ACADEMIC

WRITING – 3
LESSON 6
NYAMJAV B.
1
 CONTENT

1.The Background Paragraph

2.End of Text Reference
3.In-text Citations and Sources
4.Body Paragraph Conventions
5.The Conclusion

The 13th of March, 2020

 Exercise 18 pg. 71 Analyzing quotations CHECK YOUR
1. a. Internet source (S) maintains (V) PREVIOUS
b. Berners-Lee (S) invented (V) CLASSWORK AND
c. The Oxford American Dictionary of HOMEWORK
Current English (S) explains (V)
d. InetDzine (S) suggests (V).
 
2. Maintains, according to, explains, suggests.
 
3. a. The information is about the subject of the sentence
b. It is located right after the subject
c. The purpose of the information is to clarify who the
subject is. Without the additional information, readers
would not know who Chuck Letourneau is or that
InetDzine is an online company.
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 Exercise 19 pg. 72 Identifying errors

1.
A. the period should be before the closing quotation mark
B. add quotation mark after the comma
C. add closing quotation mark
D. add quotation marks before the placement and at the end of
the sentence
 
2. According to, state, affirm, consider
 
3. The list gives a choice of report verbs to use in the essay.

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 Exercise 20 pg. 75 Analyzing thesis statements

1.
Topic: Apple and Dell websites.
Controlling ideas: more informative, better graphics, more interesting links.
Possible questions: - What does Apple’s website look like?
- Why is it more informative than Dell’s website?
- What information is on the website?
- What does the Dell website look like?
- Why are its graphics better?
- What do the graphics look like?
- What are links?
- Why are they important?
2.
Topic: Wendy’s and McDonald’s websites.
Controlling ideas: better layout, more user friendly, more useful information.
Possible questions: - What is “layout”?
- Why is Wendy’s better?
- How is the website user friendly?
- What information does the Wendy’s website give that
McDonald’s does not? 5

 
 Analyzing thesis statements
 
3.
Topic: Martin’s and Gibson’s guitar websites.
Controlling ideas: great layout, easy to navigate, better links, more detailed
information.
Possible questions: - What do the two websites look like?
- Why is Martin’s layout better?
- Why is the website easy to navigate?
- What makes it easier to navigate than Gibson’s website?
- What links do the two websites have?
- Why are Martin’s links better?
- How is Martin’s website information more detailed than Gibson’s?

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 Exercise 24 pg. 82 Analyzing introductions

1. - Both introductions use “hooks” to interest readers.

- The first introduction uses a personal example and
the second introduction refers to an expert’s
opinion.
 
2. - Outside sources are cited;
- no author or page numbers are given with the
citations because they were not available in the
original source.
 
3. Your answers can be varied depending on your
preferences.
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 The Background Paragraph
 ln most academic essays and reports, the background
paragraph comes right after the introductory paragraph.
 lts purpose is to help readers understand the essay topic and
to prepare them for the rest of the essay.
 Another goal of the background paragraph is to give you the
opportunity to demonstrate your ability to collect and
organize information from outside sources.
Not all assignments require you to provide a background
paragraph, but it is generally a good idea to write one. Without
the information provided in the background paragraph, the
reader may not be able to fully understand the essay topic, the
writer's point of view, or the controlling ideas of the other body
paragraphs. 8
The information you include in your background paragraph depends on the
assignment, the audience, and the data collected.
This information may include one or more of the following:
1. Definitions of key terms (example: Alignment means that the items on the
page are lined up with each other.)
2. A brief description of the topic (example: When creating a website,
designers focus on the way a website is structured, where the images and text are
placed on each webpage, what font is used, and what links are provided.)
3. Scientific or technical information essential for reader understanding
(example: "jpeg" images are faster and easier to download than “bmp" images
because they take less computer memory.)

ap n d
4. Current relevant information or research about the topic (example:
According to Johnson-Eilola, "Web sites normally offer users a wide range of

gr ou
options for navigating the text.")

h
ra gr
5. Evidence that a problem exists (example: In a recent study, researches

Pa ck
found that inexperienced website designers tend to include more text in their

Ba
webpages than experienced designers.)
6. Historical information about the topic

e
Th
(example: Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1991.)
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 Do the exercise 27 pg. 84 Evaluating background paragraphs

The background paragraphs that

follow were written by two
students for this chapter's essay
assignment. Read the
paragraphs, but cover the notes
in the left margin with a ruler or
piece of paper. Then, with a
classmate answer the questions
that follow.

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 In-text Citations and Sources
Your background paragraph is likely to contain one or more ideas from other
sources. Remember that any information you did not know when you selected
your topic must be "cited.“ That is, you must give credit to the author of the
information. To follow APA citation format:
1. For information you copy from the source, use quotation marks, and follow the
quotation with the information source in parentheses. As you learned earlier,
this method of citing sources is called quoting.
Examples:
(Last,2000, page) (Monte,2005, p. 15)
2. For information that you summarize from another source, you do not use
quotation marks, but you still need to cite the source of your information at the
end of the summary.
Examples:
(last,2000) (Monte,2005) 13
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Do the exercise 28 pg. 88

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 Body Paragraph Conventions
 The purpose (function) of the body paragraphs is to explain and support the
paragraph's main idea as stated in the topic sentence.

 In academic essays, the topic sentence has controlling ideas that

(a) relate directly to the controlling ideas in the thesis statement,
(b) direct the paragraph that follows, and
(c) help the reader predict what the paragraph will discuss.

 Remember that the supporting evidence that follows explains, defines, and
gives
examples and evidence for the controlling ideas in the topic sentence.

Note: You may want to review Vera's essay, which you read and analyzed in Exercise 3,
to see how her body paragraphs successfully develop and support the thesis
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statement.
READ THE FOLLOWING SAMPLE BODY
PARAGRAPH CAREFULLY
 The Conclusion
The final paragraph in an expository essay is the conclusion, which usually
begins with a concluding phrase (see the chart and Chinh's example below).

The conventions of a concluding paragraph in an academic essay are as follows:

1. It does not contain any new ideas that need to be supported.
2. It is at least as short as the introduction.
3. It typically begins with a transitional word or phrase that signals
to the reader that the end of the essay is coming.
4. It usually gives a very brief summary of the main idea of the essay'
5. It contains one or more of the following concluding techniques:
a. A recommendation to readers about the issue in the essay
b. A prediction about future developments of the essay topic
c. A solution to the major problem presented in the essay
d. A final evaluation of the major ideas discussed in the essay
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 Transitions Commonly Used in
Conclusions
• In conclusion, • One solution is…
To begin • To conclude, To offer • ln order to solve (the problem of,
conclusions • As this report shows, solutions the issue discussed),
• ln summary, • It is possible that ... is a first step
To show • As a result, toward solving…
consequence • Consequently, • The research suggests that ...
or • As a consequence, • As (name of the expert)
result To provide a states,"..."
• lf...,then... recommendation • We must…
• Unless measures are taken, • I recommend that ...
To make a there will be . . . in the • Clearly, a recommendation for
prediction future. must be made.
• It is possible that in the • Actually,
next year, .. . To evaluate • In contrast to…,
• As a consequence of. .., • Although…, 21
 Homework
1. Read and repeat the whole lesson well.

2. Do the exercises 29, 30, 31, 33, 35 and 36 (pages 89-

95) as a group.

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