1. MA and MSc: Get it ‘Write’ First Time – Assignment Writing Skills
This workshop will:
Offer tips for successful and thorough planning and mapping of your research and ideas for assignments
Show you expectations about academic style at M level
Give tips about structuring academic papers
Teach you how to use and acknowledge sources when demonstrating arguments and analysis in post-graduate work
Complete register and LHS grid on feedback sheet
Louise Livesey
Academic Skills Adviser

2. Today’s plan Planning and mapping Reading for writing
Tensions in academic writing
Structure of written work
Introductions and conclusions
Appropriate writing style and presentation
Acknowledging sources and referencing conventions
The editing, drafting, and proofreading process
All appear on one
1Basics to warm you up
2Basic parts of a sentence, and how clauses work in sentences
3Passive and active voices
4What to do and what to avoid
5Will ask you later what these are

3. A plan is a stage in the planning process, a conscious ordering.
1.Planning and mapping
Planning is a process with writing one part. You transform…
The demands of the topic
The ideas of other writers
Your own thoughts
…….into your original argument.   
A plan is a stage in the planning process, a conscious ordering.
Click on a plan
DON’T CLICK FOR NEXT SLIDE AS HAS ANSWERT

4. 1.Planning and mapping TALKING POINT Negatives Benefits
Don’t know where to start
Nothing to show my tutor to gain feedback about
Made loads of notes but don’t know what is relevant
I’m over my word count but still go so much to include
Showed my plan to my tutor who gave me great feedback on my assignment
Planning helps me think clearly and know what I am trying to do, so I write more confidently
My plan shows me how to start my assignment and where it goes.
A plan makes writing easier
DON’T CLICK ON NEXT SLIDE HAS ANSWERS

5. 1.Planning and mapping
Activity 1: The planning process

6. 2.Reading for writing Tips: Read your tutor’s/marker’s literature
Read literature reviews in the subject areas of your research
C. Create min-literature reviews for each

7. 3.Tensions in academic writing
Factors generally increasing accessibility
Factors initially improving text, but may impede accessibility if taken too far
Factors generally worsening accessibility
Structural considerations
sufficient organizers, well-developed framework
Push for concise
phrasing
‘less is more’ becoming too dense and formal with no ‘flavouring’
Professional authenticity
using unnecessary jargon, over-complex vocabulary and grammar construction
Logical and developmental
pressures
chaining text for ease of understanding using paragraphs and sentences
‘Say it once and say it right’
develops into a lack of ‘warm-up’ links needed to grasp wider pattern of argument
Reproducing the feel of an original text
as above
Readability
understandable language and simple grammatical forms
Maximizing originality
can lead to using
unnecessary concepts or terminology, or writing over-dense text; and writing in ‘equations’, ie x with y leads to z
Cramming in substantive content
too much detail
Managing readers’ expectations
‘need to know’

8. 4.Structure of written work
Macro-structure
The Switch
The Zig-zag
The Snowball
Your first paragraph makes one point of an argument, then you ‘zig to the next different (possibly opposing) point and argument, then you ‘zag’ back to your original argument with another point, and so on to the conclusion
You come to a crescendo of one point building on another and another and so on until your conclusion
Firstly, you argue from one point of view for approximately half of the text and then ‘switch’ to another viewpoint until your conclusion

9. 4.Structure of written work
Organising your notes

10. 4.Structure of written work
TALKING POINT
Find the key words
Examine the sociological evidence of stereotypes of social groups in the mass media. What are the causes of stereotyping in the mass media and to what extent do they influence social attitudes?
Sociological
Stereotype
Social group
Mass media
Causes
What extent
Influence
Social attitude
Click for bp answers

11. 4.Structure of written work
Activity 2: Create a map or plan
Examine the sociological evidence of stereotypes of social groups in the mass media. What are the causes of stereotyping in the mass media and to what extent do they influence social attitudes?
Definition of a stereotype
What are the different kinds of stereotypes?
Race; Culture; Nation; Class ; Sexual orientation; Gender
Do they intersect?
Define what is meant by mass media and what it includes
Press; TV; Radio; Online
How are these stereotypes represented in mass media?
Situation comedies
Cartoons in newspapers
Choice of interviewees on news programmes
Always including the ages of people in newspaper articles
Any evidence of influencing social attitudes?
Click for answers

12. 4.Structure of written work
Micro-structure

13. Lay paragraphs out in a logical order
4.Structure of written work
Intro Para Para Para Para Para Conc
>>>>>DEVELOP A LINE OF REASONING>>>>>
Lay paragraphs out in a logical order
Stay focused

14. 4.Structure of written work
Intro Para Para Para Para Para Conc
>>>>>DEVELOP A LINE OF REASONING>>>>>
‘Flow’: moving smoothly from one paragraph and point to another
Comparing or contrasting phrases:
X is different from Y in a number of respects.
X differs from Y in a number of important ways.
There are a number of important differences between X and Y.
Women and men differ not only in physical attributes
but also in the way in which they …
Transition words or phrases:
For instance, …
For example, …
…this can be illustrated by …
…, namely, …
…, such as …

15. 5.Introductions and conclusions
A clear introduction…
sets the scene
provides the purpose of the work
acts as a map of the content with a summary of the points
Generates confidence
Strategies:
‘Tell them what you are going to tell them’  
‘Quote a quote’

16. 5.Introductions and conclusions
The conclusion…
reminder of how answered
no requirement to come to definition position
possible recommendation required
Strategies:
‘Quote a quote’
Link conclusion to title/task
Definite sense that reached the end

17. 6.Appropriate writing style and presentation
Word choice – ‘looking into’
Investigating or exploring or researching
Activity 3: Word choice alternatives
Figure out discover or determine
Come up with developed or created
Showed up were revealed or appeared
Activity 4: Sentence construction changes
The government allocated little funding for the programme
The results can be seen in Table 2
This problem has few viable solutions
Formality:
3rd person – no ‘you’ or ‘I’
Sentence construction
Word choice
Brevity
Check your handbooks
Formality and tp appear
Click for tp answers
Click for 3 answers
Click for 4 answers
Also sentence alternatives are positive not negative

18. 7.Acknowledging sources and referencing conventions
The numeric system:
Each source followed by a number (starting at 1) in brackets
If use same source repeatedly, use same number first allocated
Full reference list at end in numerical order appear in text
The Harvard system:
Each source followed by a citation, i.e. author/s’ or editor/s’ name and date of publication in brackets
If two authors, cite both; if more than two, cite first name and the et al
Full reference list at end in author/editor alphabetical order
Reference ALL Sources

19. 8.The editing, drafting and proofreading process
Write draft or version
Edit or revise first version
Editing: altering substansive content
Another draft with more revisions and editing
Click arrow and write
Click arrow and edit
Click circle and another
Click arrow and proofread
Proofread

20. 8.The editing, drafting and proofreading process
TALKING POINT
and Activity 5: edit and proofreading
The public’s knowlege of health is pore and more goverment funding for healt education is needed. Increase sums of money shuld be spent on courses to make people awear of personal health ishues. People don’t always know what then can do too take care of their health, so further invesment is needed in training on health issues.
After editing and revisions:
You have a choice as each sentence says the same thing:
The public’s knowlege of health is pore and more goverment funding for healt education is needed.
Increase sums of money shuld be spent on courses to make people awear of personal health ishues.
People don’t always know what then can do too take care of their health, so further invesment is needed in training on health issues.
After proofreading:
The public’s knowledge of health is poor and more government funding for health education is needed.
Increased sums of money should be spent on courses to make people aware of personal health issues.
People do not always know what they can do to take care of their health, so further investment is needed in training on health issues.
Click after editing and answers
Click after proofreading and answers

21. Nobody 8.The editing, drafting and proofreading process
Tips for proofreading:
Proofread with a fresh brain and eyes.
Proofread backwards one sentence at a
Look for one type of proofreading issue at a time
Beware of spell-checkers
Which member of University staff can proofread your work?
Nobody
Click for question
Click for answer

22. References
Beamont, Ela. (226) Writing Your Postgrad Dissertation. Salford: University of Salford. [online] Available at: [Accessed ]
Burnett, J. (2009) Doing Your Social Science Dissertation. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
Cottrell, S. (2003) The Study Skill Handbook. 2nd Ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Cottrell, S. (2014) Dissertations and Project Reports. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Dunleavy, P. (2003 ) Authoring a PhD. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Foskett, N., and Foskett, R. (2006) Postgraduate Study in the UK. London: Sage Publications Ltd.

23. References
Heriot-Watt University. A Guide to Writing your Master’s Dissertation. Edinburgh: Heriot-Watt University. [online] Available at: [Accessed ]
Inspiration Software (2013) Thinking and Planning Graphic Organizer and Outline Examples. Portland: Inspiration Software, Inc. [online] Available from: [Accessed ]
Massey University. (2012) Essay Flow. Palmerston North: Massy University. [online] Available at: [Accessed ]
Postgrad Solutions (2013) Dissertation Methodology. [online] Available at:
[Accessed ]

24. References
Potter, C. (2013) Week One: Straight Back into the Fray. Dundee: ‘Calum Potter’ Wordpress. [online] Available from: [Accessed ].
Swales, J.and Feak, C. (2009) Academic Writing for Graduate Students. 2nd ed. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press.
University of Cumbria. Writing Your Dissertation. Southampton: University of Southampton. [online] Available at:
[Accessed ]
University of Leicester. Writing a Dissertation. Leicester: University of Leicester. [online] Available at:
[Accessed ]

25. References
University of Manchester. Being Critical. Manchester: University of Manchester. [online] Available at:
[Accessed ]
University of Roehampton (2013) Unit 5 – Essay Planning. Roehampton: Studentzone. [online] Available from: [Accessed ].
Warwick, C. (2011) Help…I've Been Asked to Synthesize! Bowling Green: Bowling Green State University. [online] Available at:
[Accessed ]
Wikipedia Foundation Incorporated (2014)
Bar charts. [online] Available at:
[Accessed ]

26. References
Wingate, U. Guidelines for Writing Dissertations. Guildford: University of Surrey. [online] Available at:
[Accessed ]
Wisker, G. (2008) The Postgraduate Research Handbook. 2nd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

27. Academic Skills Advice Service
Where are we? Chesham Building B0.23
What do we do? Support undergraduate students with their study skills by running clinics and workshops, having bookable appointment slots, and enabling students to drop-in for Instant Advice.
Who are we? Michael and Helen specialise in Maths Support; Lucy and Russell advise students on study skills; and I (Louise) deliver the workshops
When can you come for help? Everyday both face to face and on-line
How do I get in touch? or website

28. Any questions?
Produced by Louise Livesey May 2014