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Sound Writing
Cody Chun, Kieran O’Neil, Kylie Young, Julie Nelson Christoph
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Front Matter
Colophon
Acknowledgments
Preface
Overview
1
Research Methods
1.1
Research Essentials
1.2
Research Questions
1.3
Research Tips and Strategies
2
How to Read
2.1
Finding, Skimming, and Reading Sources
2.1.1
Primary Sources
2.1.2
Secondary Sources
2.1.3
Skimming
2.2
Different Types of Reading
2.2.1
Active Reading
2.2.2
Reading Critically
2.2.3
Reading in the Sciences
2.3
Note-Taking Strategies
2.4
How to Read Writing Prompts
3
Forming Your Argument
3.1
Elements of an Argument
3.1.1
Main Claim
3.1.2
Evidence
3.1.3
Substantiation
3.1.4
Counterpoint
3.2
Diversity of Argumentation Modes
3.2.1
Different Models of Argumentation
3.2.2
Argumentation as a Process
3.3
Making a Strong Argument
3.4
Developing a Thesis
3.4.1
The Six-Step Process
3.5
Organizing an Argument
3.6
Supporting an Argument with Evidence
3.7
Using Quote Sandwiches
4
The Writing Process
4.1
Prewriting
4.1.1
Brainstorming
4.1.2
Planning
Some Planning Strategies
Mind Map
Freewriting
Drawing
4.1.3
Outlining
The Classic Outline
The Bubble Map
The Flowchart
4.2
Writing
4.2.1
Writing Introductions
Role of the Introduction
Anatomy of the Introduction
Writing Effective Introductions
4.2.2
Writing Topic Sentences
4.2.3
Writing Transitions
4.2.4
Writing Body Paragraphs
4.2.5
Writing Conclusions
Role of the Conclusion
Anatomy of the Conclusion
Writing Effective Conclusions
4.2.6
Researching while Writing
4.3
Revising
4.3.1
Reverse Outlining
4.3.2
Peer Review
4.4
Overcoming Obstacles
4.4.1
Identifying Obstacles
4.4.2
Managing Anxiety
4.4.3
Managing Frustration
4.4.4
Meeting Deadlines
4.4.5
Identifying as a Writer
4.4.6
Navigating Writing and AI
Why We Write Essays
How Essays Trick You Into Learning (And Why YOU Have to Write Them YOURSELF)
How well can a chatbot write, anyway?
5
Discipline-Specific Writing
5.1
Writing for African American Studies
5.2
Writing for Art and Art History
5.3
Writing for Biology
5.4
Writing for Business
5.5
Writing for Chemistry
5.6
Writing for Computer Science
5.6.1
Writing Code and Code Comments
5.6.2
Writing Academic Papers
5.7
Writing for English
5.8
Writing for Exercise Science
5.9
Writing for Geology
5.10
Writing for History
5.11
Writing for International Political Economy
5.12
Writing for Mathematics
5.13
Writing for Music and Music History
5.14
Writing for Philosophy
5.15
Writing for Politics and Government
5.16
Writing for Psychology
5.17
Writing for Spanish
5.18
Writing Lab Reports
5.18.1
Abstracts
5.18.2
Introductions
5.18.3
Materials and Methods or Experimental Sections
5.18.4
Results
5.18.5
Discussions
6
Writing with Awareness
6.1
Writing with Respect
6.2
Inclusive Language
6.2.1
Intersectionality
6.2.2
Language Toward Gender Inclusivity
6.2.3
Language Toward Neurological and Physical Inclusivity
6.2.4
Language Toward Racial and Ethnic Inclusivity
6.2.5
Language Toward
LGBTQ+
Inclusivity
6.2.6
Language Toward Socioeconomic Inclusivity
6.2.7
Language Toward Religious Inclusivity
6.3
Writing and Correctness
6.3.1
Standard American English
6.3.2
Pronouns and Correctness
6.4
Multilingual Writers
6.4.1
Identifying as Multilingual
6.4.2
Challenges
6.4.3
What do I do as a Multilingual Writer If. . .
7
Writing at the Sentence Level
7.1
Grammar Basics
7.1.1
Parts of Speech
7.1.2
Basic Sentence Structure
Subject-Predicate
Direct and Indirect Objects
Clauses
Phrases
Modifiers
Types of Sentences
Functional Types of Sentences
Subordination and Coordination
7.1.3
Grammar of Infinitives
When to Split InfinitivesClear Split Infinitive: Backpacking Trip
When not to Split Infinitives
7.2
Tricky Grammar
7.2.1
Problems with Subject-Verb Agreement
Subject-Verb Agreement Rules
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
Indefinite Pronouns
-S Endings
Is/Are
Either/Or, Neither/Nor
Of
And/Or
Confusing Modifiers
Collective Nouns
Fractional Expressions
7.2.2
Problems with Sentence Fragments
7.2.3
Problems with Parallelism
Mixing Word Forms
Mixing Clause Forms
Two Nouns Following One Adjective
Lists After a Colon
7.2.4
Problems with Modifiers
Misplaced Modifiers
Dangling Modifiers
7.3
Style and Word Choice
7.3.1
Writing Clearly and Precisely
7.3.2
Making Effective Word Choices
7.3.3
Using Passive Constructions Cautiously
7.3.4
Using Strong Verbs
7.3.5
Considering Homophones
Common Homophones
Incorrect Use of Its and It’s
7.4
Punctuation and Capitalization Basics
7.4.1
Punctuation
Period ⟦.⟧
Ellipsis ⟦. . .⟧ (AKA: “dot dot dot”)
Exclamation ⟦!⟧ and Question ⟦?⟧ Marks
Comma ⟦,⟧
Semicolon ⟦;⟧
Colon ⟦:⟧
Hyphens and Dashes ⟦-⟧, ⟦–⟧, and ⟦—⟧
Parentheses ⟦(these)⟧
Brackets ⟦[these]⟧
Quotation Marks
Apostrophes
7.4.2
Capitalization
7.5
10 Confusing Things in English
8
Citations
8.1
The Basics
8.1.1
Background
8.1.2
Basic Components
8.1.3
In-Text Citations
8.2
Avoiding Plagiarism
8.3
Citing by Source Type
8.3.1
Citing a Book with One Author
APA
Chicago
MLA
8.3.2
Citing a Book With Multiple Authors
APA
Chicago
MLA
8.3.3
Citing an Edition Other Than the First
APA
Chicago
MLA
8.3.4
Citing a Chapter in an Edited Book
APA
Chicago
MLA
8.3.5
Citing a Book Review
APA
Chicago
MLA
8.3.6
Citing a Print Journal Article
APA
Chicago
MLA
8.3.7
Citing a Journal Article from an Online Database
APA
Chicago
MLA
8.3.8
Citing a Website
APA
Chicago
MLA
8.3.9
Citing a Work From a Website
APA
Chicago
MLA
8.3.10
Citing a Online Newspaper
APA
Chicago
MLA
8.3.11
Citing an Entry in an Encyclopedia
APA
Chicago
MLA
8.3.12
Citing a Lecture or Speech
APA
Chicago
MLA
8.3.13
Citing a Film
APA
Chicago
MLA
8.3.14
Citing a Music Performance
APA
Chicago
MLA
8.3.15
Citing a Music Recording
APA
Chicago
MLA
8.3.16
Citing an Artwork
APA
Chicago
MLA
8.3.17
Citing a Government Document
APA
Chicago
MLA
8.3.18
Citing a Graphic Novel
APA
Chicago
MLA
8.3.19
Citing a Translation
APA
Chicago
MLA
9
Speaking and Writing
10
Strategies for Academic Success
10.1
Talking to Professors
10.1.1
The New Student-Teacher Relationship
10.1.2
The Syllabus
10.1.3
Making Requests
10.1.4
Asking for an Extension
10.1.5
To Send or not to Send
10.2
Requesting Letters of Recommendation
10.2.1
Three Intersecting Perspectives
10.2.2
Your Suggested Timeline
10.3
Managing Time
10.3.1
Good Ol’ Procrastination
10.3.2
Productive Procrastination
10.3.3
Procrastination Versus Self-Care
10.3.4
Overcoming Procrastination
10.3.5
Good Time Management
10.3.6
Making and Using a Time Chart
10.3.7
A Few Final Thoughts
10.4
Getting Organized
10.4.1
Getting Your School Life Organized
10.4.2
Keeping your School Life Organized
10.4.3
School Meets Life
10.5
Succeeding During Remote Learning
11
Different Genres of Writing
11.1
Writing Emails
11.2
Writing Personal Statements
11.3
Writing Cover Letters
11.4
Writing Resumes
11.5
Writing Curriculum Vitae
11.6
Writing Thank-You Notes
12
Using Technology
12.1
Microsoft Word
12.1.1
Spell-Check Errors
12.1.2
Inserting Footnotes
12.1.3
Formatting Reference Lists, Bibliographies, and Works Cited
12.1.4
Peer Editing Tools
12.1.5
Adding a Cover Page
12.1.6
Finding and Replacing
12.2
Zotero
12.3
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Back Matter
A
Glossary of Academic Terms
B
Resources
Colophon
Appendix
A
Glossary of Academic Terms
(Some words you need to know but might have been afraid to ask.)
List
A.0.1
.
Words You May See in Writing Assignments
Analyze
to break a text into its constituent parts with the intent of interpreting or explaining that text.
Interpret
to elaborate the meaning or significance of a text, data, or other object of analysis.
Paraphrase
to rephrase some text with the goal of making it clearer and more concise.
Prove
to demonstrate the truth of a claim through argument.
Synthesize
to combine or integrate several things into one coherent whole.
Thesis
an argument, or the statement of an argument to be followed by substantiation.
List
A.0.2
.
Research Terms and Kinds of Sources
Annotated bibliography
a bibliography whose entries are accompanied by a paragraph (or two) summarizing that entry and explaining its relevance to a scholarly project.
Novel
a book-length work of fiction (not to be confused with a book-length work of nonfiction, which is simply called a book or sometimes a monograph or an edited volume).
Poem
(in general) a piece of writing formally distinguished by its employment of line breaks and, in some cases, rhythm, rhyme, meter, and stanzas.
Prose
(in general) a piece of writing formally distinguished by continuous, unbroken lines organized into larger units of text called paragraphs.
Short story
a work of fiction shorter than a novel.
Subject encyclopedia
an encyclopedia whose entries cohere, often only topically, around a common subject (e.g.,
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
, an encyclopedia on the remediation of the Salish Sea ecosystem).
Volume
the term given to one book in a work or series composed of multiple books (e.g., Volume 1 of the
Encyclopedia Britannica
).
List
A.0.3
.
Rhetorical Terms
Ethos/Pathos/Logos
terms created by Aristotle to describe different modes of persuasion. These approaches are sometimes combined within a particular piece of rhetoric. Ethos is a rhetorical appeal to the authority of the person or source invoked. It also can mean the dominant spirit of a group or time (kind of like zeitgeist). Pathos is a rhetorical appeal to the audience’s emotions. Logos is a rhetorical appeal to logic, reason, and rigorous argumentation.
Diction
a writer’s particular choice of words.
Hyperbole
an exaggeration.
Irony
the effect produced by the use of any given word, phrase, image, or other medium of communication to signify the opposite of that word, phrase, etc.
Metaphor
a figure of speech in which one thing is equated with another thing, which it is not (for example, “love is a rose”). “Metaphoric” is often used loosely to describe any kind of figurative language.
Rhetoric
the style or presentation of writing; how a text says what it says.
Subjunctive
a grammatical mood indicating a hypothetical situation (what is desired or possible).
Syntax
the organization and sequencing of words, phrases, and clauses in a sentence.
List
A.0.4
.
Generally Good Words to Know
-centrism
a stance that views a certain (centric) position as standard and that views nonconforming positions as unfamiliar and inferior. Eurocentrism, for instance, views the non-European as alien and subordinate to the European and holds the non-European to the standards of the European. The same definition applies to other “-centrisms,” with the appropriate substitutions made. Anthropocentrism replaces European with human; androcentrism replaces European with male; egocentrism replaces European with the self.
Anachronistic
(of a thing) temporally or historically inconsistent with the period in which it is depicted.
Analogy
a comparison or similarity between two things.
Anthropomorphize
to imbue a nonhuman entity with human characteristics.
Avant-garde
the quality of being experimental.
Colloquial
(of language) informal, casual, or quotidian.
Deduction
the act of predicting a particular event based on a pre-established rule about that event.
Dialectic
a model of development, or a discursive method, predicated on the tension between a first event (thesis) and a second, opposed event (antithesis) and that, sometimes, resolves into a third event (synthesis).
Induction
the extrapolation of a general rule from repeated particular instances suggesting that rule.
Empiricism
an epistemological position that states that knowledge derives from sense-experience and that physical experiences actually exist.
Epistemology
generally, the theory of knowledge; also, the term given to any particular theory of knowledge, such as empiricism.
Feminism
(broadly defined) the set of all political, social, and ideological movements oriented toward the advancement of women’s rights, especially as they pertain to political, social, cultural, and economic engagement and enfranchisement.
Heuristic
relating to the process by which a person learns something on their own.
Motif
a recurring (visual, musical, rhetorical) idea in a work.
Nomenclature
a set of names in a discipline (or the method used to generate these names).
Ontology
a subset of philosophical inquiry that investigates the nature of being.
Paradox
a seeming contradiction between two propositions that may nonetheless be true.
Premise
a statement that precedes or forms the basis of a consequent statement.
Stereotype
a reductive concept or idea of a person, group, or thing.
Tautology
a statement or system that affirms itself, or presupposes the validity of its argument.
Theme
a subject or topic of central importance to a text.
Trope
a recurrent theme or image.
Zeitgeist
the spirit of a given historical period, defined by that period’s prominent ideas and ideologies.
List
A.0.5
.
Grammar Terms
proper noun
a specific
noun
, like a name, though not limited to human names. Proper nouns name things ranging from schools (university) to cities (the city)
subject
the person or entity that does an action or is the main focus of the sentence. The subject may be a noun, proper noun, personal pronoun, noun phrase, or different nouns linked by a conjunction.
predicate
the action or description of the subject. Predicates may be verbs, verbs accompanied by helping verbs, or an entire verb phrase.
direct object
the noun on which the action occurs.
indirect object
the secondary object, or the object secondarily affected by the action, which is to say that a sentence can only have an indirect object if it also has a direct object.
clause
composed of a
subject
and a
predicate
, which also means that every clause has a noun and a verb.
independent/main clause
a subject and a verb and conveys a complete thought.
dependent/subordinate clause
a sentence element that adds information but that does not form a complete thought. Subordinate/dependent clauses are dependent on an
independent/main clause
to make sense.
adjective/relative clause
a
dependent/subordinate clause
that acts as an adjective to modify a noun.
adverb clause
a
dependent/subordinate clause
that acts as an adverb to modify the verb in a sentence.
noun clause
a
dependent/subordinate clause
that acts as a noun
modifier
a word, phrase, or clause that characterizes a noun and is typically used to add description or specificity to a sentence.
present participle
a verb ending in “-ing” that acts as an
adjective
past participle
a verb ending in “-ed” (or an irregular form) that acts as an
adjective
gerund
a verb ending in “-ing” that acts as a
noun
infinitive
a verb form composed of two words: “to” + [verb]
fractional expression
an expression that begins with a word like “half,” “part,” “some,” “a majority,” “all,” “any,” “more,” or “most,” followed by “of” and then a
noun
.
collective noun
a
noun
that refers to a group, like “family.”
FANBOYS
an acronym that helps you remember the seven coordinating
conjunction
,
F
or,
A
nd,
N
or,
B
ut,
O
r,
Y
et, and
S
o
List
A.0.6
.
Unsorted Glossary Terms
Toulmin model
model of argumentation that prioritizes evidence, claim, and warrants as the most critical parts of an argument.
classical approach
model of argumentation that requires you to propose a certain stance, refute the opposing view, and offer proof to substantiate your claims.
Rogerian model
model of argumentation that promotes more neutral and compromising view of both sides of an argument.
quote sandwich
a three-part organizational template for incorporating evidence into a paper that consists of introducing context of evidence in argument (upper bun), quoting and citing evidence (filling), and analyzing evidence (lower bun).
classic outline
an outline technique that is very linear, organized, and clear because it organizes your paper.
bubble map
an outline technique that is less-structured than the classic outline and allow you to nonlinearly connect your claims.
flowchart
an outline technique that can show both linear and nonlinear connections between your points.
working thesis
a
Thesis
that guides your argument but that is still evolving as you write your paper.
transitive verb
a
verb
that accepts a
direct object
and possibly also an
indirect object
.
pragmatics
the study of cultural and contextual language rules