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Graduate Student Support

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Getting Started on your Graduate Paper

Presentation �Title Here

native-land.ca

https://redpaper.yellowheadinstitute.org/

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Housekeeping

• When not speaking, mute your microphone
• If you choose to turn on your video and your connection starts slowing down, turn off your video
• Use the chat box to write any questions/comments/answers
• Get to know Zoom! Toggle between gallery view and speaker view if you want to see fellow participants; use emojis, etc.
• Virtual backgrounds/snacks/pets/children are welcome

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Overview

1. Undergraduate vs Graduate writing
2. Key Elements of Graduate Papers
3. Breakdown of Process, Purpose and Structure
4. Writing Anxiety and Tips for Getting Started
5. Silent Writing Activity
6. Summary/Debrief

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Undergraduate Writing vs Graduate Writing

Similarities:

• Use of evidence from scholarly and credible sources
• Free from sentence level errors
• Concise, declarative and ‘formal’
• Use of academic formatting
• Logical order of ideas and following established academic structures
• Formal citations

The University of Arizona Writing Center. Preparing for Graduate Writing. 2021.

The University of Arizona Writing Center. Preparing for Graduate Writing. 2021.

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Ingredients of an academic paper

Academic papers…

• are created through a process
• have a purpose
• have a structure

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Process

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However, the reality is much messier. And that’s ok.

Some find it helpful to think

of writing as a step-by-step process

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Purpose

What do you think the purpose of an academic paper is?

Purpose

Analyse

Synthesize

Expose

Interpret

Present

Argue

Compare

Persuade

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Purpose

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What is the purpose of the current paper you are working on?

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Which function(s) are driving your paper?

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Analyse

Synthesize

Expose

Interpret

Present

Argue

Compare

Persuade

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Purpose

Where do our graduate student papers go?

What is the purpose of your scholarship? Who are you writing for and want to write for?

• Practice for writing for a broader audience
• Building drafts for publications
• Future conference presentations
• Creating original research contributions

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Process (again)

So, now that you understand the purpose of the academic paper you are trying to build, let’s return to the steps in the building process:

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1. Envision the final product and its purpose
2. Search for raw material
3. Select the best stuff
4. Arrange into form/structure

A process of moving from chaos to order

From this… (searching raw material)�

To this… (selecting what to use)�

To this… (arranging into form)�

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What is the proper form or structure of our academic paper?

• Introduction
• Theoretical framework
• Literature review
• Methodology
• Results/Findings
• Analysis/Discussion
• Conclusion
• Other?

Structure

So, to build the right structure means predicting what your reader needs to know, and when they need to know it. Things that inform your structure include:

• The purpose of your paper
• The type of paper you are writing
• The audience and readers
• The instructions of your professor
• The logic (literature and/or theoretical grounding) of your argument
• The content of your ideas

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Creating an Outline

• Arrange key ideas and themes identified while taking notes and reviewing literature
• Creating a working outline that you can expand later into prose paragraphs
• Jot down ideas of what to include in your opening and conclusion paragraphs
• Populate your outline using the topic-specific notes you have gathered
• Add as much detail as you can
• Outlines can begin as single words, bullet points or phrases
• They can also be sentence by sentence maps of individual paragraphs
• TIP: Whenever possible, re-articulate main ideas in your own words
• Revise! Make multiple versions of your outline

Yale Center for Teaching and Learning. From Note-Taking to Outlining: Beginning the Writing Process in Humanities Research Papers. 2016.

Creating an Outline

• Sub sections
• Summary of main purpose of each section
• Bullet points correspond to a paragraph

Creating an Outline

• Creating subheadings
• Add topic sentences (first sentence of each paragraph that contains the purpose/argument of each paragraph)
• Each topic sentence will eventually need to be followed with the remaining sentences of the paragraph
• Can include citations/references under each topic sentences for future use

Writing Anxiety

1. Adapting to a new style of writing, such as the first semester of a college writing course or a form of writing the student is not used to (a research paper, a senior thesis, a dissertation, etc.)
2. Writing for a tough audience (i.e., a professor who’s been highly critical of previous work)
3. Thinking about criticism received on writing in the past (even if the person who has criticized is not the audience for your paper)
4. Tight deadlines for the submission of the writing assignment
5. Not clearly and completely understanding the writing assignment
6. Imposter Phenomenon

Holmes, B., Waterbury, T., Baltrinic, E., & Davis, A. (2018). Angst About Academic Writing: Graduate Students At The Brink.

Techniques to get going

1. Try not to be a perfectionist. Writing is never perfect.
2. Remember, you belong here. Everyone can write.
3. Have a good work space for writing.
4. Eat well, sleep well, play well.
5. Begin early, re-visit regularly.
6. Talk. To anyone. A lot.
7. Take breaks.
8. Read. Reading creates better writing.
9. If you need somewhere to start, create your title page.

Graduate Student Support

• Individual Help
• Book a 50-minute appointment
• Weekly Writing Groups
• Bi-weekly Workshops
• Handouts on citations conventions and more
• Dissertation coaching

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We are here to help!

Presentation �Title Here

Sources

Cutri, J., Abraham, A., Karlina, Y. et al. Academic integrity at doctoral level: the influence of the imposter phenomenon and cultural differences on academic writing. Int J Educ Integr 17, 8 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40979-021-00074-w

Holmes, B., Waterbury, T., Baltrinic, E., & Davis, A. (2018). Angst About Academic Writing: Graduate Students At The Brink. Contemporary Issues in Education Research (Online), 11(2), 67-72. http://dx.doi.org/10.19030/cier.v11i2.1014

Preparing for Graduate Writing: https://writingcenter.uagc.edu/preparing-graduate-writing

Research Writing in the Humanities: https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/LPaul_Humanities.

Research Paper Writing: https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/writing/graduate/writing-through-graduate-school/research-paper-writing

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