Transcript International Writers’ Workshop Week 1

Week 1 - Introduction to Academic Writing in English
Erica Cirillo-McCarthy
Assistant Director of Graduate and ADEP Writing





Workshop Format
Academic writing in the US – rhetorical traditions
Discuss cultural differences
Writing Process: Invention, Drafting, Revision, Editing
Free writing/ Discussion





Based upon Aristotelian rhetoric
Emphasis on the credibility of the WRITER
Emphasis on the PURPOSE of the writing
Emphasis on AUDIENCE awareness
Everything in the TEXT functions under the conditions
of the specific CONTEXT of the writing




The writer must be credible/ trustworthy. Otherwise,
the audience will not be persuaded.
The writer exhibits effective and clear use of evidence
and cites according to discipline-specific style guide
The writer adheres to specific style guidelines, APA,
Chicago, or MLA
The writer adheres to discipline-specific conventions,
such as introducing a source, the different sections
expected in a writing project, and the writing moves
made in each section






Understand who makes up your audience – your
audience dictates the approach you take in tone and
voice (ex. A letter you write to your best friend and a
letter you write to your advisor will be different in tone
and voice)
Speak to the audience at their level
Ask yourself: What does the audience need to know?
When do they need to know it?
Do not make cultural assumptions about your audience
Be direct with your argument, use of sources, and logic
Be respectful but firm with your ideas and arguments



The document you use to communicate with your
audience
What you think your text says and does may be
different from what your audience perceives
The text is always written with the audience in mind





Why are you writing this text?
What is the purpose?
What are the historical issues that have led up to your
topic and focus?
What experiences and knowledge do you bring to your
topic?
What experiences and knowledge does the audience
bring to your text?



What is emphasized in your cultures’ writing?
What strategies do you employ to align your writing to
US-specific rhetorical traditions?
What are some of the challenges you face in expressing
your ideas in US-specific writing conventions?

Invention

Drafting

Revision

Editing

Invention can take the form of any type of activity that
helps you, the writer, create, connect, imagine your
ideas, concepts, arguments:
◦ Visual (sketches, concept maps, webbing, process maps,
hierarchy maps, flowcharts)
◦ Freewriting, brainstorming, listing, outlining,
◦ Invention as inquiry, talking with others, thinking aloud and
recording, writing a narrative
◦ A combination of strategies








Low stakes, putting ideas and thoughts down
Could be electronic or long hand – write your draft in
English, not your home language
Do not worry about word choice, grammar, sentence
structure at this point
Find the right time that works for you
Find the right place for you to spread out and not be
distracted
Disconnect the internet or find a program that does that
The more you get down on paper, the more confident you
become
Take your freewriting or selected quotes and begin there

Now is the time to stop and carefully look for:
◦ Idea development
◦ Use of evidence
◦ Synthesis of ideas and sources
◦ Logical Flow (Does one idea flow into the next? Are the
relationships between ideas clear to the reader?)
◦ Word choice (Define your terms)

Come up with a plan that works for you
◦ print it out and read it aloud
◦ Have someone else read it aloud so you “hear” your writing for
clarity and flow
Consideration of audience
Eliminate redundancy, in word choice, in ideas, in sentence structure
Parallel structure
Get to know your patterns of error and look for those
Finesse the formatting, in text citation, and references page
Go through and make sure all of your sources have a bibliographic
entry and that you don’t have a bibliographic entry that you haven’t
cited (use the “find” function in Word)
Look for your writing ticks—over usage of certain transitions or
phrases

Let’s take some time to write down our personal
writing goals

Then we can go around the room and find out each
person’s goal

Take these goals and put them on your fridge, your
computer, your bathroom mirror

Stick to these goals





Set an appointment with a Writing Center tutor to talk
about your goals and writing obstacles
Find strategies you can use to overcome writing
obstacles
Work with like-minded, supportive people in writing
groups
Work closely with your advisor and always advocate
for yourself
Just keep writing and coming to the workshops