipped

10. Comparison and Contrast paragraphs
•Comparison paragraphs describe two or
more things that are similar. Contrast
paragraph describes differences. Of course
you can write about similarities and
differences in the same paragraphs or
essay. This type of paragraph is widely used
in academic writing.

11. Life now and life five years ago
My life now and my life five years ago are similar but there are also some major differences. Five years
ago,I was living in Havre and going to high school. I didn’t have to work because my parents supported
me. I went to school everyday and spent time with my friends. I babysat my nieces everyday after school
because both of my parents were working at the time. I had the responsibility of feeding them and making
sure nothing happened to them while I was watching them. I didn’t really have any major goals five years
ago. I wasn’t really thinking about my future quite yet. On the other hand, now I live in Great Falls and I’m
not in high school anymore. I have to work now in order to support myself. I only work twenty hours a
week because I’m in school right now. I have a lot more responsibility now than I did five years ago. I have
to take responsibility for myself now and everything that I do. I have a lot of major goals now. For instance,
I want to graduate and get my two year degree. I want to come back and get a bachelor’s degree. I have a
lot of things that I want to accomplish now. Five years ago, I really wasn’t going anywhere with my life, but
now I’m starting to get my life in order and deciding what I want to do. In addition,I am still living at home
with my parents and I still go to school. I still baby sit my nieces every once in a while. I find time to spend
with my family and friends. I still have some of the same responsibilities. I help my mom take care of my
oldest niece. She has always lived with us, so I’ve always helped take care of her ever since she was a
baby. Even though she is not a baby anymore,I still have to baby sit her when my parents are gone
because she is not quite old enough to stay by herself yet. I still have to depend on my parents for
transportation because I don’t have a vehicle right now. My life now has changed a lot in only five years.

12. THE ESSAY
Essays are generally scholarly pieces of writing giving
the author's own argument, but the definition is vague,
overlapping with those of an article, a pamphlet and a
short story. Essays can consist of a number of
elements, including: literary criticism, political
manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily
life, recollections, and reflections of the author.

13. History of the ESSAY
Europe
English essayists included Robert Burton (1577–1641) and Sir Thomas Browne (1605–
1682). In France, Michel de Montaigne's three volume Essais in the mid 1500s contain
over 100 examples widely regarded as the predecessor of the modern essay.
Japan
Main article: Zuihitsu
As with the novel, essays existed in Japan several centuries before they developed in
Europe with a genre of essays known as zuihitsu —loosely connected essays and
fragmented ideas—. Zuihitsu have existed since almost the beginnings of Japanese
literature. Many of the most noted early works of Japanese literature are in this genre.
Notable examples include The Pillow Book (c. 1000), by court lady Sei Shōnagon, and
Tsurezuregusa (1330), by particularly renowned Japanese Buddhist monk Yoshida
Kenkō

14. In countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, essays have become a major part of a formal education
in the form of free response questions. Secondary students in these countries are taught structured essay formats to
improve their writing skills, and essays are often used by universities in these countries in selecting applicants (see
admission essay). In both secondary and tertiary education, essays are used to judge the mastery and
comprehension of material. Students are asked to explain, comment on, or assess a topic of study in the form of an
essay. During some courses, university students will often be required to complete one or more essays that are
prepared over several weeks or months. In addition, in fields such as the humanities and social sciences, mid-term
and end of term examinations often require students to write a short essay in two or three hours.

15. Forms and Styles
Critical
A critical essay is an argumentative piece of writing, aimed at
presenting objective analysis of the subject matter, narrowed
down to a single topic. The main idea of all the criticism is to
provide an opinion either of positive or negative implication. As
such, a critical essay requires research and analysis, strong
internal logic and sharp structure. Each argument should be
supported with sufficient evidence, relevant to the point.

16. Cause and effect
The defining features of a "cause and effect" essay
are causal chains that connect from a cause to an
effect, careful language, and chronological or
emphatic order. A writer using this rhetorical method
must consider the subject, determine the purpose,
consider the audience, think critically about different
causes or consequences, consider a thesis
statement, arrange the parts, consider the language,
and decide on a conclusion.

17. Compare and contrast
Compare and contrast essays are characterized by a basis for
comparison, points of comparison, and analogies. It is grouped by
object (chunking) or by point (sequential). Comparison highlights
the similarities between two or more similar objects while
contrasting highlights the differences between two or more objects.
When writing a compare/contrast essay, writers need to determine
their purpose, consider their audience, consider the basis and
points of comparison, consider their thesis statement, arrange and
develop the comparison, and reach a conclusion. Compare and
contrast is arranged emphatically.

18. Descriptive
Descriptive writing is characterized by sensory details, which appeal to the
physical senses, and details that appeal to a reader's emotional, physical,
or intellectual sensibilities. Determining the purpose, considering the
audience, creating a dominant impression, using descriptive language, and
organizing the description are the rhetorical choices to be considered when
using a description. A description is usually arranged spatially but can also
be chronological or emphatic. The focus of a description is the scene.
Description uses tools such as denotative language, connotative language,
figurative language, metaphor, and simile to arrive at a dominant
impression. One university essay guide states that "descriptive writing says
what happened or what another author has discussed; it provides an
account of the topic".