Seoul National University, 2012-
13. — 135 pages.
Academic Writing is an advanced level writing textbook geared to the needs of Korean university students.
The textbook is designed to take the student from writing paragraphs to essays. The first chapter of the book provides a review of sentence writing, covering clauses and phrases, types of sentences, and common problems encountered by students. Also covered in the initial chapters are the purposes for writing and how this effects the style of writing and the steps in the writing process.
Paragraph writing is covered next. Topics reviewed include the parts of the paragraph
(topic sentences, supporting sentences, and the concluding sentence). Characteristics of a paragraph (unity, completeness, cohesion, and continuity) are examined, along with the various cohesive devises that are employed to ensure competent writing skills. Finally, the various types of paragraphs (narrative, descriptive, process, compare and contrast, cause and effect, problem analysis and solution, and persuasion) that can be written are reviewed.
Parts of the essay (introduction and thesis statement, body paragraphs, and concluding paragraph) are covered before covering the various types of essays (process, division and classification, cause and effect, compare and contrast, and problem analysis and solution) that students are likely to encounter.
The textbook provides examples of specific writing topics in each chapter that students can read and use as models before attempting independent writing exercises. Following these models are numerous writing exercises that allow the student to practice and refine their writing skills.
