EFS 698C - STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Writing and Presenting Research
EFS 698C - STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Writing and Presenting Research
EFS 698C: Week 5
Notes
I. Review of each other's public abstracts
II. Finish the overview of the writing process handout: raising consciousness and increasing efficiency
III. Introduction to formal academic writing: some key concepts from EFS 698B.
Review of Williams, Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace
Which of the items are most important to you?
Style and correctness; following conventions, not "rules"
Clarity: verbal over nominal style
main character as subject
control of passives
Cohesion: flow of one idea to the next; given/new structure
Coherence: logical development of the text, sequence of topics
Emphasis: important information last
Concision: eliminate unnecessary elements
Controlling long sentences--dealing with interruptions; modifiers
OTHER AREAS FROM 698B
Genres: structure of academic papers; conventions of your individual fields (see this week's assignment)
Abstracts: see today's examples for a discussion of form and function of an abstract
Introductions
Dissertation writing
Conclusions
IV. Presentation Examples
Useful website: http://ecorner.stanford.edu (also www.ted.com) Let's look at the following clips and see what you notice in terms of presentation style and interaction
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Homework:
1) Think about the information in III above--what parts are most important to you? I'll bring the textbook for you to borrow next week.
2) Find a model paper from your field and fill out the worksheet handed out in class. Bring both in to discuss next week.
3) Find an example of a speaker online (www.ted.com; http://ecorner.stanford.edu; other) who has one or more characteristics you would like to incorporate into your own speaking. Come prepared next week to present and discuss your example. Give a 1-2 minute presentation of your choice in which you demonstrate one or two techniques or stylistic points picked up from that speaker. Phil's example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLkC7ralR30.
4) Meeting this week is optional--let me know if you want to get together and what you would like to cover.