If, for instance, you were writing an essay for a class about a book that was previously assigned, you would not have to begin with a general synopsis, but could jump straight to the section that corresponds most closely with your assertions.
If, however, you were writing to a broader audience, you should first provide them with a general background or a summary of the piece before examining the sections that specifically stood out for you. Likewise the tone and style of your essay will vary depending on context, audience, and purpose. When writing to a friend on Facebook, you might use vocabulary, abbreviations, and icons that you would never use when writing a more formal essay for your instructor. Even among teachers your tone and style will vary depending on how formal they expect your writing to appear.
Teachers, like everyone else, have their own subjective impressions as to what constitutes effective writing. But try not to let this bother you too much because in learning how to communicate effectively to the various audiences you find in school, you will gain a greater rhetorical flexibility to communicate outside of it.
Once you provide enough background information for your specific audience, you can further explain your subject through comparison and contrast with others that relate to it.
For instance, to lend validity to the feminist perspective on The Wizard of Oz , you might compare the film to others of the same period that also show powerful women in a negative light.
You could also underscore how a subject is influenced by cultural attitudes through contrast. For example, if you wanted to explain why a show like South Park or Family Guy has particular appeal to young people today, you might contrast these shows with coming of age television series from other periods. For instance, you could contrast an episode of South Park with an episode of Leave it to Beaver , an iconic series from the s.
Though the main characters, Beaver and Wally Cleaver, often get into trouble, it is never anything like the kind that Eric Cartman gets into, and, unlike Cartman, who is spoiled by his single mother, the Cleaver kids are always able to talk out their difficulties with their father who helps them to learn from their mistakes at the end of each episode.
Again, the conclusions you draw from this contrast could vary. You might assert that this reveals the necessity of a strong father figure to keep children in check, or you might suggest that the tightly controlled patriarchal family structure of the s inspired rebellion and ridicule in the decades that followed.
Along these lines, you might also consider explaining your subject by contrasting it with how it could have been different by calling our attention to the details that were deliberately omitted. Advertisements for fast food restaurants usually show families sitting together, relaxed, and having a good time, but they never show how people usually eat at these places, quickly and alone. And these ads certainly do not reveal the negative effects that eating too much fast food can have on the body, such as heart disease or obesity.
Similarly, we can tell a lot about how people feel about something or someone not only by the terms they use but also by the ones they refuse to use. So to fully explain how and why you came up with your assertions, you should also consider how your experiences, your values, even your mood at the moment of encounter can shed light on how you see your subject. As the above examples indicate, you might begin by considering how your surrounding culture influences your response.
For instance, Thomas de Zengotita argues that Americans have become so used to media constructions of reality that they often get bored with the real world that is unmitigated by it.
To illustrate, he points out that if you were to see wolves in the wild, you might at first be fascinated, but then will quickly lose interest because the sight cannot measure up to the ones that you are used to seeing in movies and on television:. You will begin to appreciate how much technology and editing goes into making those nature shows. Other times, your response may emerge from what is going on in your life at the moment of encounter. Consider, for instance, how time and experience might change how we view a subject.
But now at fifty, I understand the line much better. But we need to be careful here. However, like most rules of writing that teachers pass down this one can be taken too far. Yet according to Joan Didion, one of the most prolific and respected essayists of our time, the nature of writing is never like this:.
In many ways writing is the act of saying I , of imposing oneself upon other people, of saying listen to me, see it my way, change your mind. Whether you choose to explain your subject through background information, cultural influence, personal experience, comparison and contrast with other subjects, or some combination of these, you should never ignore this area of analysis.
Your interpretation of a subject may seem apparent to you, but your reader may see it very differently and not understand how you derived your perspectives. By providing explanations, you show that you took the time to pay careful attention. Though not everyone will agree with your point of view, most will at least respect it if they see that you derived your assertions from a close consideration of the subject and did not just rely on a gut reaction based on a brief glance.
Think of an important event that happened to you, one that you can vividly recall. First consider how the details of it correspond with the Pentad. What generally happened? Which key people were involved? Through what means did it happen? When and where did it happen? And, finally, why did it happen? In answering the last question, you might think of different reasons; for instance, what motivated the actions at the time and what lessons it may have taught you down the road.
Now think of how these various aspects relate to each other. For example, if the scene where it took place was unfamiliar to you at the time, how did that shape your response as an agent? Freewrite on these various aspects and on how each relates to the other and then consider how this process gave you a better understanding of both the event and its consequences.
Look over the event that you just analyzed and write a brief letter about it to two different audiences: to a friend who experienced it with you and to a stodgy older person.
Consider the difference in content, how you provide more or less background information to explain what happened and include various considerations as to why and how it happened.
Notice, also, the difference in the overall tone, vocabulary and voice. Now think of how you might write the letter to a friend who was not there with you or to a more mellow open-minded older person. My self-esteem got better. I am now able to talk with all kinds of people more bravely. Zalina, age 40 years. Various statements by informants highlight the significance of self-confidence when interacting with people attributed to pursuing a degree.
Self-confidence is interpreted as being able to do new things or doing things better than before. Self-confidence is mostly exemplified by the ability to communicate. Analysing and Presenting Qualitative Data by P. Burnard, P. Gill, K. Treasure and B. Chadwick British Dental Journal.
Writing the Thesis. Previous Lesson. Next Lesson. You may under-report despite having collected large amounts of data. Do not sell yourself short! Alternatively, after collecting all the data, your presentation of the results lack organisation and clarity. Most quantitative research in the behavioural and social sciences involve comparing two or more groups of individuals.
The statistical tools such as t-test, ANOVA are used to report a significant difference between two or more conditions where one condition may be more, less, higher or lower than another condition. Before you report, make sure that you mention at the onset that you are using a particular alpha level such as.
This is how it should be reported:. Correlations provide a measure of statistical relationship between two variables. Note that correlations can be tested for statistical significance and reported as follows:. Reporting the Independent Samples t Test. For this analysis, the emphasis is on comparing the means from two groups. Here again the summary and the inferential statistics focus on the difference. Some common mistakes in reporting statistical data. This sub-section should summarise the answers to the main Research Questions or Hypotheses that the analysis answered.
This section serves as the transition to Chapter 5, where these results will be discussed in detail. Writing the Thesis. Previous Lesson. Table titles and figure captions should be understandable without reading the chapter text. Note all relevant results, even those that were contrary to the alternative hypotheses, or those that tend to distract from clear determinations. Make statements of the results without any implication, speculation, assessment, evaluation, or interpretation.
Sometimes the results and discussion are combined into one chapter, but in general, keep the results, and the conclusions and discussion separate. In a qualitative study, the results often include many quotes from participants who were interviewed.
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