HOW TO DEVELOP AND WRITE AN ACADEMIC PAPER
Syllabus
EN
IT
Learning Objectives
This course is designed to introduce students to academic writing and basic research essay writing. The course outlines the fundamental principles, rhetorical modes, and development of canonical essays, along with the characteristics of proper grammatical structures. Over the course of twenty contact hours, students will have the opportunity to delve into each step of academic writing, from pre-writing and outlining to research methodologies and argumentative strategies. The course will challenge students to expand their research questions, encouraging them to explore their intended thesis statement and develop research questions coherently within their academic careers. Finally, the course will cover different types of academic essays, demonstrating how to write each one, using and challenging fixed models of essay writing to the advantage of the essay topic.
Prerequisites
No formal pre-requisites
Program
The course programme is divided into four inter-related parts as follows:
1)Pre Writing
2)Essay Writing, Theory, and Structure
3)Essay Types
4)Research Databases, Resources and Citation.
During each lecture, the lecturer presents the planned content with the aid of power point
presentations and invites students to critical reflection and dialogue.
1)Pre Writing
2)Essay Writing, Theory, and Structure
3)Essay Types
4)Research Databases, Resources and Citation.
During each lecture, the lecturer presents the planned content with the aid of power point
presentations and invites students to critical reflection and dialogue.
Books
Attending students:
1. Slides of the course.
2. Reading material distributed by the lecturers
Non attending students (below 80% attendance): will study ONE of the following textbooks:
They Say, I Say (Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein) WW Norton
Writing Academic English (Ann Hogue, Oshima A.) Longman/Pearson
1. Slides of the course.
2. Reading material distributed by the lecturers
Non attending students (below 80% attendance): will study ONE of the following textbooks:
They Say, I Say (Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein) WW Norton
Writing Academic English (Ann Hogue, Oshima A.) Longman/Pearson
Bibliography
Major textbooks:
They Say, I Say (Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein) WW Norton
Writing Academic English (Ann Hogue, Oshima A.) Longman/Pearson
Models for Writers (Alfred Rosa, Paul Eschholz) Bedford
How to Write a Thesis (Umberto Eco) MIT Press
They Say, I Say (Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein) WW Norton
Writing Academic English (Ann Hogue, Oshima A.) Longman/Pearson
Models for Writers (Alfred Rosa, Paul Eschholz) Bedford
How to Write a Thesis (Umberto Eco) MIT Press
Teaching methods
The course combines different teaching methods: lectures; seminars; in class writing lab. The lectures will provide the students with the necessary information and
reading guidelines on the phenomena under study, while seminars will see students
critically engage with this knowledge and encourage/participate in class debates. Students
are expected to attend each class, to come to class prepared and to participate in
discussions.
Essay prompts will be discussed during the course.
reading guidelines on the phenomena under study, while seminars will see students
critically engage with this knowledge and encourage/participate in class debates. Students
are expected to attend each class, to come to class prepared and to participate in
discussions.
Essay prompts will be discussed during the course.
Exam Rules
Course assessment
The (default )verification of learning is achieved through two exams. A written midterm essay and a final oral examination.
In particular, the examination assesses the student's overall preparation, ability to integrate
knowledge of the different parts of the programme, consequentiality of reasoning, analytical
ability and autonomy of judgement. In addition, ownership of language and clarity of
exposition are assessed, in adherence with the Dublin descriptors.
After listening to the presentations, the lecturers communicate the results to the students
registered for the examination via the Delphi system.
Students must take the examination on all available dates.
The examination will be assessed according to the following criteria:
•
FAIL: important deficiencies and/or inaccuracies in the knowledge and understanding of
the topics; limited ability to analyse and synthesise, frequent generalisations and limited
critical and judgemental skills, the topics are set out inconsistently and with inappropriate
language;
•
PASS:
Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the topics; considerable capacity
for analysis and synthesis. Good autonomy of judgement. Arguments presented in a
rigorous manner and with appropriate/technical language
Excellent level of knowledge and thorough understanding of topics. Excellent
analytical and synthetic skills and independent judgement. Arguments expressed in an
original manner and with appropriate technical language.
Course evaluation for attending students:
Essay 50%; Final Oral Exam 50%.
The final exam consists of a max 20-minute oral test with questions from slides and or textboook.
Course evaluation for non-attending students:
Essay 50%; Final Oral Exam 50%
The final exam consists of a max 20-minute oral test with questions from textboook below.
The (default )verification of learning is achieved through two exams. A written midterm essay and a final oral examination.
In particular, the examination assesses the student's overall preparation, ability to integrate
knowledge of the different parts of the programme, consequentiality of reasoning, analytical
ability and autonomy of judgement. In addition, ownership of language and clarity of
exposition are assessed, in adherence with the Dublin descriptors.
After listening to the presentations, the lecturers communicate the results to the students
registered for the examination via the Delphi system.
Students must take the examination on all available dates.
The examination will be assessed according to the following criteria:
•
FAIL: important deficiencies and/or inaccuracies in the knowledge and understanding of
the topics; limited ability to analyse and synthesise, frequent generalisations and limited
critical and judgemental skills, the topics are set out inconsistently and with inappropriate
language;
•
PASS:
Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the topics; considerable capacity
for analysis and synthesis. Good autonomy of judgement. Arguments presented in a
rigorous manner and with appropriate/technical language
Excellent level of knowledge and thorough understanding of topics. Excellent
analytical and synthetic skills and independent judgement. Arguments expressed in an
original manner and with appropriate technical language.
Course evaluation for attending students:
Essay 50%; Final Oral Exam 50%.
The final exam consists of a max 20-minute oral test with questions from slides and or textboook.
Course evaluation for non-attending students:
Essay 50%; Final Oral Exam 50%
The final exam consists of a max 20-minute oral test with questions from textboook below.