SOC 776/978
WRITING SOCIOLOGY
B. Nadya Jaworsky
Room 3.59
Consultation Hours:
Tuesdays 14.00-15.00
or by appointment

REQUIREMENTS FOR WEEKS 12-13
•Meeting with me BEFORE MAY 12 (today or tomorrow):
–Elevator story (90-seconds)
–“Stuck on an elevator” story  (5-10 minutes)
–Receive feedback on the 2-3 page summary
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•First Draft in which your potential argument is clear: claim, reasons, evidence, due SATURDAY, MAY
14, 2016 at 23.59.
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•FINAL ESSAY IS DUE JUNE 12, 2016 at 23:59.
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My elevator story
(90 seconds or less)
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•I am working on the problem of (state your question). •I think I can show that (state your
hypothesis) because (state your reasons). •My best evidence is (summarize your evidence).
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Peer Review Partners for Final Essay Draft
•Ivana and Mirja
•Ntite and Viktoriia
•Horace and Vahagn
•Maheswata and Inna
•THERE IS A NEW FORM FOR THE PEER REVIEW LINKED TO THE INTERACTIVE SYLLABUS!
•This peer review is worth 5 points
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FINAL ESSAY DRAFT
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS
•About 65% or more of the total word count, so about 2,500 words, or 7-8 pages double spaced.
•2.5 cm. margins, 12-pt or larger font, left justified
•“Fill in” what you can’t write
•PLEASE REMEMBER TO NUMBER THE PAGES and INCLUDE YOUR NAME! Ideally, you would do this in the
header or footer.
•This draft is worth 10 points.
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Structure of a Research Essay
•Introduction
•Review of Literatures
•Method/Methodology
•Argument/Findings/Data
•Discussion (often intertwined with Findings)
•Conclusion

Four-part scheme for Introduction
•Current Situation (what your readers now think or do)
•You are disrupting something and challenging it.
–I used to think…, but….
–Most people think…, but…
–What events seem to show…, but…
–.Researchers have shown…, but…
•Research questions (what your readers need to know but don’t)
•Significance of the Questions (SO WHAT?)
•Answer (what your readers should know) DON’T BE AFRAID TO GIVE AWAY YOUR ANSWER. It’s not a
mystery novel!
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Beginnings of organization
•Identify Key terms that unite your paper: for every major concept, identify a key term. Look in
your introduction and conclusion for concepts and then choose a key term to identify it.
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•Find the key terms Distinctive to Each Section - use subheads wisely!
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Order sections by ordering reasons
•Straightforward and standard:
–Chronological. Earlier to later or vice versa.
–Part by Part. Ordering by relationship.
•What readers like:
–Short to long, simple to complex
–More familiar to less familiar
–Most acceptable to most contestable
–More important to less important (or vice versa)
–Step-by-step understanding. Cover events, principles, definitions first.

Filling in the blanks
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•Sketch in a brief introduction to each section and subsection
•Sketch in evidence and acknowledgements
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Some Drafting Tips
•Draft in a way that feels comfortable
•Picture your readers asking friendly questions
•Be open to surprises and changes
•Develop productive working habits
•Work through writer’s block – small, achievable goals; break down the process; do quick and dirty
writing
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Avoid Procrastinator’s Tricks
•Don’t substitute more reading for writing.
•Don’t keep revising the same pages over and over •Don’t focus on how much more you have to do.
•Don’t allow yourself to do anything else during your writing time.
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Revising the Draft:
Check Intro, Conclusion, Claim
•Your readers should see:
•Where your introduction ends
•Where your conclusion begins
•What sentences in both state your main claim
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Revising the Draft:
Make sure body is coherent
•Readers should see:
•The key terms running through your paper (circle key terms; underline related words)
•Where each section ends and the next begins
•How each section relates to the one before it
•What role each section plays in the whole
•What sentence in each section and subsection states its points
•What distinctive key terms run through each section
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Revising the Draft:
Check your paragraphs
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•Each paragraph relevant to the point of the section
•Good topic sentences at beginning or end
•Avoid strings of short paragraphs
•See if the topics sentences make sense out of context; make an outline of them
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Revising the Draft:
The final Intro & Conclusion
•Introduction three goals:
•Put your research in context
•Make your readers think they should read your paper
•Give them a framework for understanding it
•Conclusion should:
•Leave readers with a clear idea of your claim
•Reinforce its importance
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Revising the Draft:
The final Introduction
•Here’s what we think we know (stability)
•Here’s what we don’t know (disruption and danger; dragon is the research question) •Here’s why we
need an answer (the dragon’s fire is a problem that must be solved) •Here’s the answer (resolution;
you are the knight in shining armor)
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Revising the Draft:
The first sentences
•A striking quotation
•A striking fact
•A relevant anecdote
•Combine all three
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Revising the Draft:
The Conclusion
•Restate your claim
•Point out a new significance, a practical application, or new research
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•Write your title last!
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Preparing an Oral Report
•Use notes not a script
•Prepare and rehearse introduction and conclusion
•Organize your notes around your main reasons
•Present only your best evidence for each reason
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Revising Sentences
•Focus on the first 7 or 8 words of a sentence
–Make subjects short and concrete
–Avoid interrupting subjects with more than a word
–Put key actions in verbs, not in nouns
–Put familiar information at the beginning of a sentence, new at the end
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Revising Sentences
•Avoid long introductory Phrases
•Choose active or passive verbs to reflect the previous principles
•Use first-person pronouns appropriately
•Diagnose what you read
•Choose the right word
•Polish it off (read backwards)
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