Course: Compulsory English-II (5411)
Semester: Spring, 2022
ASSIGNMENT No. 1
Q.1 Read pages 1-14 carefully (the content is related to ‘academic writing’ and various types of ‘essays’) and briefly answer the following questions (in your own words).
a) What is ‘academic writing’? How is it different from other types of writing?
Academic writing is the style of writing we use in the field of academics. Research projects, term papers, conference papers, essays, abstracts, reports, etc. in various disciplines are written in this style. The main difference between academic writing and other styles of writings is that it is more formal and structured. Academic writing also has its own set of rules and structures. The target audience or the readers of academic writing is the scholars of the same discipline.
Academic writing is generally objective, concise and impersonal. It is also more complex than general writing and may consist of technical jargon. Precision is also another very important factor in academic writing. Punctuation and grammar should be strictly followed. Contractions (don’t, can’t, etc.), slang or informal words, clichés, unnecessary filler words such as really, very, etc. should also be avoided in academic writing.
Referencing and citations is another major difference in academic writing. In academic writing, the writer is expected to support his argument by citing evidence by other sources. However, this evidence from other sources always has to be properly attributed according to an accepted style guide such as APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard referencing.
Q.2 Read pages 24-30 carefully (the content is about various parts of an academic essay) and write an academic essay (of about 150 words) on ‘My Favorite Subject’.
My favorite subject among all subjects is English. When I was studying in the primary section then only I loved to study English, as the book was filled up with different interesting stories. We had two books of English up to class 8th. Further, we had one book containing drama. We have separate teachers for teaching us grammar and literature. I eagerly wait for the period of English.
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Q.3 Read pages 31-34 carefully (the content is about formal and informal styles of writing) and decide what type of writing style (formal/informal) is used in the following text and how?
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It is often said that literature is an index, indeed the principal index, of the soul of an age, and that to understand the spirit of any historical period, we should look first of all the books that were being read by the people of the time. |
This is a formal writing because the text is of academic point of view.
Q.4 Read Unit 2 which is on ‘sequence’ or ‘chronological order’ (pages 39-72). Sequence is a writing technique that writers use to present information in a step by step manner or in a process or in a sequence (of story, for example).
Now LINK (connect) sentences (given in the following text) by using appropriate SEQUENCE MARKERS (such as first, secondly, subsequently, then, after, finally, at last etc.). You are required to use at least TEN sequence markers in your answer.
Firstly, the early death of his mother in the Indiana wilderness, then a rude upbringing verging on the ill-mannered, the damage of rough and tumble frontier politics, unbearable mental breakdown resulting from uncertainty in life, all these played their role in the life of Lincoln. Subsequently the hurts of a not altogether happy marriage, and, then the loss of an infant son, all these had added their traces to the life of this great leader.
Q.5 Read the text titled as ‘A Day in the Life of a Nurse’ on pages 56-57 carefully. Also read Exercise-9 given on page 58. Now write down a PARAGRAPH of about 150 words on ‘A Day in the Life of a Bank Manager’. Follow the use of SEQUENCE MARKERS in your answer.
At exactly 5:30 am the alarm clock besides Ms Sarah goes off prompting her out of bed. Ms Mayanja has to rise early because of the nature of her family situation and new position as branch Manager of Equatorial Bank Ltd.
Her husband of 5 years, Sam, works up – country in Gulu, Northern Uganda, for a relief and development NGO and visits over the weekend. This means during his absence Ms sarah has to drop their 5-year-old son, Ali, at Aunt Molly’s kindergarten. Their three- year old, Sobia, is left in the care of a maid.
Quickly, with the help of her maid, she sees that Ali is dressed and readied for school. They sit down to breakfast by 6:30 and by 7:00 am there are both out of the driveway in a jet- blue Toyota Corsa while listening to their favourite morning show on 104.1 Power FM.