Writing Centre Seminar
Writing Centre Seminar
Writing Essays
Rosie Gronthos
Writing Centre
Welcome
Congratulations on joining the University of Adelaide study
body.
You’ve achieved a lot to get here.
I hope this talk will introduce you to the expectations of
writing an essay at university and inspire you to become
critical thinkers and good academic writers.
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Outline
• Why do you write essays?
• What exactly is an essay?
• An essay must be
persuasive and possess
academic integrity
• Form a point of view
using your own words
• Reference correctly
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Why do you write essays?
• Form of assessment
• A way to communicate
• Demonstrate what you know
Writing academic essays are different from the essays you
may have written in the past.
• It provides the knowledge and ability to follow academic
conventions so you can learn the essential skills to
become critical thinkers and good academic writers.
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What exactly is an essay?
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•
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Formal
Logical
Connected
Structured
Persuasive
Referenced
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What is a persuasive essay?
• A writer's attempt to convince readers of
the validity of a particular opinion on a
controversial issue
• Aims to convince others
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What is the essay writer try to achieve?
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What is a thesis statement?
• A persuasive thesis statement is a one-sentence
description of your topic and the argument that you plan
to make in the essay
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The argument you plan to make in the essay
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Where does it go?
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Why is the thesis statement important?
A thesis statement shows your level of understanding in
relation to the essay question based on your own reading
and writing.
It supports your argument by clearly stating your
reasons why
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Why form an argument in your own words?
• Shows your level of understanding
• Form an opinion based on research and evidence
• Your own informed opinion is valued
Writing in your own voice makes it clear whose ideas are
being expressed-yours or a source’s
Write in your own voice and avoid plagiarism
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Avoid plagiarism
• Plagiarism: the act of presenting another’s work or ideas
as your own.
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Academic integrity
• Students need to acknowledge sources through correct
referencing.
• Consistent and accurate referencing avoids plagiarism.
When you are referencing always use a referencing
guide to help you ensure 100% accuracy.
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Why do you need to reference?
• To avoid being accused of plagiarism, which includes
copying another’s work, paraphrasing or summarising
without acknowledgement, colluding with others and
presenting either identical or very similar essays.
• To show respect for other people's ideas and work.
• To support your own arguments, thus giving you more
credibility.
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Referencing
• Shows the depth and breadth of your reading and
thinking.
• More people’s ideas you read the better.
• You use other sources to support your own argument.
Once you can analyse other opinions you are able to
evaluate the information to form your own argument. This
demonstrates your understanding about a topic.
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To sum up
• Writing essays gives you the knowledge and ability to
follow academic conventions so you can become critical
thinkers and good academic writers.
• Forming an argument in your own words shows that you
understand a topic based on your own reading and
thinking.
• Accurate referencing demonstrates academic integrity. It
supports your own arguments and therefore gives you
more credibility.
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Useful Learning Guides
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Writing Essays
Introductions & Conclusions
Paragraph Writing
Avoiding Plagiarism
Quick Guide to Referencing
Source Credibility
Paraphrase or to Quote?
Assignment Directives
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For further thoughts
• Write down 2 things you have learnt today.
• ‘Thank you. Are there any questions?’
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Have a great year!
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Writing Centre Details
WEB:
FACEBOOK:
EMAIL:
PHONE:
VISIT:
www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre
www.facebook.com/WritingCentreUofA
writingcentre@adelaide.edu.au
8313 3021
Level 3 Hub Central, 10am-4pm Mon-Fri