Transcript Introduction to Writing - University of Limerick

Writing at Third-level
Dr. Íde O’Sullivan and Lawrence Cleary
Regional Writing Centre, UL
Freewriting
• What I like/dislike about writing………
• Keep writing non-stop for 5 minutes.
• Write in sentences.
• Do not edit or censor your writing.
• Private writing -- no one will read it.
• Discuss what you have written in pairs.
Workshop Outline
• Differences between academic and nonacademic writing styles
• Thoughts and feelings about writing in
general and this kind of writing in
particular
• Observing your process and developing
healthy, effective writing strategies
Academic Writing
• How important is writing?
• What kind of writing do you do now?
• What kinds of issues are you likely to
encounter?
• What is different about academic writing?
• What is involved? Where does academic
writing begin? When does life begin?
Academic Writing
Discuss the proposition that
education is wasted on the
youth (Rose 2001: 89).
Rose, J. (2001) The Mature Student’s Guide to
Writing. London, New York: Palgrave.
Key Stages in
the Writing Process
• Planning
• Drafting
• Revision
• Editing and Proofreading
The Rhetorical Situation
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•
•
•
•
Occasion
Topic
Audience
Purpose
Writer
Structure and Organisation
• Time
• Space
• The Final Frontier
Organising Principles
• Thesis
• Questions
• Hypothesis
Organising Principles
• Unity
• Coherence
• Cohesion
Stylistic Differences
that Mark
Academic Writing
• Complexity
• Formality
• Objectivity
• Explicitness
• Hedging
• Responsibility
Key Tasks for
Academic Writers
• Participating in academic conversations
• Developing and advancing balanced
arguments
• Exploring your personal writing process
• Developing strategies that work for you
Cracking the Codes
• Analysing the genre/text and modelling
• Generate a list of
– The most important features of academic writing
– Criteria to make your writing-strategies more
effective
– The important conventions in your discipline
– What is/is not acceptable in your discipline
• Student handbooks and guides for written
submissions
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Writing to Prompts
• Strategies that might help boost my
academic writing skills………
•
•
•
•
Keep writing non-stop for 5 minutes.
Write in sentences.
Do not edit or censor your writing.
Discuss what you have written in pairs.
Getting Started
• Create time and space for writing
• Freewriting
• Writing to prompts
– “What writing have you done for this
assignment, what writing would you like
to do……”
– “The aim of this assignment…”
• Experiment with different types of writing
Other Types of Writing
• Keep a learning diary (Moore and Murphy,
2005:61) / writing diary / process journal
(Elbow and Belanoff, 2003:19).
– When do you feel most/least motivated to write?
– What strategies have/have not worked in the
past?
• Write a little bit every day (Moore and
Murphy, 2005:117):
“we learn to write through writing” (Hyland,
2002:81).
• Keep a notebook with you to record ideas
when they come to mind (Moore and
Murphy, (2005).
Writing Time
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•
•
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Dealing with issues of time
Setting goals
“Binge” and “snack” writing (Murray, 2005)
Do I need a big block of time to write
productively?
• “Short bursts of productive writing” (Murray
and Moore, 2006:17)
• Outlining (Murray, 2005)
Other Strategies
•
•
•
•
•
The importance of reading
Modelling
Images and diagrams
Mind mapping
Writing dictionaries
Dialogue as a Social Strategy
• Peer-review
• Generative writing
• The “writing sandwich” (Murray,
2005:85): writing, talking, writing
• Writing “buddies” (Murray and Moore,
2006:102)
– Engaging in critiques of one another’s work
allows you to become effective critics of your
own work.
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Strategies that Work
for You
• Writing is a personal process
• Learning diary (Moore and Murphy, 2005:61)
• Process journal (Elbow and Belanoff,
2003:19)
• When do you feel most/least motivated to
write?
• What strategies have/have not worked in the
past?
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Things to Note
• Academic writing style
– Register
– Language
– Clarity of expression
• Different disciplines have different
conventions
• What are the important criteria for your
subject?
Resources
• Shannon Consortium Regional Writing Centre, UL
http://www.ul.ie/rwc/
• Using English for Academic Purposes
http://www.uefap.com/index.htm
• The Writer’s Garden http://www.
cyberlyber.com/writermain.htm
• The OWL at Purdue http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
• The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill http://www.unc.edu/depts
/wcweb/handouts/index.html
Reference List
• Elbow, P. (1998) Writing without Teachers (2nd
edition). New York: Oxford University Press.
• Elbow, P. and Belanoff, P. (2003) Being a Writer: A
Community of Writers Revisited. New York: McGrawHill.
• Hyland, K. (2002) Teaching and Researching
Writing. London: Pearson Education Ltd.
• Moore, S. and Murphy, M. (2005) How to be a
Student: 100 Great Ideas and Practical Hints for
Students Everywhere. UK: Open University Press.
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Reference List
• Murray, R. (2005) Writing for Academic
Journals. UK: Open University Press.
• Murray, R. and Moore, S. (2006) The
Handbook of Academic Writing: A Fresh
Approach. Berkshire, UK: Open University
Press.
• Rose, J. (2001) The Mature Student’s Guide
to Writing. London, New York: Palgrave.