Academic Writing

A topic sentence (also known as a focus sentence) encapsulates or organises an entire

paragraph, and you should be careful to include one in most of your major paragraphs.
Although topic sentences may appear anywhere in a paragraph, in academic essays they
often appear at the beginning.
It might be helpful to think of a topic sentence as working in two directions
simultaneously. It relates the paragraph to the essay’s thesis, and thereby acts as a
signpost for the argument of the paper as a whole, but it also defines the scope of the
paragraph itself. For example, consider the following topic sentence:
Many fast-food chains make their profits from adding a special ingredient called ‘forget
sauce’ to their foods.
If this sentence controls the paragraph that follows, then all sentences in the paragraph
must relate in some way to fast food, profit, and ‘forget sauce’:
Made largely from edible oil products, this condiment is never listed on the menu.
This sentence fits in with the topic sentence because it is a description of the composition
of ‘forget sauce.’
In addition, this well-kept industry secret is the reason why ingredients are never listed on
the packaging of victuals sold by these restaurants.
The transitional phrase ‘In addition’ relates the composition of ‘forget sauce’ to secret
fast-food industry practices.
‘Forget sauce’ has a chemical property which causes temporary amnesia in consumers.
Now the paragraph moves on to the short-term effect on consumers:
After spending too much money on barely edible food bereft of any nutritional value,
most consumers swear they will never repeat such a disagreeable experience.
This sentence describes its longer-term effects:
Within a short period, however, the chemical in ‘forget sauce’ takes effect, and they can
be depended upon to return and spend, older but no wiser.
Finally, I finish the paragraph by ‘proving’ the claim contained in the topic sentence, that
many fast-food chains make their profits from adding a special ingredient called ‘forget
sauce’ to their foods.
Analysing a Topic Sentence
Topic sentences often act like tiny thesis statements. Like a thesis statement, a topic
sentence makes a claim of some sort. As the thesis statement is the unifying force in the
essay, so the topic sentence must be the unifying force in the paragraph. Further, as is the
case with the thesis statement, when the topic sentence makes a claim, the paragraph
which follows must expand, describe, or prove it in some way. Topic sentences make a
point and give reasons or examples to support it.
Consider the last paragraph about topic sentences, beginning with the topic sentence
itself:
Topic sentences often act like tiny thesis statements.
This is my claim, or the point I will prove in the following paragraph. All the sentences
that follow this topic sentence must relate to it in some way.
Like a thesis statement, a topic sentence makes a claim of some sort. As the thesis
statement is the unifying force in the essay, so the topic sentence must be the unifying
force in the paragraph.

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These two sentences show how the reader can compare thesis statements and topic
sentences: they both make a claim and they both provide a focus for the writing which
follows.
Further, as is the case with the thesis statement, when the topic sentence makes a claim,
the paragraph which follows must expand, describe, or prove it in some way.
Using the transitional word “further”to relate this sentence to those preceding it, I expand
on my topic sentence by suggesting ways a topic sentence is related to the sentences that
follow it.
Topic sentences make a point and give reasons or examples to support it.
Finally, I wrap up the paragraph by stating exactly how topic sentences act rather like
tiny thesis statements.
Paragraph Development and Topic Sentences
A TYPICAL EXPOSITORY PARAGRAPH STARTS WITH A CONTROLLING IDEA OR CLAIM,
which it then explains, develops, or supports with evidence. Paragraph sprawl occurs
when digressions are introduced into an otherwise focused and unified discussion.
Digressions and deviations often come in the form of irrelevant details or shifts in focus
Irrelevant Details
When I was growing up, one of the places I enjoyed most was the cherry tree in the back
yard. Behind the yard was an alley and then more houses. Every summer when the
cherries began to ripen, I used to spend hours high in the tree, picking and eating the
sweet, sun-warmed cherries. My mother always worried about my falling out of the tree,
but I never did. But I had some competition for the cherries — flocks of birds that
enjoyed them as much as I did and would perch all over the tree, devouring the fruit
whenever I wasn't there. I used to wonder why the grown-ups never ate any of the
cherries; but actually when the birds and I had finished, there weren't many left.

No sentence is completely irrelevant to the general topic of this paragraph (the cherry
tree), but the sentences Behind the yard was an alley and then more houses and My
mother always worried about my falling out of the tree, but I never did do not develop the
specific idea in the first sentence: enjoyment of the cherry tree.
Shift in Focus
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It is a fact that capital punishment is not a Once again, no sentence in this paragraph (to
deterrent to crime. 2Statistics show that in the left) is completely irrelevant to the
states with capital punishment, murder general topic (capital punishment), but the
rates are the same or almost the same as in specific focus of this paragraph shifts
states without capital punishment. 3It is also abruptly twice. The paragraph starts out with
true that it is more expensive to put a a clear claim in sentence 1: It is a fact that
person on death row than in life capital punishment is not a deterrent to
imprisonment because of the costs of crime. Sentence 2 provides evidence in
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maximum security. Unfortunately, capital support of the initial claim: Statistics show
punishment has been used unjustly. that in states with capital punishment,
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Statistics show that every execution is of a murder rates are the same or almost the
man and that nine out of ten are black. 6So same as in states without capital punishment.
prejudice shows right through. Sentence 3, however, shifts the focus from
capital punishment as a deterrent to crime to
the cost of incarceration: It is also true that it

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The following paragraph on the same topic
is much more effectively focused and
unified:
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The punishment of criminals has always
been a problem for society. 2Citizens have
had to decide whether offenders such as
first-degree murderers should be killed in a
gas chamber, imprisoned for life, or
rehabilitated and given a second chance in
society. 3Many citizens argue that serious
criminals should be executed. 4They believe
that killing criminals will set an example
for others and also rid society of a
cumbersome burden. 5Other citizens say
that no one has the right to take a life and
that capital punishment is not a deterrent
to crime. 6They believe that society as well
as the criminal is responsible for the crimes
and that killing the criminal does not solve
the problems of either society or the
criminal.
Topic Sentences
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is more expensive to put a person on death
row than in life imprisonment because of the
costs of maximum security. Sentence 4 once
again shifts the focus, this time to issues of
justice: Unfortunately, capital punishment
has been used unjustly. Sentences 5 and 6,
Statistics show that every execution is of a
man and that nine out of ten are black and So
prejudice shows right through, follow from 4
if one believes that executing men and blacks
is in fact evidence of injustice and prejudice.
More importantly, however, we are now a
long way off from the original claim, that
capital punishment does not deter crime. The
focus has shifted from deterrence to expense
to fairness.
Sentence 1 puts forth the main claim: The
punishment of criminals has always been a
problem for society. Sentence 2 specifies the
exact nature of the problem by listing
society's choices: Citizens have had to decide
whether offenders such as first-degree
murderers should be killed in a gas chamber,
imprisoned for life, or rehabilitated and
given a second chance in society. Sentence 3
further develops the topic by stating one
point of view: Many citizens argue that
serious criminals should be executed. The
reasons for this point of view are then
provided in sentence 4: They believe that
killing criminals will set an example for
others and also rid society of a cumbersome
burden. Sentence 5 states an opposing point
of view: Other citizens say that no one has
the right to take a life and that capital
punishment is not a deterrent to crime.
Sentence 6 states the reason for the opposing
point of view: They believe that society as
well as the criminal is responsible for the
crimes and that killing the criminal does not
solve the problems of either society or the
criminal.
All three paragraphs start out well with a topic sentence. A topic sentence is a sentence
whose main idea or claim controls the rest of the paragraph; the body of a paragraph
explains, develops or supports with evidence the topic sentence's main idea or claim. The
topic sentence is usually the first sentence of a paragraph, but not necessarily. It may
come, for example, after a transition sentence; it may even come at the end of a
paragraph.
Topic sentences are not the only way to organize a paragraph, and not all paragraphs need
a topic sentence. For example, paragraphs that describe, narrate, or detail the steps in an
experiment do not usually need topic sentences. Topic sentences are useful, however, in
paragraphs that analyze and argue. Topic sentences are particularly useful for writers who
have difficulty developing focused, unified paragraphs (i.e., writers who tend to sprawl).
Topic sentences help these writers develop a main idea or claim for their paragraphs, and,
perhaps most importantly, they help these writers stay focused and keep paragraphs
manageable.
Topic sentences are also useful to readers because they guide them through sometimes
complex arguments. Many well-known, experienced writers effectively use topic
sentences to bridge between paragraphs. Here's an example of how one professional
writer does this:
Soon after the spraying had ended there were unmistakable signs that all was not
well. Within two days dead and dying fish, including many young salmon, were
found along the banks of the stream. Brook trout also appeared among the dead
fish, and along the roads and in the woods birds were dying. All the life of the
stream was stilled. Before the spraying there had been a rich assortment of the
water life that forms the food of salmon and trout — caddis fly larvae, living in
loosely fitting protective cases of leaves, stems or gravel cemented together with
saliva, stonefly nymphs clinging to rocks in the swirling currents, and the wormlike
larvae of blackflies edging the stones under riffles or where the stream spills over
steeply slanting rocks. But now the stream insects were dead, killed by DDT, and
there was nothing for a young salmon to eat. (Rachel Carson, Silent Spring)
The first part of Carson's topic sentence — Soon after the spraying had ended — is a
transitional clause that looks back to the previous topic: DDT spraying. Topic sentences
often begin with such transitional clauses referring to the previous paragraph. The second
part of the topic sentence — there were unmistakable signs that all was not well —
shapes and controls what follows. This kind of bridging helps the reader follow Carson's
argument. Notice, too, how Carson further helps the reader follow her argument by
providing a more focused version of the topic sentence later in the paragraph — All the
life of the stream was stilled. This sentence tells us exactly what Carson meant by all was
not well.

Student Success
How many times have you sat down to write a paper and ended up not understanding
what your professor wanted, having a difficult time identifying and organizing
information, pulling late hours to complete it or getting a paper back with comments such
as “good effort...but.”
Writing a paper or answering questions on an essay test requires a similar effort from
you. Regardless of what you're writing there are three phases in the writing process.

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Planning Writing Monitoring
Identifying the requirements of Organizing Checking your answer to the
the question information Writing - requirement, editing
Developing a plan - including Draft Return to writing phase if
material and time plan Edit needed
Final copy Do an analysis on returned
paper
Regardless of the type of writing assignments - an essay question, a short paper, a
research project most students plug into the task with little thought of what the
assignment is specifically requesting, developing a written time plan that will allow them
to monitor themselves or a plan on how they're going to organize the information they
have.
All questions, thesis statements, points to respond to have three elements which are often
overlooked. These elements include a topic identification, an alert word which will tell
you what you need to do e.g. compare, discuss and a limiting word which directs the
focus of your answer for example outcomes, steps. Look at the example below:
Compare (alert word) the academic outcomes (limiting) of fall freshman pledging (topic)
to those of spring freshman pledging (topic).
After examining the above example it is quite clear what is expected from the
writer. The paper/essay should be written comparing out comes of the same
population of students but at different times of their freshman year. The next
question which arises is specifically what does "compare" entail? It includes
identifying similarities and differences. The key to writing successfully is to
understand the requirements of your alert word and to always include
examples and details which will support your statements.
The next step in preparing to write includes considering how many and what type of
sources you need for example: on-line articles, interviews, current research, etc.,
specifically what type of information/facts you looking for, how you are going to collect
and record your information, your information and lastly, but equally as critical
developing a time frame for gathering your information, organizing it, writing it, editing,
checking it against your question, adding more information if needed and allowing
enough time for it to sit and "age."
Goal setting
While preparing to write a paper or answer a question in an essay format you should
identify the parts of the question which you want to respond to.
While preparing to write predetermine the manner in which you are going to record
relevant information. Do your notes need to be set up to record a sequence of events (see
our note taking modular), are you identifying details and examples which will enable you
to defend a position, etc.
Make a time plan which includes identifying periods for researching, drafting, editing and
final writing.
Write down your plan and read it out loud to yourself or roommate - it'll help you pick up
holes.
Mark your plan down on your calendar and monitor yourself to make sure that you're
meeting your deadlines.

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Plan to have your final product completed at least three days ahead - preferably longer so
that you can reproof it a few days after you've completed it.
Read your finished paper out loud. Several times if you're going to have to present it.
Article:
Writing assignments can range from thought-provoking essays to detailed research
papers. But have you ever sat, pen and pad in hand or hands poised over a keyboard, and
waited for a stroke of inspiration to get you started? Every writer will tell you that strokes
of inspiration are often few and far between. What can help you get started is an
organized approach to getting your ideas flowing.
Rather than wait for your mind to generate a starting point, go back to any notes you have
relevant to your topic. They will contain core ideas and supporting information. If your
topic is a totally new subject, use the mind-mapping method to generate a flow. The most
important part of getting started is not to judge each little thought and idea that comes
along. This is also not the time to think about grammar, punctuation, and spelling. This is
the time to create. Use critical thinking skills to probe all the possible directions that you
can go with the topic while staying true to what the assignment requires.
Let’s say that you need to write an essay about the degree to which elected public
officials should be accountable for the behavior in their personal lives. The current
scandal involving President Clinton is bringing this question to the minds of many U.S.
citizens. More than just writing down your opinion and getting on a soapbox, however,
you need to express in writing your thoughts about this subject and support your belief.
Where do you begin? What are reasonable, sound angles from which to approach this
topic?
To get started, you could look at past scandals involving public officials. How
did scandal affect those persons’ effectiveness and image? Compare eras and
social climates – how does public consciousness and the morality of the time
affect public perception of a situation? What about your personal position –
what values, beliefs, and attitudes shape your view of the scandal? What are
the long-term effects of scandal? Does anything positive ever come from an
upset of this kind? What about the officials themselves? Should public officials see
themselves as role models, or should they only be concerned with their duties on the job?
Can individuals, regardless of their roles in society, have different sets of values for their
personal and their professional lives?
Whew! That’s a lot to work with. Any one of these ideas could be the basis for a
substantial and provocative essay. You can probably come up with even more directions
to take this topic. Think it through carefully and get your ideas flowing.
Once you have a clear focus on the direction you want to take, the hard part is over! –
follow the steps for organizing and preparing your finished work. Your next biggest
challenge will be to try not to use all your great ideas in one paper. Save some for the
next project.

Academic reading
Goals

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- the primary objectives while preparing to reading should be to identify the material
topics, the learning objectives and to plan an approach for completing the task
successfully.
- before beginning to read, identify what you want to be able to do with the information
you’re going to read about - e.g. compare and contrast material, trace a sequence of
events, defend a position, etc.
- before you start determine the amount of time you want to spend. Plan approximately
one hour for 30 pages of moderately dense material
- be an active reader - make a plan before reading, monitor yourself while reading and
continually check your progress.
- surveying your material before reading makes your reading episode more effective.
- learn to anticipate! survey your environment - different environments need different
strategies. Identify and deal with immediate and potential distracters.

Article
Learning to Achieve Successful Reading in Postsecondary Settings Is A Matter of
Learning Self-Reliance by Mary Bixby, Ed.D
University of Missouri-Columbia
All students have a unique challenge when it comes to developing proficient reading
strategies. Students come with an array of reading strategies they’ve developed in their
prior schooling – many are useful, but unfortunately many are counterproductive, even
harmful!
Part of the challenge of becoming an efficient, proficient college reader involves students
unlearning old reading strategies and redefining reading as building a step-by-step
process aimed at constructing meaning.
What Reading Is, and Is NOT
There are tons of exercises out there to help students learn to be more proficient readers.
Sometimes advice such as highlighting, reading to answer study guide questions, or
reading merely to make flashcards is not the best advice to give a student for the first
read. Reading is problem solving, and there are two basic kinds of reading problems:
those on the page and those off the page. All readers must strategically control both sorts
of problems.
Bridging the Background Gap: Start With Main Ideas
Students come to college awfully detail-driven, and yet you must quickly understand that
reading in college has to begin with a basic understanding of the main ideas first, before
you attempt to digest (god forbid rote memorize) the details. Therefore you must enter
the text at the level of understanding that your background allows. If you have a poor
background in biology, for example, you may be utterly lost in a college biology text.
Truth is, we aren’t always ready to read everything we’re told to read.
Setting Purposes: On Your Own
The biggest challenge of reading is that for the most part, the academic reading most
students have done has been guided by other peoples’ purposes; i. e. to read for the end of
chapter questions, to fill in a teacher-made worksheet or study guide, and/or to read for
details, such as terms and their definitions. At university level teachers require an
expensive 400-page, dense text, and all they really tell you is that the test is in five weeks
and that you need to know everything. The challenge for students and teachers of

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students is to understand that students must use their backgrounds of experience, cues
from their lecture notes and other teacher-provided information that is no doubt not a
worksheet, to infer what may be the important information to read for and understand
first. In other words, you must develop self-reliance as college readers.
Students should also seek out others who have had their particular instructors to get a
sense of what the instructors value and stress. Reading is not always an individual task.
Students eventually discover that college tests come from a mysterious blend of teacher-
talk and assigned reading, and while the instructors understand how the sources link, the
students may not see the connections and it is the work that they do to reconcile the notes
with the readings that will ultimately result in making sense out of the material!!
Make understanding the main ideas a first priority, and if comprehension is good,
memory takes care of itself.

For reading self-reliance, students should work with partners or small groups
to brainstorm solutions to these inevitable reading problems. Then, as a
group, discuss the ideas that you come up with.
Problem On The PageSolutions 1. Stupid vocabulary1. 2. Too long to read in
one setting2. 3. No headings and subheadings3. 4. No diagrams or pictures4.
5. Lofty language5. 6. No summary6. 7. Main ideas embedded and obscure7. 8. Loads of
footnotes8. 9. Print is too small9. 10. Other10. Problem Off The PageSolutions 1.Has
nothing to do with the lecture1. 2. Inadequate background2. 3. Lack of interest3. 4.
Lecture contradicts book4. 5. When the reading occurs5. 6. Where the reading occurs6. 7.
What bookhandling strategy is used7. 8. Readers intentions unestablished8. 9. Instructors
expectations unknown9. 10. Other10.
By working together to solve these problems you’re bound to come up with some
workable solutions. Experiment a little. If you try everything you can think of and you're
still having trouble, talk things over with an instructor or a with a counselor in the
Learning Center.
NOTE: Reading in college requires a new approach and a different set of skill than you may be used to
using. But if you understand the differences, experiment with new reading strategies and work diligently to
break away from the methods of the past, you’ll be reading like a true scholar in no time flat.

2. Critiquing

The word ‘critique’ is related to other words, such as critical, and critic, which are to do
with having and stating an opinion about someone else's claim, statement or performance.

You critique (verb) the literature when you write about ideas in your field that are not
your own, both to show you know the field, and as a context for your own research or
ideas. Usually, your critique (noun) follows your summary of the original. The reader can
then appreciate your views about the validity of other writers' ideas. This
summary/critique partnership gives you the basic building blocks for a literature review.

In this subsection, you are given the planning sheet ‘starting points for critiquing’ which
helps you to ask critical questions of any text. A further planning sheet shows you ‘a
critiquing technique’, and you have the opportunity to practise this using your own text.
Lastly, some examples of authentic text from the Health Sciences illustrate the subtle use

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of ‘comparing and contrasting’ to achieve a finely controlled critical tone while writing
about the work of others.

Planning sheets:
Starting points for critiquing
A critiquing technique
Comparing and contrasting

Starting points for critiquing

Whenever you wish to form a critical opinion about something (a television show, a
movie, a journal article, a text book, a research study), try asking yourself the following
questions:

What is this? What is it all about?

Does it work? If so, on what grounds? If not, why not?
How was it achieved? Was this the best possible way?
Who is saying/presenting it and what authority do they have (what do they know about
it)?
Is it significant? What use is it?
Why is it significant? Who says so?
What is its context? Do any contextual factors change your views about it?
How good is it? On what criteria?
How valid is it? What inconsistencies or unsubstantiated claims to you see?
How reliable is the evidence in support of it?
What has been gained by it?
What do the authors say about it?
Are they right?
How does it contribute to the human condition?
So what?

Write a paragraph about any topic, in which the primary aim is to answer as many of the
above questions as you can. Write in continuous prose, and clearly indicate the subject
matter with a clear topic sentence.