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Academic writing is clear, concise, focused, structured and backed up by evidence. Its purpose is to aid the reader’s understanding.  It has a formal tone and style, but it is not complex and does not require the use of long sentences and complicated vocabulary.

Task
Based on the video, identify the features and its explanation of academic writing.  Post your answers in Padlet.

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What is Academic Writing? 7 Features of Academic Writing

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In improving the way we write, a writer needs to select words which are precise and appropriate for his/her purpose. This handout may give you some ideas on words to avoid when writing.

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In improving the way we write, a writer needs to select words which are precise and appropriate for his/her purpose. In English, there are words which have the same sound but have different meaning.

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Inference is a "foundational skill" — a prerequisite for higher-order thinking and 21st century skills (Marzano, 2010)
Inference can be defined as the process of drawing of a conclusion based on the available evidence plus previous knowledge and experience.

Activity
a) What is going on in this picture?
b) What do you see that makes you say that?
c) What more can you find?

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Each group select one picture and answer the questions given.

Inference 1

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a. What is going on in this picture?
There is a homeless person sleeping on the floor of a supermarket

b. Based on our observation, the person is laying down on the floor of a supermarket and has their belongings there as well. Besides that, if that person had a home, he/she would prefer resting/laying down in the comfort of their own home.

c. There is another person in the picture picking out groceries in the store. This indicates the store is operating and people nearby are unbothered by the homeless person

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a) The people try to catch the bats
b) They' are wearing PPE because of they wanted to investigate if the Covid-19 Virus is really comes from the bats
c) What we can find is they are trying to catch the bats for their research on how the virus is from. The people who are wearing the PPE suits are the scientist. The scientists wanted to do a research on Covid-19 virus that has spread in China before spreading to other countries in 2019

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What is going on with the picture?
1) There poor / immigrant that are protesting towards the government.
2) Poverty exists in the country (people lost their home)
3) They are planning on how to get away from that area.

What do you see that makes you say that?
1) There are several people lying on the railway without hesitate about the safety.
2) Few people are looking towards the moving train.
3) There no shoes on them.

What more can you find?
1) The situation is not in Malaysia because Malaysia's train does not look like that.

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A)  The man fell in a hole in a construction area

B) Uncompleted road construction causes a man fell in the hole.

C) We can see that theres a tape at that area which means that area is closed for construction work

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a) What is going on in this picture?
We think the kid is in the middle of war
b) What do you see that makes you say that?
The reason to that is the kids running to save his life from war or bomb.
c) What more can you find?
The area is on the urge of destruction due to the war and most of the building in the background is in bad condition.

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Write the inference from the following sentences.

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–We use modal verbs to express something that can probably, certainly, or possibly happen.
Modal verbs help when speaking about ability, making requests and offers, asking permission, and more.

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No more mistakes with MODALS! 3 Easy Rules

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1. Form
Subject + Modals + Main Verb
Sheila can improve her skills.
She must pay RM 100 to get her car.
2. Here is a table to help you understand the differences in modals

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CAN vs COULD

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WHY use the passive voice in academic writing?

1. Often in academic writing, we don't want to focus on who is doing an action, but on who is receiving or experiencing the action. The passive voice is thus extremely useful in academic writing because it allows writers to highlight the most important participants or events within sentences by placing them at the beginning of the sentence.

Examples
In the following sentences, the passive construction is preferable because you want readers to focus on the result of an action rather than the person doing the action.

Active: Scientists classify glass as a solid.
Passive: Glass is classified as a solid.
The passive sentence focuses on how glass is classified, rather than on who classifies glass.
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Should I Use Active or Passive Voice in a Research Paper?

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passive voice

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Resources page for passive voice

Notes on passive voice

Quizzes - multiple choice / short answer

Passives multiple choice quiz 1
Mulitple-choice quiz illustrating the difference between passive and active forms.

Passive or active? Wine making
Fifteen sentences describing the process of wine making. The user must choose either an active or passive form.

Use and forms of the passive voice
Ten-question multiple-choice quiz with feedback

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Advanced level passive voice quiz focusing on style, the position of new and given information in sentences and the choice of active or passive verbs.

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Paraphrasing is the most important tool for sharing the research of others as relevant to your own study.  When you paraphrase, you state someone else’s idea in your own words.

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Mode: grouping: by: 1) Sara osman heile 2) Nawshin shaila 3) nur liyana 4) nur fatihah 5) noura alhariiri 

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Mode: grouping: by: 1) Sara osman heile 2) Nawshin shaila 3) nur liyana 4) nur fatihah 5) noura alhariiri 

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1) Aina Nabila
2) Aisyatul Najwa
3) Siti Nazira
4) Siti Sarah Huda
5) Muhammad Zulqarnain

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1) Shaamini
2) Rajuinder
3) Nisha Syahirah
4) Kartick
5) Mahalakshimi

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1) Noor Ain Khan
2) Nur Alia Farhana
3) Muhammad Nur Afizie
4) Rabi Haruna
5) Fadzrinah Natasya

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Revanyasre
Navin Kumar
Dhivakar
Afram
Nivan

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Go through the following thesis statements. Identify the error in each one and rewrite the thesis statement so that it is more cohesive.

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SLIDE FOR COMPARE & CONTRAST ESSAY & CAUSE & EFFECT ESSAY

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SLIDE FOR COMPARE & CONTRAST ESSAY & CAUSE & EFFECT ESSAY

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A cause and effect essay looks at the reasons (or causes) for something, then discusses the results (or effects).
- You need to choose whether to write on cause or effects

Exercise:
1.  How have smartphones affected business practices?
2.  What causes social media sites to lose popularity?

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1. Contrast - examining of ways in which two or more persons, places or things are different.
2. Compare - examining of ways in which two or more persons, places or things are similar.
*The purpose of comparing or constrasting is to understand each of the two things more clearly or to make judgements about them.*

There are two ways of organizing your points:
a) block pattern
b) alternating pattern

Exercise:
1. Compare two computer games
2. Childhood vs Adulthood
3. Online vs Real Dating

PAST SEMESTER QUESTION:
Compare and contrast between face to face conversation and social media communication (Sept2019)

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Compare and Contrast Essays: The Ultimate Guide | Grammarly Blog

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A compare-and-contrast essay is a style of essay that points out the similarities and differences between two or more subjects. It's ideal for showing what separates and unites related things or concepts, particularly if the subjects are often confused for each other or unjustly lumped together.

Compare-and-contrast essays have a lot in common with other essay types, but differ in many ways, too-and that's the heart of comparing and contrasting! By seeing the differences and similarities, the reader better understands each of the subjects by using the other subject as a frame of reference.

In this guide, we explain how to write a compare-and-contrast essay, including some advanced tips and examples. We discuss how to structure your essay and how to frame your thesis, but first, let's take a broader look at why comparison essays are so useful.

Purpose of a compare-and-contrast essay

Let's say you want to write an essay about how great renewable resources are, but you spend a lot of your time explaining how fossil fuels work. To truly understand why renewable resources are so amazing, your reader needs a little background on their alternative, fossil fuels-but the essay's attention is divided so equally that it's like there are topics.

That's when compare-and-contrast essays function at their best. If two topics relate to each other or define each other, you can better explain them both by showcasing their similarities and differences. That goes double for topics that are often conflated or confused for each other; it helps readers when someone points out exactly what's the same about them and what's different.

Unlike argumentative essays or persuasive essays , compare-and-contrast essays deal with multiple topics instead of focusing on one. The downside is that they don't describe the individual subjects as much as single-topic essays. They're also a common assignment for college essays since they show the instructor how well you grasp both subjects.

How to write a compare-and-contrast essay

When writing a compare-and-contrast essay, it helps to figure out two things: what your thesis is (the subject matter) and how you plan to structure it.

Thesis

First things first: You need to choose which subjects you're comparing. This isn't always easy, especially if you have to pick the subjects on your own.

For inspiration, here are some compare-and-contrast essay example topics:

Opposing options for a certain category

fossil fuels and renewable resources

Coca-Cola and Pepsi

Related works of arts or cultural movements

People who are similar, connected, or associated with each other
Dorothea Lange and Diane Arbus

The state of affairs at different time periods

London in the 1600s and London now

the LGBTQIA+ community before and after Stonewall

Two different but related places
Roman Empire and Greek Empire

Opposing theories or beliefs

loop quantum gravity and string theory

evolution and creationism

Opposing viewpoints or opinions
liberalism and conservatism

Topics that are often confused with each other

Once you've settled on your subjects, you can begin generating ideas. It helps to first list all the similarities and differences between your subjects. When you see them all written down, you can start formulating connections and decide what structure to use for your compare-and-contrast essay.

If you're stuck, try making a Venn diagram . This is a visual aid that helps you understand which characteristics your subjects share, and which ones are exclusive.

Looking at your lists, you can then decide on the thesis. To do so, ask yourself a few questions: What are you trying to show in your compare-and-contrast essay? What do you want your reader to take away? For example, do you want to emphasize that Dorothea Lange's work influenced Diane Arbus, or that they are two very distinct artists?

Organization

Compare-and-contrast essays follow our own recommended essay structure . While the linked guide goes into more detail, in a nutshell, your compare-and-contrast essay should follow a simple format of beginning, middle, and end:

Introduction: where you explain your thesis or what your essay will discuss

Body: where you actually list the similarities and differences of your subjects; the largest section

Conclusion: where you wrap up and summarize your points

The introduction, usually one or two paragraphs, should include a thesis statement to show the reader what to expect for the rest of your essay. You can write your introduction following the same guidelines as other essay types, though be sure to mention all your subjects. Likewise, you can write an essay conclusion with the standard rules and best practices.

It's the body where compare-and-contrast essays get tricky. Do you write about both subjects at the same time, or switch back and forth? Let's talk deeper on this below.

How to structure a compare-and-contrast essay

The hardest part of structuring a compare-and-contrast essay is knowing when to talk about which subject. Essentially, you have three options:

block method (subject by subject): You discuss one subject in full and then move on to the next subject.

alternating method (point by point): You discuss one subject's take on a certain aspect and then another subject's take immediately afterward, followed by a new aspect.

similarities and differences: You discuss all the similarities between your subjects and then all the differences, or vice versa (differences first and then similarities).

No matter which option you choose, you have to pay particular attention to topic sentences . Paragraphs in compare-and-contrast essays can get complicated, so it's crucial to have a good topic or introduction sentence for each paragraph to make the flow of ideas clear.

Block method (subject by subject)

The block method is usually divided into paragraphs: a paragraph about one subject and then a new paragraph about another subject. Take the compare-and-contrast essay example . In the first paragraph after the introduction, the author talks only about Ahab from , but in the next paragraph talks only about the narrator from . Each subject gets its own paragraph.

Using the block method, you can go back and forth like this for pages, covering as many topics as you need. This approach is best for giving each subject its own attention but tends to slightly weaken the connection between the two.

Alternating method (point by point)

As another option, you can break paragraphs up by a specific topic and issue, and in each paragraph discuss both or all subjects. Let's look at another compare-and-contrast essay example, The Reality of Science Fiction: Comparing Clarke to Cruise . Here, both subjects are discussed in the same paragraph, one right after another.

This approach works best when you want to emphasize the connection between your subjects, or lack thereof. In our example above, the author wishes to highlight just how different the aliens of Arthur Clarke are from those of other authors, particularly H. G. Wells. To emphasize this, the essay author juxtaposes the two points right next to each other in the same paragraph.

Similarities and differences

The third option is quite similar to the alternating approach, with each subject being discussed side by side in the same paragraph. However, the paragraphs aren't divided by different topics, but instead by what the subjects have in common and what they don't.

Take a look at the compare-and-contrast essay example Government by the People, for the People has Perished from the Earth , which compares the dystopias of George Orwell's and Yevgeny Zamyatin's . The first paragraph after the introduction discusses what the governments in the two books have in common, but the next paragraph explains how they differ.

This method works best if you want to focus on a particular similarity or difference between your subjects, or if you want to build up to a powerful conclusion or reveal at the end.

The writing process for compare-and-contrast essays

Want to know how to write a compare-and-contrast essay step by step? The writing process is the same as all essay writing, although adapted specifically for drawing comparisons:

- As mentioned above, brainstorming should involve listing all the similarities and difficulties; creating a Venn diagram is a useful method.

- Looking at your brainstorming lists, decide which structuring method would best get your point across: block, alternating, or similarities/differences.

- Does the structure you've chosen work? With the first draft finished, you can more easily identify any areas that need to be fixed, revised, or rewritten from scratch.

- Finally, you want to make sure you corrected all the spelling and grammatical mistakes in your draft. With a writing assistant like Grammarly, this phase is a breeze.

If you want to learn more about this process, read our comprehensive guide on essay writing , which better explains the details.

Tips for writing compare-and-contrast essays

Beyond knowing the full process for crafting a compare-and-contrast essay, it helps to learn a few tips to ensure it shines.

Choose topics that are related

In other words, choose topics that have plenty in common, otherwise, your essay will be all contrasting and no comparing. Typically, subjects in compare-and-contrast essays share a strong connection, such as two people in the same profession or two products in the same category.

Without this unifying thread, the reader is left wondering, "What's the point of comparing these two things?" Not only will it confound your audience, but you'll also struggle more to come up with points when writing. Solve these problems before they start by smartly choosing your subjects at the beginning.

Write for clarity

Essays with only one subject can be confusing enough-imagine how complicated it gets with two or more subjects. One of the biggest obstacles with compare-and-contrast essays is communicating clearly so your reader knows which points relate to which subject, and what conclusion the entire essay is building toward.

But when you're in the heat of a writing session, it can be difficult-and distracting-to stop and evaluate your work for clarity. Luckily, Grammarly offers suggestions to rewrite entire sentences in order to improve the clarity of your writing.

If the writing in your compare-and-contrast essay starts getting messy, Grammarly's writing suggestions recommend alternative phrasings to clear things up. Just one click and your writing gets the professional editor treatment. Try Grammarly now and see how your writing improves.

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How to Write a Compare-and-Contrast Essay

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A compare-and-contrast essay is a style of essay that points out the similarities and differences between two or more subjects. It's ideal...

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INFORMATION TRANSFER : LINEAR & NON-LINEAR TEXTS

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INFORMATION TRANSFER : LINEAR & NON-LINEAR TEXTS