Writing for the MA in Partnership Studies

The Shannon Consortium Regional Writing Centre

Lawrence Cleary and Dr. Íde O’Sullivan, Research Officers,

University of Limerick

Shannon Consortium Regional Writing Centre at UL

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The Time/Space Continuum

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1000

2000

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4000

5000

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7000

8000

April May June July August

Space: Words written

Shannon Consortium Regional Writing Centre at UL

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The opera ain't over till the fat lady sings

• Where did you want to be at this point in time?• How do you feel about your progress?• How confident do you feel that you can be

where you want to be by the end of August?• How many words would you have to write per

month if you were to meet your August target?

Shannon Consortium Regional Writing Centre at UL

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Factors In Learning And Writing

• CognitiveCognitive—the thoughts that regulate you

• MetacognitiveMetacognitive—your awareness of the way you’re regulated by this and the other three factors and your manipulation of these factors

• AffectiveAffective—the feelings that regulate you

• SocialSocial—the social conditions that regulate you

Shannon Consortium Regional Writing Centre at UL

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Better To Light A Candle Than To Curse The Darkness

• What are my options?– Cognitive strategies?– Metacognitive strategies?– Affective strategies?– Social strategies?

Shannon Consortium Regional Writing Centre at UL

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Your Process

• Planning– Understanding the context into which you write– Gathering information

• Drafting– Developing your ideas

• Global Revision– Structure and Organization: logical flow across and within paragraphs

• Local Revision– Sentence-level issues: structure, organization, grammaticality and

mechanics

Shannon Consortium Regional Writing Centre at UL

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Process…Strategies…Product• Process:

– What are you doing?

– How are you doing it?

– Do your strategies lead to the accomplishment of your space/time/situational requirements?

• Product: – Did you do everything?

– Did you do enough (volume/quality)?

– Did you do it in time?

Shannon Consortium Regional Writing Centre at UL

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Mission Ispossible!

• It is my mission to…• Your mission statement is about you, your

work, and your ideals.• Don’t “box” yourself in. • Keep it short. • Ask for input. • Aim for substance, not superlatives.

Shannon Consortium Regional Writing Centre at UL

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Tomorrow’s just a day away…

• Make a planMake a plan for tomorrow.– What can you reasonably do?– Make a plan that is challenging but achievable.

• Make a planMake a plan for the next day. – What can you finish by the end of that day?– Try for visible results.