Writing
Enda P Guinan
Writing Skills
Language Centre
NUI Maynooth
The two types
• Any piece of extended writing is either*
• DESCRIPTIVE
or
• ARGUMENTATIVE
*or possibly some kind of mixture
Descriptive
•List important points
•Your view often not needed
Argumentative
•State your point of view
•Defend it with supporting arguments
Which approach?
• Explain, with examples, how the system of
government works.
• Outline some of the things that led to the defeat of
the Japanese at the end of World War II.
• What is the difference between knowledge and
belief?
• Compare and contrast the education system of the
USA and your own country.
• What influence did the Greeks have on the ancient
Romans?
• Write a concise description of the role of the World
Bank in development today.
What to put in and leave out
‘The Parliamentary System of Australia’
Should you explain:
•
•
•
•
What a parliament is?
What is meant by a system?
What ‘Australia’ is?
Something about the history of
parliaments?
• Who the present PM of Australia is?
• What a democracy is?
• What a vote is?
Two things to take into
account
1. Why are you writing the essay at all?
2. Have a specific reader in mind when
you write
1. Why are you writing the essay at all?
Because the tutor wants to see if
you have understood the lectures
and the recommended reading.
2. Have a specific reader in mind when
you write
Someone who
Is intelligent enough to be one of your
colleagues
Has a reasonable amount of common
sense
Knows almost nothing about your
subject
This way…
• You won’t waste
time explaining the
obvious and things
that any sensible
person would know
• And you will
explain the things
that need
explaining
• Imagine this person
will read, but not
mark, your work.
• Make it someone
you respect, but
who hasn’t had the
benefit of attending
your course
Back to Australia!
‘The Parliamentary System of Australia’
Should you explain:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
What a parliament is?
What is meant by a system?
What ‘Australia’ is?
Something about the history of parliaments?
Who the present PM of Australia is?
What a democracy is?
What a vote is?
The Descriptive Essay:
The Introduction
Do not include the questions in the
introduction - include the answers
1. Do I need to define any of the terms
in the title?
2. Why is the topic I’m writing about
important?
3. How am I limiting my discussion?
4. Can I break up my task into a number
of areas?
1. What do I need to define?
• Show the reader you understand what
you must talk about
• Either you must define a term or
explain some important feature of
the term.
• Remember what you don’t have to
explain
Try these: Which terms need
definition?
1) Discuss the effects a curfew has
on business interests in a city.
2) To what extent does sexual
equality lead to social change?
3) Explain how a compass works.
Describe, with examples, the role of the
defence forces in border disputes.
• There are three arms of the defence
force: the Army, the Navy and the
Airforce. All three of these can be
involved in border disputes, depending
on the location of the border under
dispute.
2. Why is the topic
important?
• Explain how the topic is important
• Either in terms of its relevance today
or
• In terms of its relevance to the general
study of the subject
• Example:
Describe, with examples, the role of the
defence forces in border disputes.
• A study of the defence force’s role in
border disputes is worth examining
because it is a good example of the
way that the armed forces take over
policing in areas where the police have
little control.
3. How am I limiting my
discussion?
• No essay can deal with all aspects of a
topic
• Select what you consider to be the
central point
• Tell your reader just what area you will
discuss
• Say why you are limiting yourself
Example:
Describe, with examples, the role of the
defence forces in border disputes.
• As most disputes are land-based, this
discussion will limit itself to examining
the role of the Army.
4. Can I break up the task
into a number of parts?
• This will give you an idea of the
number of paragraphs you will have
• Use words like ‘major’, ‘main’ or ‘most
important’
• Use lots of words from the title
• Don’t write out which areas you will be
describing (you essay itself does that!)
Describe, with examples, the role of the
defence forces in border disputes.
• Although the army becomes involved in
many ways, there are three main roles
that the defence force in general, and
the Army in particular, has in border
disputes.
Body text
• A sequence of paragraphs each
logically following from the last and
each developing a point
• Each paragraph:
o Begins with a restatement of the final
sentence of the intro
o States your info in detail
o Ends with an example
The Conclusion
• Short
• You could:
• Write about future implications (if
relevant)
• Write about influence of what you have
described on wider issues
• Suggest how the situation could be
improved in some way
The Fall of the Roman Empire
There were, then, many reasons why the Roman
Empire fell. As the empire crumbled, it became
divided into the two centres of Rome and
Constantinople. The resulting rivalry meant that
the Arab forces were able to gain much more
ground in Europe and North Africa than they might
otherwise might have done. In the long term this
was perhaps an advantage to European culture as
a whole, for it exposed Europe to Arab philosophy
and science: both of which were in many ways far
superior to those of Europe at the time.
The Argumentative Essay
• Puts forward a point of view
• Defends that point of view
• Most frequently used approach in
academic writing (for extended pieces)
• Tests ability to think logically
The Introduction
• Sets out the problem (topic)
A typical intro (no of sentences in brackets)
•
•
•
•
Relates topic to reader’s experience (1+)
Sets out problem (often question form) (1)
Shows opposing voices and explains why (1+)
Sets out writer’s opinion (1)
1. Relate to reader’s
experience
• Less important in college essays!
• However…
• “This is something you will be
interested in. It discusses something
you have been thinking about recently”
• May take several or only one sentence
Examples
• The recent troubles in the Middle East have
been widely reported in the world’s press.
• In the last year there have been over five
hundred violations of air traffic rules in the
USA.
• In last week’s daily papers there was a great
deal of coverage given to a case of child
beating. The parents, it seems, were
blaming their cramped housing on their
sudden loss of control.
2. Question that sets out the
problem behind the topic
• Let’s call this the issue
• V important. Makes the topic perfectly
clear
• Helps you get to the root of the
problem and stay relevant
• Watch out! Some issues are lame:
Lame issues
•
•
•
•
•
Is theft a crime?
Is the world round?
Should we obey the traffic rules?
Are women legally equal to men?
Is violence a bad thing?
• Why are these lame? How could you
improve them?
3. Objections that exist and
why?
• A good issue should have two sides
• Acknowledging this does two things
• 1. Tells reader (who may share the
opposing view!) that opposing view has
some strong arguments
• 2. Makes sure there are two sides. If
not, it’s not a good issue - it may be
lame
Careful though…
• Don’t give more than one support for
the other argument
• Introduce opposing arg with:



Some people maintain…
It can be argued that…
It might be said that…
§ ‘can’, ‘might’, ‘may’ are tentative
words
Spot the difference
• Students are lazy people.
 This sound like a fact
 Speaker sounds very definite
• It might be said that students are lazy
people.
 Speaker sounds doubtful
 Speaker doesn’t agree with it
4. Set out your opinion
• Let’s call this the MIS (Main Idea
Statement)
• The MIS is the answer to the question
posed by the issue
• Do not provide any reasons - yet (more
difficult than it sounds!)
• Introduce MIS something like this;
 However, it is clear that…
 There are many reasons why…
Body text: The supporting
arguments
• Make sure your supports actually
support your MIS
• Each support should have its own
paragraph (or two)
• Follow the three steps
 State
 Explain
 Example
State
• Begin new paragraphs with:
 The first reason why [restate MIS] is [first
support]
 The second reason why [restate MIS] is
[first support]
 The third…. and so on
Explain
• Clarify the point - enhance the topic
sentence
• Bring in quotations from sources
• Make reference to other authorities
• Give weight to your point of view
Example
• Conclude your paragraph with an
example
• Be as precise as possible - facts and
figures
• Resist the temptation to ‘massage’ or
invent information
The Conclusion
• Do not list all of your arguments
• Attempt a solution
• Your issue had two sides - how might
they be reconciled in the light of your
arguments?
• You can make suggestions here
• You don’t have to neatly reconcile
things
An example
• Although it is clear that the police
should definitely not be armed, there
are occasions when it is necessary for
them to have weapons: when dealing
with a dangerous criminal, for
example. The answer then may be to
allow the police to carry weapons only
when permitted to by a judge or
someone similar.
Questions and answers to
 grammartogo@may.ie