Fall 2009 Handouts
This will be a great source for accessing the handouts that were available at the workshops.
Credibility handout provided by Joelle Thomas:
Tips for Learning More about an Author:
- Search one of the library’s biography databases.
- Try Google! See if the author has a website or has been mentioned in the news.
- Look up book reviews (http://libguides.bgsu.edu/book_reviews) to see how the author’s work has been received by other experts in the field.
Tips for Verifying Citations:
- Click on E-Journals, Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers on the library’s home page to search for a journal by title. If we have electronic access, you go directly to the journal and look up the article by date, author, or title.
- Use the BGSU Libraries Catalog to look up a book reference or print journal.
- You can also find out who else has cited your source. Some databases will allow you to do this at the click of a button, or you can search the citation indexes in the Web of Science database.
Other Online Tools:
- You can find out who owns a domain by typing it into http://www.betterwhois.com/.
- Dispute Finder (http://disputefinder.org) is a Firefox plugin that highlights text that has been flagged as a disputed claim by users. Clicking on highlighted text brings up user-submitted links to websites and articles that support and oppose the claim. While this is a very new plugin and isn’t all that useful, it’s fun!
Check out the Evaluating Sources section of http://libguides.bgsu.edu/book_reviews for more help! For information about evaluating websites, try Module 5 of http://libguides.bgsu.edu/webwizard.
Ask Yourself:
Is there an author listed?
What are the author’s credentials? Educational background?
Is he or she considered an authority in the field?
What kind of source is it?
If it’s a journal, is it peer-reviewed?
If it’s a book, does the publisher have an academic affiliation?
If it’s online, who is responsible for the content? Is the website a .edu? Is it a personal webpage?
Are sources cited? Not just “Studies show” or “Experts say,” but actually cited!
Can you verify these sources?
Are quotes given in proper context?
Does the author have a clear bias?
When was the work published?
Is the information up-to-date?
Has it been refuted or discredited?
What is the intended audience of the work?
What is its scope?
Is there any advertising? Could the ads influence the content?
If it’s a study, who paid for it?
Punctuation handouts provided by Sam Herrington:
BGSU Writing Center Workshop: Punctuation Pointers
Sam Herrington
October 15, 2009
Preliminary questions:
1. What are the various kinds of punctuation used in academic writing situations?
2. Which ones do you know that you have difficulties with or questions about?
Some common problems among writers:
- Comma splices
- Inappropriate or unnecessary commas
- Fragments (often produced by inappropriate placement of a period)
- Inappropriate use of semicolons or colons
- Others?
How can you identify and avoid common problems with punctuation?
- Identify what type of sentence you have. This requires some understanding of sentence structure.
- Identify the core of your sentence. What is the independent clause? Is there more than one?
- What is the placement and relationship of any other material—words, phrases, and clauses—in the sentence? Is there a dependent clause or any other introductory material preceding the independent (main) clause? Are there any appositives? Are there any non-restrictive adjective clauses?
- Are you trying to coordinate any units of thought (words, phrases, or clauses)? If so, how many? The answer will determine the use of commas.
- Many comma errors can be avoided by obeying a small number of rules (see other handout). However, following these rules requires some understanding of the structure of your sentence.
- Remember that there are far fewer uses for a semicolon than for a comma; in fact, you could easily write a paper without absolutely “needing” a semicolon, but avoiding commas would be difficult. Semicolons are like delicate spices; they can enhance the your writing but should not draw attention to themselves. (Notice that I’ve probably reached my quota of semicolons in the last couple sentences, but I figured this might be an appropriate place to demonstrate their use.)
- Do not underestimate the power of reading aloud. As you proofread, read aloud slowly and listen to your own intonation. This may help you identify, among other things, sentences worthy of closer examination for punctuation problems.
Practice editing: (see accompanying worksheet)
Basic Rules for Using Commas: 1. Use a comma before the coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, nor, so, for) that joins two independent clauses in a compound sentence. Examples: I like working outside, and I also enjoy reading.
He got out of school early, so he took a nap.
2. Use a comma after most introductory phrases or dependent (subordinate) clauses that come before the main clause of the sentence. *It is important to note that a comma should not be used when the clause or phrase comes at the end of the sentence as illustrated by the third example. Examples: In order to be successful, one must learn to write well.
After she learned the rules for using commas, her grades improved.
*Her grades improved after she learned to use commas correctly.
3. Use commas to separate items in a series. Be sure to insert a comma before the conjunction that precedes the last item unless your teacher or style manual specifically tells you to exclude them. Example: Amy ordered two hamburgers, a Coke, and a large order of fries.
4. Use commas before and after non-essential elements (parts of the sentence providing information that is not “essential” to understanding its meaning).Example: Horace Mann Elementary, which is the smallest school in the district, enrolls 160 students.
5. Use commas between coordinate adjectives (of equal importance) that modify the same noun. Do not separate adjectives of unequal importance. A good way to determine if the adjectives are of equal importance is to reverse them in the sentence. If the sentence does not read well after the reversal, do not use a comma between them. The second example below clearly illustrates this point. Reversing the adjectives (blue big eyes or red bright hair) simply doesn’t work! Examples: By the end of the game, the field was a slippery, wet mess.
Her big blue eyes and bright red hair made her strikingly beautiful.
6. Use commas to separate the elements of dates and places. Examples: The date was June 12, 1999.
He was born in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
7. Use a comma before a direct quotation. Also, as shown in the example, commas at the end of the quotation (and periods as well) go inside the quotation marks.Example: When asked if he had studied, Paul replied, “Only a little,” and his grade showed it!
8. Use commas before and after words and phrases like however and nevertheless that serve as interrupters.Example: Adam did not like math. He was, however, very successful in his math classes.
Basic Rules for Semicolons: 1. Use a semicolon instead of the comma and conjunction to separate the two independent clauses in a compound sentence. In this way, the semicolon is acting much like a period, but it implies a somewhat closer relationship between the ideas in the two sentences. Example: I like working outside; I also enjoy reading.
2. Use a semicolon before the conjunctive adverb (i.e. a “transition” word such as however and therefore) that joins two independent clauses. Be sure to put a comma after the conjunctive adverb. Example: I like working outside; however, I also enjoy reading.
3. Use semicolons to separate elements in a series if they contain internal punctuation. Example: On his fishing trip, Jeff caught rainbow, brook, and lake trout; large-mouth, small mouth, and white bass; and a few northern pike.
A couple handy links:
- A web page entitled “Punctuation Pointers”: http://www.writers.com/tips_punctuation.html
- A helpful page from the OWL website at Purdue: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/566/02
Comma and Semicolon worksheet
Complete the sentences below by correctly inserting commas and semicolons.
1. Andrew Mark and Eric all play on the varsity basketball team.
2. Monica was very disappointed in her performance she was nevertheless a gracious loser.
3. Although I have never been to Mexico I have always wanted to travel there.
4. Jason who is the youngest in the family was born August 12 1988.
5. Alisson didn’t feel well however she came to school anyway.
6. It was a hot windy day but I still spent the afternoon working in the garden.
7. When she asked if he was hungry Joe replied “I’m starved”
8. I planted shade evergreen and flowering trees short tall and medium shrubs and red yellow and white roses.
ESL Panel as provided by Ellen Eunhee Seo:
Strategies for Learning to Writing in a Second Language (L2)
By Ellen Eunhee Seo, eseo@bgsu.edu
“A piece of writing is never finished. It is delivered to a deadline, [taken] out of the [computer] on demand, sent off with a sense of accomplishment and shame and pride and frustration.”
-Donald Murray-
- 1. Motivation behind my L2 writing development:
a) Internal motivation:
b) External motivation:
Purpose:
- Ideological:
- Socializing into academic communities
- Becoming a competent member in the academic communities
- Having one’s voices receive a hearing
- Practical:
- Educational opportunities: getting a good grade, earning a higher degree
- Economic viability: Finding a good job in one’s home country or in the U.S.
- Social mobility: Moving up to a higher position
Audience:
- Academic audience
- Popular audience
Genre:
e.g. term papers, research papers, reviews, proposal, dissertation, cover letters, CV, etc.
Attitude: Ideological (vs. Autonomous). (Street, 1984)
- 2. How Have I developed my L2 literacy?
a) Developing theoretical knowledge about English language at sentence and discourse levels: grammar, punctuation, mechanics, syntax, and morphology, argumentation, organization, format, style, documentation, etc.
b) Learning by being an apprentice:
- 3. Strategies for Writing in a Second Language:
a) Sentence level of writing practice (vocabulary)
- Isolated vocabulary memorization (words, cognates, suffix and prefixes, idioms)
- Contextualized vocabulary learning: (1) When watching TV with closed captioning, try to write down some new vocabularies that interest me and look them up from a dictionary, (2) when looking up a new word from a dictionary, analyze its grammatical features (e.g. word form, its usage, and synonym) and pay close attention to how the word is used in a particular context, (3) if the word is hard to remember, find a way to memorize it, (4) explore the usage of a new word in my own writing and make it on my own.
- Learning functional language in writing: e.g. reporting verbs, transitional words, etc.
b) Discourse level of writing practice
- Email communication
- Fluency development: Free writing focusing on the content, not the grammatical forms
- Extensive and intensive (close) reading
- Working with an editor
- Reflective learning attitude and consistent effort
- Native language support
- 4. Concluding Remarks:
- Find a way to motivate yourself to learn
- Utilize available resources: books, humans, technology, media, etc.
- Find strategies that work for you
- …
*Some Useful Resources for Academic Writing:
- They Say, I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing
- English in today’s Research World
- Academic writing for graduate students
- Reflections on Multiliterate Lives
Revision:
BGSU Writing Center Workshop Series
Revising: The Most Important Part of the Writing Process
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Presented by: Angela Garner (agarner@bgsu.edu)
Revision: looking at your writing from a different point of view and making changes so the writing becomes clearer, more interesting, more informative, or more convincing
Things to Do When Revising:
- Conduct adequate research and pre-writing
- Read all teacher comments carefully
- Work early and often
- Consider outlining
- Reflect upon organization and content
ü Essay components
ü Thesis statement
ü Individual paragraphs
ü Individual sentences
ü Transitions
- Write a new introduction and conclusion
- Check and recheck documentation
- Revise for grammar mistakes
- Reread for punctuation only
- Take ownership
Things to Avoid When Revising:
- Omitting information explained on assignment sheet
- Ignoring teacher comments
- “develop” or “elaborate”
- “clarify”
- “coherence?”
- “include conclusion sentences”
- “avoid informal tone”
- “need more sentence variety”
- “others?”
- Being overly wordy
- Misusing the thesaurus function
- Becoming too attached/committed to your wording
- Proofreading or editing too early in the revision process.
Original workshop prepared by Kate Spike, with contributions from Vanessa Cozza, Christine Garbett, Angela Garner, Dayna Herrington, Sam Herrington, Krista Petrasino, and Kimberly Spallinger. (Fall 08)
Questionnaire
Do you usually pre-write (outlining, brainstorming, clustering, listing ideas, etc.) or do you just start at the beginning and write the paper pretty much from the beginning to end?
How many drafts do you typically do of a paper before submitting it for a grade?
What are the most frequent comments you receive on papers from your instructors and professors?
What do you think is the hardest part about revising a draft?
What is something you feel you do especially well when writing or revising?
If you could leave today’s session with one question answered, what would that question be?
Argumentation by Kitty Burroughs:
You Gotta’ Agree with Me: Strategies for Argumentation
by Dr. Kitty Burroughs
September 24, 2009
Is the topic arguable?
Is there an issue?
The issue should be presented in the introduction
Example: Should high school students seek employment?
Claim
A precise and clear position/point of view the writer wants the audience to consider
Declared as a thesis statement in the introduction or in the conclusion of an essay
Is there an issue?
Example: High school students should seek employment (Group 2)
Example: High school students should not seek employment (Group 1)
Reasons (Why . . . ?)
The main points used in arguing the thesis
Question: Why shouldn’t high school students seek employment? (Group 1)
Question: Why should high school students seek employment? (Group 2)
Evidence
Support for the reasons
Non-documented evidence—personal examples, observations, anecdotes, scenario
sources
——————————————————————————————————————————————
Documented evidence—statistics, view points from authorities, textual evidence from academic
But the argument depends on the audience and the purpose!
Audience
–typically not the instructor
–should not be too broad such as anyone who is interested in your topic
What it is NOT
Examples to start with: collegiate athletes, international students, single parents with school age
children, specific administrator, etc.
The more specific, the better (see “Relating to Your Audience”)
Purpose
–must be clear
——————————————————————————————————————————————
Why are you writing to the specific audience? to create a clear and focused claim
Anticipating Objections from Your Audience
(What might influence your audience to disagree with your argument or one of your points? You might
consider their experiences, values, beliefs, sense of what is important, or other such factors.)
Who is your audience? What would they say in disagreement? Elaborate on their disagreement.
Do you concede? If so, explain why their disagreement is valid to some degree.
If not, you must refute the opposing point. How will you argue back?
Argument = Claim + Reasons + Evidence
Relating to Your Audience
Part One: Envisioning the Audience
Sample questions for exploration:
• How old is my audience?
• What gender is my audience?
• What race or ethnic background is my audience?
• What kind of neighborhood does my audience live in?
• What economic background is my audience?
• How educated is my audience?
• What is the occupation of my audience?
The question “How old is my audience?” can evolve into a multitude of questions such as the following:
• What do adolescents value? What things might be of value to some and not others?
• If my audience just turned eighteen or twenty-one, what might be their priorities? What things
might be of priority to some and not others?
• If my audience is comprised of adults just starting out after completing school, what are their
interests and concerns? What would make a difference in their interests and concerns if my
audience is in their early twenties, thirties, or forties? What things might be of interest and
concern to some and not others?
• What would adults nearing retirement value in life? What things might be of value to some and
not others?
Or the question on neighborhood can expand into a series of questions that can generate more detailed
information about individual audience members.
• What would my audience value if they lived in an affluent neighborhood? Would the things they
value be any different as compared to those who live in a part of town that is economically
disadvantaged? What things might be of value to some and not others?
• What are the concerns of those who live in the suburbs as opposed to those who live
downtown? What things might be of concern to some and not others?
• What things are of interest to those who live in the country as compared to those who live in
town? What things might be of interest to some and not others?
• What might be some concerns for those who live near a university campus? For example,
would home owners have the same concerns as those who rent their living quarters? What
issues might be of concern to some and not others?
Hence, instead of writing “My audience are teenage students,” a writer could generate an in-depth
background of his or her audience members like the following:
My audience is comprised of female students in their adolescent years who are uneducated on
the topic of teenage pregnancy. These female students include those who are black, white, and
those from other races and ethnicities. While many of them are students from less educated and
poor families, there are those who are from middle class as well as rich families. Many of these
students are at an age where they value freedom and defy authority. They are also sexually
active. While some of them are not aware of the consequences of being pregnant at such a
young age, there are others who think they are invincible–that pregnancy will not happen to them.
There are still others who do not think before they act. They must be educated about being
sexually active, regardless of their differences, so that they can make a conscious and educated
decision on being sexually active.
Part Two: Developing the writer’s stance in relation to the audience
• Based on what I know about all of my audience members, what information do I want to share
with them? What information might be of use to some and not others? Why?
• For each of my ideas, which audience members would it appeal to? Why is it important to
them? Explain.
• What are some approaches (i.e., empathy, bluntness, scare tactics, realism) that will best get
my message across to the different audience members?
• Given all my audience members and my position on the topic, which audience members can I
address? Why these audience members and not others? What would I say to those whom I cannot address at this time?
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