CPE 3

Question 1

Academic Writing

Answer 1

• is thinking; you cannot just write anything that comes to your mind.
• requires deliberate, thorough, and careful thought and that is why it involves research.

Question 2

Rules in writing academic paper….

Answer 2

You have to abide by the set rules and practices in writing.
You have to write in a language that is appropriate and formal but not too pretentious.
You also have to consider the knowledge and background of your audience.
You have to make sure that you can back up your statement with a strong and valid evidence.

Question 3

Academic Writing is a process that starts with:

Answer 3

Posing a question
Problematizing a concept
Evaluating an opinion
Answering the question/questions posed or
Clarifying the problem or
Arguing for a stand

Question 4

Academic Writing Purposes:

Answer 4

to inform
to argue a specific point
to persuade

Question 5

1

Answer 5

1

Question 6

Features of Academic Writing

Answer 6

Formal and unbiased
Clear and precise
Focused and well structured
Overall structure
Paragraph structure
Sentence structure
Well sourced
Correct and consistent

Question 7

Types of Academic Writing

Answer 7

Essay
Research Paper
Thesis/Dissertation
Research Proposal
Literature Review

Question 8

Critical Reading

Answer 8

• is an active process of discovery because when you read critically, you are not just receiving information but also making an interaction with the writer.
• involves scrutinizing any information that you read or hear

Question 9

Four Ways to Become a Critical Reader

Answer 9

Annotate what you read
Outline the text
Summarize the text
Evaluate the text

Question 10

Annotate what you read

Answer 10

Annotating is any action that deliberately interacts with a text to enhance the reader’s understanding of, recall of, and reaction to the text.
Sometimes called “close reading,” annotating usually involves highlighting or underlining key pieces of text and making notes in the margins of the text.
There are no clear and definite guidelines to annotate a text; you can create your own style.
You can circle unfamiliar words or underline ideas that you think are questionable.

Question 11

Outline the text

Answer 11

In order to fully engage in a dialogue with the text or with the writer of the text, you need to identify the main points of the writer and list them down so you can also identify the ideas that the writer has raised to support his/her stand.
You don’t necessarily have to write a structured sentence or topic outline for this purpose; you can just write it in bullet or in numbers.

Question 12

Summarize the Text

Answer 12

You can also get the main point of the text you are reading and write its gist in your own words.
This will test how much you understood the text and will help you evaluate it critically.
A summary is usually one paragraph long.

Question 13

Evaluate the Text

Answer 13

The most challenging part in critical reading is the process of evaluating what you are reading. This is the point where the other three techniques—annotating, outlining and summarizing– will be helpful
When you evaluate a text, you question the author’s purpose and intentions as well as his/her assumptions in the claims.
You also check if the arguments are supported by evidence and if the evidences are valid and are from credible sources.

Question 14

What Is Critical Reading?

Answer 14

To non-critical readers, texts provide facts. Readers gain knowledge by memorizing the statements within a text.

To the critical reader, any single text provides but one portrayal of the facts, one individual’s “take” on the subject matter. Critical readers thus recognize not only what a text says, but also how the author convey the message.

Question 15

Goals of Critical Reading

Answer 15

to recognize an author’s purpose: recognizing purpose involves inferring a basis for choices of content and language

to understand tone and persuasive elements: recognizing tone and persuasive elements involves classifying the nature of language choices

to recognize bias: recognizing bias involves classifying the nature of patterns of choice of content and language

Question 16

Three types of reading and analysis

Answer 16

Non-critical reading is satisfied with recognizing what a text says and restating the key remarks.

What a text says – restatement
What a text does – description
What a text means – inference

Question 17

Analysis and Inference: The Tools of Critical Reading

Answer 17

A critical reader know what to look for
( analysis ) and how to think about what to find ( inference ) .
The first part —what to look for— involves recognizing those aspects of a discussion that control the meaning.
The second part —how to think about what you find— involves the processes of inference, the interpretation of data from within the text.

Question 18

What is a Fallacy?

Answer 18

A (logical) fallacy is an argument that contains a mistake in reasoning.

Question 19

Fallacies of Relevance

Answer 19

A statement is positively relevant to another statement if it provides at least some reason for thinking that the second statement is true.
A statement is negatively relevant to another statement if it provides at least some reason for thinking that the second statement is false.
A statement is logically irrelevant to another statement if it provides no reason for thinking that the second statement is either true or false.

Question 20

R Personal Attack

Answer 20

When an arguer rejects a person’s argument or claim
by attacking the person’s character rather than
examining the worth of the argument or claim itself.
eg: Professor Don has argued for more emphasis on music in our F2F classes to facilitate creativity. But Don is a selfish bigheaded fool. I absolutely refuse to listen to him.

Question 21

R Attacking the Motive

Answer 21

When an arguer criticizes a person’s motivation for
offering a particular argument or claim, rather than
examining the worth of the argument or claim itself.
eg: Donald Trump has argued that we need to build a new campus. But Trump is the owner of Trump’s Construction Company. He’ll make a fortune if his company is picked to build the new campus. Obviously, Trump’s argument is a lot of self-serving nonsense.

Question 22

R Look Who’s Talking

Answer 22

When an arguer rejects another person’s argument
or claim because that person is a hypocrite.
eg: Doctor: You should quite smoking.
Patient: Look who’s talking! I’ll quit when you do, Dr. Smokestack!

Question 23

R Two Wrongs Make a Right

Answer 23

When an arguer attempts to justify a wrongful act
by claiming that some other act is just as bad or worse.
eg: I don’t feel guilty about cheating on Zaid’s online quiz. Half the class cheats on his quiz.”

“Why pick on me, officer? Everyone else is using drugs.”

Question 24

R Scare Tactics

Answer 24

When an arguer threatens harm to a reader or listener
and this threat is irrelevant to the truth of
the arguer’s conclusion.
eg: Diplomat to diplomat: I’m sure you’ll agree that we are the rightful rulers of the Iraq. It would be regrettable if we had to send armed forces to demonstrate the validity of our claim.

Question 25

R Appeal to Pity

Answer 25

When an arguer attempts to evoke feelings of pity or
compassion, where such feelings, however understandable,
are not relevant to the truth of the arguer’s conclusion.
eg: Student to Lecturer: I know I missed half your classes and failed all my quizzes and assignments. First my cat died. Then my girlfriend told me she has found someone else. With all I went through this semester, I don’t think I really deserve an F. Any chance you might cut me some slack and change my grade to a C or a D?

Question 26

R Bandwagon Argument

Answer 26

When an arguer appeals to a person’s desire to be popular,
accepted, or valued, rather than to logically relevant
reasons or evidence.
eg: All the really cool students smoke cigarettes. Therefore, you should, too.

Question 27

R Straw Man

Answer 27

When an arguer misrepresents another person’s
position to make it easier to attack.
eg: Singh and Karen are arguing about cleaning out their closets:
Suzie: “We should clean out the closets. They are getting a bit messy.“
Singh: “Why, we just went through those closets last year. Do we have to clean them out everyday?”
Suzie: “I never said anything about cleaning them out every day. You just want too keep all your junk forever, which is just ridiculous.”

Question 28

R Red Herring

Answer 28

When an arguer tries to sidetrack his audience by raising
an irrelevant issue, and then claims that the original
issue has been effectively settled by the
irrelevant diversion.
eg: “I think there is great merit in making the requirements stricter for the graduate students. I recommend that you support it, too. After all, we are in a budget crisis and we do not want our salaries affected.”

Question 29

R Begging the Question

Answer 29

When an arguer states or assumes as a premise (reason)
the very thing he is seeking to probe as a conclusion.
eg: I am entitled to say whatever I choose because I have a right to say whatever I please.
Killing people is wrong, so the death penalty is wrong.

Question 30

Fallacies of Insufficient Evidence

Answer 30

Arguments in which the premises, though logically relevant to the conclusion, fail to provide sufficient evidence to support the conclusion.

Question 31

IE Inappropriate Appeal to Authority

Answer 31

Citing a witness or authority that is untrustworthy.
eg: My dentist told me that aliens built the lost city of Atlantis. So, it’s reasonable to believe that aliens did build the lost city of Atlantis.

Question 32

IE False Alternatives

Answer 32

Posing a false either/or choice.
eg: The choice in this MPM election is clear: Either we elect Zubaidah as our next president, or we watch our MPM unity slide into anarchy and frustration. Clearly, we don’t want that to happen. Therefore, we should elect Zubaidah as our next president.

Question 33

IE Loaded Question

Answer 33

Posing a question that contains an unfair or unwarranted
presupposition.
eg: Lee: Are you still friends with that loser Richard?
Ali: Yes.
Lee: Well, at least you admit he’s a total loser.

Question 34

IE Questionable Cause

Answer 34

Claiming, without sufficient evidence, that one thing
is the cause of something else.
eg: Sarah gets a chain letter that threatens her with dire consequences if she breaks the chain. She laughs at it and throws it in the garbage. On her way to work she slips and breaks his arm. When she gets back from the hospital she sends out 200 copies of the chain letter, hoping to avoid further accidents.

Question 35

IE Hasty Generalization

Answer 35

Drawing a general conclusion from a sample that
is biased or too small.
eg: Norwegians are lazy. I have two friends who are from there, and both of them never prepare for class, or do their homework.

Question 36

IE Slippery Slope

Answer 36

Claiming, without sufficient evidence, that a seemingly
harmless action, if taken, will lead to a disastrous
outcome.
eg: “The Malaysian militarily shouldn’t get involved in other countries. Once the government sends in a few troops, it will then send in thousands to die.”
If we allow the principal to change the date of the homecoming dance, what’s next? He’s going to cancel the dance altogether.

Question 37

What is Prewriting?

Answer 37

First step of the writing process
Helps get ideas onto paper so you can organize them
A chance to explore ALL your ideas on a topic, even if you don’t use them all
Don’t worry about spelling or grammar or punctuation while prewriting, just get your ideas down!
Write as much as you can think of initially. Choose what you use AFTER you prewrite.
ALWAYS PREWRITE!!!

Question 38

Why should I prewrite?

Answer 38

How do you get somewhere you’ve never been before if you don’t have any directions? You’ll get lost!Prewriting is your map!

Question 39

Brainstorming

Answer 39

A way to capture all your ideas, idea fragments, and thoughts on a piece of paper
Often looks like a list
Get as many ideas down on your paper as you can

Question 40

Freewriting

Answer 40

Often looks like a paragraph
Write everything that comes into your head about your topic, even if it doesn’t seem to make sense
Write for a set amount of time (5-10 minutes)
Don’t worry about spelling, grammar or punctuation

Question 41

Clustering

Answer 41

Like a Web
Start with your topic in a circle in the middle of your paper
Draw lines to other circles with sub topics and ideas on your main idea
Group like information together to keep yourself organized

Question 42

What is a Thesis Statement?

Answer 42

A thesis statement is the main idea of an essay.
It is often a point you want to argue or support in an essay.
Thesis statement is usually one sentence.
It is often placed in the introductory paragraph of an essay.
A thesis statement is a claim that could be argued.
The essay will contain evidence and opinions that support the argument.
Thesis statements avoid the following: the first person (I believe, In my opinion, etc.) unclear
language (It seems, etc.) attempting two topics at once (even if they seem related).
A thesis is never a question; it could be the answer to a question.
A thesis is not an announcement of purpose.

Question 43

A STRONG THESIS STATEMENT IS

Answer 43

01
DISPUTABLE
* Not obvious
* Some readers can disagree
02
FOCUSED
* Not too broad
* Your position is clear
03
RELEVANT
* Not boring
* Readers won’t say so what’?

Question 44

STEPS IN CREATING THESIS STATEMENT

Answer 44

01
Start out with the main topic and focus of your essay.
02
Make a claim or argument in one sentence. It can be helpful to start with a question
which you then turn into an argument
03
Revise the sentence by using specific terms.
04
Further revise the sentence to cover the scope of your essay and make a strong
statement.
05
Keep your thesis statement flexible and revise it as needed. In the process of
researching and writing, you may find new information or refine your understanding of the topic.

Question 45

THINGS TO REMEMBER:

Answer 45

Question 1
Could somebody disagree with it?
Question 2
Is your standpoint clear and precise?
Question 3
Does it pass the so what and who cares questions
words?
Question 4
Does it answer the question how or why?
Question 5
Does it tell everything your paper will
cover in brief?
Question 6
Check it for must-use and never-use

Question 46

Outlining

Answer 46

An outline is the skeleton of your essay in which you list the arguments and subtopics in a logical order. A good outline is an important element in writing a good paper. An outline helps to target your research areas, keep you within the scope without going off-track, and it can also help to keep your argument in good order when writing the essay. Once your outline is in good shape, it is much easier to write your paper; you’ve already done most of the thinking, so you just need to fill in the outline with a paragraph for each point.

Question 47

Four Ways to Become a Critical Reader

Answer 47

Annotate what you read
Outline the text
Summarize the text
Evaluate the text