English 4th Q

• Paragraph


  A group of sentences that fleshes out a single idea
• Effective paragraph


  • Begins with a topic sentence
  • Has sentences that support the main idea
  • Maintains a consistent flow
• Paragraph writing


  Important because paragraphs are building blocks for writing longer essays, articles, and stories
• Four essential elements of an effective paragraph


  • Unity
  • Coherence
  • Topic sentence
  • Sufficient development
• Unity


  Paragraph must focus solely on a single idea, point, or argument that is being discussed
• Coherence


  The flow of your writing, where the reader will be able to understand the main idea
• Topic sentence


  The most important part of your paragraph, it tells the reader the general idea and should "hook" them
• Sufficient development


  The paragraph should flesh out the entirety of the idea with examples, citations, definitions, descriptions, analysis, and organization
• A reader should not be left with questions after a sufficiently developed paragraph
• Every good body paragraph should have a topic sentence
• After the topic sentence, the reader will expect supporting details that relate to the main point
• The concluding sentence should wrap up the paragraph and leave the reader with an interesting idea to consider further
• Editing for grammar, style, and punctuation errors is an equally important part of the paragraph writing process
• Outlining is a tool used to organize written ideas about a topic into a logical order
• Outline


  Helps establish a structure for a paper by demonstrating the thesis, topic sentences, and supporting evidence before writing
• Three main reasons to outline


  • Organize ideas in a logical order
  • Ensure writing has unity
  • Aid the writing process by breaking it into manageable components
• Basic types of outline


  • Topic outline
  • Sentence outline

  
• The formatting of an outline follows Roman numerals, capitalized letters, Arabic numerals, and lowercase letters in that order
• Synthesis


  A written discussion that draws on one or more sources
• Synthesis


  • Can form a new understanding, a deeper understanding, or a changed understanding
• Types of syntheses


  • Explanatory synthesis
  • Argument synthesis
• Explanatory synthesis


  Helps readers to understand a topic by dividing a subject into its component parts and presenting them in a clear and orderly fashion
• Argument synthesis


  Presents the writer's own point of view supported by relevant facts drawn from sources and presented in a logical manner
• Steps to synthesize information from different sources

  1. Organize your sources

  2. Outline your structure

  3. Write paragraphs with topic sentences

  4. Revise, edit, and proofread
• Key features of a synthesis


  • Report information from the sources using different phrases and sentences
  • Organize so that readers can immediately see where information from the sources overlap
  • Make sense of the sources and help the reader understand them in greater depth
• Checklist for synthesis


  • Introduce the paragraph with a clear, focused topic sentence
  • Discuss more than one source in the paragraph
  • Mention only the most relevant findings, rather than describing every part of the studies
  • Discuss the similarities or differences between the sources, rather than summarizing each source in turn
  • Put the findings or arguments of the sources in my own words
  • Is the paragraph organized around a single idea
  • Is the paragraph directly relevant to my research question or topic
  • Is there a logical transition
• The process of academic writing, synthesizing literature

  1. Redrafting

  2. Revising

  3. Editing

  4. Proofreading
• Key features of a synthesis


  • Report information from the sources using different phrases and sentences
  • Organize so that readers can immediately see where information from the sources overlap
  • Make sense of the sources and help the reader understand them in greater depth
• Unsynthesized


  • Franz (2008) studied undergraduate online students. He looked at 17 females and 18 males and found that none of them liked APA. According to Franz, the evidence suggested that all students are reluctant to learn citations style. Perez (2010) also studies undergraduate students. She looked at 42 females and 50 males and found that males were significantly more inclined to use citation software (p < .05). Findings suggest that females might graduate sooner. Goldstein (2012) looked at British undergraduates. Among a sample of 50, all females, all confident in their abilities to cite and were eager to write their dissertations.
• Synthesized


  • Studies of undergraduate students reveal conflicting conclusions regarding relationships between advanced scholarly study and citation efficacy. Although Franz (2008) found that no participants enjoyed learning citation style, Goldstein (2012) determined in a larger study that all participants watched felt comfortable citing sources, suggesting that variables among participant and control group populations must be examined more closely. Although Perez (2010) expanded on Franz's original study with a larger, more diverse sample...
• Problem-solution format


  A method for analyzing and writing about a topic by identifying a problem and proposing one or more solutions
• Problem-solution paragraph


  • Has three main parts: 1) Topic sentence introduces the solution to a problem, 2) Body sentences explain the problem and solution, 3) Ending sentence calls readers to action
• Signal words for problem-solution

  • Problem
  • Solution
  • the issue
  • the problem
  • dilemma
  • challenges
  • solution
  • to solve this
  • resolution
• Problem-solution example


  • Teenage pregnancy is a common issue in our society today. A lot of teenagers get pregnant at a very young age. Young people do not seem to know the problem they are getting into when they have a child at a very young age. Our government tries its best to lessen this problem. The solution they came up with is to educate teens to the negative effects in teenage pregnancy. The department of health has been giving seminars on the importance of contraceptives and its proper use. Teenagers must be educated about teenage pregnancy.
• When analysing markets, a range of assumptions are made about the rationality of economic agents involved in the transactions
• The Wealth of Nations was written

  1776
• Rational


  (in classical economic theory) economic agents are able to consider the outcome of their choices and recognise the net benefits of each one
• Rational agents will select the choice which presents the highest benefits
• Consumers act rationally by


  Maximising their utility
• Producers act rationally by


  Selling goods/services in a way that maximises their profits