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Your Writing Task |
If you have read the introduction, you should understand about the 5 primary purposes of academic writing and the 13 genre familes.
When you start with a new assignment. the first thing to do is to decide what it is that you are expected to do. You need to decide what type of writing you are expected to produce. You need be able to choose the correct genre to use for your writing.
You need to start by deciding on your primary purpose.
What is your primary purpose?
1. Demonstrating knowledge and understanding | |
2. Building research skills | |
3. Developing powers of independent reasoning | |
4. Writing for oneself and others | |
5. Preparing for professional practice |
In order to do that, it is useful to examine your assignment brief in detail.
The assignment question or rubric can often help you with this task.
Much of your writing will be prompted by an assignment, an essay or exam question. Students often do worse than they should in examinations or when preparing assignments or oral presentations in English in the UK, not because their writing or speaking skills are weak or because their knowledge of the subject matter is insufficient, but because they have not fully understood what they have been asked to do. To score high marks in an examination or an assignment, it is important to fully understand what a question or brief means and how it should be answered.
In order to understand the question it is useful to analyse the questions and to search for certain components. The following technique is very useful (Swales, 1982).
Many assignment titles or examination questions contain the following components:
Some titles also contain the following components:
To analyse the title, it is useful to follow the following steps:
Here is a list of the most common assignment instruction key-words with an explanation for each.
Note: The explanations given for these words can be a rough guide only. You must always go by the total meaning of the title or question. Read the question carefully: do not jump to conclusions about what is required on the basis of these words only.
- Account for
- requires an answer that gives the reasons for the subject of the question.
- Analyse
- requires an answer that takes apart an idea, concept or statement in order to consider all the factors it consists of. Answers of this type should be very methodical and logically organised.
- Compare
- requires an answer that sets items side by side and shows their similarities and differences. A balanced (fair, objective) answer is expected.
- Consider
- requires an answer in which the students describe and give their thoughts on the subject.
- Contrast
- requires an answer that points out only the differences between two items.
- Criticise
- requires an answer that points out mistakes or weaknesses, and that also indicates any favourable aspects of the subject of the question. It requires a balanced answer.
- Define
- requires an answer that explains the precise meaning of a concep. A definition answer will include a definition, probably expanded.
- Describe
- requires an answer that says what something is like, how it works and so on.
- Discuss
- requires an answer that explains an item or concept, and then gives details about it with supportive information, examples, points for and against, and explanations for the facts put forward. It is important to give both sides of an argument and come to a conclusion.
- Elucidate
- requires an answer that explains what something means, makes it clear (lucid).
- Evaluate/Assess
- require an answer that decides and explains how great, valuable or important something is. The judgement should be backed by a discussion of the evidence or reasoning involved.
- Explain
- requires an answer that offers a rather detailed and exact explanation of an idea or principle, or a set of reasons for a situation or attitude.
- Explore
- requires an answer that examines the subject thoroughly and considers it from a variety of viewpoints.
- Illustrate
- requires an answer that consists mainly of examples to demonstrate or prove the subject of the question. It is often added to another instruction.
- Justify
- requires an answer that gives only the reasons for a position or argument. Answer the main objections likely to be made of them. Note, however, that the proposition to be argued may be a negative one (e.g. Justify the abolition of the death penalty.)
- Prove/Disprove
- both of these require answers that demonstrate the logical arguments and/or evidence connected with a proposition prove requires the 'pro' points, and disprove requires the 'contra' points.
- State
- requires an answer that expresses the relevant points briefly and clearly without lengthy discussion or minor details.
- Summarise/Outline
- require an answer that contains a summary of all the available information about a subject, i.e. only the main points and not the details should be included. Questions of this type often require short answers.
- Trace
- is found most frequently in historical questions (but not only in History courses); it requires the statement and brief description in logical or chronological order of the stages (steps) in the development of e.g. a theory, a person's life, a process, etc.
- To what extent is X true?
- requires an answer that discusses and explains in what ways X is true and in what ways X is not true.
Can we catergorise these according to primary purpose? Something like this:
Sometimes you may find several different instruction words combined innto one composite question. For example:
Define financial accounting. Compare and contrast the Anglo-American and Continental approaches to financial accounting. Explain the role that the invididual accountants play in each approach.
Some other important words used in questions.
- concept
- an important idea
- concise
- short, brief
- in the context of
- referring to, inside the subject of
- criteria
- what standards you would expect; what questions you would expect to be answered
- deduction
- the conclusion or generalisation you come to after looking carefully at all the facts
- factor(s)
- the circumstances bringing about a result
- function
- what something does its purpose or activities
- implications
- results that are not obvious, long term, suggested results
- limitations
- explain where something is not useful or not relevant
- with/by reference to
- make sure you write about the following subject
- in relation to
- only a certain part of the first topic is needed
- role
- what part something plays, how it works, especially in co-operation with others
- scope
- the area where something acts or has influence
- significance
- meaning and importance
- valid/validity
- is there evidence and are there facts to prove the statement?
In planning the answer, the instruction decides the text purpose (discussion, explanation, etc.); the topic (with its restriction or expansion if there is one) determines the overall range of the subject matter but the aspect determines the particular content; viewpoint dictates which arguments, for or against, to use. The interaction between instruction and aspect will lead to decisions about the organisation of the essay.
Analyse the example questions above.
Press this if you want to check your answers:
Look at the following questions/briefs/rubrics from the BAWE corpus and try to decide the broad purpose of the piece of writing you are expected to do.
Broad Purposes |
A. Demonstrating knowledge and understanding |
B. Building research skills |
C. Developing powers of independent reasoning |
D. Writing for oneself and others |
D. Preparing for professional practice |
Market Research Methods | 1. Explain the purposes of advertising research with reference to an example with which you are familiar. |
Market Research Methods | 2. Explain how the effectiveness of advertising can be assessed. |
Market Research Methods | 3. Describe how you would select an appropriate sample to assess the impact of television advertising for toys for children aged 5 – 10 over the Christmas period (late November – December) |
Hospitailty, Leisure & Tourism Management | 4. On the 26th August, Bank holiday Monday, Mr. Lars Hanson has arranged to host a party to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary. The location is at his riverside house with the marquee erected on the lawn next to the river. He requires a three course luncheon with wine starting at 1pm. The guests will arrive from 11.30am and will leave around 3.30pm. He has contacted Peacock Catering and asked for a quote for the day including the following:
|
Food Sciences | 5. Donna Spencer is a journalist and wants to write an article on obesity for a newspaper. She has the following questions:
|
Accounting & Finance | 6. Using the accounts for Marks and Spencer plc and other information researched by you, write a report recommending whether or not to invest in Marks and Spencer plc. |
Economics | 7. Explore the role of the small business sector in the UK economy and in your own country. |
Economics | 8. What is the position of the UK Government on restrictive trade practices and how has recent legislation helped to achieve its aims? |
Economics | 9. What are the main causes of the recent credit crisis and what measures have governments been adopting to try to solve the problems caused by it? |
Economics | 10. What is the regional problem, and how has government policy attempted to alleviate this problem? |
Economics | 11. How successful have international institutions been in promoting and achieving free trade? |
Economics | 12. Discuss the relative merits of different exchange rate regimes and explain why your own country has chosen the regime it has. |
Business Strategy | 13. Analyse the strategies used by the Apple Corporation to build and sustain competitive advantage. What are the strategic issues and options currently facing the organisation? |
Philosophy | 14. Critically consider the "Method od Doubt" as a means of beginning philosophy. |
MBA | 15. Outline and analyse the problems confronting Medical Supplies Limited and offer recommendations for their resolution. |
Computer Science | 16. Create an application which gives the user the ability to open and display an image, and to change the background colour of the form. |
Agriculture | 17. For this assignment you should construct a model which demonstrates changes in woodland structure over time with an attention to the understory vegetation cover and factors affecting the rate of increase on the field and ground layer vegetation in order to take account of those factors in planning of woodland management. |
Linguistics | 18. Describe the patterns of distribution of the allophones of /r/, and the allophones of /l/, based on the data provided. What can you say about /r/ in syllable final position? |
Linguistics | 19. Meltese and Leponese have identical phonetic inventories, but different phonological inventories. Give the phonetic inventory the two languages share, and then the phonological vowel inventory for each language. Indicate the line of reasoning which led to your answer. |
20. Write a literature review of between 1500-2000 words. You can choose any topic, but are strongly encouraged to review the literature relating to your thesis topic (if you have decided on one) or another area that you think you will work on in future. | |
Business | 21. Conduct a brief literature review on a topic of interest related to business, information systems, social issues, etc. |
Language Teaching | 22. Write a critical evaluation of a topic relevant to the field of English Language Teaching in the form of a literature review. |
Language Teaching | 23. The dissertation will require students to identify a significant problem in the teaching of English in a particular part of the world, to examine some background issues and carry out appropriate research, including data collection and analysis. The results of the research will inform a well-founded dissertation of 15,000 – 20,000 words. |
Business | 24. Your assignment requires a weekly blog site in the group site on Blackboard. Your blog should not be on the weekly teaching schedule but your personal experience, learning journey, including both positive and negative experiences and what actions should be taken to the future as development. |
Business | 25. Write not more than 1000 words to describe your research methodology, i.e., what approach you took to carry out your project. It should give answers to the following questions:
|
Psychology | 26. Your third writing assignment is to write the Methods section of the class experiment using APA format. Specifically, this section should include the following: Who participated? How were they recruited? How were they assigned to condition? What did they do? Include the IVs and IVMs, the DVs and DVMs. |
Psychology | 27. The assignment is due on Thursday, May 10, the last day of the examination period. It should be written in APA style, and it should include an abstract, an introduction with literature review and hypotheses, a method section describing methods and procedures in detail, a brief consideration of data analyses, and a discussion section that examines reliability, validity, reactive effects, ethical issues, etc. |
Law | 28. Laura, a 19 year old law student, went to the Rotten Row Bus Station to catch a coach home to Sweet Valley. She had made this journey from time to time in the past. Above the ticket-office window of the Slowe and Wheezy Bus Company was a sign which stated that all tickets were issued subject to conditions displayed inside the coaches. Laura purchased a ticket which made no reference to any conditions. While boarding the coach the driver carelessly knocked Laura’s very expensive ‘up to the minute’ mobile phone from her hand and broke it. One of the terms displayed inside the coach was as follows:
Advise Laura. In your advice state the effects of relevant case law and statutes. |
Now you have chosen your Primary Purpose, you should now be able to choose the correct Genre Family you need to use for your writing. If you are still not sure, read your question or assignment brief again. It might also be a good idea to talk to your lecturer.
Now you have chosen your Primary Purpose, choose the Genre Family.
1. Demonstrating knowledge and understanding: Explanation or Exercise | |
2. Building research skills: Literature Review, Methodology Recount or Research Report | |
3. Developing powers of independent reasoning: Critique or Essay | |
4. Writing for oneself and others: Event Recount or Public Engagement | |
5. Preparing for professional practice: Case Study, Design Specification, Problem Question or Proposal |
Look at the following questions/briefs/rubrics from the BAWE corpus again and try to decide the genre family of the piece of writing you are expected to do.
Market Research Methods | 1. Explain the purposes of advertising research with reference to an example with which you are familiar. |
Market Research Methods | 2. Explain how the effectiveness of advertising can be assessed. |
Market Research Methods | 3. Describe how you would select an appropriate sample to assess the impact of television advertising for toys for children aged 5 – 10 over the Christmas period (late November – December) |
Hospitailty, Leisure & Tourism Management | 4. On the 26th August, Bank holiday Monday, Mr. Lars Hanson has arranged to host a party to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary. The location is at his riverside house with the marquee erected on the lawn next to the river. He requires a three course luncheon with wine starting at 1pm. The guests will arrive from 11.30am and will leave around 3.30pm. He has contacted Peacock Catering and asked for a quote for the day including the following:
|
Food Sciences | 5. Donna Spencer is a journalist and wants to write an article on obesity for a newspaper. She has the following questions:
|
Accounting & Finance | 6. Using the accounts for Marks and Spencer plc and other information researched by you, write a report recommending whether or not to invest in Marks and Spencer plc. |
Economics | 7. Explore the role of the small business sector in the UK economy and in your own country. |
Economics | 8. What is the position of the UK Government on restrictive trade practices and how has recent legislation helped to achieve its aims? |
Economics | 9. What are the main causes of the recent credit crisis and what measures have governments been adopting to try to solve the problems caused by it? |
Economics | 10. What is the regional problem, and how has government policy attempted to alleviate this problem? |
Economics | 11. How successful have international institutions been in promoting and achieving free trade? |
Economics | 12. Discuss the relative merits of different exchange rate regimes and explain why your own country has chosen the regime it has. |
Business Strategy | 13. Analyse the strategies used by the Apple Corporation to build and sustain competitive advantage. What are the strategic issues and options currently facing the organisation? |
Philosophy | 14. Critically consider the "Method od Doubt" as a means of beginning philosophy. |
MBA | 15. Outline and analyse the problems confronting Medical Supplies Limited and offer recommendations for their resolution. |
Computer Science | 16. Create an application which gives the user the ability to open and display an image, and to change the background colour of the form. |
Agriculture | 17. For this assignment you should construct a model which demonstrates changes in woodland structure over time with an attention to the understory vegetation cover and factors affecting the rate of increase on the field and ground layer vegetation in order to take account of those factors in planning of woodland management. |
Linguistics | 18. Describe the patterns of distribution of the allophones of /r/, and the allophones of /l/, based on the data provided. What can you say about /r/ in syllable final position? |
Linguistics | 19. Meltese and Leponese have identical phonetic inventories, but different phonological inventories. Give the phonetic inventory the two languages share, and then the phonological vowel inventory for each language. Indicate the line of reasoning which led to your answer. |
20. Write a literature review of between 1500-2000 words. You can choose any topic, but are strongly encouraged to review the literature relating to your thesis topic (if you have decided on one) or another area that you think you will work on in future. | |
Business | 21. Conduct a brief literature review on a topic of interest related to business, information systems, social issues, etc. |
Language Teaching | 22. Write a critical evaluation of a topic relevant to the field of English Language Teaching in the form of a literature review. |
Language Teaching | 23. The dissertation will require students to identify a significant problem in the teaching of English in a particular part of the world, to examine some background issues and carry out appropriate research, including data collection and analysis. The results of the research will inform a well-founded dissertation of 15,000 – 20,000 words. |
Business | 24. Your assignment requires a weekly blog site in the group site on Blackboard. Your blog should not be on the weekly teaching schedule but your personal experience, learning journey, including both positive and negative experiences and what actions should be taken to the future as development. |
Business | 25. Write not more than 1000 words to describe your research methodology, i.e., what approach you took to carry out your project. It should give answers to the following questions:
|
Psychology | 26. Your third writing assignment is to write the Methods section of the class experiment using APA format. Specifically, this section should include the following: Who participated? How were they recruited? How were they assigned to condition? What did they do? Include the IVs and IVMs, the DVs and DVMs. |
Psychology | 27. The assignment is due on Thursday, May 10, the last day of the examination period. It should be written in APA style, and it should include an abstract, an introduction with literature review and hypotheses, a method section describing methods and procedures in detail, a brief consideration of data analyses, and a discussion section that examines reliability, validity, reactive effects, ethical issues, etc. |
Law | 28. Laura, a 19 year old law student, went to the Rotten Row Bus Station to catch a coach home to Sweet Valley. She had made this journey from time to time in the past. Above the ticket-office window of the Slowe and Wheezy Bus Company was a sign which stated that all tickets were issued subject to conditions displayed inside the coaches. Laura purchased a ticket which made no reference to any conditions. While boarding the coach the driver carelessly knocked Laura’s very expensive ‘up to the minute’ mobile phone from her hand and broke it. One of the terms displayed inside the coach was as follows:
Advise Laura. In your advice state the effects of relevant case law and statutes. |
If you cannot choose the correct Genre Family, you may find it useful to look at the descriptions of the Genre Families again.
So now you have a clear idea of the primary purpose of your writing task and the genre family.
We can now look in more detail at the structure of your writing.
What Genre Family do you need?
Before you start writing, it is important to consider the broad purpose of your writing.
We often find a sentence or two about the purpose of the assignment in the introduction section, or in the first paragraph of a piece of academic writing. When they write about the purpose of the assignment students explain the specific purpose, in relation to the assignment task.
Look at the following sentences from student writing. Can you identify the broad purposes and the genre family?
Broad Purposes |
A. Demonstrating knowledge and understanding |
B. Building research skills |
C. Developing powers of independent reasoning |
D. Writing for oneself and others |
D. Preparing for professional practice |
This report investigates 4 materials that are commonly used in biomedical materials science. Low Carbon Steel, Medium Carbon Steel, Aluminium Alloy, and Alloyed Steel, are all used for very different functions, but can these be predisposed by their qualities as proven by this basic exercise? |
Descartes used this technique the starting point of his philosophy. The question of this enquiry however, is to determine whether or not said method is beneficial to those who aspire to embark on philosophical thought. We will need to assess Descartes' approach towards rudimentary philosophy with a strict criterion of validity and plausibility, identifying its faults and weaknesses in order that one will not be led astray if he should subscribe to the Method of Doubt. It is essential to elucidate exactly what Descartes wished to accomplish with the Method of Doubt. |
In this essay, I'm going to discuss factors that may affect the extent of monopoly economic efficiency. |
In this essay I will briefly outline why mass unemployment emerged at this time, including factors of global changes, technological advances and government policies. I will then move on to examine which groups were most at risk from these changes, looking closely at the young, those in industrial towns, men, especially the unskilled, and finally ethnic minorities, and exploring the reasons why they were so vulnerable. I will not look at several other groups who were also vulnerable; those with disabilities, few qualifications and the elderly, as they had been at risk from unemployment before, and it was not the situation in the 1970s that caused this risk, as it was with the groups I will look at. |
This essay will argue that the construction of gender identity is related to Imperialism and racism as the indigenous people of conquered nations provided white Englishmen with an image of 'uncivilised' people with which they could compare themselves to. |
This paper examines the reasons behind the 'death of class' contention and offers an opinion on whether they are valid. |
The aim of the experiment was to establish the order of a number of genes important in amino acid metabolism and sugar catabolism. |
The experiment aimed to investigate conjugation and recombination in Esherichia coli and determine the chromosomal order of a number of genes for amino acid synthesis and sugar metabolism. |
The purpose of this experiment is to explore the relationship between the forms of Newton's 2nd Law appropriate to linear motion and to rotational motion, explore the physical behaviour of 2nd moment of mass and to develop understanding of the nature of experimental error and the analysis of experiment data. At the end of the experiment, the moments of inertia of the three disc is determined and compared with the values derive using the theoretical relationship. An estimate of the precision and accuracy of the measurements will be made as well. |
The purpose of this experiment was to investigate how effective the use of Lorayne's (1958) mnemonic technique was at improving memory of people's surnames immediately after learning and 24 hours after learning. |
This study investigated whether first year university females had significantly more disordered eating than a control group of non-university females. |
This essay will examine ways in which people's memories are affected by their feelings, and will also investigate models put forward as explanations as to why emotion has such an influence on memory. |
In this report, a torque sensor was designed. It was a shaft-type cantilever, which was clamped to a frame at one end, with the other end left free to be twisted under a torque. This torque was applied via a thin steel bar attached to the free end of the shaft, and a force applied to the other end of the steel bar. The shaft was a hollow one, made of steel with the dimensions as follows: length L = 200mm; outside diameter d = 20mm and the internal diameter d i = 17mm. |
The objective of this exercise is to find, by experimental means, the moments of inertia of three steel discs. |
For this essay I have chosen to analyse Ibsen's 'A Doll's House'. However, before attacking the elements of this play that qualify it as an example of naturalism, I feel the need to explore this term further, in order to form a central understanding of what 'naturalism' refers to. |
The major objectives of this laboratory were to develop an understanding of: |
This essay will attempt to outline the major revolutionary changes that occurred during the French Revolution. However, the general focus of the essay will be on the early years of the Revolution because it could be argued that the it lasted until 1815 with the fall of Napoleon and covering this whole period would be both unfeasible and lacking in depth for such a short essay. |
The essay introduces the proposals of the Serial Endosymbiosis Theory (SET), and discusses the evidence supporting the theory. Other theories opposing SET, along with supporting evidence, are also briefly discussed in order to argue a balanced case for endosymbiosis. |
This hypothesis testing was aiming on detecting the difference in the length of the little finger of male and female students. Bias, confounders were considered when designing the test. |
This essay aims to look at whether this industry makes a good career choice and in order to achieve this; it is necessary to identify the key characteristics of the industry and compares both the benefits and drawbacks of working in this industry. |
This literature review will examine the different approaches used to tackle truancy within schools. It will in look in detail at the methodology used to research the effectiveness of such interventions. |
This learning journal will support my own development in cultural communications and increase my awareness of cultural diversity. |
This paper will firstly evaluate different financial ratios of this company which are based on Clayton Ltd's historical financial statements for the latest two years and deduce several factors that this company need to consider before expansion. Secondly, the two funding options will be examined both from the positive side and negative side and relative assumptions will be stated according to the ratio evaluation. Thirdly, under the current circumstances, alternative sources of finance for Clayton will be recommended. |
This seminar paper aims to identify the role of the hospitality financial controller and his relation to and effect on the rest of the management team. |
Which broad subject area do you belong to?
Physical Sciences |
Disciplines | |
Social Sciences |
Disciplines | |
Arts & Humanities |
Disciplines | |
Life Sciences |
Disciplines |
All Disciplines |
References | |
Physical Sciences |
References | |
Social Sciences |
References | |
Arts & Humanities |
References | |
Life Sciences |
References |