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11 - PASTEUR
LESSON 1
Definitions of Academic Writing
 Academic writing is neither writing to express your
emotions nor writing to impress your readers. It is a
process that starts with posing questions,
problematizing a concept, evaluating an opinion,
and ends in answering the question or questions
posed, clarifying a problem, and arguing for a
stand.
 Academic writing addresses an audience. The
audience can be your teacher, your peer who will
read and evaluate your work, and the academic
community that may also read your work.
 Academic writing is different from personal
narrative, creative essay, or a legal document. In
academic writing, the knowledge of the writer is
assumed to be greater than that of the readers.
 Academic writing requires critical thinking; you
cannot just write anything that comes to your mind.
You have to abide by the set rules and practices in
writing. You have to write in language that is
appropriate and formal. 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 strong and valid evidence.
 Writing academic papers requires deliberate,
thorough, and careful thought and that is why it
involves research.
Purpose in Writing an Academic Text
 To inform
 To argue a specific point
 To persuade
Standards in Evaluating an Academic Text:
 Content - Clarity of purpose and the thesis
statement, relevance of the supporting points to the
thesis statement, and the writer’s knowledge on the
subject matter.
 Structure - Coherence and logical sequence of the
ideas
 Langauge and Style - Word choice and sentence
construction
 Mechanics - Grammar, punctuations,
capitalization, formatting, and documentation
LESSON 2
What is critical reading?
 Critical reading means not easily believing
information offered to you by a text.
 Critical reading is a more active way of reading.
is a deeper and more complex engagement with a
text. Critical reading is a process of analyzing,
interpreting and, sometimes, evaluating.
 Critical reading 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. The interaction happens
when you question the writer’s claims and
assertions and when you comment on the writer’s
idea
The following are some suggested ways to help you
become a critical reader:
1. Annotate what you read
 One of the first strategies to begin with is annotating a
text. When you annotate, you underline important parts
of the text, such as the thesis statement, topic sentences
of body paragraphs and explanatory material.
Annotating may also include circling key words and
writing comments or questions you have about the
material in the margins. This is also a very good way to
mark material that needs to be studied for exams.
2. Outline the Text
 This can be used as a preliminary to summarizing.
Outlining allows you to identify the basic structure of a
text and the main ideas of the text. In an outline you are
listing the main ideas and supporting evidence of a text
3. Summarize the Text
 Summarizing creates a new text by synthesizing the
material of the original. After outlining the text, the
information is put together again in your own words.
Summarization fosters understanding of the text, as you
need to be able to recreate the meaning of the text in
your own words
4. Evaluate the Text
 Questioning the author’s purpose and intentions, as
well as his/her assumptions in the claims.
Logical Fallacies
 Logical fallacies are errors in reasoning that are
based on poor or faulty logic
 A logical fallacy is an irrational argument made
through faulty reasoning common enough to be
named for the nature of its respective logical
failure.
Example: Vote for me in the upcoming election
because I once experienced what a common
Filipino has been experiencing. I know what it feels
like to not have something to eat on the table. That
qualifies me to be a true leader!
LESSON 3
What is thesis statement?
 A thesis statement is the main idea of an essay. It is
often a point you want to argue or support in an
essay.
 The thesis statement explains to a reader the main
idea of the essay, and the writer’s opinion on that
idea.
 A 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.
Things to avoid in writing thesis statement
 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). Pick one and stick
with it.
 A thesis statement should not be too broad or too
general.
Too Broad: Mountain City Elementary is a good
school.
Better: Teachers make Mountain City Elementary
a fantastic school because of their
efforts in facilitating their students in academic and
non-academic endeavor.
 A thesis statement should not be too wordy.
Too Wordy: Some problems with Mountain City
Elementary School is that it needs a larger
playground, an air conditioned gym, an auditorium,
restrooms connected to each classroom, running
water in the classrooms, and a number of other
physical changes to the building.
Better: To make the school better, Mountain City
Elementary needs several improvements to its
facilities like in science laboratory, speech
laboratory, library and gymnasium.
 A thesis statement should not be a title.
Title: Rising TCAP Scores at Mountain City
Elementary
Better: Good teaching has led to an increase in
TCAP scores at Mountain City Elementary.
 A thesis statement should not be a fact.
Fact: The recycling of one aluminum can saves
enough energy to run a TV for three hours.
Better: Recycling is one of the most important jobs
a person can do to prevent land, water and air
pollution.
How to write a thesis statement?
 Thesis statement is a road map to your essay. After
you have brainstormed and you
have some main ideas of what you would like to
write in your essay, you can begin
thinking about writing a thesis statement.
 A thesis statement is a complete sentence that
contains one main idea. This idea controls the
content of the entire essay. A thesis statement that
contains sub points also helps a reader know how
the essay will be organized.
 A thesis statement should contain a topic (main idea
of what you are writing about)
contain an opinion about the topic (what your
attitude is toward the topic)
 A thesis statement contains topic+position +
rationale (because-clause) or discussion.
Example: (1) Music therapy is useful in relieving
stress, anxiety disorder depression. (2) The problem
of pollution in major cities can be alleviated by
limiting the number of cars allowed to drive on city
streets and creating more efficient public
transportation systems.
LESSON 4
Academic Writing Process
1. Pre-Writing Process
a. Reading
 Critical reading is a requirement in order to become
a critical writer.
 It gives you background information and more
knowledge about the topic you are going to write.
b. Brainstorming
 Listing ideas about a topic, even the bad ones, until
you find one you like.
 Generate as many topics as you can, can be done
individually/in a group.
c. Clustering
 Clustering is the process of writing down a broad
topic, then creating a concept map where different
clusters of related subtopics are represented visually
2. Writing Process
a. Drafting
 It occurs when you put your ideas into sentences
and paragraphs.
 Process of putting additional ideas, implications,
and facts from your research.
 It tends to be a writer-centered.
b. Revising
 A process of making changes throughout the
writing of a draft, changes that work to make the
draft congruent with a writer's changing intentions.
 It becomes reader-centered, here you think more
about your readers’ needs and expectations.
c. Editing
 Checking whether the paper is well-organized, if
the transitions between
 paragraphs are smooth, and your evidence really
backs up your argument.
 Editing of the content, overall structure, clarify,
style, and your citations.
3. Post-Writing
d. Proofreading
 Final stage of the writing process
 Checking of smaller details such as grammar,
spelling, and punctuations.
LESSON 5
Plagiarism
 Deliberate copying of somebody else’s work and
claiming that work to be his/her
own.
 Using somebody else’s work or ideas without
proper acknowledgement or citation.
 Copying the text without paraphrasing it.
Example:“The peso is not weak, because the peso is
weak. The peso is weak because the dollar is strong. The
dollar is strong for two reasons..,” said Sandro Marcos.
“Tell the truth before the senators affected will have you
assassinated,” Miriam Defensor Santiago stated.
“We did not come to fear the future. We came here to
shape it,” Barack Obama mentioned.
Intext Citation

 Formats in APA (American Psychological
Association) Style, based on the seventh edition
(2020)
 Include an in-text citation when you refer to,
summarize, paraphrase, or quote from another
source.
 For every in-text citation in your paper, there must
be a corresponding entry in your reference list.
 APA in-text citation style uses the author's last
name and the year of publication, for example:
(Field, 2005).
 For direct quotations, include the page number as
well, for example: (Field, 2005, p. 14).
 For sources such as websites and e-books that have
no page numbers, use a paragraph number, for
example: (Field, 2005, para. 1).
Example:

In-text citation
Ways to Avoid Plagiarism
Heavy social media use can be linked to depression and
 Paraphrasing other mental disorders in teens (Asmelash, 2019).
 Direct Quoting
 Intext Citation Reference entry
Asmelash, L. (2019, August 14). Social media use may
Paraphrasing harm teens' mental health by disrupting positive
activities, study says.
 Rendering the essential ideas in a text using your CNN.https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/13/health/social-
own words. media-mental-health-trnd/index.html
 Paraphrased materials may be shorter or longer than
the original text. In-text citation
 It is more detailed than a summary.
More than 300 million people worldwide are affected by
Steps to follow in paraphrasing a text: depression (World Health Organization, 2018).

1. Read and Reread Reference entry

2. Jot down important information
3. Set the original aside World Health Organization. (2018, March 22).
4. Write on your own version Depression. https://www.who.int/en/news-
room/fact-sheets/detail/depression
Direct Quotation

 Quotations must be identical to the original text.

 A direct quotation is used when the author’s ideas
are so important that paraphrasing them will change
the essence.