Week 2

• Language Use


  Appropriate language or words, writer's tone of writing (subjective or objective)
• Writing a Precis or Abstract


  A summarized version of a speech, publication, journal, thesis, or other long textual outputs
• Informal


  Kindly (bring in) the guest speaker for today's event
• Formal


  Kindly (introduce) the guest speaker for today's event
• Characteristics of a Thesis Statement

  • Covers exactly the topic you want to talk about
  • Lets your reader know what to expect
  • Usually appears in the introductory part
  • Helps you better organize and develop the contents of your paper
• Considerations in identifying Thesis Statement


  • Claim
  • Evidence
  • Significance
• How to write an effective Thesis Statement

  • It should be written in a complete sentence with a clearly stated subject
  • It should not be too narrow or too broad, and it should contain at least two details
  • Avoid an awkward thesis statement which states the obvious
  • Enumerated details should have the same level of significance
  • It should NOT state an absolute fact. It should have more than one point
• As future professionals, we are given the freedom to speak and use language for us to express what we want to say, through speaking and writing. But with this freedom, comes the responsibility of using it appropriately.
• Precis


  A summarized version of a speech, a publication, a journal, a thesis, or any other long textual outputs
• Characteristics of a Precis

  • It is not a paraphrased form of a long text
  • It may be put with the objective interpretation of a writer
  • A concise version of a literary or original work
  • It is a short summary of a text
  • It is a gist of a passage expressed in few words as possible
• Steps in Writing a Critical Summary

  • Read and re-read the original text carefully
  • Resist the urge to argue or critique right away
  • Try to avoid excessive quotations
• Abstract


  Highlights key content areas, research purpose, relevance or importance of your work and the main outcomes, usually composed with a maximum of 250 words, indented and single spaced, outlines briefly all parts of the paper
• Why write an Abstract?

  • It is required for submission of articles to journals, application for research grants, completion and submission of theses, submission of proposals for conference papers
  • It is used for bibliographical databases to search for titles and keywords, indexing a published paper, detailing points, analyses, and arguments in a full paper
• Language Use

  • Appropriate word use - Formal or Informal
  • Tone of writing - Subjective or Objective
• Thesis statement

  May be found in the text
• ·       Characteristics of a Thesis Statement

   

  1.     Covers the topic of interest.

  2.     Let your reader know what to expect.

  3.     Usually appears in the introductory part.

  4.     Helps you better organize. 
• How to Write Thesis Statement

  1.     Should be in a complete sentence. 

  2.     Shouldn’t be too broad.

  3.     Shouldn’t state the obvious.

  4.     Should enumerate details.

  5.     Should have more than one point. 
• Writing a Precis or Abstract

  “Precis” French for “Exact”
• “Precis” French for “Exact”

  It is a summary.
• Steps in Writing a Critical Summary

  1.     Make sure you know the text.

  2.     Resist the urge to argue.

  3.     Avoid excessive quotations. 
• It must contain all the important information from the original source.
• In academic writing, the writer's opinion is not supposed to be expressed unless it is backed up by research. However, in professional writing, opinions can be presented if they are based on experience or expertise.
• A precis is a shortened version of a longer piece of writing.
• Professional Writing is also characterized by its formal tone but it may vary depending on the type of document being written. For example, business letters are less formal compared to technical reports. Its purpose is to communicate effectively with clients, customers, stakeholders, employees, etc.
• The precis should be written in third person, past tense.
• The precis should not exceed 10% of the length of the original article.
• The purpose of a precis is to summarize the main points of an article or book chapter without changing its meaning.
• When writing a precis, avoid adding your own interpretation or analysis.
• Critical Summary - A summary that includes your own analysis and evaluation of the original text.
• Writing Style - The way that writers express themselves through language choices, sentence structure, and other stylistic elements.
• The precis should use simple language and avoid using jargon or complex vocabulary.