Orientation | Writing Lab

Writing Lab

Writing and research are key skills for any art/design career.

This writing lab has been developed to help you create effective essays in your Sessions College program.  

While your main focus at Sessions will be developing art and design skills, throughout the program you will be asked to write essays and express your ideas in discussion posts. This will be a particular focus in General Education courses.

By learning how to write effectively, you will develop research, writing, and critical thinking skills that will provide a foundation for your professional career and further education throughout your life.

 

General Do's and Don'ts

What's required in your essays and other written assignments at Sessions College? The expectation is that you are able to craft high-quality answers that are properly constructed, convincingly argued, and easy to comprehend. It is also important that you show competent spelling, correct grammar, and appropriate punctuation.

In this lesson, you will learn how to research a topic, develop your argument, and construct an essay. This lesson will also cover the topic of how to avoid plagiarism: the act of taking someone else's work and claiming it to be your own.

Plagiarism is a serious matter. In fact, it's considered throughout academia as a form of cheating. Plagiarism violates the Sessions College Student Code of Conduct and could result in actions which include "Written or verbal warning, suspension from a course or program, or dismissal from Sessions College." (Sessions College Catalog).

According to plagiarism.org, "Many students are accused of plagiarism because they simply don't understand it and, therefore, don't know how to avoid it." Because plagiarism can be difficult to grasp, this lesson will be followed by a quiz to reinforce your understanding of the topic.

Please feel free to come back to this module anytime when you need to think about how to construct essays or other written answers at Sessions College.

1. Understanding the Topic

Whether you are assigned an essay topic or choose your own, it's important that you begin with a clear understanding of what kind of written answer the instructor is looking for. Each assignment has clear guidelines.

Review the essay or writing topic before you begin.

	How long is the essay expected to be — how many words? Do any specific topics or questions need to be addressed? Are there any research requirements? Before you begin your research, try to summarize what the instructor is looking for in your own words. Take note of any specific requirements.

2. Researching the Topic

Next it's time to do some research. In academia, doing proper research is almost more important than having a strong opinion on the subject matter. That's because any argument is judged by how well you support your case with facts and examples.

To conduct your research, you'll want to use the Sessions Online Library LIRN, which is packed with useful books and articles to help you develop your understanding of the topic. Each General Education course will provide a list of relevant books and articles to use as a starting point.

The portal interface for Sessions Online Library LIRN gives you access to many topics.

As you research books in the LIRN, if you find a useful book you would like to cite, take note of the title, author, and publication date:

Once the online book is accessed, you have several options presented to you, as well as in-depth information about the book.

It's also natural—and highly encouraged—to use the Internet for research. However, make sure that you are using reputable sites as sources. Sites that are academic, non-profit, or respected news organizations are likely to provide authoritative information; personal, political, or corporate sites are less likely to be reliable sources.

When you're online doing research, bookmark the web sites you find that have content that supports your argument so you can easily access them later. Or copy the URLs into a source file. You will want to give any authors proper citations later on.

In additionorder to give your opinion clarity, plan to spend a reasonable amount of time doing research, talking to friends and family about the topic, and, if possible, seeking out experts in the field. As you develop your argument, consider possible counterarguments to help you evaluate and refine your thoughts.

3. Brainstorming

Now is the time to get those thoughts and ideas down on paper. This is when you need to start brainstorming.

There is a brainstorming exercise called freewriting that can be very helpful as you formulate your ideas on paper. You have your topic and a well-defined argument fresh in your head. Start jotting down keywords or sentences that apply to all the points relating to your subject.

When you are freewriting, don't worry about whether your sentences are complete or run on and on. Don't worry about correct spelling or using proper grammar. You don't even need to use punctuation. You will organize everything you've written down later. Give yourself around 15 minutes or fill so many pages before completing this exercise.

An example of how your freewriting exercise should go.

In the example above, the writer had a momentary lapse in memory, but he kept on writing until another point came to mind.

Once you feel you have exhausted your brain of all the information, read it back to yourself. When reading your freewriting exercise, you may jog your memory with information you meant to include.

4. Outline and First Draft

The next step in this process is generally to create an outline. An outline is the framework, or blueprint, of how your essay will be structured. After your freewriting exercise, you should have a pretty good idea how to organize your points. You should know where to place those points to make your argument flow well.

Many academic essays have three parts:

	Introduction: This where you want to draw the reader into the essay with a compelling overview on your topic. It may include background on the topic. Body: Here, you make the case for your argument. Include evidence that supports your argument in the way of citations from sources, quotes from experts in the field, and how the opposition is deficient. Conclusion: Wrap up your points and present a clear summary of why your argument makes sense.

A sample outline might look like this:

Just as the freewriting exercise helped you create an outline, the outline can help you create a first draft of your essay. In this phase, you elaborate on your points while inserting any evidence in the form of quotes with attributes and cited material to support your argument.

5. Avoiding Plagiarism

As you develop your first draft, double-check your sources against the library references or web site bookmarks that you have collected during your research phase.

It's essential to avoid plagiarism by properly attributing any sources. According to plagiarism.org, all of the following can be considered plagiarism:  

	Turning in someone else's work as your own Copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit Failing to put a quotation in quotation marks Giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation Changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit Copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not

To be clear: You could plagiarize by copying a sentence without clarifying the source. You could also plagiarize by basing your entire answer on ideas from one source.

6. Citing Sources and Using Your Own Words

How to avoid plagiarism? There are two basic ways to avoid the trap.

The first tool to avoid plagiarism is to cite any sources. This means to openly communicate any books, articles, or web site that may have inspired the words you are writing, in your essay.

The second tool to avoid plagiarism to is make sure that any ideas that are not your own (and which aren't cited) are written in your own words. There is a big difference between simply copying someone's words and expressing those ideas in your own words.

Get in the habit of collecting any cited sources as you write. MLA guidelines, the most generally used academic standards for writing, ask you to put together a "Cited Sources" page to be included at the end of any essay.

Here's how it works. Simply list any Cited Source at the end of your paper in this general format:

[Author], [Book, Article, or Web site], [Publisher], [Year]

Then you can cite each source during your essay in a variety of ways, always making sure the author and source are clear. Here are three commonly accepted samples of citing a source:

	In his review of the film, famous critic Roger Ebert declared the film was essential viewing. (rogerebert.com) At least one famous film critic declared the film was essential viewing. (rogerebert.com) Famous film critic Roger Ebert believed that the documentary was essential viewing, stating "You owe it to yourself to see this film." (rogerebert.com)

If you want to learn more about the MLA guidelines for citing sources, check out this Purdue OWL article on Cited Works and this one on how to Cite Sources in Your Essay.

It's important to note that we won't be insisting that you follow strict MLA style guidelines in your essays at Sessions College. (Though we'd highly recommend you do learn them, because they will serve you well at Sessions and also in any future studies at other colleges.)

The main point here is to get into the habit of properly attributing your sources. If, at any point, you have any questions about plagiarism, contact your instructor. He or she will work with you to help you avoid the trap.

7. Plagiarizing Photographs

Please remember that, while you can't copy the written word and claim it to be your own, you cannot copy photographs without giving the photographer proper credit. If you are in any one of the many photography-related courses at Sessions College, or any institution, you cannot state that you took a photograph when it was taken by someone else. This also includes all imagery: graphics, paintings, illustrations, cartoons, and sculptures. You will face the same consequences as you would for claiming another's literary work to be your own.

This rule still applies if you go to a royalty-free stock photo web site. There are many levels of licensing agreements that pertain to photographs, from creative commons to fair use and public domain. Regardless, you need to make the assumption that if any image exists on a web site, it is protected by federal copyright laws. Any creative endeavor you take on, make sure that you are the one who created it.

8. Introduction, Title, and Conclusion

Once you have completed your first draft, you will likely want to review and revise the introduction, title and conclusion of your essay.

Make sure your introduction is compelling and on point so that the reader will want to read on to consider your argument.

The opening statement is a clear definition of the topic and the point is made how the opposition of the topic will threaten our ability to access the Internet. Would you agree that this is a compelling introduction? How would you rewrite it to make it more interesting?

Once you are satisfied with the introduction, you may need to revise the conclusion part of the essay. This should just be a recap, or summary, of your argument. No new information should be introduced in this section. You are only restating the content to reinforce your points.

Review the title of your paper. Once you have completed all aspects of your essay, the focus of your piece may have changed: Should it be: "The Importance of Protecting Net Neutrality" or "Arguments for and Against Net Neutrality"?

9. Proofing and Formatting

If you have composed all of the parts of your essay, it is time to check your work. This is where you are going to apply good grammar skills, spell checking, and punctuation review. Read your essay throughout. Read it out loud. Make sure it sounds correct. Have a friend or family member read it to and get their input.

Obviously, it would be a good idea to run your word processing software's spell checker. But that is not the final completion of the task. Check your essay word for word. Use your word processor or dictionary.com to verify the correct spelling of any words you have doubts about.

Also make sure your paper is broken into logical paragraphs—with at least one paragraph break per page—formatted in 12 point type or higher, and doubled-spaced for readability.

Final Thoughts

Tips for Overcoming Writer's Block

If you follow the principles in this writing lab, we have every confidence that you'll write better essays, and maybe even have some fun doing it! If you have any questions about the writing process or avoiding plagiarism, you can always contact your instructor.

At the same time, it's important to remember that writing is a creative process and many of us have difficulties expressing our thoughts in written form. If writer's block strikes you, here are some final tips on how to persevere through these tough times:

	Clear your mind by removing yourself from the project. Take a walk, take a nap, make a sandwich. It's possible that by doing so will get you back on track by thoughts coming back to you. Whatever you do, bring along a notepad so you can write down any new thoughts. Have a conversation by speaking to a friend or family member. By conversing with someone, something inspirational might be said that will spark something in your thought process allowing you to continue writing. Going back to research might be necessary if you're stuck. You just might need additional information or materials to proceed. Remove any distractions that may impede your ability to progress. Turn off the television or radio, remove the earbuds, and stay away from social media.