Successful Assessment Writing
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Academic writing and other writing.
What’s the difference?
• Discuss this with the person next to you.
• Be ready to share your ideas.
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Academic writing
Academic writing is:
• Structured
• Uses formal professional language
• Is written in the third person
• Follows the rules of punctuation and grammar
• Supports the discussion through the use of
published academic literature
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Other writing
Other writing:
• Little or no structure
• The language is often informal
• Use of abbreviations and colloquialisms
• Often written in the first person
• May use lists or bullet points
• Often based on opinion, rather than evidence
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The objective of an academic
assignment
To present a well reasoned argument supported by
relevant evidence that will persuade your reader to a
particular point of view or position.
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The writing process
1: Check the requirements
• The length of the assignment – this does not
include the reference list but does include in-text
references
• Is it an essay, a report, etc.?
• Which readings to use
• Due date – plan/ structure your time
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The writing process
2: Analyse the question
• What type of response is required e.g. discuss,
explain, etc.
• Identify and define any terms that relate to the
topic
• Be careful when interpreting the question that you
don’t alter its meaning
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The writing process
3: Critical reading
• Start reading - Look for points relevant to the topic –
highlight or note these
• To be successful you need to interact with the material and
analyse what the author is saying
Questions that you might ask of the readings:
• What are the main points the author is making?
• Why is this believable or convincing – what evidence or
examples does the author provide?
• Why is this information important in the context of the
assignment and the course?
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The writing process
4: Paraphrase key ideas from the readings
• Paraphrasing involves changing someone else’s words into
your own words
• Paraphrasing is a two stage process that involves:
1.Changing the sentence structure
2.Changing most of the words
• Paraphrasing helps to prevent plagiarising
• It also helps you demonstrate your understanding of the
material
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How to paraphrase
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Make something else in the sentence the subject
Use more simple words or phrases – a dictionary or
thesaurus can be helpful
It is okay to leave any technical words specific to a
subject but make sure you change other words
Make sure you retain the sense of the original
Paraphrasing long passages
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Read carefully and identify key ideas
Make brief notes on these key ideas
Cover your notes
Rewrite the passage in your own words
Check against the original to make sure you have
retained the sense
• Cite the source of these ideas
• Put any directly quoted key phrases in inverted commas
and reference these
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The writing process
5. Write a first draft of your assignment
• Write a plan of what you want to say and use this as a
guide
• List the key points you want to include and assemble
supporting material under each point
6. Write a second draft of your assignment
• Work through your original draft building on your ideas
and making sure they are expressed clearly
• Reorganise your material so your discussion follows a
clear line of reasoning
• Check that you have supported key ideas with evidence
from the readings
• Include an introduction and a conclusion
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7. Proofreading
• Once your draft is completed, proofread your assignment
carefully, especially for things such as spelling, sentence
construction, and tenses
• Check that you have referenced ideas you have taken
from the readings, etc.
• Key aspects to look out for are outlined in the following
slides
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Sentences
A complete sentence has three components:
1. A subject (the actor in the sentence)
2. A predicate (the verb or action)
3. A complete thought (it can stand alone and makes
sense)
A complete sentence begins with a capital letter and ends
with either a period, a question mark, or an exclamation
mark.
Example: The little girl drew on the coloured paper.
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Incomplete
sentences
An incomplete sentence does not have all of these
components and is known as a fragment.
The most common fragment used is a sentence which
doesn’t express a complete thought.
Example:
When John has finished writing. (What will happen then?)
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Run-ons and
comma splices
Run-ons:
This is when you put two complete sentences together in
one sentence.
Example:
My favourite subject is drama we have lots of fun.
Comma splices:
In this instance you cannot simply add a comma between
the two sentences, or you’ll end up with a comma splice.
Example:
My favourite subject is drama, we have lots of fun.
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How would you
fix these
sentences?
To fix run-ons and comma splices you need to either
change the punctuation, or add a conjunction.
My favourite subject is drama. We have lots of fun. (Two
sentences)
My favourite subject is drama because we have lots of
fun. (Adding a conjunction)
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Writing
paragraphs
• Paragraphs are usually made up of several sentences
organised around a central idea
• The main idea for each paragraph is outlined in the first
sentence – the topic sentence
• The following sentences develop the central idea
• The sentences within the paragraph link to each other
• The last sentence sums up the paragraph or leads into the
next paragraph
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The writing process
8. Your final copy
Try to leave this for a day or so then ask yourself questions
such as:
• Have I addressed everything that was required?
• Have I expressed my ideas clearly?
• Have I written in complete sentences – no bullet points?
• Have I used evidence to support my ideas?
• Have I referenced the source of my ideas accurately, both
in-text and in the reference list?
• Have I written this assessment with my audience in mind?
• Have I shown an awareness of differing perspectives and
viewpoints?
• Have I included any irrelevant material?
• Is the language I have used inclusive?
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The final act
Submit your assignment for marking
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