Academic Writing, Position Paper, Book Review, Reaction Paper Flashcards
Academic Writing
- a discourse wherein one expresses specific concepts, theories, and/or insights in a scholarly manner
- aims to prove or disprove ideas
Academic Writing Audience
- often composed for specific audiences and usually belongs to the same group as that of the author
- includes scholars, teachers, and other subject matter experts
General Features of Academic Writing
- uses formal language - objective, 3rd person pov, passive voice, inanimate subjects and abstract nouns, slang and contractions are avoided
- precise - scope and limitations are specified, methods are explained, up to date facts
- can either be objective or subjective depending on the type of writing - science objective; humanities etc subjective
- explicit - or main thesis are openly stated and are supported with clear and factual evidences
- may contain jargon
- cites sources.
Critical Reading and Writing Skills
- annotating
- paraphrasing
- summarizing
- analyzing
- synthesizing
annotating
Annotation can be a systematic summary of the text that a reader create within the document. It is a key tool for close reading that helps readers uncover patterns, notice
important words, and identify main points. It is also an active learning strategy that improves comprehension and retention of information.
paraphrasing
-is restating someone else’s ideas in your own
language at roughly the same level of detail. You may do this when you want to highlight a portion of a source for understanding. You may paraphrase specific portions to support your summary.
summarize
It is a brief, complete, and objective summary of the key or major idea(s) of a passage, summarizing and reducing it to its simplest form while eliminating direct quotations or
unnecessary material. It entails leaving out irrelevant information and just highlighting the main points being made. A summary should be entirely text based.
analyze
adding an evaluative component to the summarizing process—it requires you not just to restate main ideas, but also to test the logic, credibility, and emotional impact of an argument.
synthesize
Synthesis usually entails analysis. After scrutinizing the different parts of the text read, come up with a new idea by combining the ideas from other sources after analyzing the text. This can be explanatory syntheses and argumentative syntheses.
position paper
an essay that expresses an author’s view on a particular topic and uses evidence to support their stance.
purpose of position paper
- Advocacy: to promote a particular point of view or to advocate for a specific policy or action.
- Debate: debaters write position papers outlining their argument.
- Negotiation: as part of negotiations to establish each party’s position on a particular issue.
- Education: to educate the public, policymakers, and other stakeholders about complex issues
- Decision-making: to have decision-makers have informed decisions about policies, programs, or initiatives
- Research: as a starting point for further research on a particular topic or issue.
characteristics of a position paper
- It uses formal language.
- It defines an issue.
- It states the writer’s position explicitly.
- It makes claims or assertions that support the writer’s position.
- It disputes counterclaims.
- It uses a logical pattern in presenting the arguments.
Position paper can be used in what
Debate, Research, Editorial Article
steps in writing a position paper
Choose a topic, Conduct research (investigate, make inquiries), Do a pre-writing exercise, Draft a thesis, Create an outline, Write a draft of your paper, Review and create the final draft
structure of a position paper
Introduction, Body, Conclusion
reaction paper
- A reaction paper is a writer’s individual response to a particular text, such as a book, movie, lecture, or article. It focuses on
your reactions to the material—your thoughts, feelings, and impressions. - A writer may include personal anecdotes or connections to own experiences.
- May be for a general audience
- includes summary
- reflects’s the writer’s viewpoint
- reaction and insights
- citation is included and style is as the instructor prompts
book reviews
- is a writer’s evaluation or judgement of a specific work of art in a general context for a general audience. Here a writer acts a book reviewer focusing on book’s quality but may or may not be an expert.
- Also argumentative in nature, subjective and examines how a part contributes to the totality of a material since it aims to inform the reader about the content of the book (highlighting its merits and demerits).
- subjective, informal, less technical than a critique
- balanced, informative, and critical
- reflects the writer’s viewpoint as a reviewer
critique
- an in-depth analysis for specific audience, usually written by an expert on the matter with the use of a critical approach or theory to evaluate a particular work of art or a literary work
- it aims to persuade readers to ponder more about the work from the writer’s perspective
- argumentative in nature since it presents arguments about whether or not a certain work is good
- uses a specific approach or theory
- objective, analytical, and critical
similarities of reaction and article critique
includes references but differs in content and style
similarities of article critique and book review
- applies a level of critical evaluation of a material or composition
- more detailed summary than a reaction paper
- both adhere to the remarkable or noteworthy points but differ on standards or treatment
- has a level of textual evidence use and analysis
similarities of a book review and reaction paper
- has a level of subjectivity in some areas
- reaction - on content, feeling, thoughts, and others
- book review - points of analysis or preference of noteworthy aspects
concept paper
A concept paper is a brief paper written by a university student around a research question before undertaking the research. It provides key details about the research, such as the question, purpose, and methods. It is a preliminary proposal, so not every detail needs to be spelled out, but it should give info on the basics of costs and a project summary.
3 ways to elucidate concept
- definition - formal, informal, extended
- explication - explain further by taking away from literary/acad text
- clarification - more examples/features
