The Graduate Writing Center (GWC)

 One-on-one consultations  All types of writing, all stages of the process.  Hours for the coming week posted on Friday afternoons.  To schedule, see the Center’s website:   Or go directly to the online schedule: 

 To help you develop a greater sensitivity to audience in your writing.  To help you develop sustainable, audience- centered revision techniques.  To help you develop collaborative revision practices and ethics.

 Try to avoid anxiety:  Set small goals.  Write daily.  Write when you feel inspired.  Write what you can.  Don’t expect perfection.  Don’t think too much.

 Write notes to yourself.  Write in a natural style.  Write the introduction last.  Become familiar with the conventions.  Compare your work to models.

Get started with the big picture.  Generate a working title and your critical questions.  Describe your exigency (why it matters).  Write an outline or use other kinds of idea generation. ▪ Freewrite ▪ Outline ▪ Cluster diagram ▪ Use template-phrases

I. Introduction/Why is this study important? I. More women are working II. More physicians are women II. Issues I. Physicians (mostly males, not much literature on females) I.Role Conflict II.Identity Issues III.Gender Attitudes II. All working women III. Strategies I. Life II. Workplace III. Home IV. Juggling IV. Methods V. Results/Discussion I. Role Conflict II. Identity Issues III. Gender Attitudes VI. Conclusions

 In recent discussions of ___________, a controversial issue has been whether ____________. On the one hand, some argue that __________. From this perspective, ____________. On the other hand, however, others argue that ____________. In the words of one of this view's main proponents, "_______________." According to this view, ___________. In sum, then, the issue is whether ____________ or ____________.  It has become common today to dismiss X's contribution to the field of Y.

 When it comes to the topic of ___________, many of us will readily agree that ____________. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of ____________. Whereas some are convinced that ____________, others maintain that ____________.  A number of scholars in the field of X have recently suggested that Y's work has several fundamental problems.

 In their recent work, Y and Z have offered harsh critiques of Dr. X for ____________.  X's argument that ___________ is supported by new research showing that __________.  X acknowledges/agrees/argues/believes/denies/claims/ complains/concedes/demonstrates/emphasizes/insists/ observes/reports that _______________.  X does not deny that/deplores the tendency to/celebrates the fact that/questions whether/refutes the claim that/reminds us that _________________.  In conclusion, then, as I suggested earlier, defenders of ___________ can't have it both ways. Their assertion that ____________ is contradicted by their claim that __________.

 X overlooks what I consider an important point about ___________.  My own view is that what X insists is a ____________ is in fact a _____________.  I wholeheartedly endorse what X calls ______________.  These conclusions, which X discusses in _______________, add weight to my argument that _____________.

 Although I grant that ___________, I still maintain that ______________.  Proponents of X are right to argue that ____________. But they exaggerate when they claim that _____________.  While it is true that ____________, it does not necessarily follow that ____________.  On the one hand, I agree with X that _____________. But on the other hand, I must insist that _____________.

 Work from higher-level concerns to lower-level concerns.  Read your paper aloud.  Clarify your main point.  Find and evaluate your thesis.  Write an abstract and compare it with your text.

 Tighten organization.  Write a “scratch outline.”  Consider post-outlining your draft.  Describe the function of each paragraph.  Make your logic explicit.  Check for topic sentences.  “Foreshadow” your point at the beginning of paragraphs and sections.

 Who are my readers? What “conversation” do I want to be a part of?  What do I want my readers to know?  What are my readers like? How will this influence their reading?  What do they already know? What do they need to know?

 Look at the excerpts on p. 4-5 of your packet.  Which excerpt is from which publication? How do you know? Note a few specific characteristics of each sample.  Think about what characteristics your writing should have, for your chosen audience.

Meta-discourse provides cues to your readers that help them follow your logic. Three Parts:  Authorial Contract  Interpersonal functions  Textual functions

 The author has an obligation to the reader to keep them in familiar territory and prevent them from being lost.  Consider readers’ needs and expectations as you write.  Use appropriate signposts (thesis statements, transitions, etc.) to help your reader follow your argument.

Interpersonal functions reflect the presence of the author in the text.  Indicate the certainty of a particular statement (perhaps, probably, likely).  Indicate authorial attitude (not surprisingly, fortunately).  Provide commentary.

Textual functions place the idea in the broader context of the argument.  Explicit reminders and references.  Thesis, purpose statement, and topic sentences  Transitions and mapping words  Include section breaks and headings that create expected generic patterns. ▪ Introduction, Methods, Results, Analysis, Discussion, Conclusion, etc.

Only in the last decade has current scholarship finally begun to reflect the significance bestowed on Mary Baker Eddy by her contemporaries. In particular, feminists have found a worthwhile subject in Eddy’s theology and language. Such work has begun to rewrite Eddy into the larger cultural context and discourses of her day, particularly regarding the body and science. However, two trends limit this scholarship. First, Eddy and her individual writing tend to dominate the work, which suggests an inability to divide the sect from its leader. Second, the historical scholarship on Eddy frequently secularizes the movement. Only a handful of works place Christian Science in relationship to mainstream American religious life.

Effective paragraphs are:  Well-developed.  They avoid making assumptions your audience will not.  Cohesive.  Ideas connect to one another.  Coherent.  All ideas adhere to a central point.

 Move from “old” to “new” information.  Use pronouns and/or recycling (“this + noun”).  Start sentences with short, easily understood phrases.  Keep subject and verb together.

 The power to create and communicate a new message to fit a new experience is not a competence animals have in their natural states. Their genetic code limits the number and kind of messages that they can communicate. Information about distance, direction, source, and richness of pollen in flowers constitutes the only information that can be communicated by bees, for example. A limited repertoire of messages delivered in the same way, for generation after generation, is characteristic of animals of the same species, in all significant respects. Exercise borrowed from Joseph Williams, Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace.

 Eliminate unrelated information.  Rewrite topic sentences.  Separate ideas, and develop them in separate paragraphs.  Use “stock” transitional phrases.  Put important information in the stress position.

 The power to create and communicate a new message to fit a new experience is not a competence animals have in their natural states. Their genetic code limits the number and kind of messages that they can communicate. Information about distance, direction, source, and richness of pollen in flowers constitutes the only information that can be communicated by bees, for example. A limited repertoire of messages delivered in the same way, for generation after generation, is characteristic of animals of the same species, in all significant respects.

Effective sentences:  Build a hierarchy of ideas.  Use active voice.  Illustrate effective word choice.

The most important ideas are found in:  The independent clause (the part of the sentence that can stand alone).  Subordinating conjunctions: after, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, even though, if, if only, rather than, since, that, though, unless, until, when, where, whereas, wherever, whether, which, while  Ex: Although they have declined, production costs are still high.  First and Last Positions.  Place the most important words and phrases at the beginning and end of clauses.

 Walden Pond was one praised by Thoreau for its great natural beauty.  Now it is the site of many tourist stands.  Walden Pond, which is now the site of many tourist stands, was once praised by Thoreau for its great natural beauty.  Walden Pond, which was once praised by Thoreau for its great natural beauty, is now the site of many tourist stands.

 Use active language, unless passive voice is necessary for cohesion or sentence rhythm.  Passive voice is often indicated by:  Subject is also the goal/object of the sentence. ▪ The tree was hit.  A “to be” verb precedes the verb in its past participle. ▪ “is hit,” “was hit,” “will be hit”  The agent of the action follows the verb. ▪ The tree was hit by the car.  The sentence includes frequent nominalizations. ▪ Evolution vs. evolve; immunity vs. immune

 Some astonishing questions about the nature of the universe have been raised by scientists studying black holes in space. [a or b] So much matter compressed into so little volume changes the fabric of space around it in puzzling ways.  The collapse of a dead star into a point perhaps no larger than a marble creates a Black Hole.  A Black Hole is created by the collapse of a dead star into a point perhaps no larger than a marble.

 Avoid empty words.  Use the charts on pg. 9 as a “cheat sheet” during your revisions.  Avoid unnecessary repetition.  Use pronouns and synonyms to your advantage.  Avoid nominalizations.  Nominalizations transform verbs into nouns.  Ex: The author’s analysis of our data omits any citation of sources that would provide support for his criticism of our argument.

 Avoid empty words.  Use the charts on pg. 9 as a “cheat sheet” during your revisions.  Avoid unnecessary repetition.  Use pronouns and synonyms to your advantage.  Avoid nominalizations.  Nominalizations transform verbs into nouns.  Ex: The author’s analysis of our data omits any citation of sources that would provide support for his criticism of our argument.

 It is/was…  It seems…  There is/are…  …the fact that…  …one of those…  …is something that…  This is…  …are some of the…  …which/that means that…  …the concept/idea of…  …an example of…  …was the one who…

 Revise the sentences on p. 10 of your packet as necessary.  Try one or more of the following:  Identify empty words and unnecessary repetition.  Circle forms of the verb “to be” and check for passive voice and nominalizations.  Use transitions, subordination and parallel structures where appropriate.

 Readers  Ask questions about audience  Look at overall argument, as well as paragraph and sentence structure  Be specific with criticism and praise  Describe the effect of the writing on you  Writers  Ask for clarification  Be open to suggestions

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