OUTLINE presents a picture of the main
ideas and the subsidiary ideas of any
subject. According to Forlini (1990) , an
outline is organizing information according
to main ideas, major details, and lesser
details.
Types of Outline
1. Alphanumeric Outline - The
alphanumeric outline is the standard format
most people learned in high school English.
Each main heading, or topic, is noted by a
Roman numeral and can be separated into
two or more distinct classifications. These
subheadings would be indented and then
noted by a capital letter.
2. Full Sentence Outline - The full
alphanumeric outline in that it follows the
same format. The primary difference is that
each topic, or thought, is written out as a full
sentence.
3. Decimal Outline - The decimal outline is
similar to the alphanumeric outline. The
primary difference between is that the
decimal outline is written using decimals to
note each heading and subheading. The
main heading would be noted by a whole
number. Each subheading would be noted by
a decimal building from the main heading.
 ABSTRACT is a succinct summary of a
longer piece of work, usually academic in
nature, which is published in isolation from
the main text and should therefore stand
on its own and be understandable without
reference to the longer piece.
Why write an abstract?
Abstracts are important for both selection and
indexing purposes.
Selection: Abstracts allow readers who may
be interested in the paper to quickly decide
whether it is relevant to their purposes and
whether they need to read the whole paper.
Indexing: Most academic journal databases
accessed through the library enable you to
search abstracts. This allows for quick
retrieval by users. Abstracts must incorporate
the key terms that a potential researcher
would use to search.
 TYPES OF ABSTRACTS
1. Descriptive abstracts describe the work
being abstracted. They are more like an
outline of the work and are usually very short
- 100 words or less.
2. Informative abstracts act as substitutes
for the actual papers as all the key arguments
and conclusions are presented; specifically,
the context and importance of the research,
reasons for methods, principal results and
conclusions.
An informative abstract is made up of four
parts:
Purpose .
Methodology .
Results
Conclusions
The purpose section of an informative
abstract should state either the reason for or
the primary objectives of the experiment or
investigation.
The methodology section of an informative
abstract should describe the techniques used
in conducting the experiment.
The results section of an informative abstract
should relate the observations and/or data
collected during the experiment.
The conclusion section of an informative
abstract should state the evaluation or
analysis of the experiment results. It should
also briefly state the implications of these
results.
3. The Indicative Abstract If you are writing
an abstract for a less-structured document
like an essay, editorial, or book, you will
write an indicative abstract. An indicative
abstract is generally made up of three parts:
• Scope
• Arguments Used
• Conclusions
The scope section of an indicative abstract
should state the range of the material dealt
with in the original document as well as the
starting premise of the document.
The arguments used section of an indicative
abstract should state the main arguments and
counterarguments employed in the original
document.
The conclusions section of an indicative
abstract should state the document's main
closing argument and its implication
suggested by the original author.
4. A Graphical Abstract is a single, concise,
pictorial and visualsummary of the main
findings of the article.
A Graphical Abstract should allow readers to
quickly gain an understanding of the main
take-home message of the paper and is
intended to encourage browsing, promote
interdisciplinary scholarship, and help readers
identify more quickly which papers are most
relevant to their research interests.
 PRÉCIS is a French word, which means "
exact" and "terse", so in précis writing,
the shorter the version, the better.
A précis is a brief summary, written in your
own words, of a longer piece of writing. It is a
condensed version of the essential content of
the original material.
 PRELIMINARY TO PRECIS WRITING
1. An abstract is a condensation of a
passage, the important words, phrases, and
sentences containing the essential thoughts
being worked as simply as possible into
sentences.
2. A paraphrase is a restatement of a difficult
passage, stating clearly and fully in language
of the simplest sort just what the passage
means.
3. In précis writing it is necessary to say as
much as possible in as few words as
possible. A word may substitute for a phrase
and a phrase for a clause.
4. The proper use of the colon and semicolon
in punctuation is an aid to good precis
writing.
5. Generally a précis should be written in
reported or indirect speech. This means a
precis will be in third person and in the past
tense.
6. A précis title must be cold and matter of
fact, not attractive to the imaginative mind. It
is a précis of the précis.
 REVIEW PAPER is not a pure summary
of the information you read review. You
are required to analyze, synthesize, and
interpret the information you read in some
meaningful way.
Writing a review is a big job and requires
some breakdown of the tasks. Below are 4
components to writing a review.
1. Your topic: Keeps you on track. Prepare a
1-2 sentence objective/description.
2. Annotated bibliography: An annotated
bibliography is a list of peer reviewed
scientific papers that you are considering
reviewing in your paper and a short summary
(like an abstract) of findings relative to review.
3. Outline: The outline will help you provide
constructive feedback on your review and will
hopefully make writing the final version of the
term paper easier. The outline of your paper
is meant to help organize your thoughts about
your review.
4. Review paper. Essentially, a review
summarizes the scientific understanding of a
general subject. You want to provide an
interesting synthesis. The best reviews will
use a combination of older literature to
provide a historical perspective on the topic
and will also provide information from recent
papers to illustrate advances on this topic.
Your review paper should include a title and
four general sections:
1. Introduction;
2. body of paper;
3. conclusion and future direction; and
4. literature cited; Examples of data that
support your claims accompanied by the
citations that you read to come up with the
data.
 REACTION OR RESPONSE PAPER
requires the writer to analyze a text, and
then develop commentary related to it. It
 is a popular academic assignment
because it requires thoughtful reading,
research, and writing.
A reaction/response paper has an
introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
 The introduction should contain all the
basic information in one or two
paragraphs. Your introduction should
include a concise, one sentence, focused
thesis. This is the focused statement of
your reaction/response.
 The body should contain paragraphs that
provide support for your thesis. Each
paragraph should contain one idea. Topic
sentences should support the thesis, and
the final sentence of each paragraph
should lead into the next paragraph.
 The conclusion can be a restatement of
what you said in your paper. It also be a
comment which focuses your overall
reaction. Your conclusion should be the
best part of your paper.
A conclusion should:
 stress the importance of the
thesis statement;
 give the essay a sense of
completeness; and
 leave a final impression on the
reader.
CRITIQUE is a genre of academic writing that
briefly summarizes and evaluates a work or
concept. Critiques can be used to carefully
analyze a variety of works such as:
 *Creative works - novels, exhibits,
film, images, poetry
 * Research - monographs, journal
articles, systematic reviews,
theories
 * Media - news reports, feature
articles
 Seven (7) Principles of Effective
CRITIQUE that CRITICS should Adhere
1. Objective - Limit your critique to the
observed behavior at do not criticize
her/his personality, general
psychological,physical characteristics.
Be kind, but honest.
2. Specific - A student/writer sometimes
cannot understand an error and
correct it if the critic is not specific
enough.
3. Constructive - There is no point in
being destructive when identifying a
mistake. So try to give support for the
writer's true strengths in your criticism
while presenting the negative aspects
as "issues that are open to
improvement".
4. Comprehensive - Your critique should
be balanced and include both good
and bad points of the student. It should
not leave out any important points
while prioritizing the solution steps.
5. Acceptable - The critic must be
perceived as a legitimate authority
before the critique can be accepted by
the writer.
6. Flexible - a critic should be able to
shape his critique depending on the
audience, context, etc.
7. Organized - A good critic takes the
writer by the hand and leads her
through as few steps as possible to the
desired goal of the instruction or the
critique session.
Modern Languages Association (MLA)
Basic In-text Citation Rules
In MLA style, referring to the works of others
in your text is done by using what is known as
parenthetical citation. This method involves
placing relevant source information in
parentheses after a quote or a paraphrase.
 THERE ARE MANY WAYS OF
REFERRING TO OTHER WRITERS
1. AP-The Associated Press Stylebook
and Briefing on Media Law, usually called
the AP Stylebook, is a style and usage guide
used by newspapers and the news industry in
the United States.
 Goldstein, Norm. The Associated
Press Stylebook and Briefing on
Media Law. New York: Basic, 2007.
Print.
 Associated Press Stylebook. AP. 2013.
Web. 30 Dec 2013.
2. APA-American Psychological
Association style is a set of rules that
authors use when submitting papers for
publications in APA journals.
  Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association, 6th ed.
Washington, DC: American
Psychological Association, 2010. Print.
 APA Style. American Psychological
Association. 2013. Web. 30 Dec 2013.
3. Chicago Manual - The Chicago Manual
of Style is a style guide for Amran English
has been published since 1906 by the
University of Chicago Press. It is a widely
used and respected style guide, and it is
preferred by many for American English style,
grammar, and punctuation.
 The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th
edition. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 2003. Print.
 The Chicago Manual of Style Online.
The University of Chicago. 2013. Web.
30 Dec 2013.
4. Gregg-The Gregg Reference Manual is a
manual of style, grammar, usage, and
formatting. The book, named after John
Gregg, is written by William A. Sabin. The
manual is written for students, business
professionals and editors who are preparing
material for distribution or publication. The
manual contains detailed answers and
examples that are often not available in other
style manuals.
 Sabin, William A., The Gregg
Reference Manual: A manual of Style
Grammar, Usage, and Formatting.
11th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill 2011.
Print.
5. MLA-The Modern Language Association
of America is a professional association in
the United States for scholars of language
and literature. The MLA aims to "strengthen
the study and teaching of language and
literature. Although founded in the United
States, the scope of the membership of MLA
is international in scope.
 Gibaldi, Joseph, ed. MLA Handbook
for Writers of Research Papers. New
York: Modern Language Association of
America, 2009.Print.
 Modern Language Association (MLA).
Modern Language Association. 2013.
Web. 30 Dec 2013.
 CONCEPT PAPER – is about the in-depth
analysis regarding on intangible thought,
theory or idea. To explain a particular idea to
the audience objectively. Sometimes called a
prospectus, preliminary proposal, or pre-
proposal.
 CONCEPT DRIVEN – writing is discourse
that begins with a concept such as term,
hypothesis, or theory and applies the concept
to data being analyzed.
 DATA DRIVEN – is discourse that begins
with data that are then used to build a theory
or support an interpretation.
 METHODS OF DEFINITION
1. Informal Definition – if a speaker will
use a familiar word or phrase for an
unfamiliar word or phrase.
2. Formal Definition – has 3 principal:
SPECIES(word) + GENUS (class) +
DIFFERENTIAE
3. Expanded Definition -
need to amplify a definition by general
discussion of an object, process, or
concept.
 EXPLICATION – can be regarded as
scientific process which transforms and
replaces “an inexact pre-scientific concept”,
with a “new exact concept.”
MLA -Wilhoit,Stephen. A Brief Guide to Writing
Academic Arguments.New York:Longman,2009 Print
APA -Wilhoit,S.(2009) A brief guide to writing
academic arguments:New York:Longman
IEEE - [1] S,Wilhoit, A Brief Guide to Writing Academic
Arguments:New York:Longman,2009