What is "Academic" Writing?: Comprehension Questions, from 6 -10
Notes to Core Course II Semester, B A English, Kannur University.
Name of Course:
Code: 2B02 ENG
Prescribed Text: Methodology of Humanities and Academic Writing
6. What is an argument in college
writing assignments?
An argument means a carefully
arranged and supported presentation of a viewpoint. Its purpose is not so much
to win the argument as to earn your audience's consideration (and even
approval) of your perspective. It's similar to presenting a case in a court.
The arguments made in a court should be supported by evidence to convince the
judge or jury.
7. How to pick a topic for writing
assignments?
In order to pick a topic for writing
assignments, one has to look for gaps, puzzling items, things that confuse or
connections one sees. It is also important to state the topic as a clear and
interesting question. It is not necessary to write this statement or question
at the starting of the essay. However, this statement will give direction for
the paper and focus on the thesis.
8. Explain thesis statement.
A thesis statement is a clear
statement of the thesis or claim of the academic essay. For example, if the
essay question is "What is the role of Virgil towards the character of
Dante in The Inferno?" the thesis statement will be: "Virgil's predominant
role as Dante's guide through hell is as the voice of reason." The thesis
statement can be formed from an essay question. After locating the topic of the
essay, the writer should compose an essay question.
9. What is the nature and purpose of an "argument" in academic
writing?
An argument means a carefully
arranged and supported presentation of a viewpoint. Academic writing requires
the writer to present an argument where one makes a claim or presents a thesis
and supports that claim with sufficient evidence. Its purpose is not so much to
win the argument as to earn your audience's consideration (and even approval)
of your perspective. It's similar to presenting a case in a court. The
arguments made in a court should be supported by evidence to convince the judge
or jury.
10. Define analysis. Why is it important?
An analysis breaks a subject apart to
study it closely, and from this inspection, ideas for writing emerge. Analysis
requires the writer to identify the parts of the subject and then show how
these parts fit or don't fit together to create some larger effect or meaning.
The writer's interpretation of how these parts fit together constitutes the
claim or thesis. The task of the essay is to present an argument defending the
interpretation as a plausible one. This makes analysis a very import part in
writing an academic essay.
An analysis involves doing three
things:
- Engage in an open inquiry where the answer is
not known at first
- Identify meaningful parts of the subject
- Examine those separate parts and determine how
they relate to each other.
What is hypothesis?
A hypothesis is simply an
educated—and testable—guess about the answer to your research question. A
hypothesis is often described as an attempt by the researcher to explain the
phenomenon of interest. A key feature of all hypotheses is that each must make
a prediction. These predictions are then tested by gathering and analyzing
data, and the hypotheses can either be supported or refuted on the basis of the
data. (Marczyk, Et. Al.)
Works Cited
Marczyk, Geoffrey, et.al. Essentials
of Research Design and Methodology. John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2005,
p. 8.
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