Academic Writing
Professor Shi Baohui
For BA English ’03
School of Foreign Languages
Beijing Forestry University
(September 2006)
Table of Contents
Unit One Preparing for Research Papers (1)
Unit Two Guided Summary (8)
Unit Three Abstracts of Academic Papers (14)
Unit Four Summary of a Book (18)
Unit Five Commenting on a Book (21)
Unit Six Writing a Book Review (25)
Unit Seven Mechanics of the Research Paper (31)
Unit Eight Notes (35)
Unit Nine Bibliography and References (42)
Unit One Preparing for Research Papers
I. What Is a Research Paper?
[1] A research paper is, first and foremost, a form of written communication. Like other forms of nonfiction writing—letters, memos, reports, essays, articles, books—it should present information and ideas clearly and effectively. It differs from many of them in relying on sources of information other than the writer’s personal knowledge and experience. It is based on primary research, secondary research, or a combination of the two. Primary research involves the study of a subject through firsthand observation and investigation, such as conducting a survey or carrying out a laboratory experiment; secondary research entails the examination of studies that others have made of the subject. Many academic papers, as well as many reports and proposals required in business, government, and other professions, depend on secondary research.
[2] Research will increase your knowledge and understanding of a subject and will often lend authority to your ideas and opinions. The paper based on research is not a collection of other persons’ thoughts and words but a carefully constructed presentation of ideas that relies on research sources for clarification and verification. While you must fully document the facts and opinions you draw from your research, the documentation should do no more than support your statements and provide concise information about the research cited; it should never overshadow the paper or distract the reader from the ideas you present.
(Adapted from MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Paper, 3rd edn.)
II. Topic Selection
1. Targets
1) Term paper, report, etc.—a range of topics provided by the teacher;
2) Dissertation/Thesis—agreement between student and teacher;
3) Academic paper, for journals, conferences, etc.—own choice.
2. General Approach
Except for 1) above, one will normally take the following steps though people may not always follow these steps strictly.
1) Choosing a general subject area
2) Narrowing the topic area for:
a. your interest (i.e. it has to be interesting to you)
b. your abilities (i.e. it must be within your abilities)
c. enough information to complete the paper
3) Setting up research strategy
a. research available information—Is there enough? Go from general sources to more specialized ones and create bibliography cards for relevant sources (see below).
b. start preliminary research
3. Practice
Consider the following topics. Think about 1) which topic(s) you may be interested in, and 2) how you are going about the research work (are you going to depend on primary research or secondary research or both?). If you are going to do some primary research, how will you design your research? Where might you find some secondary information?
1) Topics of general interest
a. Most people listen to music to escape from something.
b. Working women now have two jobs rather than just one.
c. Write an article about a man you have admired or detested.
d. What are the problems of being a woman in the Qing Dynasty?
e. Discuss what qualities define the good or the bad teacher.
f. What are the problems of one-parent families.
2) Topics for term papers
a. Discuss how the Norman Conquest and the Renaissance influenced the development of English vocabulary.
b. “Since the Second World War the English vocabulary has been affected powerfully by social, political, economic, especially scientific and technical changes”. Cite examples to illustrate these changes in English vocabulary.
c. Discuss the notion of “morphemes”.
d. What is word-formation? Analyse the word-formation strategies that are found in the articles in Advanced English.
3) Graduation project/thesis
a. The relationship between meaning and context
b. Some insights into the translation criteria
c. A Cinderella story: an analysis of Pride and Prejudice
d. The Dream of True Love—An Analysis of The Bridges of Madison County
e. An Analysis of Family Education on Children’s Sense of Inferiority
f. Historical Changes in U.S. Policy toward China Since 1949 and Their Consequences
III. The Procedures of Writing the Research Paper
1. Develop a preliminary thesis statement.
2. Conduct in-depth research:
1) Set up key terms and searches
2) Locate the sources
3) Retrieve and evaluate the sources
Is it useful? primary or secondary? recent or dated? authoritative/reliable or biased/prejudiced?
4) Create bibliography cards
3. Take good notes.
4. Revising the thesis statement.
5. Selecting the best structure.
1) Three-part structure: mainly for secondary research
IntroductionBody / (may treat
several issues
under subtopics)
Conclusion
2) Four/five-part structure: mainly for primary research
IntroductionMaterials &
Method
Results &
Discussion / (may be written as two
separate sections)
Conclusion
IV. Bibliography Cards
1) For a book
(1)Carlan, Alfred E. 1975. Dark Night of the Soul: Crisis in Creative Lives. Harrisburg, N. Y.: Pullman.
(good explanation of how
writers and artists overcome
severe depression) / 328.91
CAR
2) For an article
(2)Chiang, Roberta C. 1989. ‘Why Japanese Women Are Speaking Out’, World News, 23 Nov.: 43-45.
(women’s movement in
Japan)
3) For a website
(2)Morris, Betsy. 2001. ‘White-collar blues’, Fortune, July 23. Retrieved July 21, 2001 <http://www.fortune.com/indexw.jhtml?channel=artcol.jhtml&doc_id=203323>.
(layoffs of white-collar workers in USA)
V. Methods of Note-Taking
1. Paraphrasing
a. Original
One is forcibly struck by the fact of how well superstition provides at least the subjective feeling of predictability and control. It may thus serve the function of reducing anxiety: and as intense anxiety is liable to inhibit effective action in dangerous situations, there is a distinct possibility that superstition may have positive survival value in certain circumstances.
b. Paraphrase
superstition as survival aid 3-2superstition gives subjective sense of control which reduces anxiety. such feelings of control can help people act more effectively in dangerous situations & increase chances of survival
134-135
2. Summarizing
a. Original
Alice Walker's substantial body of writing, though it varies, is characterized by specific recurrent motifs. Most obvious is Walker's attention to the black woman as creator, and to how her attempt to be whole relates to the health of her community. This theme is certainly focal to Walker's two collections of short stories, In Love and Trouble and You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down, to her classic essay, ‘In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens’, and to Meridian and The Color Purple.
Another recurrent motif in Walker's work is her insistence on probing the relationship between struggle and change, a probing that encompasses the pain of black people's lives, against which the writer protests but which she will not ignore. Paradoxically, such pain sometimes results in growth.
b. Summary
recurrent motifs — Walker 1-3Walker's motifs highlight strengths of black people:
1) black woman as creator—her struggles to be whole affect community's health
2) relationship between struggle and change—pain of struggle sometimes produces growth
39-40
3. Direct Quote
a. Original
The French General Henri Navarre was given command of the French troops in Vietnam near the end of the French-Indochina war. At a time when the Viet Minh were soundly defeating his forces, General Navarre uttered a phrase that Americans would hear over and over again on the way to their own defeat in Southeast Asia. ‘Now we can see it clearly—like light at the end of the tunnel.’
b. Direct Quote
French General Navarre’s quote 4-5Phrase that came to haunt Americans in their Viet Nam War first uttered by General Henri Navarre:
“Now we see it [victory] clearly—like light at the end of the tunnel.”
79
4. Your Comments
a. Original
The drug trade is a fine specimen of unrestricted competition which brings down prices and pushes up consumption. Governments refuse to limit the trade by regulation. Instead, they try to prohibit it. In 1980, the U.S. spent just under $1 billion trying to keep heroin, cocaine, and marijuana out of its domestic market. By 1988, it was spending almost $4 billion. Yet the retail price of drugs dropped faster than the cost of policing them rose.
b. Your Comments and Opinions
Prohibition encourages drug trade 4-2Prohibition throws drug trade wide open to competition & sets up a vicious cycle—competition brings down price, which makes drugs more affordable, which encourages consumption. More people enter drug trade, costs government more to fight greater number of dealers.
27-28
5. No Plagiarism!
a. Original
Few people know that during the Battle of Waterloo, a twelve-foot ditch proved to be the best ally of the English troops. As the French cavalry charged across the field, the front ranks tumbled into the ditch, which had been concealed in the tall grass. So great was the press of the charge, that men and horses continued to fall until the ditch was filled with bodies. Only then did the remaining forces ride over their solid mass toward the English. The delay had been enough, however, to allow the English to maneuver their artillery into position. Their savage cannon fire shattered the French cavalry charge.
b. Plagiarized Version!
The French took the field first and charged the English position. But the front ranks tumbled into a ditch which had been concealed in the tall grass. So great was the press of the charge that men and horses continued to fall until the ditch was filled with bodies. Only then did the remaining forces ride over their solid mass toward the English. …
c. Paraphrased Version
The French took the field first and charged the English position. Less than halfway across the field, the front ranks fell into a concealed ditch. The horses and riders behind them were unable to stop and tumbled in after, quickly filling the ditch with bodies. This grisly bridge enabled the rest of the cavalry to rush across toward the English …
6. Practice
Use one of the note-taking strategies to take notes from the following passages:
1) The British have in fact always imported food from abroad. From the time of the Roman invasion foreign trade was a major influence on British cooking. English kitchens, like the English language, absorbed ingredients from all over the world—chickens, rabbits, apples and tea. All of these and more were successfully incorporated into British dishes. Another important influence on British cooking was of course the weather. The good old British rain gives us rich soil and green grass, and means that we are able to produce some of the finest varieties of meat, fruit and vegetables, which don’t need fancy sauces or complicated recipes to disguise their taste.
2) The history of life on earth has been a history of interaction between living things and their surroundings. To a large extent, the physical form and the habits of the earth’s vegetation and its animal life have been molded by the environment. Considering the whole span of world history, the opposite effect, in which life actually modifies its surroundings, has been relatively slight. Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species—human beings—acquired significant power to alter the nature of their world.
3) Radio and television present the important news of the day. Many radio stations in the US broadcast news and news commentary programs all day. Most commercial television stations have news programs in the evening. The evening news generally consists of national network news program and local news program, while at night it is usually a local program. In addition, some TV stations offer early morning news, late night news, and weekly “news magazine” programs. Cable television networks in some cities offer foreign language news.
Unit Two Guided Summary
I. Guided Summary (Sample 1)
1. Question
Summarize in 50-100 words what the passage says about the initial development of capitalism in Britain.
2. Passage
[1]British capitalism and the Industrial Revolution did not coincide. The pocketing of wealth by the few had already taken place before the first mechanised spinning-wheel marked the end of cottage industries and the dawn of mass production. It was the dissipation and venality of the Tudor monarchy that set the pattern for stripping the country of its wealth. By the time of Henry VIII, the families from the British shires who schemed in the royal court were grabbing thousands of acres of land. More than a quarter of England was in the hands of a new landowning aristocracy. Another quarter, perhaps more, was in the hands of the Church, as much a political and capitalist enterprise as a spiritual one. The Church also collected 30 per cent of the customary dues paid by the smaller landowners to the greater.
[2] With the Crown increasingly desperate for money to raise armies and to defend itself, it turned on the Church and gave dispensation to the landowners to grab Church lands. By the early seventeenth century more than half of the land was in the hands of a powerful oligarchy of plundering landowners. The monarchy itself was impoverished, already decaying into a symbol and tool. The people of England had been dispossessed of what was then the only universal prospect of wealth and security: land and property.
[3] The appropriation of this wealth was completed just as Newcomen built his steam engine; within another generation Hargreaves had produced the spinning jenny, James Watt his condenser patent. Iron ore had been smelted by coke. All these innovations needed capital: and the source of capital lay with the landowning oligarchy, families whose wealth was less than a century old. During that decisive first impact of future shock, there were incredible tides running: the Puritans recoiled from the mercenary orgy and went off to make their New England; paper money and modern banking were devised; the English peasantry were coerced into industrial slavery; technology was the new witchcraft; Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations. And the British were defeated in the American Revolution.