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Fun Cartoons, Serious Grammar Advice

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Need help identifying a noun? Can't tell the difference between a comma splice and a complete sentence? Click the pictures below to read comics that cover the parts of speech, clauses, and strategies for fixing writing errors.

Parts of Speech

Sentence formation

Writing concepts

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Need help identifying a noun? Can't tell the difference between a comma splice and a complete sentence? Click the pictures below to read comics that cover the parts of speech, clauses, and strategies for fixing writing errors.

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As Michael Harvey writes, paragraphs are "in essence-a form of punctuation, and like other forms of punctuation they are meant to make written material easy to read." Effective paragraphs are the fundamental units of academic writing; consequently, the thoughtful, multifaceted arguments that your professors expect depend on them. Without good paragraphs, you simply cannot clearly convey sequential points and their relationships to one another.

Many novice writers tend to make a sharp distinction between content and style, thinking that a paper can be strong in one and weak in the other, but focusing on organization shows how content and style converge in deliberative academic writing. Your professors will view even the most elegant prose as rambling and tedious if there isn't a careful, coherent argument to give the text meaning. Paragraphs are the "stuff " of academic writing and, thus, worth our attention here.

Key Sentences (a.k.a. Topic Sentences)

prefer to call them "key sentences." There are at least two downsides of the phrase "topic sentence." First, it makes it seem like the paramount job of that sentence is simply to announce the topic of the paragraph. Second, it makes it seem like the topic sentence must always be a single grammatical sentence. Calling it a "key sentence" reminds us that it expresses the central In academic writing, readers expect each paragraph to have a sentence or two that captures its main point. They're often called "topic sentences," though many writing instructors idea of the paragraph. And sometimes a question or a two-sentence construction functions as the key.

Key sentences in academic writing do two things. First, they establish the main point that the rest of the paragraph supports. Second, they situate each paragraph within the sequence of the argument, a task that requires transitioning from the prior paragraph. Consider these two examples:

Version A:
Now we turn to the epidemiological evidence.
Version B:
The epidemiological evidence provides compelling support for the hypothesis emerging from etiological studies.

Both versions convey a topic; it's pretty easy to predict that the paragraph will be about epidemiological evidence, but only the second version establishes an argumentative point and puts it in context. The paragraph doesn't just describe the epidemiological evidence; it shows how epidemiology is telling the same story as etiology. Similarly, while Version A doesn't relate to anything in particular, Version B immediately suggests that the prior paragraph addresses the biological pathway (i.e. etiology) of a disease and that the new paragraph will bolster the emerging hypothesis with a different kind of evidence. As a reader, it's easy to keep track of how the paragraph about cells and chemicals and such relates to the paragraph about populations in different places.

A last thing to note about key sentences is that academic readers expect them to be at the beginning of the paragraph. (The first sentence this paragraph is a good example of this in action!) This placement helps readers comprehend your argument. To see how, try this: find an academic piece (such as a textbook or scholarly article) that strikes you as well written and go through part of it reading just the first sentence of each paragraph. You should be able to easily follow the sequence of logic. When you're writing for professors, it is especially effective to put your key sentences first because they usually convey your own original thinking. It's a very good sign when your paragraphs are typically composed of a telling key sentence followed by evidence and explanation.

Knowing this convention of academic writing can help you both read and write more effectively. When you're reading a complicated academic piece for the first time, you might want to go through reading only the first sentence or two of each paragraph to get the overall outline of the argument. Then you can go back and read all of it with a clearer picture of how each of the details fit in. And when you're writing, you may also find it useful to write the first sentence of each paragraph (instead of a topic-based outline) to map out a thorough argument before getting immersed in sentence-level wordsmithing.

Cohesion and Coherence

With a key sentence established, the next task is to shape the body of your paragraph to be both cohesive and coherent. As Williams and Bizup explain, cohesion is about the "sense of flow" (how each sentence fits with the next), while coherence is about the "sense of the whole."

For the most part, a text reads smoothly when it conveys a thoughtful and well organized argument or analysis. Focus first and most on your ideas, on crafting an ambitious analysis. The most useful guides advise you to first focus on getting your ideas on paper and then revising for organization and word choice later, refining the analysis as you go. Thus, consider the advice here as if you already have some rough text written and are in the process of smoothing out your prose to clarify your argument for both your reader and yourself.

Cohesion

Cohesion refers to the flow from sentence to sentence. For example, compare these passages:

Version A:
Granovetter begins by looking at balance theory. If an actor, A, is strongly tied to both B and C, it is extremely likely that B and C are, sooner or later, going to be tied to each other, according to balance theory (1973:1363). Bridge ties between cliques are always weak ties, Granovetter argues (1973:1364). Weak ties may not necessarily be bridges, but Granovetter argues that bridges will be weak. If two actors share a strong tie, they will draw in their other strong relations and will eventually form a clique. Only weak ties that do not have the strength to draw together all the "friends of friends" can connect people in different cliques.

Granovetter begins by looking at balance theory. In brief, balance theory tells us that if an actor, A, is strongly tied to both B and C, it is extremely likely that B and C are, sooner or later, going to be tied to each other (1973:1363). Granovetter argues that because of this, bridge ties between cliques are always weak ties (1973:1364). Weak ties may not necessarily be bridges, but Granovetter argues that bridges will be weak. This is because if two actors share a strong tie, they will draw in their other strong relations and will eventually form a clique. The only way, therefore, that people in different cliques can be connected is through weak ties that do not have the strength to draw together all the "friends of friends."

Version A has the exact same information as version B, but it is harder to read because it is less cohesive. Each sentence in version B begins with old information and bridges to new information.

The first sentence establishes the key idea of balance theory. The next sentence begins with balance theory and ends with social ties, which is the focus of the third sentence. The concept of weak ties connects the third and fourth sentences and concept of cliques the fifth and sixth sentences. In Version A, in contrast, the first sentence focuses on balance theory, but then the second sentence makes a new point about social ties before telling the reader that the point comes from balance theory. The reader has to take in a lot of unfamiliar information before learning how it fits in with familiar concepts. Version A is coherent, but the lack of cohesion makes it tedious to read.

The lesson is this: if you or others perceive a passage you've written to be awkward or choppy, even though the topic is consistent, try rewriting it to ensure that each sentence begins with a familiar term or concept. If your points don't naturally daisy-chain together like the examples given here, consider numbering them. For example, you may choose to write, "Proponents of the legislation point to four major benefits." Then you could discuss four loosely related ideas without leaving your reader wondering how they relate.

Coherence

While cohesion is about the sense of flow, coherence is about the sense of the whole . For example, here's a passage that is cohesive (from sentence to sentence) but lacks coherence:

Your social networks and your location within them shape the kinds and amount of information that you have access to. Information is distinct from data, in that makes some kind of generalization about a person, thing, or population. Defensible generalizations about society can be either probabilities (i.e., statistics) or patterns (often from qualitative analysis). Such probabilities and patterns can be temporal, spatial, or simultaneous.

Each sentence in the above passage starts with a familiar idea and progresses to a new one, but it lacks coherence-a sense of being about one thing. Good writers often write passages like that when they're free-writing or using the drafting stage to cast a wide net for ideas. A writer weighing the power and limits of social network analysis may free-write something like that example and, from there, develop a more specific plan for summarizing key insights about social networks and then discussing them with reference to the core tenets of social science. As a draft, an incoherent paragraph often points to a productive line of reasoning; one just has to continue thinking it through in order to identify a clear argumentative purpose for each paragraph. With its purpose defined, each paragraph, then, becomes a lot easier to write. Coherent paragraphs aren't just about style; they are a sign of a thoughtful, well developed analysis.

The Wind-Up

Some guides advise you to end each paragraph with a specific concluding sentence , in a sense, to treat each paragraph as a kind of mini-essay. But that's not a widely held convention. Most well written academic pieces don't adhere to that structure. The last sentence of the paragraph should certainly be in your own words (as in, not a quote), but as long as the paragraph succeeds in carrying out the task that it has been assigned by its key sentence, you don't need to worry about whether that last sentence has an air of conclusiveness. For example, consider these paragraphs about the cold fusion controversy of the 1980s that appeared in a best-selling textbook :

The experiment seemed straightforward and there were plenty of scientists willing to try it. Many did. It was wonderful to have a simple laboratory experiment on fusion to try after the decades of embarrassing attempts to control hot fusion. This effort required multi-billion dollar machines whose every success seemed to be capped with an unanticipated failure. 'Cold fusion' seemed to provide, as Martin Fleischmann said during the course of that famous Utah press conference, 'another route'-the route of little science.

In that example, the first and last sentences in the paragraph are somewhat symmetrical: the authors introduce the idea of accessible science, contrast it with big science, and bring it back to the phrase "little science." Here's an example from the same chapter of the same book that does not have any particular symmetry :

The struggle between proponents and critics in a scientific controversy is always a struggle for credibility. When scientists make claims which are literally 'incredible', as in the cold fusion case, they face an uphill struggle. The problem Pons and Fleischmann had to overcome was that they had credibility as electrochemists but not as nuclear physicists. And it was nuclear physics where their work was likely to have its main impact.

The last sentence of the paragraph doesn't mirror the first, but the paragraph still works just fine. In general, every sentence of academic writing should add some unique content. Don't trouble yourself with having the last sentence in every paragraph serve as a mini-conclusion. Instead, worry about developing each point sufficiently and making your logical sequence clear.

Conclusion: Paragraphs as Punctuation

To reiterate the initial point, it is useful to think of paragraphs as punctuation that organize your ideas in a readable way. Each paragraph should be an irreplaceable node within a coherent sequence of logic. Thinking of paragraphs as "building blocks" evokes the "five-paragraph theme" structure explained earlier : if you have identical stone blocks, it hardly matters what order they're in. In the successful organically structured college paper, the structure and tone of each paragraph reflects its indispensable role within the overall piece. Make every bit count and have each part situated within the whole.

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As Michael Harvey writes, paragraphs are "in essence-a form of punctuation, and like other forms of punctuation they are meant to make written material easy to read." Effective paragraphs are the fundamental units of academic writing; consequently, the thoughtful, multifaceted arguments that your professors expect depend on them.

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Setting Up Your Account From Your Welcome Email

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Setting Up Your Account From Your Welcome Email

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If you have received a welcome email from Turnitin, this confirms that your instructor has added you to their class, allowing you to begin submitting papers to your assignments.

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Setting up your account from your welcome email

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If you have received a welcome email from Turnitin, this confirms that your instructor has added you to their class, allowing you to begin submitting papers to your assignments. If you believe that an instructor has added you as a student, but you have not received a welcome email from Turnitin, please check your spam or junk folder.

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Make Your Writing More Appetizing with a Quote Sandwich

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Make Your Writing More Appetizing with a Quote Sandwich

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Writing essays that include evidence can seem difficult; however, it can be deliciously easy if you use the Quote Sandwich!

Practice

Directions: Take the following elements and format them using a Quote Sandwich. Compare your sandwich with the example below.

Author: Albert Einstein

Quotation: "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."

Example Quote Sandwich

According to Albert Einstein, "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing" (3). In saying this, Einstein encourages people to embrace curiosity as mindset. The importance of curiosity can be seen in such inventions as the light bulb or the telephone. Without curiosity, these discoveries would not exist, and humans would certainly not have the modern conveniences that make life more comfortable today.

Deconstructing the Sandwich

Top Piece of Bread (Introduction): According to Albert Einstein,

Introduction Breakdown: The introductory phrase before the quotation helps the reader understand your evidence by explaining who or where it comes from; in this case, the source is Albert Einstein.

Filling (Quotation): "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing" (3).

Quotation Breakdown: The quotation is placed immediately after the introductory phrase, and it is placed in quotation marks. The number three in parentheses (3) after the quotation tells the reader that this line came from page three of the text that the writer is citing. This style of documenting page numbers is particular to the Modern Language Association (MLA), which is a commonly used style guide.

Bottom Piece of Bread (Explanation): In saying this, Einstein encourages people to embrace curiosity as mindset. The importance of curiosity can be seen in such inventions as the light bulb or the telephone. Without curiosity, these discoveries would not exist, and humans would certainly not have the modern conveniences that make life more comfortable today.

Explanation Breakdown: The explanation of the quotation should explain what the writer thinks it means and/or how it connects to the larger thesis (main idea). In this case, the explanation clarifies Einstein's meaning and elaborates on how curiosity is important when it comes to creating inventions.

Writing Concepts

Teacher Resources

Do you need classroom decor? Check out the visual aid posters and other fun resources the Super ELA! Teachers Pay Teachers store.

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Writing essays that include evidence can seem difficult; however, it can be deliciously easy if you use the Quote Sandwich! Directions: Take the following elements and format them using a Quote Sandwich. Compare your sandwich with the example below. Author: Albert Einstein Quotation: "The important thing is not to stop questioning.

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UMUC Writing Center - Guide to the Research Process

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UMUC Writing Center - Guide to the Research Process

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The Nature of Research

The research process is, for many of us, just the way we do things. We research the best buys in cars and appliances, we research book reviews before shopping for books, we research the best schools for our children and ourselves, and we probably perform some kind of research in our jobs. Our search for information may lead us to interview friends or other knowledgeable people; read articles in magazines, journals, or newspapers; listen to the radio; search an encyclopedia on CD-ROM; and even explore the Internet and World Wide Web for information. We use our local public libraries and our school libraries.

Research can be a way of life; it is the basis for many of the important decisions in our lives. Without it, we are deluged with information, subjected to the claims of advertisers, or influenced by hearsay in making sense of the world around us. This informal, experiential research helps us decipher the flood of information we encounter daily.

Formal academic research differs from experiential research and may be more investigative in nature. For example, it may require us to learn about an area in which we have little knowledge or inclination to learn. It may be library-oriented or field-oriented, depending on the nature of the research.

Academic research, like the everyday research we do, is associated with curiosity and intellectual discovery. The writing associated with academic research is demanding and challenging, with a methodology and discipline all its own. Although many of the concepts and processes of research are generic, academic research is discipline-specific and demands a more rigorous methodology. This chapter presents the methodology of academic research, many of the generic processes of research writing, and suggestions for applying the concepts to various disciplines. The chapter ends with a brief look at the structure of a research paper.

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The research process is, for many of us, just the way we do things. We research the best buys in cars and appliances, we research book reviews before shopping for books, we research the best schools for our children and ourselves, and we probably perform some kind of research in our jobs.

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Plagiarism Tutorial

"Once, we built structures entirely from the most durable substances we knew: granite block, for instance. The results are still around today to admire, but we don't often emulate them, because quarrying, cutting, transporting, and fitting stone require a patience we no longer possess. No one since the likes of Antoni Gaudí, who began Barcelona's yet-unfinished Sagrada Familia basilica in 1880, contemplates investing in construction that our great-great-grandchildren's grandchildren will complete 250 years hence. Nor, absent the availability of a few thousand slaves, is it cheap, especially compared to another Roman innovation: concrete."

Weisman, Alan. The World Without Us. Macmillan, 2008.

Student Writing Sample

The Sagrada Familia basilica has been under construction for well over a century.

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Plagiarism Tutorial "Once, we built structures entirely from the most durable substances we knew: granite block, for instance. The results are still around today to admire, but we don't often emulate them, because quarrying, cutting, transporting, and fitting stone require a patience we no longer possess.

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The Modern Language Association of America

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LibGuides: MLA Citation Style 9th Edition: Home

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LibGuides: MLA Citation Style 9th Edition: Home

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Common Errors in English Usage | Common Errors in English Usage and More | Washington State University

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Common Errors in English Usage and More The Web Site of Professor Paul Brians

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A typical expectation for an essay draft is that it will take a few days to develop. The longer the final product, the longer that time of initial development (usually).

From that perspective, it's no wonder many students are hesitant to revise later! When you invest a lot of time crafting something, you grow quite attached to it. You don't want to have that feeling of having to "start over" again with serious revision, later.

Enter Flash-Drafting

Flash Drafts

are completed in one concentrated time period (~ 45 minutes)

are written "fast and furious" with no time to sweat the small stuff

contain notes where a writer might need to research or develop further later

conform to the general structure of the final product

By adding in a timed component to the first, fast draft of an essay, you get several advantages. There's literally no time for perfection, so concerns about "doing it right" stop being a roadblock to writing anything at all. Flash drafts generate a lot of raw material that can be refined and built upon later. And these drafts boost your confidence as you realize how much you already know about the subject.

Flash drafts are effective for any writer. Proof of this comes from the following essay by Stacey Shubitz, a teacher of writing for both grade school and college students.

"Flash Drafting Leads to Large-Scale Revision"

I've been at the June Writing Institute this week. Kelly Boland Hohne has been my section leader for "Raise the Level of Literature-Based and Research-Based Argument Essays." In the past week, I've written two flash drafts, one literary essay and one research-based essay. I have found the process scary and liberating all at once. Here's why.

Flash-drafting unnerved me because I'm used to taking my time with writing. I tinker with words. I play with punctuation. I type, I cut, I paste, I cut some more, I copy, etc. I do this because I want to make make sure my thoughts are as succinct as they can possibly be. This week, I learned that flash-drafting doesn't afford a writer with making it perfect. That's what revision is for!

My flash drafts and my initial revisions of my flash drafts were anything but perfect. Kelly encouraged us to use . . . a Glow and Grow. . . . That is, after we flash-drafted, we looked at what we did well as writers and marked it "glow." Then, wherever we needed to improve our writing, we marked it "grow."

Want to take a look at my flash drafts? Here are some links to the original ones, as well as my initial revisions.

Seeing as I didn't spend tons of time on my flash-drafts, I'm excited to revise because I know I need to. My flash-drafts weren't my best work. (Heck, they were all written while I was riding on mass transit balancing my iPad on my lap!) Now that I've gone through the flash-drafting process twice this week, I understand how it can lead to more excitement about making large-scale revisions in response to what one learns next in writing workshop (or in my case, from my session leader, Kelly).

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A typical expectation for an essay draft is that it will take a few days to develop. The longer the final product, the longer that time of initial development (usually). From that perspective, it's no wonder many students are hesitant to revise later!

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The Rhetorical Triangle - Overview of Rhetorical Appeals

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The Rhetorical Triangle - Overview of Rhetorical Appeals

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The Visual Communication Guy: Designing Information to Engage, Educate, and Inspire People

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The rhetorical triangle is a common reference to the three rhetorical appeals identified by Aristotle: ethos, pathos, and logos. These three Greek terms make reference to the primary concepts from which messages-in any communication channel-are created. Check out this diagram for a quick overview of the rhetorical triangle (and read below for more description):

WHAT IS ETHOS?

In English, the direct translation of ethos from Greek is "ethics." But when we talk about the rhetorical appeals, "ethos" makes broader reference to what makes the speaker (person or organization) credible. When you create a communication, you want to establish ethos by employing rhetorical devices that will make you appear credible. Credibility, depending on the topic or substance of a communication, can take years to establish. Consider, for example, the ethos of a brand like Nike. Nike wasn't considered one of the top athletic clothing lines over night. Rather, it built ethos by employing a number of communicative messages that eventually built credibility: celebrity endorsements; top-notch professional advertising; quality products; strong reviews; and so forth.

On the flip side, however, ethos can be damaged in almost an instant. Consider, for example, when it was revealed in 1988 that then Senator Joe Biden plagiarized many of his speeches. Although he had a long and distinguished political career, in an instant, his ethos was questioned and he had to withdraw from the 1988 presidential race. When ethos is damaged and an audience no longer trusts you, it can take months, years, or even a lifetime to build that trust back (Joe Biden, it seems, did built back his credibility to enough people, since he was eventually named the vice president during the Obama administration).
Examples of How to Build Ethos in Communications:

Use appropriate and professional language for your intended audience

Design your communications professionally

Conduct sound and ethical research (and cite all sources)

Use appropriate jargon to demonstrate awareness of the field and your audience

Follow established conventions and paradigms

Use celebrity endorsements (get credible and well established people on board with your idea)

Make logical connections between ideas and avoid logical fallacies at all costs

WHAT IS LOGOS?

In English, the direct translation of logos is "logic." But when we talk about the rhetorical appeals, "logos" makes broader reference to the message as a whole and, more specifically, the facts and statements that build a logical argument. Consider, for example, a cell phone company trying to market a new phone. To appeal to their customers, they might build an argument around all of the phones' features: size of screen, durability, length of battery life, water resistance, and so forth. These are logical appeals, or use of "logos."
Examples of How to Use Logos to Be Persuasive:

Use statistics or established facts

Name features of a product or service

Reference research in support of your claim

Make logical connections between concepts

Be specific (when appropriate, be as specific as possible and avoid generalizations)

WHAT IS PATHOS?

In English, the direct translation of pathos is "emotion." But when we talk about the rhetorical appeals, "pathos" makes broader reference to the audience and the way in which they react to a message. When you think of the words we use in English that have "path" as a prefix or suffix, you can see how emotion and experience play into the term (consider "pathology" or "pathetic" or "psychopath"). The idea behind pathos is that you want your audience to feel a certain way when you communicate to them. You may want them simply to feel confident. But you may also want them to feel sad, angry, emotionally charged, excited, content, or any other number of emotions. Consider how your audience will feel when they are done reading or viewing your communication. That is pathos.

Consider, for example, watching an advertisement for Target. There may be people dancing and singing, enjoying a good time in their new clothes with their new stuff. This may make you feel energized to get similar clothes and stuff. When we feel cool, excited, nervous, or anything else when we read or view a communication, we are being affected by the communication piece's pathos.

When making an argument using pathos, be cautious. Recognize that pathos can be manipulative and it isn't always as credible as logical facts that are intended to remove emotion. Emotionally charged persuasion is good for advertising and for gaining awareness of a social issue, but it's not good for a research report on cell biology.
Examples of Ways to Use Pathos to Persuade:

Use humor to keep people engaged

Show images that evoke strong emotions

Choose words that get people excited or emotionally charged

Change your tone of voice or pace to evoke enthusiasm or angst

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THE RHETORICAL APPEALS (RHETORICAL TRIANGLE)

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The rhetorical triangle is a common reference to the three rhetorical appeals identified by Aristotle: ethos, pathos, and logos. These three Greek terms make reference to the primary concepts from which messages-in any communication channel-are created.

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How to Use the Writing Process in Plain English

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How to Use the Writing Process in Plain English

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Executive Function, ADHD, 2e. Seth Perler

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🔴How to use the WRITING PROCESS (in plain English!)

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The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Revising Drafts – The Writing Center • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Rewriting is the essence of writing well—where the game is won or lost. —William Zinsser What this handout is about This handout will motivate you to revise your drafts and give you strategies to revise effectively. What does it mean … Read more

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Setting Up Your Account Using a Class Enrollment Key

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Setting Up Your Account Using a Class Enrollment Key

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If you are new to Turnitin and have not been added to an account by your instructor, you must create a student profile. To create your own student account, your class ID and class enrollment key are required.

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Setting up your account using a class enrollment key

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If you are new to Turnitin and have not been added to an account by your instructor, you must create a student profile. To create your own student account, your class ID and class enrollment key are required.

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UMUC - Online Guide to Writing and Research

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UMUC - Online Guide to Writing and Research

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The Zero Draft Is For Your Eyes Only

The beauty of the zero draft is that no one else will ever see this document. Never share a zero draft. That's the whole point of it. It's for you, and you alone, and that takes all the pressure off. This is just for you to get from beginning to end, so you have something down on paper.

This means that when you get stuck, you write a note to yourself about what you want to add in that place, and then you move on. Whether it's a word choice that's not quite right, a detail you need to research, or a bigger picture note that requires editing what you've already written. Don't go back, just write the note. You stop for nothing.

So you might have a document that starts looking something like this:

In both examples above, I used the zero draft method while outlining scenes.

If I had to stop to come up with the clever riddle I needed for the above scene (or even the dialogue for the scene above it), I probably would've lost all train of thought and spent the next hour trying to come up with something- and who even knows if I would've landed on that perfect line.

Instead, I left a note for myself and moved on. No stopping, remember?

There's No Room for Perfection

When you don't allow yourself to stop and think about what you're writing, you allow yourself to enter the flow state.

There's the old adage, "Write drunk, edit sober." (Often misattributed to Hemingway; according to Quote Investigator, the phrase most likely comes from Peter De Vries's 1964 novel "Reuben, Reuben.") Alcohol may not be the answer, but there is something to be said for emulating the free-flowing state of drunkenness where nothing bothers you and all you're doing is writing what you're thinking.

Remember, the zero draft is not for editing. Don't even think about it. Just put down what's in your head. Get it all out there, so it's no longer just an idea, but it's an actual thing - imperfect as it may be.

You'll be surprised how many little nuggets of genius you actually get this way. There will be great bits of dialogue, a hint of a theme, a brilliant conclusion - it's amazing what you can come up with when you don't overthink things.

Get to the End

All of this helps you get to the end of your outline, script, novel, or essay - and fast. Before you know it, you'll be writing your ending, which means you now have a full thought down on the page.

There will be a lot missing - this isn't even considered your rough draft - but you'll have the bones of what you're writing. Now, when you look at your document, there are no empty white pages to paralyze you.

You've gotten through the hardest part.

Turn Your Zero Draft Into A Rough Draft

Once you have your zero draft done, you can go back and start to address all the notes you left for yourself and fill in the holes.

A quick and easy way to find notes in a long document is to put an uncommon keyword in front of each of them. For example, your note could read: "[PINEAPPLE: I need to address the theme in this scene.]" Then, when you want to find all your notes, you just have to search "Pineapple" with the find function.

So, go ahead, find all the pineapples in your draft. Keep addressing them until there are no more left.

Congratulations, you have yourself a rough draft!

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The beauty of the zero draft is that no one else will ever see this document. Never share a zero draft. That's the whole point of it. It's for you, and you alone, and that takes all the pressure off. This is just for you to get from beginning to end, so you have something down on paper.

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Rhetoric is defined in the Oxford English dictionary as, "The art of persuasive speaking or writing". Thus, the Rhetorical Triangle is a tool that helps you formulate your thoughts so you can clearly present your position in a persuasive way. Master using this tool and people will clearly understand your message, and be heavily persuaded by your argument.

It can be used for both written and verbal communication but is particularly applicable to written communication.

Understanding The Rhetorical Triangle

The concepts of the Rhetorical Triangle were first described by Aristotle in one of the first great books about rhetoric, surprisingly enough titled "Rhetoric", which was written in the 4th century B.C.

Let's examine each of these methods of appealing to people in turn.

Logos

Logos is the main body of your argument and is designed to appeal to reason. Using an appeal to logos you attempt to use facts, truths, and logic to appeal to the reason of your audience.

You are appealing to their intelligence with facts and supporting evidence to strengthen your position.

Pathos

Pathos is an appeal to your audience's emotions. You could, for example, move your audience to want to feel young so as to get them to buy a cosmetics product. You could also move them to sadness so as to get them to donate to charity.

Ethos

Ethos is the speaker's or writer's credibility and authority to deal with the topic in question. For example, the ethos of your doctor comes from the years of training required to become a doctor. Because of these qualifications, you will listen to their opinion on particular subjects. You can learn about different types of authority here.

Using The Rhetorical Triangle

As already mentioned, you can use any combination of logos, pathos, and ethos to create a persuasive argument. Having said that, typically the best arguments will contain all three of the appeals.

A more modern take on the Rhetorical Triangle is shown below:

One way to think of the points on the Rhetorical Triangle are as ingredients you can use in any combination to create an argument. Sometimes a little imagination is needed to find the right set of ingredients to suit the needs of your audience.

Initially, you think about presenting just the facts (logos) such as the untapped market opportunity, how much work would be needed to implement the plan, the possible financial rewards etc. With this argument you are obviously making a logical appeal.

In this example, you are already known to your leadership team so you don't need outline your credibility on this subject (pathos).

As you can see, using the Rhetorical Triangle in this way can help you create a much stronger argument. Note that many of the concepts presented here are also covered as part of Monroe's Motivated Sequence for creating a rousing speech.

Now let's move on and examine each of these three elements of appeal in some more detail.

The Message (Logos)

Here you're trying to present your argument in as logical a way as possible. Some of the key questions to ask to keep yourself on track with this appeal are:

Are there any logical errors in my argument?

Do I jump to conclusions at any point?

Do I use credible evidence to support my claims?

What are the counterarguments? Have I dealt effectively with each?

Is the flow of my argument logical, and is that the best flow to present?

Do the conclusions make sense?

The Audience (Pathos)

Here you're trying to present your argument in a way that emotionally appeals to your audience. Some of the key questions to ask to keep yourself on track with this appeal are:

Which emotion am I going to appeal to - sadness, greed, pride, fear, being young, being old, anger, patriotism, love, loyalty, desire etc.

Have I tried to establish some common ground with the audience? Another way to say this is have I laid out what we have in common?

Have I built on this common ground to make the audience really care?

By connecting with your audience through emotion and common ground you move your audience towards being much more likely to agree with your later logical arguments.

The Speaker (Ethos)

Here you're trying to present your credentials as a speaker (or writer for that matter). If you're going to communicate with any power then it's important that your audience knows who they are dealing with. Some of the key questions to ask to keep yourself on track with this appeal are:

Have I explained my qualifications?

Have I explained what qualifies me to speak on this topic? Are these credible?

Is the tone of what I'm saying suitable for the audience? Is the word choice suitable?

All things considered, do I present myself in a professional manner?

Note that facts and information you want to present don't always fall cleanly into one of the above three categories. As an example, if you used an expert quote this could be both pathos and logos, as it shows you've researched the topic, thus increasing your credibility, but it also adds weight to your reasoned argument.

Using the Rhetorical Triangle

We've already looked at a general example of using the Rhetorical Triangle. Here's a 6-step process you can use to position any argument using the Rhetorical Triangle:

1. Determine your purpose: do you want agreement, or to make people laugh, or to rouse people into action. Write down the exact purpose of your speech or document.

2. Say why they should listen to you: specify your relevant credentials along with any beliefs or values that are relevant.

3. Understand your audience: understand who they are, why they are listening, and what their expectations are from your speech or document.

4. Connect emotionally: determine how you want to connect emotionally and the emotion you want to elicit.

5. Deliver the content: logically structure your arguments and back them up with credible facts and statistics.

6. Cover surrounding information: cover any additional information which whilst not directly relevant to your arguement could help strengthen it, such as any useful background information or addressing counterarguments during your argument.

Rhetorical Triangle Summary

The art of persuasive speaking or writing is a learned habit the can be improved over time. The Rhetorical Triangle gives us a framework we can use to create compelling and persuasive speeches and written documents.

To be effective a persuasive speech must do three things. First, it must identify you as trustworthy in your audience's mind (ethos / speaker). Second, it must connect emotionally with the audience to move them to action (pathos / audience). Third, it must contain a logical and reasoned proposal or argument (logos / message).

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The Rhetorical Triangle - How to Build a Persuasive Arguement

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Rhetoric is defined in the Oxford English dictionary as, "The art of persuasive speaking or writing". Thus, the Rhetorical Triangle is a tool that helps you formulate your thoughts so you can clearly present your position in a persuasive way. Master using this tool and people will clearly understand your message, and be heavily persuaded by your argument.

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The Writing Process is Like Building a House

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The Writing Process is Like Building a House

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Microsoft Word: How to Set Up an MLA Format Essay (2017)

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Explore some of the great resources that the Writing Center has to offer!

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Using Concrete, Specific Language and Examples

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Using Concrete, Specific Language and Examples

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2.5 Use Specifics and Examples

Specific language refers directly to particular cases, not generalizations about many cases. Concrete language refers to things that we can experience directly through the senses. The two terms have much in common. The opposite of specific is general. The opposite of concrete is abstract. So the name of an individual person, "Mr. Stockhurst" say, is both specific and concrete. A larger group, "the teachers at Triton Middle School," is concrete but more general. "Teachers" is even more general. "Education" is a concept, both abstract and general.

Whenever possible, use concrete, specific language. The best way to do this is to write about individuals wherever possible, and concrete things rather than abstract concepts. Write about teachers, students, and schools rather than education and learning. Or say what you want to get across about education or learning by showing us what teachers and students do in schools or what apprentices do in learning plumbing. Specifics are almost always clearer than generalizations--it's easier to tell exactly what you are saying. And the concrete is almost always easier to follow that the abstract. It may not be easier to write specifically and concretely, but it produces writing that is easier to read.

Wherever possible, make the subjects of your sentences refer to concrete beings rather then abstract concepts. Write about people, actual or hypothetical individuals, rather than abstract ideas. Be careful of the tendency to turn verbs into nouns by adding "ing" to the end and then linking them together with "is" or "are." This results in sentences like "Learning is aided by hands-on experience." The statement is true, but it is static, abstract, and general. It just sits there, rather than going anywhere, because the actors are left out. By turning the verb "learn" into a noun, "learning," the writer has started the sentence in a way that makes it easy to leave out all the people. Ask who is doing the action, and make them the subject: "Students who can have hands-on experience learn more." That sentence moves, there's some action in it, because the actors, the students have been made the subject. But it remains very general, and subject to misinterpretation. It would be much more effective if it were more specific, if the students were individual people instead of an enormous group: "The students in Mr. Stockhurst's history class build models of Civil War battlegrounds with their own hands, and then reenact the battles in class. By acting out the events of history, they learn to see how those events fit together, and how some caused others." By writing about individuals, rather than just large classes of people, you let your readers see your ideas in action. You show them why you believe as you do, rather than just telling them what to think.

The easiest, and usually the best, way to keep your writing specific and concrete, as illustrated in the previous paragraph, is to use specific examples whenever possible. An example, of course, is simply a case or instance of something. A specific example is a particular instance. So to give a specific example of technology would be to write about particular people using a particular machine. To give a specific example of any human activity would require that you write about individual people. To give a specific example of teaching history, as in the example above, would be to describe what a particular teacher or students do. An easy rule of thumb to test the specificity of your writing is to ask whether you write about individual people in each paragraph. If you don't, you are generalizing too much. Give examples of every point you make, in most if not all of your paragraphs, and make your examples clear and forceful by making them specific. Write about people and what people actually do, not just about ideas or concepts.

The example given above illustrates two other important points about examples. First, examples take more words to relate than do generalizations. The sentence, "Learning is aided by hands-on experience" contains six words. The example about Mr. Stockhurst's class contains 45 words. The chief reason why many students have trouble producing an essay of reasonable length is that they write largely in generalizations. If you are writing in large generalizations, you can say everything you have to say very briefly. But to introduce an example requires more words. The largest, in the sense of broadest, topic does not produce the longest essay. Quite to the contrary, you get length not from generalization but from detail. The example of Mr. Stockhurst's history class is worth a least a substantial paragraph. That example could be developed well beyond the two sentences given it above. We could look at a specific battle and find out what individual students thought about the events they were reenacting. Different students would have different roles in the reenactment and would have different feelings about those events. If we could compare the reactions and opinions of different students it would help to show us a variety of responses to the experience. A fully developed example of what went on in the classroom would allow the readers to do something like those students were doing: to really get a sense of what the experience they were reading about was like. In other words, examples in good writing are similar to hands-on learning exercises: they help the reader experience the ideas, to get a feel for what you are describing.

That brings us to the second point about examples. While they are longer than generalizations, they are also more interesting. All other things being equal, examples are more entertaining and involving than generalizations. I have tried the experiment many times of asking a class, after either hearing or reading an essay, to write down the first three things they remember from the essay. In almost every case, the thing that readers remember best from an essay is an example, usually a detailed and fully developed one. The reason is that they were paying closer attention to the example than they were to the surrounding explanation. And the reason we pay more attention to examples is that they are more interesting. This is probably true for several reasons. For one thing, examples are usually easier to understand than generalized explanations. A well written example lets us see and hear something that really happened, shows us people (or animals or machines) acting as we see them act all the time. It's like being there. It relates to us a personal experience that we have not had, but that we might have had, if we had been in the right place at the right time. So a well written example is easy, almost effortless to follow. But an example does something else: it moves. The best examples are stories, narratives of events. That means that we can see how one person or event changes another. Mr. Stockhurst's reenactments work so well in his history class because they "bring history to life" for his students. That is to say, they let the students see history as an unfolding story. When we see history as a story we see that it could have been different, that had Pickett or Lee or Grant taken another turn at a key point the outcome of a battle could have changed the outcome of a war. When we see people moving through time, making choices, dealing with consequences, we discover the excitement, the suspense, the anticipation that keeps our attention focused. Many students have responded to the question of why they didn't use more examples with comments like "I didn't want to bore my readers with long examples" or "I thought examples would just drag it out." I think this attitude has things exactly backwards. Examples are usually the best way to keep readers interested and involved, as well as being the best way to fill out and develop your ideas.

One final point about examples. In this handbook I have urged you to make your thesis statements as specific as possible. One reason why this is a good idea is that a specific thesis statement points to the kind of examples that would help to develop it. The closer your thesis is to the examples that can illustrate and support your points, the easier it will be to write a good essay about it.

Copyright © 2003 by John Tagg

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Specific language refers directly to particular cases, not generalizations about many cases. Concrete language refers to things that we can experience directly through the senses. The two terms have much in common. The opposite of specific is general. The opposite of concrete is abstract.

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The Writing Process

When we speak of the writing process, we are speaking of the writer's unconscious and conscious creativity and the process that most writing textbooks define structurally. This process is often treated as a linear one that, if followed step by step, will lead to a successfully written product. Although some writers may write this way, most devise their own ways of generating ideas and writing, usually from their own experiences of what works for them.

As we said in chapter 1, writing is a way of thinking. In other words, the quality of your writing depends on the quality of the thinking you do about your topic or your assignment. This chapter discusses the kinds of thinking you need to do before you begin writing, while you are writing your first draft, and when you are rewriting your draft.

The whole writing process can be divided into the prewriting, writing, and rewriting or revising phases. In the prewriting phase, you might try to clarify

what you want to write about

how you think and feel about your topic

how you want to approach your topic

what other materials and notes you might need

how to organize these materials

what kind of audience you are writing for

You plan the content and organization of your paper or assignment during this first phase. In the writing phase, you implement your plan-your strategy-working out the details and fine-tuning your thoughts. In the rewriting, or revising phase, you review what you have written and consider how and where your writing can be improved.

Sometimes, these phases are quite distinct and separate, but for most students, they seldom have clear boundaries. They overlap in a recursive fashion rather than fall in place as an orderly sequence of steps, one neatly following from the other. When you work on longer research papers, you will generate ideas, gather information, plan your organization, and write your draft. You may go back later to revise it. When you write shorter assignments or essays, you may plan, write, and revise as you go along. In most cases, you may revise your plan, your organization, and your content on your way to the final draft.

Understanding that writing is individual and recursive, we can look at the three phases-prewriting, writing, rewriting-and some strategies you may use to write college assignments.

Writing process means the steps and methods used to generate a finished piece of writing.

These steps are usually presented in linear fashion but may naturally occur nonlinearally.

Generally, the writing process can be broken into three phases: prewriting, writing, and revising.

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When we speak of the writing process, we are speaking of the writer's unconscious and conscious creativity and the process that most writing textbooks define structurally. This process is often treated as a linear one that, if followed step by step, will lead to a successfully written product.

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Regardless of writers' levels of experience or areas of expertise, many struggle with revision, a component of the writing process that encompasses everything from transformative changes in content and argumentation to minor corrections in grammar and punctuation. Perhaps because revision involves so many forms of modification, it is the focus of most scientific writing guides and handbooks. Revision can be daunting; how does one progress from initial drafts (called "rough drafts" for good reason) to a polished piece of scholarly writing?

Developing a process for revision can help writers produce thoughtful, polished texts and grow their written communication skills. Consider, then, a systematic approach to revision, including strategies to employ at every step of the process.

A System for Approaching Revision

Generally, revision should be approached in a top-down manner by addressing higher-order concerns (HOCs) before moving on to lower-order concerns (LOCs). In writing studies, the term "higher order" is used to denote major or global issues such as thesis, argumentation, and organization, whereas "lower order" is used to denote minor or local issues such as grammar and mechanics. The more analytical work of revising HOCs often has ramifications for the entire piece. Perhaps in refining the argument, a writer will realize that the discussion section does not fully consider the study's implications. Or, a writer will try a new organizational scheme and find that a paragraph no longer fits and should be cut. Such revisions may have far-reaching implications for the text.

Dedicating time to tweaking wording or correcting grammatical errors is unproductive if the sentence will be changed or deleted. Focusing on HOCs before LOCs allows writers to revise more effectively and efficiently.

Bearing in mind the general system of revising from HOCs to LOCs, you can employ several revision strategies.

Begin by evaluating how your argument addresses your rhetorical situation-that is, the specific context surrounding your writing, including the audience, exigence, and constraints.
For example, you may write an article describing a new treatment. If the target journal's audience comes from a variety of disciplines, you may need to include substantial background explanation, consider the implications for practitioners and scholars in multiple fields, and define technical terms. By contrast, if you are addressing a highly specialized audience, you may be able to dispense with many of the background explanations and definitions because of your shared knowledge base. You may consider the implications only for specialists, as they are your primary audience. Because this sort of revision affects the entire text, beginning by analyzing your rhetorical situation is effective.

Analyze your thesis or main argument for clarity.

Evaluate the global organization of your text by writing a reverse outline. Unlike traditional outlines, which are written before drafting, reverse outlines reflect the content of written drafts.
In a separate document or in your text's margins, record the main idea of each paragraph. Then, consider whether the order of your ideas is logical. This method also will help you identify ideas that are out of place or digressive. You may also evaluate organization by printing the text and cutting it up so that each paragraph appears on a separate piece of paper. You may then easily reorder the paragraphs to test different organizational schemes.

Completing a Post-Draft Outline

The reverse outline mentioned above is also known as a post-draft outline. Guidance for how to complete one for an entire essay draft, as well as for an individual problematic paragraph, are found in this presentation.

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Regardless of writers' levels of experience or areas of expertise, many struggle with revision, a component of the writing process that encompasses everything from transformative changes in content and argumentation to minor corrections in grammar and punctuation. Perhaps because revision involves so many forms of modification, it is the focus of most scientific writing guides and handbooks.

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Submit Your Paper, Check Similarity Score and Feedback

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Submit Your Paper, Check Similarity Score and Feedback

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Are you having trouble submitting your paper to Turnitin? Here are some troubleshooting steps you can take to help you submit work.

If you're having problems submitting your paper and the deadline for your assignment is fast approaching, we recommend contacting your instructor/teacher about the issue straight away.

Check your settings

The assignment settings may be preventing you from submitting your paper. If the due date has passed and your assignment does not allow for late submissions, you will not be able to submit. If you are attempting to resubmit, it is possible that your assignment settings only allow for one submission per student. If specific assignment settings are preventing you from making a submission, hovering over the Submit button will provide you with an explanation as to why.

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If we are currently experiencing issues, we will have all hands on deck to ensure service is returned as soon as possible. While we are fixing the problem, contact your instructor to let them know what's going on.

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If the issue persists, there may be unusual formatting found within the file or the file may be corrupt. Please try saving and re-submitting your paper in one of the other supported file types as this has been known to be a successful workaround to the problem.

Check your tech

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If your system meets our acceptance criteria and you continue to experience issues submitting your paper, please try using a different internet browser as this may resolve the issue. Clearing your cookies and cache is another proven successful workaround that you could try.

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Check with your instructor

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When you contact your instructor, be sure to tell them that you are experiencing issues, provide them with screenshots of any error messages you're seeing, and explain the steps you have taken to try to resolve the problem yourself so that they can assist you in getting your paper uploaded as soon as possible.

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Are you having trouble submitting your paper to Turnitin? Here are some troubleshooting steps you can take to help you submit work. If you're having problems submitting your paper and the deadline for your assignment is fast approaching, we recommend contacting your instructor/teacher about the issue straight away.

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They Say/I Say Templates for bringing the words and ideas of others into your own writing

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They Say/I Say Templates for bringing the words and ideas of others into your own writing

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How to Set up an Essay in MLA style in Google Docs

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How to Set up an Essay in MLA style in Google Docs

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This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.

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The Purdue On-Campus Writing Lab and Purdue Online Writing Lab assist clients in their development as writers-no matter what their skill level-with on-campus consultations, online participation, and community engagement. The Purdue Writing Lab serves the Purdue, West Lafayette, campus and coordinates with local literacy initiatives. The Purdue OWL offers global support through online reference materials and services.

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The Purdue OWL® is committed to supporting students, instructors, and writers by offering a wide range of resources that are developed and revised with them in mind. To do this, the OWL team is always exploring possibilties for a better design, allowing accessibility and user experience to guide our process. As the OWL undergoes some changes, we welcome your feedback and suggestions by email at any time.

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Welcome to the Purdue Online Writing Lab

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This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice. Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.

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Find, evaluate, and integrate sources for a research paper.

Review the research process.

Narrow your argument and write effectively for your audience.

Learn effective research strategies to find and evaluate sources.

Take notes and create an outline.

Integrate sources into your writing.

Produce a literature review or an annotated bibliography.

Go to Research

Practice your grammar and punctuation skills to help you write clearly.

Understand parts of speech and how they work together.

Learn the "rules" for all types of punctuation.

Practice your skills with interactive quizzes.

Review the 20 most common errors college writers make.

Save yourself with Grammar Essentials

Learn to avoid plagiarism when you write with sources.

Understand what different kinds of plagiarism are.

Learn about the potential consequences of plagiarism.

Practice avoiding plagiarism and providing proper documentation for borrowed information.

Take pre and post tests to test your knowledge.

Learn to Avoid Plagiarism

Complete modules to practice your writing skills.

Take modules to practice writing skills like grammar and APA citation.

Download a summary report for proof of completion.

Begin The Writing Refresher

The Reading Lab is the first completely free, comprehensive, online open education resource for college-level reading. It offers a variety of multimedia materials-instructional videos, online exercises, and handouts.
Go to the Reading Lab

Find all sorts of goodies for educators at all levels.

Build your own custom OWL with the Owlet tool.

Learn how to use the Excelsior OWL in writing classes and in classes across the curriculum.

Discover about how to integrate the Excelsior OWL into traditional, hybrid, flipped, and online classes.

Find our more information about how the Excelsior OWL connects to the Written Communication VALUE Rubric.

Discover our Educator Resources

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The Excelsior Online Writing Lab (OWL) is an award-winning online writing lab resource for writers at Excelsior college and across the globe.

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See how an essay evolves through three drafts from a rough discovery draft to a revised, edited, and polished final version.

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The Writing Process - Excelsior College Writing Center Tutorial

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The Writing Process - Excelsior College Writing Center Tutorial

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Welcome to The Writing Process!

In this step-by-step support area, you will find everything you need to know about writing a paper from start to finish.

Have you ever received a writing assignment, thought "this won't take long" and then stayed up all night writing the night before your assignment was due because it ended up taking a lot longer than you thought it would? If you have, you're not alone. Many beginning writers struggle to plan well when it comes to a writing assignment, and this results in writing that is just not as good as it could be. When you wait until the last minute and fail to engage in a good writing process, you're not doing your best work-even if you did "get all A's in high school" as a procrastinator.

Research on writing tells us that the best thing writers can do to improve their writing is improve their writing process! With that in mind, this area of the Excelsior OWL is going to take you through the steps of a thorough writing process-one that involves many stages that will help you become a better writer.

You will learn about the recursive nature of the writing process, and you'll be taken through each step of writing a paper with instruction, activities, and videos. With support for prewriting activities, you'll learn how to generate and organize your ideas, and with support for paragraph building, you'll learn how to turn those ideas into well-organized paragraphs. You'll also learn about how rhetoric can help make your writing stronger, and you can even get some advice from fellow students about what to expect in college writing courses. If you're writing a paper and need help with any of the steps along the way, The Writing Process area is here to help.

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The Writing Process - Excelsior College OWL

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In this step-by-step support area, you will find everything you need to know about writing a paper from start to finish. Have you ever received a writing assignment, thought "this won't take long" and then stayed up all night writing the night before your assignment was due because it ended up taking a lot longer than you thought it would?

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Previously we examined higher order concerns (HOCs) as part of the revision stage of the writing process. Once we move to the proofreading stage, it's time to consider the lower order concerns (LOCs). The difference is simple: HOCs are global issues, or issues that affect how a reader understands the entire paper; LOCs are issues that don't necessarily interrupt understanding of the writing by themselves.

You may find yourself thinking, "Well, it depends," or, "But what if...?" You're absolutely right to think so. These lists are just guidelines; every writer will have a different hierarchy of concerns. Always try to think in terms of, "Does this affect my understanding of the writing?"

Are HOCs More Important than LOCs?

No, not necessarily. HOCs tend to interrupt a reader's understanding of the writing, and that's why they need to be addressed first. However, if a LOC becomes a major obstacle, then it naturally becomes a higher priority.

Think of an example of how a Lower Order Concern could become a Higher Order Concern.

Here are some other issues you might face. These may be more difficult to categorize, and they may largely depend on the writing. If you think, "It depends," make notes about the circumstances under which these issues could be a HOC or a LOC.

How to Address LOCs

Analyze your use of source material. Check any paraphrases and quotations against the original texts. Quotations should replicate the original author's words, while paraphrases should maintain the original author's meaning but have altered language and sentence structures. For each source, confirm that you have adhered to the preferred style guide for the target journal or other venue.

Consider individual sentences in terms of grammar, mechanics, and punctuation. Many LOCs can be revised by isolating and examining different elements of the text. Read the text sentence by sentence, considering the grammar and sentence structure. Remember, a sentence may be grammatically correct and still confuse readers. If you notice a pattern-say, a tendency to misplace modifiers or add unnecessary commas-read the paper looking only for that error. Read the document backwards, word for word, looking for spelling errors. Throughout the writing process and especially at this stage of revision, keep a dictionary, a thesaurus, and a writing handbook nearby.

Strategies such as reading aloud and seeking feedback are useful at all points in the revision process. Reading aloud will give you distance from the text and prevent you from skimming over what is actually written on the page. This strategy will help you to identify both HOCs, such as missing concepts, and LOCs, such as typos. Additionally, seeking feedback will allow you to test your ideas and writing on real readers. Seek feedback from readers both inside and outside of your target audience in order to gain different perspectives.

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Previously we examined higher order concerns (HOCs) as part of the revision stage of the writing process. Once we move to the proofreading stage, it's time to consider the lower order concerns (LOCs). The difference is simple: HOCs are global issues, or issues that affect how a reader understands the entire paper; LOCs are issues that don't necessarily interrupt understanding of the writing by themselves.

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The Writing Center * University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Tips & Tools - The Writing Center * University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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We welcome feedback about these handouts and suggestions for additional handouts. Please email us or call us with your ideas.

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As authors, you may dread receiving reviewer comments asking for major revisions. It's daunting to rework something for which you have already taken great pains. But don't be tempted to give up. Most often, the final outcome is worth the effort. Here are some pointers on how to respond to such comments.

Take a break : Initial irritation is only natural. Take time off and then read the comments again carefully and objectively to ensure that you have clearly understood the reviewers' concerns.

Articulate point-by-point responses : Number the reviewers' points and respond to them sequentially. If you're required to respond to your reviewers, this makes it easier for others to follow what you have done. Even if your reviewers never see your responses, this is an effective way to inventory their advice and make sure that you've evaluated all of it.

Create well-reasoned responses to input : If you do not agree with a reviewer's comment, that's only fair. However, do not simply disagree. Justify this disagreement, to yourself or to the reviewer, by providing as many details as necessary to help any reader understand your line of reasoning. Where possible, cite published studies to support your argument.

Pay attention to detail : Details are important when explaining how you have addressed each concern. For example, if a reviewer has said that you need to include/reinterpret data, you can describe the tests you performed and the results you got and mention where you have added this information.

Watch your tone : Remember, the reviewers are critiquing your work, not you. Do not let their feedback color any future interactions you have with them. If you disagree on some point, say so honestly but respectfully, and support your statement with a rational explanation.

Appreciate the reviewers' work : Peer reviewers invest their own time in reviewing your writing. Their intention is to help you improve your writing, and hopefully earn higher grades as a result. Take advantage of their advice. In fact, a long list of detailed reviewer comments usually means that reviewer has spent considerable time evaluating your work and providing constructive feedback. Be sure to thank reviewers for their consideration and effort.

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As authors, you may dread receiving reviewer comments asking for major revisions. It's daunting to rework something for which you have already taken great pains. But don't be tempted to give up. Most often, the final outcome is worth the effort. Here are some pointers on how to respond to such comments.

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Have you heard about the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide? Did you know that it is commonly found in many household products, is readily available, but can also cause severe burns, erosion, corrosion, and is the major component in acid rain? Jennifer Abel from Consumer Affairs tells us, "search online for information about dihydrogen monoxide, and you'll find a long list of scary and absolutely true warnings about it: used by the nuclear power industry, vital to the production of everything from pesticides to Styrofoam, present in tumors removed from cancer patients, and guaranteed fatal to humans in large quantities."

Read more about the dangers at this DHMO website.

Are you starting to feel like something is not quite right about this information? What exactly is DHMO? How can it be found so easily, yet pose so many risks? If you haven't tried it already, do a quick Google search for dihydrogen monoxide. Aside from the dhmo.org website, what other search results do you see?

Source Reliability

You probably found the Wikipedia page titled " Dihydrogen Monoxide Hoax" or a Snopes.com article debunking the circulating myths. It turns out that dihydrogen monoxide is really just a fancy way of referencing water, or H ₂ O, and is certainly something we don't want to ban or protest against. This new context about the real meaning of DHMO certainly provides amusing insight into the "horrors" you read about on the DHMO website: Does it enhance athletic performance? Can it improve your marriage? What are its overdose symptoms?

Nowadays, we are surrounded with so much readily available information at our fingertips, that it is sometimes hard to differentiate fact from fiction. Of course, not everything you read on the internet is true, but how do you know what's a good source to rely on for personal information in your life? How about for an academic essay?

In this section, you'll learn about tools you can use and steps you can follow in order to find credible information. You'll learn how to find information, evaluate it, integrate it, and document it correctly for your research paper.

These skills will help you excel in your academic writing, but also pave the way for a more critical eye when hearing or reading about any newfound information.

Learning Outcomes

Evaluate and practice preliminary, intermediate, and advanced search techniques

Evaluate and practice methods of analysis to assess the quality and reliability of a source

Evaluate issues of plagiarism and academic dishonesty

Evaluate and practice MLA document formatting and citation practices

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Have you heard about the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide? Did you know that it is commonly found in many household products, is readily available, but can also cause severe burns, erosion, corrosion, and is the major component in acid rain?

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Get the help you need to realize your potential as a writer and speaker in school and workplace settings

"Facebook as imagined by Jeremy Bentham: The Panopticon of Modern Age" by iLifeinicity C BY 2.0

Design is a powerful mode of communication, a form of visual language-& more. Learn about 7 design definitions so you can use design thinking to develop texts, products, and services. Knowledge of design principles and processes can empower you to communicate clearly and persuasively.

Conventionally, editing is imagined as the teacher's red pen and markup of documents.

Editing is crucial to establishing a professional tone in school and workplace contexts. Learn about editing and its importance to clarity in communications.

Information Literacy: Travelers in line at an airport reading signs as they enter another country.

What is information literacy? How should I identify, find, evaluate, apply, and cite information? Review research and scholarship on information literacy. Learn to think for yourself. Distinguish fake news from real news. Learn to distinguish appeals to ethos, pathos and ethos. Develop a nuanced understanding of information and literacy (e.g., critical, digital, quantitative, and visual literacy). info lit in order to Avoid being duped by the rhetorician's tricks. Nurture your imagination. Learn to identify, find, evaluate, apply, and cite information so you can establish a professional ethos and write clearly and persuasively.

Mindset can be learned: just as these dogs have learned to line up in the I formation when visiting with the buffalo

Mindsets are ways of perceiving and acting in the world. The mindsets you hold, consciously or subconsciously, shape how you feel, think, and act; your sense of identity and belonging; what you believe is possible. Review research and scholarship on mindset. Learn to coach yourself, to avoid unnecessary negativity and anxiety when writing. Explore how to adopt the habits of mind employed by successful writers, entrepreneurs, and product managers.

Organization: pic of fish swimming in a school

Organization is a rhetorical act, a pattern of discourse, an interpretive framework, a cognitive schema, a way of thinking, an attribute of prose. Learn to organize information clearly & persuasively. Explore the organizational schemas that people use to communicate. Review research and scholarship on organization.

Research finds evidence: pic of corona virus

Research is a method writers, speakers, knowledge makers . . . use to gain knowledge about a topic, to develop new knowledge, and to create new businesses, new applications. Learn how to solve problems at work, school, and home by developing your competencies as a researcher. Learn how to develop new knowledge and test knowledge claims using informal, qualitative, quantitative, textual, and mixed research methods.

Revision: pic of a chrysalis transforming into a butterfly

Frustrated by the quality of your own writing? Then take a deep dive into revision. Learn how successful communicators tackle revision.

Rhetoric concerns perception, interpretation, and communication

Featured Articles

What is revision? How can it help me improve my writing? Read about what revision is and how to solicit, interpret, and implement feedback that helps you make positive changes to your work.

Featured Courses

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Fake News is a themed undergraduate English composition course. This course aims to help students develop an understanding and practice of Empathetic Information Literacy.

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Get the help you need to realize your potential as a writer and speaker in school and workplace settings "Facebook as imagined by Jeremy Bentham: The Panopticon of Modern Age" by iLifeinicity C BY 2.0 Design is a powerful mode of communication, a form of visual language-& more.

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Patterns for Presenting Information

General-to-Specific Pattern

The general-to-specific pattern is probably one of the more common patterns in college writing. It may be used in any of these familiar places:

introduction to a paper

background in a research paper

opening paragraphs for a discussion or an analysis

essay examination answers

As the name suggests, this pattern is characterized by a movement in your thinking from a generalization to specific details. Your opening paragraph would begin with a general statement and then add details that explain it. The details may become increasingly more specific. The pattern ends with a broad statement that summarizes your thinking that resulted from the details.

In this example, the first sentence presents the general statement about the writing process. The succeeding statements consist of details and examples, introduced by the transitions first, second, and third.  Finally, the pattern ends with a broad or general statement that summarizes what the writer wishes to conclude about the meaning of the details.

This paragraph could have introduced a longer paper in which the writer discusses the kinds of training needed to learn to write, analyzes the results of a study about learning to write, or even introduces a topical literature review about teaching writing. You can see that the general-to-specific pattern is one you will use frequently because of its versatility as well as its obvious ability to quickly and effectively introduce your readers to your ideas.

You may find this pattern useful for writing mission and vision statements, definitions, marketing analyses, reports of scientific investigations, topical literature reviews, feature articles, editorials, and formal arguments from principle. Also, this mode of writing reflects deductive reasoning, where your conclusion follows necessarily from your premises.

The general-to-specific approach opens an idea with a general statement and then leads into details that support and explain the general statement.

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The general-to-specific pattern is probably one of the more common patterns in college writing. It may be used in any of these familiar places: introduction to a paper background in a research paper opening paragraphs for a discussion or an analysis essay examination answers As the name suggests, this pattern is characterized by a movement in your thinking from a generalization to specific details.

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Reflective Writing and the Revision Process

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Reflective Writing and the Revision Process

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What is a Thesis Statement?

A thesis statement is a sentence that states the topic and purpose of your paper. A good thesis statement will direct the structure of your essay and will allow your reader to understand the ideas you will discuss within your paper.

Where does a Thesis Statement go?

Your thesis should be stated somewhere in the opening paragraphs of your paper, most often as the last sentence of the introduction. Often, a thesis will be one sentence, but for complex subjects, you may find it more effective to break the thesis statement into two sentences.

How do you write a Thesis Statement?

The kind of thesis statement you write will depend on the type of paper you are writing. Here is how to write the different kinds of thesis statements:

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A thesis statement is a sentence that states the topic and purpose of your paper. A good thesis statement will direct the structure of your essay and will allow your reader to understand the ideas you will discuss within your paper.

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UNC Writing Center - MLA Citing Information

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UNC Writing Center - MLA Citing Information

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MLA 8th Edition

MLA Handbook 8th Edition makes it easier to cite both online and print sources with two major changes:

The 9 core elements

The container system

The core elements can be applied to any resource and are listed in the following:

Keep in mind that every citation does not have to include all of the core elements. If one does not apply to your resource then you move on to the next element.

The container system is used when a work is housed within another, whether it is a journal, book, or database. You repeat the core elements 3-9 for the container as well. The following is an example, using the MLA Practice Template:

The citation from the template will then be written in your "Works Cited" page like this:

All of the examples in this guide will use the names of the core elements to identify the parts of the citation. MLA does allow for some optional elements to give more information about your resource, which will be explained in the example.

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LibGuides: Citing Information: MLA 8th ed.

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MLA Handbook 8th Edition makes it easier to cite both online and print sources with two major changes: The 9 core elements The container system The core elements can be applied to any resource and are listed in the following: Keep in mind that every citation does not have to include all of the core elements.

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You, Writing! - Free Composition Textbook

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You, Writing! - Free Composition Textbook

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Patterns for Presenting Information

Specific-to-General Pattern

The specific-to-general pattern reverses the one we just discussed. A paragraph written in this order begins with the details and leads the reader to the generalization, which may be the thesis or the conclusion. We can use the previous example to show how this order reverses the general-to-specific pattern.

This pattern is as compelling as the general-to-specific pattern. As you lead the reader through your thinking, you can build some suspense before your concluding statement. Writers often use this pattern when they want to persuade their audience about their generalization or conclusion and when they aren't sure about their audience's attitude toward their conclusions.

This pattern is especially useful for writing that seeks to discover the nature of a problem and the possible solutions by carefully analyzing their details. For example, in writing a diagnosis of organizational problems, a writer might use inductive reasoning to find the major problems by examining the symptoms. These results may be presented in a specific-to-general order. In scientific reasoning, this pattern is often used with inductive reasoning, where facts or observations about a situation are evaluated to determine whether a generalization can be made.

The specific-to-general approach leads the reader to a general conclusion by first presenting detailed support of that conclusion.

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The specific-to-general pattern reverses the one we just discussed. A paragraph written in this order begins with the details and leads the reader to the generalization, which may be the thesis or the conclusion. We can use the previous example to show how this order reverses the general-to-specific pattern.

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Revision and Proofreading - How to Revise Your Own Writing

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Revision and Proofreading - How to Revise Your Own Writing

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Overall Structure of an MLA Paper

One purpose of using MLA format is to streamline the writing process and establish a consistent and uniform way of presenting material. For this reason, there are specific guidelines you'll need to follow when formatting your paper. The general idea is to use a 12-point font, have 1-inch margins, double-space the paper, include page numbers, and to include your personal information in the upper-left hand corner. Your paper should look like this:

General MLA Formatting Rules

Font: Your paper should be written in 12-point text. Whichever font you choose, MLA requires that regular and italicized text be easily distinguishable from each other. Times and Times New Roman are often recommended.

Line Spacing: All text in your paper should be double-spaced.

Margins: All page margins (top, bottom, left, and right) should be 1 inch. All text should be left-justified.

Indentation: The first line of every paragraph should be indented 0.5 inches.

Page Numbers: Create a right-justified header 0.5 inches from the top edge of every page. This header should include your last name, followed by a space and the page number. Your pages should be numbered with Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3...) and should start with the number 1 on your title page. Most word-processing programs have the ability to automatically add the correct page number to each page so you don't have to do this by hand.

Use of Italics: In MLA style, you should italicize (rather than underline) the titles of books, plays, or other standalone works. You should also italicize (rather than underline) words or phrases you want to lend particular emphasis-though you should do this rarely.

Sentence Spacing: Include just one single space after a period before the next sentence: "Mary went to the store. She bought some milk. Then she went home."

The first page: Like the rest of your paper, everything on your first page, even the headers, should be double-spaced. The following information should be left-justified in regular font at the top of the first page (in the main part of the page, not the header):

on the first line, your first and last name

on the second line, your instructor's name

on the third line, the name of the class

on the fourth line, the date

The title: After the header, the next double-spaced line should include the title of your paper. This should be centered and in title case, and it should not be bolded, underlined, or italicized (unless it includes the name of a book, in which case just the book title should be italicized).

The Oxford Comma: The Oxford comma (also called the serial comma) is the comma that comes after the second-to-last item in a series or list. For example: The UK includes the countries of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. In the previous sentence, the comma immediately after "Wales" is the Oxford comma. In general writing conventions, whether the Oxford comma should be used is actually a point of fervent debate among passionate grammarians. However, it's a requirement in MLA style, so double-check all your lists and series to make sure you include it!

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One purpose of using MLA format is to streamline the writing process and establish a consistent and uniform way of presenting material. For this reason, there are specific guidelines you'll need to follow when formatting your paper.

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Free Wikibook

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Welcome to the Rhetoric and Composition Wikibook, designed for use as a textbook in first-year college composition programs, written as a practical guide for students struggling to bring their writing up to the level expected of them by their professors and instructors. For more detail, see the Introduction chapter.

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The Draft Stage

The Revision Process and the Final Draft

After you have revised your first draft, you should address the major issues of content, organization, and style. This stage of assessment is necessarily at a higher level, or is more general, because you should expect to have taken care of the more detailed aspects during the other stages of writing. When you review your final paper one more time, you should be able to successfully answer the questions in the following checklist.

Checklist for Revising the Final Paper

Understanding the Assignment

Did I demonstrate that I understood the requirements of the assignment?

Did I demonstrate an understanding of the skills and techniques needed to complete this assignment?

Did I demonstrate that I understood the readings relevant to this assignment?

Did I demonstrate an understanding of the concepts and methods in my discipline?

Content/Substance

Is the assignment complete?

Is the information appropriate for the assignment?

Did I use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries appropriately?

Are my citations and references in the correct style for my discipline?

Organization

Is the order of the information logical?

Are the introduction and conclusion clear and related?

Does the organization pattern reflect my critical thinking strategy?

Style

Do the transitions act as clear verbal signals?

Did I use logical connections and summarize when necessary?

Is my style readable and coherent?

Is the tone expressive and consistent?

Diction

Are my tone and diction appropriate to my audience?

Is my English clear and emphatic?

Is my vocabulary appropriately formal or informal for this assignment?

Format

Is the format appropriate and conventional for this assignment?

Does the format of the assignment promote quick, clear understanding?

Do the graphics clarify the text?

Correctness/Mechanics

Is my paper free of spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors?

Did I use standard English?

Did I use appropriate typography for the final printing?

In the revision stage, address the major issues of content, organization, and style.

In the final draft stage, check your writing for spelling, grammar, and clarity; and ensure that your citations are correctly formatted.

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WRTG - The Revision Process and the Final Draft

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After you have revised your first draft, you should address the major issues of content, organization, and style. This stage of assessment is necessarily at a higher level, or is more general, because you should expect to have taken care of the more detailed aspects during the other stages of writing.

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Paragraphing - Excelsior College Writing Center Tutorial

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Paragraphing - Excelsior College Writing Center Tutorial

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The paragraph is the building block of essay writing. The word itself, according to theOxford Dictionary Online (2015), is defined as "a distinct section of a piece of writing, usually dealing with a single theme and indicated by a new line, indentation, or numbering."

Paragraphs can be shown through breaks between lines or through indentations of the first line of the paragraph. Paragraphs are important for ease of reading; they help to offer ideas in "chunks" that the eye and brain can more easily comprehend (as opposed to offering information in one large block of text, which is hard to read).

Paragraphs are necessary in academic writing to show changes in ideas or further development of ideas. In academic writing, paragraphs present mini ideas that often develop out of the thesis sentence's main idea.

Example:
Thesis Sentence Beginnings of Paragraphs
Although all of these paragraph beginnings are related to the main idea of benefits of exercise, they all show a slight shift in content, as the writer moves from one benefit to another.

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The paragraph is the building block of essay writing. The word itself, according to theOxford Dictionary Online (2015), is defined as "a distinct section of a piece of writing, usually dealing with a single theme and indicated by a new line, indentation, or numbering."

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Dedicated to the memory of Dr. Charles Darling.

Word & Sentence Level

Paragraph Level

Essay & Research Paper Level

Ask Grammar, Quizzes, Search Devices

Peripherals & PowerPoints

GrammarPoll, Guestbook, Awards

Text-only version of this page

The Guide to Grammar and Writing is sponsored by the Capital Community College Foundation, a nonprofit 501 c-3 organization that supports scholarships, faculty development, and curriculum innovation. If you feel we have provided something of value and wish to show your appreciation, you can assist the College and its students with a tax-deductible contribution.

For more about giving to Capital, write to CCC Foundation, 950 Main Street, Hartford, CT 06103. Phone (860) 906-5102 or email: jmcnamara@ccc.commnet.edu Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Unless otherwise indicated, all written material on this Web site is the property of Professor Charles Darling and the Capital Community College Foundation and is published here for free use by the college's students and staff and for the general online community. This Guide may not be reproduced wholly or in part, by any means whatsoever, including mirroring on other Web servers, without prior written consent of the author. Printing out sections for a student's personal reference or class practice is permitted as long as the source is indicated. Linking to this site is encouraged; ca-webmaster@ccc.commnet.edu notifying us is appreciated. Copyright 2004; Hartford, Connecticut.

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The Guide to Grammar and Writing contains scores of digital handouts on grammar and English usage, over 170 computer-graded quizzes, recommendations on writing -- from basic problems in subject-verb agreement and the use of articles to exercises in parallel structures and help with argumentative essays, and a way to submit questions about grammar and writing.

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Run-ons, Fused Sentences and Comma Splices

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Run-ons, Fused Sentences and Comma Splices

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MLA - Quick Citation Resources - Penn St. Libraries

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MLA - Quick Citation Resources - Penn St. Libraries

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This guide contains examples of common citation formats in MLA (Modern Language Association) Style, based on the 8th edition (2016) of the MLA Handbook. MLA style is widely used in the humanities, especially in writing on language and literature.

Just need a quick citation? Try ZoteroBib.

The 8th edition of the MLA Handbook recommends using the following core elements in every citation. If elements are missing from the source, they should be omitted from the citation.

Author.
Title of source.
Title of container,
Other contributers,
Version,
Number,
Publisher,
Publication date
Location.

For online sources:

Include the URL (without http:// or https://). Angle brackets are not used around it.

Use DOIs (digital object identifiers) when possible.

Citing the date when an online work was consulted is optional.

Placeholders for unknown information like n.d. ("no date") are no longer used.

Note: MLA recommends using hanging indentation for the second and subsequent lines of each entry.

For more information and examples, see the following resources

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Library Guides: MLA Quick Citation Guide: Overview

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This guide contains examples of common citation formats in MLA (Modern Language Association) Style, based on the 8th edition (2016) of the MLA Handbook. MLA style is widely used in the humanities, especially in writing on language and literature. Just need a quick citation? Try ZoteroBib.