Information Competencies
For Effective Writing
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John A. Cagle
Professor of Communication
California State University, Fresno
Purpose and Decision to Start
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Problem exigency gives rise to need for
solution and communication
Build your personal motivation for the
tasks ahead
Purpose of writing determined:
informative, persuasive, entertaining
Plan how to use your time well
Research
Finding
Information
Need for Information
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Before you can speak, you've got to
have something to say.
Speaking and writing should be based
on truth.
Use scholarly tools to facilitate research
-- the quest for information and
knowledge.
Problem Question
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Purpose, interests, what you know about
your topic and are interested in
Process begins with forming a problem
question to guide your research.
The problem question is what we expect
to answer through our research.
Often the question is initially general, but
it gets refined as you begin and continue
your research.
Generate Information Needs
and Questions
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What kinds of things will you need to know to
answer the question? Who? What? When?
Where? Why? How? What are the facts?
What are the critical events? What is the
timeline in the history of the problem? What
are the causes and effects in a problem?
identify topics or specific questions
seek information to answer by using personal,
documentary, library, and Internet resources
Techniques to Explore, Discover,
and Develop Ideas
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brainstorm lists
focused freewriting
clustering
thinking
Access Research Sources
Reads, Notes, and Records
Critically Analyze and Evaluate
Information
Organize and Synthesize
Information
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Academic writing in all fields today still
follows the basic organizational plan
recommended by Cicero
• Exordium
• Narratio
• Partitio
• Confirmatio
• Conclusio
Invention
Planning
what to say
Thesis
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State WHAT you want to say in the
speech in a single sentence.
The central idea of the speech or essay
is called a thesis.
Remember that the thesis should be
appropriate to the scope and purpose of
the assignment and the occasion.
Development
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Development is the expansion of the
thesis, identifying the main lines of
development, the major arguments
proving your point, and so forth.
Types of developmental material include
definitions, facts, quotations, statistics,
comparisons, contrasts, examples,
illustrations, and so forth.
Criteria for Developmental
Materials
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Audience attitude
Timeliness
Authoritativeness
Relevance or
appropriateness
Organizing
Planning the
introduction,
body, &
conclusion
Introduction
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Exordium: Secure attention and interest.
Narratio: Give needed background on
topic (what does audience need to
understand to appreciate your points?
Partitio: State the purpose of speech
and preview the major parts
Partitio
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Orient audience to the thesis or purpose
of essay: state the thesis directly
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"The purpose of this paper is to. . . ."
"Preview" the major developmental parts
of the essay: state this directly
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"First, the history of the problem will be
explored; second, the consequences. . . ."
Body (Confirmatio)
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Body of paper contains the main ideas of
the essay and appropriate
developmental material.
Arrangement of the main
ideas/developmental material should be
determined by the subject matter and
purpose.
Conclusion (Conclusio)
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Summarize thesis and main points
Show relevance to the course (or reason
you wrote paper)
Stimulate audience to want to know
more, do something, think of the
implications of your paper, etc.)
Summary of findings
Signal phrase before quotation
Writer’s own thought
Transitional Material
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Throughout paper, the thesis should be
abundantly clear.
Relate each main idea to thesis and to
other ideas.
Use transitional “sign post” words
(therefore, however, first, etc.)
Outline
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Outline to see the structure of your ideas
Typical forms of outlines:
• Key word outline
• Sentence outline
Revise Carefully
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Check for word appropriateness &
meaning
Use stylistic devices to improve use of
language
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Check for content: logically sound?
points well developed? details
sufficient? enough illustrations &
examples? support?
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Check for overall structure--be sure
introduction and conclusion are effective
Check for transitions--are there enough?
Assess the speech as you think your
audience will