Embraced by the needle outline

Academic Writing

Conventions of the genre

Which Genres are you familiar with?

Essay

Annotated Bibliography

Reading Response / reflection

Critique

Report

Literature review

Articles in Academic journals (Also called Peer-Reviewed Journals)

How to write in academic style?

Use

Appeal to logic and credibility

Formal language

Neutral language

Neutral syntax

Objective description

Formal citation (e.g. APA)

Fully developed paragraphs

often main idea followed by supporting ideas

Qualifiers to avoid overstatements

e.g. ”This suggests” rather than “This proves”

Avoid

Appeal to emotion

Colloquial language, strong emotional connotations

Syntax that creates emotional effects (for example, fragments, repetition)

Subjective description

Contractions (shouldn’t, can’t, doesn’t)

Second person (“you”)

Underdeveloped paragraphs

e.g. journalistic. style

Generalizations and overstatements

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Exercise: Rewrite The following in formal academic Style

A lot of people are talking about the opioid crisis in Canada. Like Gabor Maté. He’s a doctor working in Vancouver. He says if you have something really terrible happen to you in your childhood you’re going to get addicted to drugs.

Exercise: Rewrite the following for a grade 8 student

In a rhetorical analysis, one would critically evaluate the strategies by which the author attempts to persuade the reader, beginning with an examination of the appeal to logic, that is, the author’s use of sound reasoning, neutral diction, objective description, and sourced facts and statistics in order to construct a cogent argument.

What about “I”? Can I Use “I”? Will Someone’s Head explode if I Use “I”?

YES, you can use “I”

No one’s head will explode if you use “I” in an academic assignment.

In peer-reviewed journals, academics often write, “In this paper I argue that….” or “In this paper we hypothesize….”

BUT

REMEMBER: phrases such as “I think” and “in my opinion” are qualifiers; they soften or limit a statement. Use them strategically.

Also: If your professor claims his or her head will explode if you use “I”, don’t use “I” !

Academic Genres & Structures

Intro? Body? Conclusion? References?
Essay Intro with thesis Evidence and analysis Yes Yes
Report Abstract Intro with hypothesis Methodology Findings / Results Discussion / Analysis Yes Yes
Annotated Bibliography No Source (full citation) Summary Evaluation No Included in citation
Academic Writing

Audience?

Purpose?

Academics generally write for people in their field; they publish their research in peer-reviewed journals and books and share their ideas at conferences. They usually use the technical or specialized language of their discipline without explaining it for the average reader.

Knowledge in the disciplines is advanced through this method; academics test, reject, critique, affirm, and build on existing research. Common purposes of academic writing are to inform, analyze and argue.

For most students, the audience for their academic writing is their professor. Their purpose depends on what the assignment is asking them to do. Assignments consist of two obvious parts: content (the ideas) and task (what you are being asked to do with the ideas.)

As students, it is helpful for you to think like a professor. What is the professor’s purpose in giving you this assignment? What is being assessed? Is the professor assessing whether you understand the material? Is the professor assessing particular skills? Or is the assignment assessing both?

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Academic Assignment Verbs

Summarize / report

Argue / Persuade

Analyze

Compare

Evaluate

Identify the Verbs

Report / Summarize

Argue / Persuade

Analyze

Compare

Evaluate

Romantic love is notoriously unstable. Should it really be the basis for marriage?

According to Helen Fisher, mammals, including humans, experience distress after a loss. List all the evolutionary advantages she says this distress provides.

Show how Helen Fisher uses the appeal to logic in “Dumped.”

Which of the three appeals did Fisher use most effectively in “Dumped”?

How does Helen Fisher’s appeal to ethos (credibility) in “Dumped” differ from Gabor Maté’s in “Embraced by the Needle”?

Thesis / Claim

A brief (one to two sentences) summary of what you will argue or show

Cannot be a statement of fact

Should be something worth arguing

Should not be too broad / big for the assignment

Should not be a question in your final version

Cannot be a statement of fact: a thesis is an argument, something that needs evidence. Facts don’t need evidence.

Should be something worth arguing: to determine whether something is worth arguing, ask whether most people already agree with it. Is it obvious, such as “The media influences the way people think” or “Terrorism must be stopped”? If yes, your thesis is not worth arguing.

Should not be too broad / big for the assignment: You can’t argue that nature is more important than nurture in an essay of 1000 words: you don’t have room for all the evidence. Narrow your thesis to something manageable. For example, athletic success is more dependent on natural ability than social or environmental factors.

Should not be a question in your final version: in a draft, your thesis can be a question. This is often a helpful way to start. Should we do X? How does Y work? Is Z effective? Use the question to DISCOVER what you have to say. Then revise your essay to show what you have FOUND. Start with your thesis: answer the question. We should not do X because X is dangerous. Y works by reinforcing positive social behaviour. Z is effective under certain circumstances.

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Good Thesis or Not?

Gabor Maté argues that trauma predisposes people to addiction in the article “Embraced by the Needle.”

Addiction is a serious social problem.

Throughout human history addiction has been a serious social problem.

In this essay I will consider whether Gabor Maté uses the appeal to emotion effectively in “Embrace by the Needle.”

In this essay I will argue that Gabor Maté’s appeal to emotion effectively supports his overall purpose in “Embraced by the Needle.”

Gabor Maté argues that trauma predisposes people to addiction in the article “Embraced by the Needle.” This is a statement of fact: Maté DOES argue this in his article. To make this a thesis, you would have to remove the first four words.

Addiction is a serious social problem. This is so obvious, it’s not worth arguing. To make this a thesis, try arguing the other side.

Throughout human history addiction has been a serious social problem. This cannot be argued in an essay. The study of human history usually begins in the Paleolithic era, 10,000 years ago. You would need a book to prove this.

In this essay I will consider whether Gabor Maté uses the appeal to emotion effectively in “Embrace by the Needle.” This is a statement of intention – what you will explore. Your thesis needs to tell us what you found. This can be your WORKING thesis, something to get you started, but by the end of the essay, you should know what you think about Maté’s use of the appeal to emotion. Go back and revise your thesis to include your argument.

In this essay I will argue that Gabor Maté’s appeal to emotion effectively supports his overall purpose in “Embraced by the Needle.” Good! If you are writing for a professor who strongly objects to the use of “I” in academic writing, delete “In this essay I will argue that.”

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Support

Evidence

Facts, statistics

Quotes and paraphrases from credible sources

Explanation of ideas

Break down an idea into its parts (analysis)

Explore implications of the idea

Provide details, examples

Use a comparison

Why use sources?

Quotes and paraphrases from credible sources

Appeal to logic (providing evidence through appeal to authority)

Appeal to ethos (establishing your own credibility as a knowledgeable writer)

Evaluating your sources

Currency

Relevance (to your research)

Authority

Accuracy

Purpose / point of view

The academic essay in four words

They say / I say

Formula

THEY SAY: Researched material (quote or paraphrase, properly integrated & cited)

+

I SAY: Your analysis or critique of the material

+

I SAY: How it relates to your overall thesis

=

Academic writing

Adding depth: Considering the other side

Addressing the opposition

Bringing in the complicating evidence

Bringing in the other side: IARR

Introduce

Some people argue that…. It might be said that…. One commonly-raised objection is that….

Acknowledge

There is some truth to this…. This seems logical when we consider… This concern is understandable

Refute

However…. But… On the other hand… The problem with this argument is…

Relate

Reinforce your thesis

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Example

Thesis of essay: Harm reduction is a more effective approach to addiction than traditional abstinence programs.

Paragraph considering the complicating evidence:

(1) Traditional abstinence-based programs argue that persons with addiction must experience the worst consequences of their problematic usage before they are motivated to recover. (2) This seems to make sense intuitively, and many stories of recovery feature this “rock-bottom” moment, whether it be jail or homelessness or a life-threatening illness. (3) However, these consequences can also make recovery more difficult, leaving people with severe addictions overwhelmed by their problems instead of motivated by them to recover. (4) Harm reduction programs help people with addictions reduce the number of negative factors they have to deal with so that recovery seems more achievable.

Creating flow

Control the flow of ideas with signal words and phrases

Order of ideas Emphasis Cause & effect Example Contradiction Clarification
First Especially Because For example However In other words
Secondly Next In addition Moreover Furthermore Also Most importantly Above all Therefore This causes This leads to Resulting in So Consequently For instance Exemplify e.g. But Yet On the other hand This means i.e.