Today

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Todays Agenda

• Introduction to academic writing
• Stages in academic writing
• 3. Genre conventions- written reports
• - 5 requirements to academic texts
• - Objectivity
• - Source criticism
• - References (notes, quotes, bibliography
  etc)
• - Structure
• - Layout and formal aspects

2
Writing - in your education and further career

• Several courses will be involve project reports
  or written home assignments, papers, written
  exams.
• Major milestones in your study period are
• the bachelor project
• For some, the final thesis
• 3. Writing skills are also extremely important in
  professional business life
• Evaluation reports, Memos, Newsletters, Market
  analyses etc.

3
Written Competences Process Product

• Your written assignments reveal your abilities to
  find, choose and handle a lot of information in a
  purposeful manner.
• Writing a report, an essay, a paper etc. is
  roughly about
• gathering information
• reading, thinking, analyzing
• structuring
• and writing.

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10 Stages in Academic Writing

• SURVEY MATERIAL
• 2. SELECT MORE RELEVANT MATERIAL
• 3. TAKE NOTES
• 4. MAKE A BRAINSTORM and/or MINDMAP
• 5. MAKE A PROBLEM STATEMENT
• 6. MAKE AN OUTLINE
• 7. WRITE A FIRST DRAFT
• 8. ORGANISE TEXT BODY, WRITE INTRODUCTION AND
  CONCLUSION
• 9. WRITE REVIEW 2ND DRAFT
• 10. HAND IT IN WITH A SMILE )

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STAGE 1 2, Academic Writing

• 1. SURVEY MATERIAL/SOURCES
• Use the bibliographic references in the
  literature you have
• Use the library at the business school and the
  university.
• Start early some books may be hard to get
• Check out relevant journals (e.g. ASBs library
  databases)
• NOTE ALL BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES TO BEGIN
  WITH!
• 2. SELECT RELEVANT MATERIAL/SOURCES
• Read actively and ask questions to the texts
• How do they fit your subject and your theoretical
  focus?
• Are you going to analyse on some material? Using
  which theory?
• Why is this text relevant for your paper?
• Are there conflicting points of view that could
  be discussed?

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STAGE 3,4,5 - Academic Writing

• 3. TAKE NOTES TO, SUMMARISE COMPARE SOURCES
• use your OWN words (it makes subsequent writing
  easier)
• How can your sources complement each other?NOTE
  GOOD QUOTES (EXACT transcription and page number,
  etc.)
• 4. BRAINSTORM (e.g. mind-map, organising
  relations!)
• Identify connections between different ideas and
  approaches
• Identify interesting and relevant issues for
  your paper. Is it a new angle? Documentary
  statistics, or?
• Review if you have the literature you need
• 5. MAKE A PROBLEM STATEMENT or INTRODUCTION
  based on former steps, notes etc.
• What is the key question of your paper?
• What is the aim of your project?
• What do you want to convince your reader to
  believe? (thesis)
• How do you make the wording suit your thesis
  and line of argumentation?

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STAGE 6 7, Academic Writing

• 6. MAKE AN OUTLINE as detailed as possible it
  saves you a lot of time!
• How do you want to structure your text and your
  arguments? (topic in next weeks session)
• How do you convince your reader through
  structuring?
• Make a draft of a table of contents (test that
  structure)
• Describe the aim and content of each section in
  details.
• A well prepared outline will help you write
  coherently without losing track of where to go
  next
• 7. WRITE A FIRST DRAFT OF THE MAIN BODY
• Include ALL references and quotations as you
  write (Its much harder to find the them
  afterwards)
• Constantly refer back to the outline are you
  following its structure and points? (synchronise)
• Use the outline as a guide to organising your
  text in SECTIONS and PARAGRAPHS

8
STAGE 8, 9, 10 Academic Writing

• 8. ORGANISE WRITE CLEAR INTRODUCTION
  CONCLUSION
• Kill your darlings (initial ideas that have
  become irrelevant)
• Be a critical reader of your own text What
  have you, in fact, written? In which order?
  With which argumentation and logic? Did you
  answer the key question? Does your line of
  argumentation hold?
• Make adjustments Introduction and the
  conclusion must correspond - to each other,
  and to the main body of text
• 9.WRITE 2ND DRAFT PROOFREAD IT
• Add correctly phrased footnotes complete/exact
  bibliography
• Incorporate tables and figures
• Work on lay-out, table of contents, front page
  etc.
• Proofread your report (I recommend once for
  language, once for argumentation, and once
  for quotations, footnotes and references)
• 10. HAND IT IN WITH A SMILE - let others read
  your text

9
Text Types and Genres in Academic Writing

• Expository/Discursive Text Types
• Causal Analysis
• (to analyse the causes of something)
• Problem Solving
• (to identify a problem and to propose solutions
  to the problem)
• Argumentation
• (to argue for and against to take a position on
  an issue)

• Expository/Discursive Genres
• Academic research papers
• Academic reports
• Academic articles
• Academic books

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The Written Report as Academic Genre

• The report is an analytical text in academic
  prose
• Analytical complex connexions split up
  into well-arranged sections
• Academic prose
• 1. linguistically correct
• 2. coherent
• 3. objective exposition and
  argumentation
• Reports should present new knowledge
• Basically, this can be done in two ways
• 1. Asking new questions about old issues
• 2. Asking old questions about new issues
• The report is thus a meeting place for tradition
  and innovation

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Two Main Traditions of Academic Writing

• Continental tradition
• Thinking texts
• Foregrounds sources
• Philosophy, history etc.
• Emphasis on concepts and theories
• Interpretation (preservation) of traditional
  culture and traditions
• Numerous points, claims and conclusions
• Often nonlinear structure
• Digressions allowed
• Academic writing as art

• Anglo-American tradition
• Problem solving text
• Foregrounds problems
• Facts, realities, empiricism etc.
• Emphasis on applied methods
• New understandings evaluations and action in
  focus
• One point, one claim, one conclusion
• Linear structure,
• Digressions discouraged
• Academic writing as craftsmanship

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5 Requirements To a Well Written Academic Text

• An exact problem statement (thesis or key
  focus)
• A clear structure, supportive of the
  argumentation
• Coherent, exact and well documented
  argumentation
• Professional and clear layout and consistent
  formal treatment
• Impeccable language (language, syntax)

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OBJECTIVITY The Great Challenge

• The personal essay is very popular in Danish high
  school tradition
• Exercise Rephrase these sentences into more
  objective statements
• 1. Personally, I dont believe in this
  argument, because 2. I think the writer is
  right because.
• 3. With this paper, I want to
• 4. I am absolutely sure that.
• Academic objectivity can be signalled through
  word choices
• For example
• Try to rephrase personal pronouns I, my
• Learn the academic style from the theorists you
  read
• Focus on objective argumentation gtimproved
  structure convincing argument in an academic
  jargon.

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Academic Objectivity Also Means

• Considering an issue from several angles!
• It proves you are.
• Well-read
• Able to approach an issue from more angles
• Able to discuss viewpoints pro et contra before
  you make a judgment)
• Able to use source criticism on the books,
  reports, articles and internet pages you have
  consulted

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Source Criticism is Critical Reading

• DONT TAKE YOUR SOURCES FOR GRANTED WISDOM
• Source criticism means questioning your sources!
• What is the content and utility of the source in
  a given context?
• Always ask wh-questions? (What, who, where, when,
  how why)
• Each of these questions may have complex
  answers
• Who refers not only to the authors name,
• but also his/her historical role in an
  institutional/social context
• MANY theorists present their text books as the
  new and improved way of approaching an issue.
• But why do they do so?
• Because they are genuinely innovative?
• or because they want to sell their books?

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Example Powells Speech in UN Before the Iraq
Invasion

• What A political speech (Read the speech in its
  entity)
• Who The American Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Where In UN headquarters in New York
• When Feb. 5, 2003
• How
• The style is very confident
• Evidence is supplied, e.g. CIA-photos (In fact
  later investigations prove that they were taken
  from a 12 year old English study report!!!)
• Why The US wants to convince UN about why Iraq
  should be invaded and Saddam Hussein driven from
  the throne.
• What is not in the source material?
  Information about how CIA were able to take
  air-photos of weapons the UN-inspectors couldnt
  find on the ground!

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Visual Source Criticism

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Other Source Critical Questions

• First hand or second hand witness?
• Primary source or secondary source?
• Tendency/bias? (i.e. how objective)
• Good source criticism is based on both analytical
  skills and knowledge about the context in which
  the source came into being.

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Web Pages as Sources Be Very Critical!

• Avoid building your report or paper only on
  internet sources.
• The web sources you do use should undergo the
  following criticism
• Sender? Name, institution etc. (Google author)
• Credibility and academic level
• Can the sender/author be contacted?
• Is the page sponsored by whom and why?
• Are there references and links from/to other
  reliable pages?
• Is the information updated?
• Exercise Whats the difference between
• www.whitehouse.gov
• www.whitehouse.net
• www.whitehouse.org
• Presentation and accessibility
• Does the page have a professional design?
• Is the page and site design usable?
• ALWAYS Print out the pages you do use they might
  be moved
• Put the pages you actually quote from/refer to in
  an appendix (so your argumentation etc. can be
  controlled if the pages ARE removed)

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References General Requirements

• Correct bibliographical references is a must
  for
• Direct quotes To be or not to be thats the
  question
• General/indirect references (e.g. to a critics
  work on H.)
• Tables, models or pictures, or statistics
• Reporting points of view Some criticised the
  Hamlet character, whereas others fore grounded
  the female lead, Ophelia
• The lack of correct references will be penalized
  by the examiners
• In the worst cases, it is seen as cheating and
  may result in failing, suspension or expulsion
• Every source you have used should therefore be in
  the bibliography - either as primary or
  secondary source.
• Any direct or indirect reference should be
  credited in a footnote

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Reference Systems Pick one be Consequent

• References in the text
• Use of parentheses ( ) in the text body
• The parentheses refer to your bibliographical
  list(Last name, year, page no.)
• EXAMPLES
• 1. Direct Quote
• (Nietzsche, 1962, p.48)
• 2. Indirect Quote
• .. an issue emphasised by both Freud and
  Nietzsche. (Nietzsche, 1962 p.89 Freud, 1927,
  p.9)

• References by footnotes
• The first time a source text is referred to, the
  entire source is stated as in the bibliography,
  incl. page numberVictor, David International
  Business Communication. HarperCollins Publishers,
  1992, p. 63
• If quoted immediately afterwards Ibid.( new
  page no. if new page )
• Ibid. or Ibid., p. 64
• If the text is used again later Authors last
  name op.cit. page number.
• Victor, op.cit., p. 195

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More on Quotation Layout

• Shorter quotes can be presented in full length in
  the text body
• Example
• Peter Kemp emphasises that the trace first gets
  its meaning when a causal value is added We
  wont see the ruin as a ruin before we have seen
  the whole castle. (Reference in parenthesis, or
  a footnote)
• Longer quotes can be emphasised by the layout
  (e.g. by indenting the quote)
• 
  gtgtExample follows

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A Long Quotation in the Text Body

• Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla.
  Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla.
  Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla.
  Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla.
  Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla.
  Bla
• Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla.
  Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla.
  Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla.
  Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla. Bla

You do not need to use quotation marks if you are
using a smaller typography when including longer
direct quotes in your text, especially if you
layout the quotation as a separate text block
like this one. In addition, consider the way you
use italics. I only use italics for titles, like
in this example In Language and Power, Norman
Fairclough writes about the ideological
structures of speech acts. (Jensen, 2004 p. 19)
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The Classic Report Structure Layout

• Front-page Title, author(s), study id
  number(s), subject, tutorial teacher, time and
  place. (illustration)
• 2. Table of contents
• The exact title and page no. of every subtitled
  paragraph should be mentioned. (Read the Study
  Guide p.83f for more precise info).
• Consider using various font types and sizes
  and/or indentions to illustrate how text sections
  are related in a hierarchy. You can do so through
  templates in Word.
• 3. Introduction
• Elaborates on the title and subject, has a
  problem statement or key question (emphasised in
  the layout)
• This section could, for example, present the
  structure of the report, the methodology used,
  and argue for the delimitation of topic and view
  point(s). (more next week)

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The Classic Report Structure (continued)

• 4. The main body Main sections and sub sections.
• The problem statement is discussed through
  documentation and argumentation.
• The main body should be divided into relevant
  paragraphs.
• Avoid too many subtitled paragraphs (max. two per
  page)
• Avoid too few subtitled paragraphs (If you have
  6-10 pages without subheadings, something is
  wrong split them up!)
• 5. Conclusion
• Sums up the main points
• answers the problem statement
• offers a perspective or perhaps a recommendation
• 6. Bibliography One alphabetized list (by last
  names), Study Guide, p. 87
• 7. Appendices
• Tables, figures, pictures, etc., printed web
  pages (if you have used them we dont want half
  of WWW on print!)
• The appendix is not officially a part of the
  report, but consult Study Guide, 88

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A Clear Structure is.

• Both important on a macro and a micro level
  (chapters, main- sub sections) Read the
  details in the Study Guide, 82ff thoroughly
• Every chapter should have an opening/introduction
  and conclusion/closure)
• An example of a clear structure
• - The premises come before the analysis
• - The background comes before the analysis
• - The general comes before the specific
• TIP! Think logically Use cause and effect
  relations when structuring your text.

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Various Principles for Structuring a text

• Consider structure according to contents
  rhetoric
• Examples of structural choices
• Chronological (past before present, or present
  before past?)
• Spatial here before there or there before
  here?)
• Causal (Cause before effect, or effect before
  cause?)
• Claim/Data(Claim before documentation, or
  documentation before
  claim?)
• DiscussionFor/Against (for before against,
  or against before
  for?)
• Part /Whole (part before whole, or whole before
  part?)
• General/Specific (general before specific, or
  specific before
  general?)
• Positive/Negative (negative before positive or
  the opposite?)

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General Advice on Layout

• Follow the academic layout conventions
• Your layout should be relatively neutral This
  doesnt mean you cannot be aesthetic.
• Your layout should be reader friendly
• Use reader-friendly founts, colours, sizes, line
  spacing, margins, and number all pages,
  appendices etc.
• Avoid unnecessary notes and supplements in the
  text and appendix

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A Well Written Text (Reports, Exam Papers etc.)

• Present a professional product
• Focus on correct
• Spelling, grammar, syntax, punctuation
• Vocabulary (use a varied language use a
  thesaurus)
• Subject specific and academic terminology
• Proofread your text
• Your reader should NOT HAVE TO GUESS YOUR
  THOUGHTS
• So make sure your reasoning is
• ON the paper - NOT between the lines

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Next Week.

• Academic Argumentation in more detail
• The Problem statement/Introduction
• Concrete cases for class evaluation