At last, I managed to sleep for ten hours last night. When was the last time I actually slept for ten hours? I was home after the drumming session at 9:30pm and slept at 10:00pm. only waking up at 8:00am this morning to go for the Writing Skills workshop. At least I managed to get some of my energy back after one very long and tiring week.
The Writing Skills workshop is rather useful, except that the content covered was what I have already done my first year in university. At least I managed to reinforce a lot of things on how to write a good academic essay.
The rule of the thumb is : keep it simple. One does not need bombastic words or flowery language to make it a good article. Like what the speaker said, any idiot can write flamboyantly, but it takes a genius to extract out the essential parts and convey the same message across using simple language.
Apparently, one has to skim and scan the material, select the most relevant ones, take notes, summarise, synthesize the information from several sources, brainstorm, write the first draft, organise and proof-read, write the second draft, tidy up the introduction and conclusion, and finally write the final product.
A lot of work, but I remember having to write about five times in the past before I finally submitted my assignment. There are just too many things to add on after reading more books and discussion with friends. Or perhaps it is to do with my major. Maybe for other courses the whole process will not be so troublesome.
The session also touched on how to write a good introduction. A good introduction will first have a general statement of the main topic, followed by some background information on the issue, ie why is it a point of discussion? Then there will be a statement of the objective that lets the reader know the purpose or focus of the answer, and finally, a brief outline of the different parts of the argument of the topic.
When arguing, each paragraph should be a different argument. Every paragraph of argument should have a point that contains the main claim about the issues, an elaboration that contains explanation and reasons, including the use of sources to substantiate the claim, and a section summary that show how this section relates to the original question, ie taking the argument back to where it began.
The speaker emphasised again the usage of citations. Apaprently, if footnotes are used, then a bibliography or index need not be used. Likewise, if a bibliography or index is used, then footnotes need not be used. It is actually wrong to use both.
I never knew that, which means all the while I have been doing the wrong things in all the acadmic essays I have submitted. No one ever told me it was wrong. Now I know why I only scored that type of grades.
Apparently not everything need to be quoted. Now, that I know. If it is a factual fact (eg Singapore gained its independence on August 9, 1965), it need not be quoted because it is general knowledge that it is true, and every history book will say the same thing.
However if it is a point of view or theory or opinion or evaluation by the writer, then it must be quoted, so that the intellectual property rights of the writer will not be infringed since it is his / her own thoughts to that issue.
In the conclusion of the essay, the main points have to be summarised very briefly, point of view has to be indicated if asked to do so, always refer to the original topic, repeat some of the key phrases and check that all the parts have been answered satisfactorily.
A conclusion should not be where new material is added in, should not end without referring back to the original topic and never go down new pathways and end in a different place from where it first began.
In other words, the conclusion should take the reader through a full circle and bring him / her back to where both of you began.
I am glad I went for this workshop. If anything, it refreshes a lot of my mind on what to do and what not to do when writing an academic essay. At least it gives me more confidence to tackle my assignments.
Going for my company's dinner later on! Hope I will not make a fool of myself while drumming away!
The Writing Skills workshop is rather useful, except that the content covered was what I have already done my first year in university. At least I managed to reinforce a lot of things on how to write a good academic essay.
The rule of the thumb is : keep it simple. One does not need bombastic words or flowery language to make it a good article. Like what the speaker said, any idiot can write flamboyantly, but it takes a genius to extract out the essential parts and convey the same message across using simple language.
Apparently, one has to skim and scan the material, select the most relevant ones, take notes, summarise, synthesize the information from several sources, brainstorm, write the first draft, organise and proof-read, write the second draft, tidy up the introduction and conclusion, and finally write the final product.
A lot of work, but I remember having to write about five times in the past before I finally submitted my assignment. There are just too many things to add on after reading more books and discussion with friends. Or perhaps it is to do with my major. Maybe for other courses the whole process will not be so troublesome.
The session also touched on how to write a good introduction. A good introduction will first have a general statement of the main topic, followed by some background information on the issue, ie why is it a point of discussion? Then there will be a statement of the objective that lets the reader know the purpose or focus of the answer, and finally, a brief outline of the different parts of the argument of the topic.
When arguing, each paragraph should be a different argument. Every paragraph of argument should have a point that contains the main claim about the issues, an elaboration that contains explanation and reasons, including the use of sources to substantiate the claim, and a section summary that show how this section relates to the original question, ie taking the argument back to where it began.
The speaker emphasised again the usage of citations. Apaprently, if footnotes are used, then a bibliography or index need not be used. Likewise, if a bibliography or index is used, then footnotes need not be used. It is actually wrong to use both.
I never knew that, which means all the while I have been doing the wrong things in all the acadmic essays I have submitted. No one ever told me it was wrong. Now I know why I only scored that type of grades.
Apparently not everything need to be quoted. Now, that I know. If it is a factual fact (eg Singapore gained its independence on August 9, 1965), it need not be quoted because it is general knowledge that it is true, and every history book will say the same thing.
However if it is a point of view or theory or opinion or evaluation by the writer, then it must be quoted, so that the intellectual property rights of the writer will not be infringed since it is his / her own thoughts to that issue.
In the conclusion of the essay, the main points have to be summarised very briefly, point of view has to be indicated if asked to do so, always refer to the original topic, repeat some of the key phrases and check that all the parts have been answered satisfactorily.
A conclusion should not be where new material is added in, should not end without referring back to the original topic and never go down new pathways and end in a different place from where it first began.
In other words, the conclusion should take the reader through a full circle and bring him / her back to where both of you began.
I am glad I went for this workshop. If anything, it refreshes a lot of my mind on what to do and what not to do when writing an academic essay. At least it gives me more confidence to tackle my assignments.
Going for my company's dinner later on! Hope I will not make a fool of myself while drumming away!
0 comments:
Post a Comment