HOW TO WRITE AN ACADEMIC PAPER

A USEFUL GUIDE FOR STUDENTS

A COMPARISON PARAGRAPHTHIS TYPE OF PARAGRAPH COMPARES EQUAL FEATURES OR QUALITIES OF TWO ITEMS. THERE ARE TWO WAYS OF WRITING A COMPARATIVE PARAGRAPH:• AN EXAMPLE RELATED TO ONE SUBJECT ALTERNATES TO ANOTHER SUBJECT ( AB, AB AND

AB) OR• ALL EXAMPLES OF SUBJECT ARE LISTED TOGETHER FOLLOWED BY ALL EXAMPLES OF

SUBJECT ( A AND B).A WELL-ORGANISED PARAGRAPH CONTAINS SEVERAL TYPES OF SENTENCES:A TOPIC SENTENCE (TS) THAT INTRODUCES A ONE-SENTENCE STATEMENT OF THE MAIN IDEA OF THE WHOLE PARAGRAPH.

SEVERAL EXAMPLE SENTENCES (E) THAT GIVE POINTS TO SUSTAIN THE MAIN IDEA OF THE TOPIC SENTENCE.A RESTATEMENT SENTENCE (R) THAT RESTATES THE CENTRAL THOUGHT OF THE TOPIC SENTENCE.A TOPIC INTRODUCER (TI) MAY BE USED IN THIS TYPE OF PARAGRAPH

EXAMPLE: “PS3 AND PS4 CONSOLES USE”(A-E1, A-E2, A-E3, B-E1, B-E2 AND B-E3)

NOWADAYS, IT IS WIDELY KNOWN THAT CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS ARE EXTREMELY KEEN ON USING CONSOLES. IN SPITE OF BEING DIFFERENT IN DESIGN AND PRICE, PS3 AND PS4 ARE COMPLETELY SIMILAR IN FUNCTION ( TS ). FOR EXAMPLE, PS3 CAN BE USED EITHER WITH A VIDEO GAME OR ON LINE. MOREOVER, A GREAT VARIETY OF PS3 GAMES ARE AVAILABLE IN THE SHOPS (A-E1). FURTHERMORE, IT LETS THE USERS WATCH VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE AND FILMS ON NETFLIX, PLAY DVDS AND CONNECT TO BLUETOOTH (A-E2). IN ADDITION, PS3 ALLOWS TELEVISION CONNECTION USING A HDMI CABLE (A-E3). TO OBTAIN DAZZLING QUALITY AND UNMATCHED EASE OF USE, THE HDMI CABLE IS SUITABLE FOR PS4 AS WELL. (B-E1). AS REGARDS VIDEOS AND FILMS, THEY CAN BE WATCHED ON THE CONSOLE, HOWEVER, DVDS CANNOT BE PLAYED (B-E2). PS4 CONSOLE, TOO, LETS THE PLAYERS PLAY ON LINE BUT THEY HAVE TO PAY SONY FOR THAT SERVICE (B-E3). ALL IN ALL, DESPITE THE DIFFERENCES IN THE USE OF VIDEO GAMES, PS3 AND PS4 ARE ALIKE FUNTIONALLY ( R ).

BE AWARE OF THE FOLLOWING RELATIONS

• TITLE - TOPIC SENTENCE - RESTATEMENT SENTENCE• TOPIC SENTENCE – A ( E1 E2 E3) - B ( E1 E2 E3 )• (A-E1 B-E3) - ( A-E2 B-E2 ) - ( A-E3 B-E1 )

IT IS A MUST TO CREATE A COHERENT AND COHESIVE PARAGRAPH

• MAKE SENSE COHERENCE PS3 CONSOLE/IT - USERS/THEY/THEM

FURTHERMORE• UNIFY IDEAS COHESION CONNECTORS MOREOVER IN ADDITION FOR EXAMPLE

THE COMPARATIVE ESSAY

THIS TYPE OF ESSAY COMPARES AND CONTRASTS AT LEAST TWO (POSSIBLY MORE) ITEMS.IT CAN COMPARE: • POSITION ON AN ISSUE • THEORIES• FIGURES• TEXTS• EVENTS

STEPS1. GATHER IDEAS2. BRAINSTORM3. DEVELOP A THESIS BASED ON SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES4. APPROACH A STRUCTURE FOR THE ESSAY: ALTERNATING METHOD: POINT-BY-POINT PATTERN (ABABAB…) BLOCK METHOD: SUBJECT-BY-SUBJECT PATTERN (AAAA,BBB)

5 WRITE THE TOPIC PARAGRAPH ( TP) INCLUDING THE THESIS STATEMENT ON IT.

6 CREATE THE BODY OF THE ESSAY ACCORDING TO ONE OF THE METHODS MENTIONED ABOVE7 WRITE A RESTATEMENT PARAGRAPH TO REAFFIRM THE THESIS STATEMENT.8 END WITH WHAT THE ESSAY REVEALS ABOUT SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES.

REMEMBER

• WHO THE ESSAY IS ADDRESSED TO• TO BE COHERENT• TO USE COHESIVE DEVICES – CONTRAST AND COMPARISON CONNECTORS: ON THE OTHER

HAND, BY CONTRAST, ON THE CONTRARY, CONVERSELY, HOWEVER, NEVERTHLESS, ETC.• RESPECT PUNCTUATION AND CAPITAL LETTERS.• USE FORMAL LANGUAGE• AVOID INFORMAL LANGUAGE• EDIT THE ESSAY

REFERENCES

Imhoof, M. (n.d.). From Paragraph to Essay: Developing Composition Writing. New York. LongmanSanchez Terrel, S. (n.d.). 30 Goals Conference Keynote: Rosmary Ferrier. Retrieved July 18, 2015. Web site: http://www.youtube.com Thesaurus. (2005). New York. ScholasticVisvis, V. (n. d.). Specific Types of Writings. Retrieved April 19, 2015, from University of Toronto. Web site: http://www.writing.utoronto.ca