COR 002: READING AND WRITING

COMPILATION OF CONCEPT NOTES

Day 27: Formulating Counterclaims

Learning Objective
1. formulating counterclaims

Concept Notes
Counterclaims are claims made to rebut a previous claim. They provide a contrasting perspective
to the main argument. The following questions will help you formulate a counterclaim:
What are the major points on which you and the author can disagree?
What is their strongest argument? What did they say to defend their position?
What are the merits of their view?
What are the weaknesses or shortcomings in their argument?
Are there any hidden assumption?
Which lines from the text best support the counterclaim you have formulated?

Day 28: Determining Textual Evidence

Learning Objective
1. determining textual evidence

Concept Notes
Evidence is defined as the details given by the author to support his/her claim. The evidence
provided by the writer substantiates the text. It reveals and builds on the position of the writer and
makes the reading more interesting.
Evidence can include the following:
facts and statistics (objectively validated information on your subject);
opinion from experts (leading authorities on a topic, such as researchers or academics);
and
personal anecdotes (generalizable, relevant, and objectively considered)

The following are some questions to help you determine evidence from the text:
What questions can you ask about the claims?
Which details in the text answer your questions?
Which are the most important details in the paragraph?
What is each ones relationship to the claim?
How does the given detail reinforce the claim?
What details do you find interesting? Why?
What are some claims that do not seem to have support? What kind of support could they
be provided with?
What are some details that you find questionable? Why do you think so?
Are some details outdated, inaccurate, exaggerated, or taken out of context?
Are the sources reliable?
The following are the characteristics of good evidence:
unified;
relevant to the central point;
specific and concrete;
accurate; and
representative or typical.

Day 29: Identifying the Context of Text Development

Learning Objective
1. identifying the context of text development

Concept Notes
Context is defined as the social, cultural, political, historical, and other related circumstances that
surround the text and form the terms from which it can be better understood and evaluated. In
discovering a readings context, you may ask questions like:
When was the work written?
What were the circumstances that produced it?
What issues does it deal with?
Another important technique in analyzing the context of a texts development is defining its
intertextual link to another text. Intertextuality is the modeling of a texts meaning by another
text. It is defined as the connections between language, images, characters, themes, or subject
depending on their similarities in language, genre, or discourse. This is seen when the author
borrows and transforms a prior text, or when you read on text and you reference another. This
view recognizes that the text is always influenced by another text and in turn anticipates future
texts.
A hypertext is a way of reading a text online. Hypertext is a nonlinear way of showing
information. Hypertext connects topics on a screen to related information, graphics, videos, and
music information is not simply related to text. This information appears as link and is usually
accessed by clicking.

Day 30: Writing a Position Paper

Learning Objective
1. writing a position paper

Concept Notes
A position paper is an essay that presents the stand of the writer about an issue. In order for a
position paper to be effective, it must be able to support its claims with evidence gathered from
research investigations, reliable information materials, and trusted authorities.
The following are the steps in writing a position paper:
1. Analyze an issue and make a stand
2. Develop and outline
3. Write the introduction, body, and conclusion
4. Revise, edit, and proofread
Knowing how to write an effective position paper is vital to ensure that the writers personal
stand and ideas are communicated successfully.
Day 32: Writing a Research Proposal: Planning the Research
Learning Objective
1. planning a research

Concept Notes
Research, to put it simply, is a process of careful study that is done to find and report new
knowledge about a subject. Planning is a crucial part of research. In planning for your research,
consider the following:
Work with a familiar subject Working with a familiar subject would be very convenient for you
as a researcher. You know what your sources are and where to find them. You already have your
own insights and assumptions before you even start your research. Plus, it might even exert much
depth if you compare and contrast them with realizations after the research is done.
Try something new that piques your interest If you want to try researching on
something beyond your comfort zone, go for what your curiosity leads you to.
Browse through available research materials Once you have decided which narrowed down
research topic you would like to work on, brainstorm on your available sources. What is the
easiest and/or most convenient source you can reach given the amount of time you have to work
on your paper?

Day 33: Writing a Research Proposal: Making a Working

Bibliography
Learning Objective
1. making a working bibliography

A working bibliography is a list of all the source you have come across as you are doing your
research. Take a book you found in the library as an example. On your notebook or notecard, jot
down the title of the book, the authors name, publishing house, and publishing year. In necessary,
you can also include the chapters or pages that you would like to return to after quite some time.
Do this for each and every source you have to facilitate ease of retrieval when necessary.
In choosing a resource, take note of the relevance of the resource. The information should be
important to your topic. The author of your source should be credible. Make sure that the
information are reliable and truthful
Your working bibliography should follow the APA, or the American Association of Psychologists,
format:
A. Basic format for books
Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location:
Publisher.
Ex: Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal
publication. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
B. Article in a magazine
Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of article. Magazine, volume(number), pages.
Ex. Scruton, R. (1996). The eclipse of listening. The New Criterion, 15(3), 5-13.
C. Article in a newspaper
Last Name, A. A. (Date of publication). Title of the article. News Paper, pages.
Ex. Schultz, S. (2005, December 28). Calls made to strengthen state energy policies. The Country
Today, pp. 1A, 2A.
D. Article from the internet
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article.Title of Online Periodical,
volume number(issue number if available). Retrieved from
http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
Ex. Bernstein, M. (2002). 10 tips on writing the living Web. A List Apart: For People Who Make
Websites, 149. Retrieved from http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writeliving

Day 34: Writing a Research Proposal: Creating a Cohesive Review of

Literature
Learning Objective
1. writing a cohesive review of literature

Concept Notes
Review of the writing of recognized authorities in the area and research studies previously carried
out would make the researcher familiar with what is already known and what still remains to be
done. Systematic review of related literature is expected to yield among other things, insight and
information needed. The review of related literature is expected to assist the researcher in several
ways in finalization of undertaken study. Searching should contain only those studies or literature
which is related to the problem either as a whole or to some aspect (s) of the problem. The review
of researches should be as concise as possible.
Coherence is an important element in writing review of related literature. For coherence in
writing, the sentences must hold together; that is, the movement from one sentence to the next
must be logical and smooth. There must be no sudden jumps. Each sentence should flow
smoothly into the next one.

Day 35: Writing/Presenting a Research Proposal

Learning Objective
1. writing and presenting a research proposal

Concept Notes
<None; Continuation of previous lessons.>

Day 37: Writing an Effective and Persuasive

Cover Letter
Learning Objective
1. writing an effective and persuasive cover letter

Concept Notes
A cover letter is a document that provides additional information about a job
applicant. An application letter is sent to the employer together with the
resume as an attachment. The main purpose of the applicant as he/she writes
the cover letter is to provide a more detailed information about his/her
preferred job description, qualifications, reasons for choosing the company or
organization, and relevant skills and work experiences in order to secure an
interview with the employer.

Day 38: Writing an Effective Business Letter

Learning Objective
1. writing an effective business letter

Concept Notes
A business letter is usually a letter from one company to another, or
between such organizations and their customers, clients and other external
parties. The overall style of letter depends on the relationship between the
parties concerned. Business letters can have many types of contents, for
example to request direct information or action from another party, to order
supplies from a supplier, to point out a mistake by the letter's recipient, to
reply directly to a request, to apologize for a wrong, or to convey goodwill. A
business letter is sometimes useful because it produces a permanent written
record, and may be taken more seriously by the recipient than other forms of
communication.