Notesale: Turn your study into money

Document Preview

Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above

---

LECTURE ONE: Confusing Words & Phrases
Words you should not use:

• Lexis - Just means "vocabulary" or "words"
...

• Denote and Connote - mean "signify," "show," or "indicate"
...
Ugly, 2
...
Inaccurate, say
"something people can relate to"
...
Films are based ON other works
...
If the quotation/line is WITHIN a text, it is
literally inside it
...

• How - Means "the way in which"
...

• Hung - Past tense form of the verb "to hang", is only for pictures &
other objects; Pictures are HUNG, people are HANGED
...

• Reference (as a verb) - Means "to provide an item w/ sources"
...


Correct versions of the following constructions
"Both X and Y", NOT "Both X as well as Y"
...

"Not only X, but also Y" NOT "Not only X, also Y"
...


Anglo-Saxon words vs
...
NORMAN WORDS
Think
Conceive
Live
Reside
Ask
Enquire
Help
Assist
Show
Indicate

Try to use ANGLO-SAXON version of the words - more clear and
concise, grabs attention
...

• Possible to cut a word out? Cut it out
...

• Fancy words are like salt, use it sparingly
...

• First sentence = Broad beginning statement
...
Try not to begin w/
dictionary definitions, something larger like "In the 16th-century
women were usually seen as the property of men
...
There were, however,
some exceptions
...
"
• Third sentence = Thesis
...
The status of the widow is debatable and this essay will
consider it from all sides
...


Point

P E E L
ft
t
Evidence support your
point w/ evidence
& examples
...

paragraph
...


Evidence

• Quotations from text/outside information that supports or proves
your point
...

• Be sure your evidence IS evidence (words/facts picked out to prove
your point), not just part of your assertion
...
Here is text, this is what the
text is doing
...

• Put text quotations after your point to back it up sufficiently
...


Explanation

• The reader knows nothing, must explain the connection between the
evidence and the assertions
...
Cannot do this without evidence,
must come w/ an explanation on how evidence proves a point
...

"WHAT POINT DOES THIS MAKE???"
...
P, E and E leads to a larger point that your
thesis surrounds
...

• Use link sentence to link the next paragraph
...
But if you're talking about a new topic
within the same subject = NEW FACT, NEW PARAGRAPH
...
g
...


CONCLUSIONS

Has three goals;
• Restate your thesis - RECAST it
...

• Remind reader of evidence - Restate the points you've proved
...

• Bring it all to a strong close - TWO options: Restate, remind, move
the reader on OR restate, remind, end with a BANG!
Avoid using 'in conclusion,' rhetorical questions, and ending w/ a
quotation at the end
...
Have many forms, most easy to spot in the
active tenses
...

• Nouns - Person, place, thing
...

Pronouns = take place of noun/s, means "for noun
...

• Adjective - Modifies noun
...
The
*RED* coat, the *UGLY* car
...
Answers "how was this done?"
...
Some don't, most common is "well"
...
Most common are: and, but,
or, for
...

• Conjunctive Adverbs - Words that connect clauses, expresses cause
and effect, sequence, contrast, comparison
...

Act like conjunctions as they link up clauses, are NOT conjunctions
...
"Claudio
drove home
...

"Claudio drove home while he was still sober," "while he was still
sober" makes no sense on it's own = dependent clause
...

• Grammar does not care about meaning, cares about the grammatical
unites (noun, verb etc
...

• Using a semi-colon? Need to determine if each clause is grammatically
identical (has the same parts of a sentence)
...
g
...

• Connects two clauses which are independent, but they're so closely
related to each other that if they weren't, they'd be part of the
same sentence
...

• Common source of a comma splice is the word "however," e
...
Oscar
thought he was wrong, however he was unsure
...

• When you put your thumb over "however" and the clause on each side
can stand alone, put a semi-colon in front of "however" and a comma
after
...

Comma separates two UNALIKE clauses
...

• Choose a keyword from a text, look up in OED and use keyword search
to trace in text
...

• Find key critical response to the text to evaluate, or compare two
competing responses
...

2
...


Think of something that interested you about the text/s
...

Keep asking: "Why does THAT matter?"
...


Thesis examples that don't make for strong arguments

• Analysis in which the author points out how a text doesn't measure
up to contemporary political standards/beliefs/ideals
...

• Analysis of the subject that the author loves, but doesn't have
larger significance
...

• Analysis that do a political reading w/o making anything of that
reading e
...
just saying "I will do a Libertarian reading of this text"
...
"Surname, First name," if two then: "Surname, First name
...
" If 3 or more = "Surname, First name et al
...
Episode title also in quotation marks
...
Poem =
title of collection, essay = title of book, article = title of journal
...
Adapted by, edited by etc
...
g
...

Number - Commonly used for journals, most do not have numbers
...
or Press, usually will have e
...
Warner
Bros for a film studio
...

Location - Page span (pp
...
Assisting reader
...

2
...


4
...

Author NOT named within sentence = Put in bracket (no comma!)
Author paraphrased and NOT named within sentence = Name in
bracket
...
"

Prose quotations cited by page number (101)
Poetry quotations cited by line number (10-12)

Formatting Quotations

Short (under 4 lines) = put in quotation marks
...

Long (prose/verse w/ 4 lines or more) = Start quotation on new line w/
entire quote indented one inch from left margin (maintain double
spacing)
...
In-text citation should come AFTER the
closing punctuation mark
...

• List all sources in alphabetical order, using the first word of the
entry
...

• Standard abbreviations e
...
Uni press is UP
...


General Essay Formatting

• Double space ALL essays
...

• Quotation marks for poems, essays, and articles
...


LECTURE FIVE: FINDING AND CITING SOURCES

CITE SO WE DON'T PLAGIARISE!

What does plagiarism mean?
• When you use other authors' ideas, theories, or words w/o
acknowledging that you have done so
...

• If you don't know you have the same ideas as another source = NOT
PLAGIARISM! Everyone will have similar ideas
...
g
...

• SOMETIMES YouTube videos in which scholars discuss works
...

• For plays, reviews are perfectly fine
...
Must be sure that your source is accurate, use common
sense when deciding
...


2
...

4
...

6
...
DO not trust information if no one is
willing to put their name on it
...

Make sure it's a fact
...

If you're going to use a dictionary use the OED
...

Following are not reliable sources: Shmoop, Bookrags, Spark Notes,
Cliff Notes, just study guides, blog posts written about texts
...
Will offer wide range of sources
...

• Largest scholarly database for English, do the widest search possible
...

• Click "linked full texts
...


LECTURE SIX: COLLECTING RESEARCH

Start w/ topic or question, gives shape to research and cuts down on
your reading
...


Why to use critics, and when

Why do we perform research?
• To validate yourself; research shows that you've read up on your
topic and actively situated yourself into the argument
...
Finding research will reveal that you are not the
first person to have this idea
...

• Reading the work of other authors will stretch/open your own
thinking; will discover that other people have made observations
that support/add/build your point
...


When do you need to use secondary sources?

• To support ANY factual claims (beyond what is common knowledge)
...
Questioning a
scholar's assertion would strengthen your assertion by offering
inarguable evidence
...
Aware of the
complexities surrounding these issues
...

Secondary sources should always support what you say NOT do the
speaking for you, can achieve this by:
• Giving your assertion first, and only then giving the critical support
...

• Surrounding your quotation from a critic w/ your own words
...

Mentioning any author for the first time in an essay = GIVE FIRST
NAME AND SURNAME
...


Interpolating other critics

WHERE DO YOU USE SECONDARY SOURCES?
• POINT - Use other critics when you're making your point to define,
clarify, or contextualise a key idea
...

• EVIDENCE - Apply/test out a critic's idea on your own example,
support the significance of your example, argue with the critic
...

• LINK - No critics
...

Whenever possible, try to paraphrase rather than quote
...
To insert
quotations by other critics into your own writing
...
E
...

Heathcliff is often seen as the ultimate Byronic Hero: "---" (James
12)
...

• "That" - easiest alternative to colon
...
g
...
Instead of says:
asserts, suggests, states, indicates, argues, underlines, shows,
highlights
...


• Nothing! = Smoothly insert them into sentences
...
g
...

Repetition is no friend to good writing! MIX
...
UP
...


LECTURE SEVEN: LONG SENTENCES
Removing the passive voice

Passive voice is:
• Verb construction (VC), in which things are doing rather than
someone doing that
...

• VC in which the subject becomes the object and the object becomes
the subject
...
VC in which someone does things
...
VC that denotes the performer of the action
...
VC in which the subject is the subject, and the object is the object
...


Verbs have many forms:
• Infinitive form - The basic form of a verb w/o inflection binding it
to a particular subject/tense
...
It's like flour, verb when it has been added to
nothing (and nothing added to it), it is doing nothing
...
g
...
"
• Conjugated form - Form of the verb that has been put into a
"person" and a "number," e
...
"he bakes"
...

• Past participle form = Past tense of the conjugated verb
...
Is like a cake, when a verb has been done e
...
"I
BakED
...
E
...
"it can be argued
...

Active voice construction = conjugated verb of an active verb
...
" Can begin changing
PV to AV by removing this
...

• See if there's a comma and a preposition in the middle of the

sentence, very often the preposition after a comma will be "and
...

No way of dividing?
• Start by looking for unnecessary words, easier to pick out single
words you can remove
...
" Preposition clusters
...
A one
word, prepositional, verb would be stronger
...
"
• Look for spots that are unclear
...
g
...
"Would have disregarded this,"
disregarded WHAT?, a floating reference
...

GOOD WRITING IS TIGHT!
• Look for small word clusters
...

• Look out for unnecessary phrases
...

• Make readers comfortable
...


It is the welcome to your reader, do not put thesis in the first
sentence of introduction (OR SECOND)
...

First sentence is the best chance to grab your readers attention
...
"
• "In the --- period/era/time
...
"
• Any cast generalisation, do not go crazy
...

"I think," is not a thesis, it's an opinion
...

• Be in last sentence and clear that it is the thesis
...
"
• Can also chose to provide a sentence after the thesis enumerating
the points of your essay
...
Methodology
• Methodology = a system of method used in a particular area of study
or activity
...


Introduction middles

• Make readers comfortable and do not confuse them, keep on topic
...


Revising introductions

• A good clear first sentence
...

• Begin moving toward the thesis to make readers comfortable
...




---