Academic Writing

Unit I- The Sentence to the Paragraph

 Prewriting- choosing and narrowing a topic- gathering ideas- editing ideas
 The topic sentences
 The structure of a paragraph
 Development of a paragraph
 Descriptive, opinion, comparison and contrast, problem and solution- paragraphs
Unit II The Essay
 The structure of an essay
 Outlining an essay
 Introduction and conclusion
 Unity and coherence
 Examination essays
Unit III Accuracy in Writing
 Grammar
 Punctuation
 Vocabulary and usage
 Parallelism
Unit IV Introduction to MLA Style Sheet (Latest edition)
 Plagiarism
 Documentation
 Citation
*This unit aims at introducing MLA style. The Whole MLA hand book need not be
taught in class. Students must get the idea of academic integrity, avoiding plagiarism,
and using sources with proper acknowledgment. (Online resources such as OWL,
Purdue may be used as sample sheets)
Unit V Writing Practice
 Analysis of poems (Tone, ambiguity, image, symbol, metre)
 Analysis of prose fiction (plot, Style, tone, paradox, irony and various ways of
approaching a fictional work)
 Analysis of plays (dialogues, characterisation)

Recommended Books:
1. Academic Writing: From Paragraph to Essay by Dorothy E Zamach and Lisa A
Rumisek , Macmillan
2. Effective Academic Writing Vols 1 and 2 by Alice Savage and Patricia Meyer, Oxford
UP
3. The Language of Poetry by John McRay, Routledge Pub.
4. M.L.A. Handbook 8th Edition
5. Literary Terms, M.H.Abrams
Note:

 This is a complete practical paper. The teacher is free to choose texts (short, simple
unseen passages from texts can be used) for analysis to elucidate the above points. As
the students have a literature background in their UG, it will be easy to teach with
minimal introduction. The focus should be more on making students write than class
room lectures by the teacher. The instructor is expected to minimise the introduction
part in all the units and focus more on direct examples from general texts (literary
works, newspaper items, articles published in journals etc.)

 Questions should be asked generally and directly on literature and general topics. The
setter may choose 75% of questions for literature and 25% for general topics. Sample
pattern is enclosed. Questions such as “What is a paragraph?”, “Explain the features
of an essay” , “Define tone”, must be avoided. Instead application-oriented questions
may be asked. E.g. “Was this the face that launched a thousand ships?”- What do you
think is the tone of the sentence? Explain”.
 Testing pattern:
 6x5=30 (paragraph)
 3x15=45(essay)