Preface ........................................................ xi
Sources of extracts used in the text ........................... xv
1 Introduction ................................................. 1
1 The main elements in academic writing ........................ 2
2 You and your writing task .................................... 4
3 You and your subject matter .................................. 7
4 You and your reader ......................................... 12
5 Your language: form and structure ........................... 15
Part I Reflection and Research ................................. 19
2 Reflection: asking questions and proposing answers
1 Speculative thinking and writing ............................ 22
2 Choosing a topic ............................................ 24
3 Kinds of question ........................................... 27
4 Coming to terms with an essay topic ......................... 35
5 Summary ..................................................... 51
3 Interpretation: reading and taking notes .................... 53
1 The 'problem' of reading .................................... 54
2 Evidence, interpretation and fact ........................... 57
3 What an author does ......................................... 65
4 An author's major motives ................................... 69
5 Modes of analysis ........................................... 77
6 An author's structural intentions ........................... 79
7 Interpreting a difficult text................................ 82
Part II The Dynamics of an Essay ............................... 89
4 Introductions ............................................... 91
1 The constituents of an essay ................................ 92
2 The constituents of an introduction ......................... 94
3 The use and misuse of introductory material ................. 95
4 Setting out your case ....................................... 98
5 Writing an introduction to a research paper ................ 107
5 Middles .................................................... 111
1 Some common problems ....................................... 112
2 The uses of outlines ....................................... 116
3 Expanding a case ........................................... 117
4 Summary .................................................... 133
6 Endings .................................................... 134
1 Recapitulation ............................................. 134
2 Mood: suggestion and implication ........................... 136
3 Variations on a theme ...................................... 140
Part III Language ............................................. 145
7 You, your language and your material ....................... 147
1 Subjective and objective: the uses of T and 'we' ........... 148
2 Confusing yourself with your material ...................... 151
3 Quoting - and not quoting .................................. 161
4 Some verbs of enquiry: how to use them ..................... 163
8 Analytical language 1: sentences ........................... 167
1 Discrimination and confusion ............................... 168
2 Elements of sentence structure ............................. 169
3 Participants, processes and circumstances .................. 177
9 Analytical language 2: rhetorical strategies ............... 194
1 Analysing versus describing ................................ 194
2 Denning .................................................... 199
3 Comparing and contrasting .................................. 207
10 Cohesion and texture ....................................... 215
1 Determinants of cohesion and texture ....................... 215
2 Revising and improving text ................................ 221
11 Conventions of academic writing ............................ 230
1 Academic culture ........................................... 230
2 A skeleton key to stylistic conventions .................... 232
Appendices
1 Writing book reviews ....................................... 240
2 Sample analyses of essay topics ............................ 243
3 A revised manuscript ....................................... 252
Index ......................................................... 257
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