We often get so caught up in producing substance in our writing that we lose sight of the basics. In this workshop, we will refresh your memory of the writing basics that are often neglected, but will go a long way in helping you make your points in a fundamentally sound way.
Writers whose native language is not English face many challenges as they attempt to put their thoughts on paper. Whether it is the lack of direct translation to English, the rules of grammar, cultural norms, or any number of other issues, the challenging task of writing in graduate school can be even more difficult for these students. This workshop will provide tips for writers whose native language is not English and will provide some clarification on the basic challenges that multilingual writers face.
Success in writing is often predetermined before pen is put to paper (or fingers to keyboard). Before beginning a piece of writing, it is important that you have devised a plan for that writing. This could entail familiarizing yourself with the conventions of the specific genre, creating an outline, or ensuring that you are prepared to fully support your argument. In this workshop, these considerations and others will be discussed in detail to help you better prepare before sitting down to write in order to be successful in your writing.
Much academic writing takes the form of argument. You begin with a claim and then set out to write in support or opposition depending upon the results of the research. This workshop will help you understand how to make a sound argument, as well as provide a background on different genres of argument and their application.
A quality argument can be diminished by a lack of polished writing. In today’s world of email, Twitter, text messaging, and slang, following the conventions of grammar and usage can often be a difficult task. Some of the common issues include things like subject-verb agreement, composing complete sentences, avoiding run-on and comma-spliced sentences, and pronoun agreement. This workshop will provide a refresher on some of the grammar specifics that you may have forgotten, in order to help you present your work in a manner that reflects its quality.
In today’s digital world, it is very easy to plagiarize in one’s writing, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and the consequences can be very severe. This workshop will explore various forms plagiarism can take and how you can make sure you are using sources without plagiarizing.
While writing sentences seems simple enough, there are techniques to ensure the intended message is delivered so that the points flow together and the piece is easier to read and understand. This workshop will explore how you can stay on message with concise sentences, create rhythm with parallelism, and make connections using coordination and subordination, to not only write clear and effective sentences, but a clear and effective paper.
Drs. Susan Gray and Anna Holian of the Department of History and Dr Tracy Fessenden of the Department of Religious Studies share with Dr Jeanne Simpson of the Writing Center their thoughts about the value of choosing one's words, the importance of self knowledge and discipline in the writing process, and whether one should ask for feedback on drafts.
Drs. Susan Gray and Anna Holian of the Department of History and Dr Tracy Fessenden of the Department of Religious Studies share with Dr Jeanne Simpson of the Writing Center their thoughts about the value of choosing one's words, the importance of self knowledge and discipline in the writing process, and whether one should ask for feedback on drafts.
Drs. Susan Gray and Anna Holian of the Department of History and Dr Tracy Fessenden of the Department of Religious Studies share with Dr Jeanne Simpson of the Writing Center their thoughts about the value of choosing one's words, the importance of self knowledge and discipline in the writing process, and whether one should ask for feedback on drafts.
Dr. William H. Starbuck, professor-in-residence at the Lundquist College of Business of the University of Oregon and professor emeritus at New York University, writes Fussy Professor Starbuck's Cookbook of Handy-Dandy Prescriptions for Ambitious Academic Authors or Why I Hate Passive Verbs and Love My Word Processor (1999). For more about Dr Starbuck, visit his website.
Each semester groups of six to twelve graduate students in related disciplines engage in peer reviews and critique of wring-in-progress. If you are interested in participating, check out the website for the writers’ studios to see if your department is participating or how you can participate.
Dr. Jeanne Simpson of the ASU Writing Center discusses the structure of good writing and the benefits and importance of simplicity in writing with Dr. Winslow Burleson from Computer Science and Engineering.
Great tips for avoiding many common writing mistakes made by graduate students. The examples provided are from a math/science perspective, but can be applied to and are pertinent to all disciplines.
Drs. Ben Minteer, Jamey Wetmore, Merlyna Lim, and Clark Miller (from Human and Social Dimensions of Science and Technology) talk with Dr. Jeanne Simpson (ASU Writing Center) about how style can make or break a piece of writing and about the tenuous relationship between clarity and complexity.
For one of the best websites for graduates students and faculty seeking to improve their writing go to the University of Toronto. This page contains resources for every stage of writing from the initial planning to the final editing and for all types of projects (e.g. letters, book reviews, lab reports, abstracts, dissertations, etc.) It is the most comprehensive site on the internet on writing. If you find a better one let us know.
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