Transcript From Maturaaufsatz to Academic Paper

Ways into Academic Writing
The academic writing programme at
the English Department
of Bern University
Franz Andres Morrissey
University of Bern
GmbH
The Plan for the Presentation
•
The Background
•
The Didactics
•
The Programme
•
Strengths and Weaknesses
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The Plan for the Workshop
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Essay Structure
Paragraphing
Style and Register
Cohesion Devices
Analysis Literature
Comparison and Contrast (Linguistics)
Elements of an Introduction (Linguistics)
Forms:
– How to Plan a Paper
– Paper Log
– Assessment Criteria
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The Theory
Overview of the programme
and its aims
The Background
a)
Traditional essay writing course
– general themes
– focus mainly on correct English
– 1 to 2 hours per week
Workload of academic tutors
– supervision of papers
– evaluation of content
– dealing with structural and stylistic shortcomings
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The Background
b)
Meeting where complaints from
academic tutors were collected
“Students throw in anything
they think may be relevant.”
•
difficulties with focus or
“main point”
“It’s often difficult to see where •
the essay is headed.”
lack of clear structure
“Texts start at the top left and
end at the bottom right.”
•
problems with logical
development
“Students write pretty much
how they would speak.”
•
inconsistencies in stylistic
control
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The Background
c)
General disaffection:
 Why don’t students know how to write?
 Aren’t gymnasia doing their job?
Problem
difference between Germanic and
Anglophone academic discourse
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The Background
d)
Consequences of objectives of course
• clarity of concepts and direction
• structure of the paper
• reader guidance all the way to the clinching
at the end
Evangelist Priest in Chicago:
first A tells what A’s gonna tell’um
then A tells ‘um
then A tells ‘um what A tole them
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The Didactics
a)
Some basic thoughts on writing
Writing is a solitary
occupation.
ideas developed in authorial isolation
development may leave out crucial steps
no direct feedback (puzzled looks, etc)
Writing represents
one’s optimum
achievement.
written - for better or for worse
You can write or
you can’t…
formal writing is a skill that can be acquired
Writing is a standalone skill.
but, to write one has to read
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rewriting, what’s that?
critical reading is essential for improved
writing
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The Didactics
b)
The basic concept
pooling of minds
texts are never
finished
reading and
emulating
classes as
workshops
working at home
input in class
 students bring in
their drafts
 writing and
rewriting
 elements of a
good paper
 peer assessment
 text cohesion
 developing the art
of feedback
 techniques of
academic
discourse
 readers and
sample texts
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The Programme
a)
The written texts
1st Semester
2nd Semester
practice essay on an issue
that requires arguing one’s
corner
short paper on a literary topic;
analysing
short work
analysing aa short
work of
of
literature
literatureorornewspaper
newspaper
article
article
short paper on a linguistics topic,
using references
or
describing aa response
response to
describing
to aa
work of
of art
artand
andjustifying
justifying
work
it
it
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The Programme
b)
1st Semester
2nd Semester
overall text structure
approaches to texts and formulating
an “argument”
developing and argument
developing an introduction
paragraphing
preparing materials for a paper
cohesion devices
identifying key issues in background reading
elements of introductions
summarising and paraphrasing vs. (effective)
quoting
levels of formality
developing a topic for a personal project
using a primary text to back up
ideas
conclusions (refined)
cutting away the dead wood
(relevance, verbal Styrofoam)
quoting from primary and secondary sources
introductions and conclusions
bibliographies
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Strengths and Weaknesses a)
Weaknesses
• many students fall by the wayside (20-30%)
• Quality of peer feedback is hard to predict
• Workload of marking  impact on quality of help
given by tutors
• readers have different foibles and bugbears
• students leave the course and the regimen of writing
on a regular basis
• different focus and different style sheets in various
disciplines
• not enough personnel for a more vigorous course
with more writing
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Strengths and Weaknesses b)
Strengths
•
•
•
•
Students complete the long and arduous journey
Good writing and research habits are promoted
Students use the insights in other courses
Students hate the workload, but come to appreciate
the content (material used in other departments)
• Reading groups have been established (all the way
to PhD and Habil level)
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The Practice
Selective Activities
and Worksheets
Structure I: An Essay
2
I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy—ecstasy so great that I would often have
sacrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves
loneliness—that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of
the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the
union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints
and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human
life, this is what—at last—I have found.
4
Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always
pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in
famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and
the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I
long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.
5
This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance
were offered me.
1
Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love,
the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions,
like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course, over a deep ocean of
anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.
3
With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I
have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend the Pythagorean power
by which number holds sway above the flux. A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.
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The structure II: An Essay
Introduction:
Three passions
in my life
Theme 1
Love
Theme 2
Knowledge
Theme 3
Pity
Conclusion
link parts
extend idea
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Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing
for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.
These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward
course, over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.
I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy—ecstasy so great that I would often
have sacrificed all the rest of life for a few hours of this joy. I have sought it, next,
because it relieves loneliness—that terrible loneliness in which one shivering
consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless
abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic
miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined.
This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what—
at last—I have found.
With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts
of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine. And I have tried to apprehend the
Pythagorean power by which number holds sway above the flux. A little of this, but
not much, I have achieved.
Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens.
But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my
heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated
burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a
mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I
too suffer.
This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the
chance were offered me.
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Paragraph Structure: Jane
Austen
1.
It was a very proper wedding.
proper
Topic
2.
The bride was elegantly dressed; the two bridesmaids were
duly inferior; her father gave her away; her mother stood
with salts in her hands, expecting to be agitated; her aunt
tried to cry; and the service was impressively read by Dr.
Grant.
Illustration
3.
Nothing could be objected to when it came under the
discussion of the neighbourhood, except that the carriage
which conveyed the bride and the bridegroom and Julia
from the church door to Sotherton was the same chaise
which Mr. Rushworth had used for a twelvemonth before.
discussion
(anticipating
criticism)
4.
In everything else the etiquette of the day might stand the
strictest investigation.
clincher
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Cohesion devices I
Manual labour of one kind or another, from digging roads to repairing high
voltage power lines, is perhaps the most crucial resource in any industrially
developing country. To begin with, ploughing fields, planting and harvesting
crops, and raising livestock are all important to development of the food supply
and require people who work with their hands. Secondly, mining natural
resources, building roads and bridges, and constructing dams for irrigation and
electrical power, all of which require enormous numbers of skilled manual
workers, are essential to any kind of industrial development. Moreover, the
manufacture, as well as the maintenance, of machines of all kinds demands a
large number of trained mechanics and technicians. Finally, the establishment
of efficient transportation and communication systems, essential services in a
modernising economy, relies heavily on a labour force of expert craftsmen who
take pride in their manual skills. Clearly, in agriculture and in industry, the
progress of a country depends on the busy hands of its working people.
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Cohesion devices II
Addition also, as well as, besides, furthermore, in addition, in
the same way, not only ... but also, what is more
Giving an as follows:, for example, for instance, in this case,
example namely, such as, that is to say
(Stating the as one might expect, clearly, (it goes without saying),
obvious) naturally, obviously, of course, surely
Generalising as a rule, for the most part, in general, in most cases,
of course, on the whole, speaking generally, usually
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Cohesion devices III
Restating in alternatively, in other words, or rather, (to be more
different precise), to put it another way
terms
Contrast alternatively, in contrast to, on the contrary, on the other
hand
Contradiction although, despite, even though, however, however much
(but ...) / ..., in spite of …, nevertheless, on the contrary, still,
Concession whereas, yet
Cause and accordingly, as a consequence/result, because, because
effect of this, for this reason, hence, in order to, in that case, it
follows that, so that, therefore, thus, under those
circumstances
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Cohesion devices IV
Making a
new start
Highlighting
apart from this…, as far as X is concerned, as for ..., It
follows that, moreover, now, with regard to
as for …, clearly especially, in fact, in particular, mainly,
namely, particularly, surely
Conclusion
clearly, finally, in conclusion, so, therefore, thus, to
conclude
Summarize
in summary, to sum up
A useful site:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/general/gl_transition.html
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Analysis I: The Rabbits Who Caused All the
Trouble
WITHIN the memory of the youngest child there was a family of rabbits who lived near a
pack of wolves. The wolves announced that they did not like the way the rabbits were
living. (The wolves were crazy about the way they themselves were living, because it was
the only way to live.) One night several wolves were killed in an earthquake and this was
blamed on the rabbits, for it is well known that rabbits pound on the ground with their hind
legs and cause earthquakes. On another night one of the wolves was killed by a bolt of
lightning and this was also blamed on the rabbits, for it is well known that lettuce-eaters
cause lightning. The wolves threatened to civilize the rabbits if they didn’t behave, and
the rabbits decided to run away to a desert island. But the other animals, who lived at a
great distance, shamed them, saying, ‘You must stay where you are and be brave. This is
no world for escapists. If the wolves attack you, we will come to your aid, in all
probability.’ So the rabbits continued to live near the wolves and one day there was a
terrible flood which drowned a great many wolves. This was blamed on the rabbits, for it
is well known that carrot-nibblers with long ears cause floods. The wolves descended on
the rabbits, for their own good, and imprisoned them in a dark cave, for their own
protection.
When nothing was heard about the rabbits for some weeks, the other animals
demanded to know what had happened to them. The wolves replied that the rabbits had
been eaten and since they had been eaten the affair was a purely internal matter. But the
other animals warned that they might possibly unite against the wolves unless some
reason was given for the destruction of the rabbits. So the wolves gave them one. ‘They
were trying to escape,’ said the wolves, ‘and, as you know, this is no world for escapists.’
Moral: Run, don’t walk, to the nearest desert island.
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Analysis II: Finding a Way in
1. Each student writes down 3 points that
struck you about the text.
2. With your neighbour look at your combined
6 points.
Put them into order of importance.
3. In groups of four:
What are the key points you would make
about this text if you were to analyse it?
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Analysis III: Working with The
Rabbits
1.
2.
First impression: Say very
briefly what the text is about.
(What is the main theme?)
•
•
Say what you find interesting
/ striking / effective about the
text and identify how this is
achieved.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
3.
In one sentence, say what
you will argue. How is that
argument connected to what
you find striking and how it is
achieved?
4.
Choose one specific example
that demonstrates your point
and analyse that example.
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the dynamics of power
the way the powerful can use a variety of means to
control
the way the powerful can manipulate
different groups and their depiction (wolves normally
just eat rabbits)
the reactions of each group – especially the “other
animals”
Irony (the tone of the text)
the use of the fable form
the way the ridiculous is presented as self-evident
(characteristics of rabbits linked to natural disasters)
expectations are overturned (the way statements are
distorted by shifts to other meanings of words)
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Analysis IV: The next step
The next step is to work with these points until
you see an approach which allows you to:
• connect the most details,
or
• examine the details that particularly interest you
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Analysis V: A concrete example
First impression: Say very briefly what the text
is about. (What is the main theme of the text?)
the way the powerful can manipulate
Say what you find interesting / striking /
effective about the text and identify how this is
achieved.
•
•
•
•
•
In one or two sentences, say what you will
argue. In the next sentence, explain how that
argument is connected to what you find
striking and how it is achieved.
In “The Rabbits Who Caused All the Trouble,“
Thurber takes one of the most commonplace
hunter-hunted relationships in the animal
kingdom and creates a tale which examines
manipulation and its effects.
The narrator presents a world in which the
powerful manipulate reason by turning the
sense of what is logical upside down.
reason used to turn logic upside down
reversals
repetition
ridiculous as self-evident
dual meanings of words
Choose one specific example that
demonstrates your point and analyse that
example.
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Analysis VI: Opening paragraph
In “The Rabbits Who Caused All the Trouble,” Thurber takes one of the
most commonplace hunter-hunted relationships in the animal kingdom
and creates a tale which examines manipulation and its effects. The
narrator presents a world in which the powerful manipulate reason by
turning the sense of what is logical upside down. He presents reversals
from the outset, and by the end of the text, even the familiar saying “Walk,
don’t run” has been inverted. The narrator uses repetition, he presents
the ridiculous as self-evident, and he exploits dual meanings of words in
order to show the ways the powerful can manipulate both language and
situation. Because he has chosen the fable as his form, his examples
resonate so that he depicts more than the world of these rabbits and
wolves; the story becomes a critique of human behaviour.
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Analysis Linguistics I: The Topic
and the Data
The Topic:
Write a paper about problems of prefixation in English
adjectives
The Data:
disfigured
disgruntled
disinherited
disinterested
impeccable
impossible
impromptu
incognito
inconsequential
inept
inert
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mischievous
misguided
misogynist(-ic)
mistaken
misunderstood
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nondescript
nonplussed
non-standard
nonchalant
unbeknownst
uncouth
uneven
ungainly
untidy
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Analysis Linguistics II: An
Approach
Topic/ Possible Title
When prefixes do not seem to be bound
morphemes
linguistic phenomenon
prefixes un-, in-/im-, mis- and non-
(field or
research approaches to
date/in general)
interpretations of prefixes in English as
bound morphemes
reason for interest
prefixation is more complex than it may
seem
hypothesis / question /
issue at stake
prefix cannot be readily separated from the
stem in some prefix+stem constructions
elements to be covered
examples where a) basic prefixation works,
b) the meaning changes and c) the “stem”
is not a word in English
data limited to adjectives and edparticiples
only limited discussion of etymologies
(remarks on limitations of
research)
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Analysis Linguistics III: Elements
and Approaches
literary approach
linguistic approach
Title
Title
Basics: Name of the text / author
Basics linguistic phenomenon
(brief context/content)
(field and/or research approaches to
date)
what is striking
reason for interest
argument
hypothesis / question / issue at
stake
elements focused on for “proof”
elements to be covered to make the
point
(remarks on limitations of
research)
(remarks on limitations of research)
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Analysis Linguistics IV: From
Approach to Introduction
linguistic
phenomenon
prefixes un-, in-/im-,
mis- and
English
adjectives, like other content words, can be modified in
nontheir meaning and morphology by prefixes.
(field / or
research)
limitations to interpretations
of
In the majority
of cases the prefix can be added or separated from
prefixes in English
the stem with predictable results because the stem is usually used
as a distinct word in the language.
reason for
interest
prefixation is more
complex as
However,
not all words in English that seem to consist of a stem
it may seem
with a prefix seem to function according to this rule of word
formation.
hypothesis /
question /
issue
prefix cannot always
be readily
In this
paper, then, a number of adjectives will be examined in
separated from the
stem
terms of where the separation of the prefix from the stem
prefix+stem constructions
elements to
be covered
a) normal prefixation,
b) “stem”
The discussion
of the prefixes un-, in-/im-, mis- and non- will show
exists but has different
that prefixation often works as predicted, but also that there are
meaning, c) “stem” does not
instances where the “stem” differs in meaning and lastly where the
exist.
morpheme works according expectations but also where it shows
phenomena that deviate from these expectations.
“stem” is not a word used in current English.
(remarks on
limitations of
research)
only adjectives and
ed-to limitations of space, analogous phenomena with nouns or
(Due
participles
verbs will be excluded from the discussion, as will a detailed
limited discussion of
consideration of the etymologies of the stem morphemes.)
etymologies
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Analysis Linguistics V: A possible
Introduction
English adjectives, like other content words, can be modified in
their meaning and morphology by prefixes. In the majority of
cases the prefix can be added or separated from the stem with
predictable results because the stem is normally used as a
distinct word in the language. However, not all words in English
that seem to consist of a stem with a prefix seem to function
according to this rule of word formation. In this paper, then, a
number of adjectives will be examined in terms of where the
separation of the prefix from the stem morpheme works according
expectations but also where it shows phenomena that deviate
from these expectations. The discussion will focus on the prefixes
un-, in-/im-, mis- and non- and will show that prefixation often
works as predicted, but also that there are instances where the
“stem” differs in meaning and lastly where the “stem” is not a
word used in current English. Due to limitations of space,
analogous phenomena with nouns or verbs will be excluded from
the considerations, as will be a detailed consideration of the
etymologies of the stem morphemes.
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Comparison and Contrast I: Two
Excerpts from Novels
Every night he bolted himself in his room. As soon
as he was still he felt the stillness around him and
he had to make movements to destroy the stillness,
to challenge the alertness of the room and the
objects in it. He was rocking hard on the creaking
board one night when he thought of the power of the
rockers to grind and crush and inflict pain, on his
hands and toes and the tender parts of his body. He
rose at once in agony, covering his groin with his
hands, sucking hard on his teeth, listening to the
chair, as rocking, it moved sideways along the
cambered plank. The chair fell silent. He looked
away from it. On the wall he saw a nail that could
puncture his eye. The window could trap and
mangle. So could the door. Every leg of the green
table could press and crush. The castors of the
dressing table. The drawers. He lay face down on
the bed, not wanting to see and, to drive out the
shapes of objects from his head, he concentrated on
the shapes of letters, working out design after
design for the letter R. At last he fell asleep with his
hands covering the vulnerable parts of his body, and
wishing he had hands to cover himself all over.
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Louis Vale let himself into his ground-floor flat in
Curzon Street, slammed the metallic door, threw his
briefcase onto the bed or divan (he preferred to call
it a bed), and turned on his bath. His room, one of
an enormous block, resembled the cell of some
privileged prisoner. Bare but very expensive
essentials were symmetrically arranged in a room so
small and so dark that colour, untidiness, or timewasting trivia of any kind would have been lost or
unusable in it. Everything possible was flush with the
walls. The cupboard for his clothes, the shelf for his
alcohol, the wireless: even the lights clung like white
bulbous leeches to the grey paint. There was a
cringing armchair and a small double-tier table on
which lay an ash tray, a telephone, and the current
copy of The Architectural Review. The curtains were
grey: he never drew them. His bathroom, equipped
like a small operating theatre for the business of
shaving, and now slowly suffusing with steam, was a
bright uncompromising white. He emptied his
pockets, flung off his clothes, and bathed. Ten
minutes later he was in his dinner jacket swallowing
whisky and water.
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Comp/Cont II: Overview of the
General Approach
Compare and Contrast


How alike ?
How different?


with regard to
with regard to
with regard to
…


Patterns of similarities and differences:

Argument or interpretation
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Comp/Cont III: How are the texts
alike?
A House for Mr Biswas

•
•
•
•
The Long View
How alike ?

room / evening (Setting)
very detailed descriptions of setting (adjectives)
one man in a room  actions and feelings
interaction of man and room
(confinement/prison)
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Comp/Cont IV: How do the texts
differ?

How different?
fear /conveyed via description
of the room
with regard to
feeling conveys by actions
protagonist’s thoughts are
given
with regard to
narrator is a watcher, not
omniscient
no names
man’s actions and fears
with regard to
name/address/floor level
room neutral and grey
potential causers of pain /
furniture has power
with regard to
cringing armchair, lights like
leeches/
room remains passive
protagonist covers his body
with regard to
protagonist strips and has a
bath
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man’s feelings
narration
kind of details
furniture
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Comp/Cont V: Now what do we do
with this?
xxxxxxxx
with regard to
xxxx
xxxxxxxxx


Patterns of similarities and differences:
Same subject matter but treated in rather different ways:
Room as place of enslavement in Text A vs. enslaved room in Text B

Argument or interpretation:
Different depictions of loneliness in terms of power experienced (Text A) or
exercised (Text B)
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Forms a)
Getting the elements
of the paper into place
• Topic
• Point to
make/Argument
• Importance/ Relevance
• Methodology
• Evidence (content of
paper)
• Structure
• References
(bibliography)
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Forms b)
Peer Group Assessment
sheet
Find the theme
Find what works
Find what doesn’t
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Forms c)
Assessment Criteria
•
•
•
•
•
Surface Features
Range
Structure
Content
Style
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Thanks for listening
And if you want more detailed information:
http://www.morrissey.unibe.ch  Writing Skills
or email me
[email protected]
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