The Little, Brown Handbook, Ninth Edition - Pearson

ACADEMIC WRITING, STUDY SKILLS, AND CRITICAL THINKING Copyright 19952007 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Aaron, The Little, Brown Compact Handbook, Sixth Edition TIPS FOR BECOMING AN ACADEMIC WRITER Study the syllabus for each course. This outline lays out the instructors expectations as well as the course topics, assignments, and deadlines. Do the assigned reading. Youll gain experience with the disciplines terms and ideas, and youll become familiar with the kinds of writing expected from you.

Attend and participate in class. Ask questions. Understand the writing situation posed by each assignment. Knowing your audience, purpose, options for subjects, and other elements of the situation will help you meet the assignments expectations. 8.1 Copyright 19952007 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Aaron, The Little, Brown Compact Handbook, Sixth Edition TIPS FOR TAKING CLASS NOTES Use your own words. Leave space in your notes if you miss something. Include any reading content mentioned by your

instructor. Review your notes shortly after class. Copyright 19952007 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Aaron, The Little, Brown Compact Handbook, Sixth Edition 9.1 WRITING A SUMMARY Understand the meaning. Understand the organization. Distill each section. State the main idea. Support the main idea. Use your own words. Copyright 19952007 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Aaron, The Little, Brown Compact Handbook, Sixth Edition

9.2 TECHNIQUES OF CRITICAL READING Writing: making notes on your reading throughout the process Previewing: getting background; skimming Reading: interacting with and absorbing the text Summarizing: distilling and understanding content Forming your critical Analyzing: separating response into parts Interpreting: inferring meaning and assumptions Synthesizing:

reassembling parts; making connections Evaluating: judging quality and value 10.1 Copyright 19952007 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Aaron, The Little, Brown Compact Handbook, Sixth Edition QUESTIONS FOR PREVIEWING A TEXT What is the works subject and structure? What are the facts of publication? What do you know about the author? What is your preliminary response? Copyright 19952007 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Aaron, The Little, Brown Compact Handbook, Sixth Edition

10.2 Guidelines for Analysis, Interpretation, and Synthesis What is the purpose of your reading? What questions do you have about the work, given your purpose? What elements does the most interesting question highlight? What elements might you ignore as a result? How do you interpret the meaning and significance of the elements? What are your assumptions about the work? What do you infer about the authors assumptions? What patterns can you see in (or synthesize from) the elements?

How do the elements relate? How does this whole work relate to other works? Copyright 19952007 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Aaron, The Little, Brown Compact Handbook, Sixth Edition What do you conclude about 10.3 the work? What does this conclusion QUESTIONS FOR PREVIEWING AN IMAGE What do you see? What is most striking about the image? What is the subject? What is the gist of any text or symbols? What is the overall effect of the image? What are the facts of the publication? Where did you first see the image? Do you think the image was created especially for

that location or for others as well? What can you tell about when the image was created? What do you know about the person or group that created the image? For instance, was the creator an artist, scholar, news organization, or corporation? What seems to have been the creators purpose? What is your preliminary response? What about the image 10.4 interests, confuses, or disturbs you? Are the form, style, and Copyright 19952007 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Aaron, The Little, Brown Compact Handbook, Sixth Edition ELEMENTS OF IMAGES Emphasis

Narration Point of view Arrangement Color Characterization Context Tension Allusions Copyright 19952007 by Pearson Education, publishing as Longman Aaron, The Little, Brown Compact Handbook, Sixth Edition 10.5