Assignment Code: BEGS-183 / TMA / 2021 -22

Course Code: BEGS-183

Assignment Name: Writing And Study Skills

Year: 2021-2022 (July 2021 and January 2022 Sessions)

Verification Status: Verified by Professor

Answer all questions in this assignment.

SECTION A

I. Write short notes on the following: 5x5=25

Q1. Critical thinking strategies for good writing skills.

Ans) Critical thinking is the process of obtaining information, analysing and assessing evidence, discovering patterns, and reasoning logically to identify and solve problems. In writing, critical thinking entails asking the proper questions and challenging the old, no longer clear solutions. To become a critical writer, you must first learn to reflect and reason.

In the manner you consciously examine, analyse, and evaluate ideas that you'll put on paper, critical thinking in writing is connected to research. Critical thinking, on the other hand, distinguishes between information and ideas, ensuring that you select and use only the most relevant, concise words and paragraphs to convey messages effectively and with a strong impression on readers.

Strategies for good writing skills

1. Research by questioning everything

2. Scrutinize your method of gathering information.

3. Stay true to the evidence.

4. Eliminate truisms and tautologies.

5. Avoid oversimplification.

6. Plan ahead.

7. Define your approaches.

8. Break down your arguments.

Q2. What are ‘homonyms’ and ‘homophones’? Give two examples of each.

Ans) Homonyms are words that are spelled the same and sound the same but have different meanings.

A simple example of a homonym is the word pen.

1. bear (the animal) and bare (no clothes)

2. site (a location), sight (vision), and cite (to quote).

A homophone is a word that has the same sound as another word but has a different meaning. Homophones may or may not have the same spelling.

Here are some examples:

1. to/two/too

2. pray/prey

Q3. Strategies for achieving coherence and cohesion in a paragraph.

Ans) Coherence is about the unity of the ideas and cohesion the unity of structural elements. One way to do this is through the use of cohesive devices: logical bridges (repetition), verbal bridges (synonyms), linking words, and clear back referencing.

Cohesion

The employment of linking devices and logical connectors to join sentences can help to establish paragraph cohesion. Conjunctions, the usage of pronouns, and the repetition of particular phrases are all examples of these strategies. It's vital to remember that conjunctions connect on a grammatical level, whereas linking devices connect on a semantic level.

Strategies for achieving cohesion

1. Make sure the text reads like a unit

2. Use linking devices and logical connectors

3. Be careful not to overuse certain linking phrases

4. Make use of pronouns, especially ‘this’ for linking.

Coherence

The order of the paragraphs must be consistent. This means that the sections of your paragraph must connect logically so that the reader can follow the progression of your ideas and argument. Writing coherence can be produced through the use of words, but it can also be achieved through context.

Strategies for achieving coherence

1. Ensure that your arguments are logically structured and arranged

2. Develop arguments logically using paragraphs

3. Be sure to have a clear introduction, body and conclusion

4. Make sure every part of the text fits together

5. Ensure that every new paragraph is related to the previous one

6. Plan the flow and development of your argument before you start writing

7. Ensure that paragraphs are conceptually linked, and not only sentences

Q4. The Cornell note-taking method.

Ans) In the note-taking area, record the lesson as completely and as meaningfully as possible. Keep the cue column unfilled while taking notes. Reduce your notes to brief scribbles as prompts for Reciting, Reviewing, and Reflecting soon after the lecture. In a phrase or two, summarise each page of your notes.

This format provides the perfect opportunity for following through with the 5 R's of note-taking:

Record

During the lecture, record in the main column as many meaningful facts and ideas as you can. Write legibly.

Reduce

As soon after as possible, summarize these facts and ideas concisely in the Cue Column. Summarizing clarifies meanings and relationships, reinforces continuity, and strengthens memory.

Recite

Cover the Note Taking Area, using only your jottings in the Cue Column, say over the facts and ideas of the lecture as fully as you can, not mechanically, but in your own words. Then, verify what you have said.

Reflect

Draw out opinions from your notes and use them as a starting point for your own reflections on the course and how it relates to your other courses. Reflection will help prevent ideas from being inert and soon forgotten.

Review

Spend 10 minutes every week in quick review of your notes, and you will retain most of what you have learned.

Q5. Explain the terms ‘paraphrase’, ‘precis and ‘summary’ and show how they differ from each other.

Ans)

Paraphrase

Paraphrasing is the process of putting someone else's thoughts into your own words. You must rewrite a piece without affecting the meaning of the original text to paraphrase a source. Paraphrasing is a type of quotation that involves copying someone's identical words and putting them in quotation marks.

Precis

A précis is a manner of summarising that keeps the original text's tone, proportions, and meaning intact. A precis is a short summary of a reading you've finished. A précis can be anything from 100 to 200 words long, or roughly one-fifth to one-sixth the length of the original reading.

Summary

A summary is a simplified version of a longer work, such as an article or book. Summaries are usually one or two paragraphs long, depending on the length of the text to be abridged.

Differences

The major distinction between a précis and a paraphrase or summary is that in a précis, you use the original language and structure, especially essential terminology and phrases. You should use your own words as much as possible in paraphrases and summaries, and as few words from the original as feasible.

SECTION B

II. Answer the following in around 150 words each: 10x4 = 40

Q1. “While writing, we need to develop the skill of analysing as well as synthesizing.” Explain.

Ans) Academic writing necessitates the ability to analyse and synthesise; in academic writing, you must first investigate and comprehend the debate surrounding a given issue before attempting to add to it. To comprehend this discussion, you must first discover reputable and recent academic materials on the subject, study them separately, and then synthesise them to detect patterns, trends, gaps, and limitations.

Analysis

Before you can examine a text, you must first comprehend its purpose or intent. Then you must comprehend how that literature seeks to attain that goal. A text's use of language, organisation, primary and secondary research, as well as its target audience, will all be considered throughout an analysis. Finally, in order to comprehend the purpose and structure of a book, you must read it carefully and comprehend it.

Synthesis

When you perform a synthesis, you're looking for more than just similarities and differences among many sources; you're looking for what these sources say all together. A synthesis matrix will assist you in locating and identifying areas where sources overlap or differ, allowing you to discover what the most recent research on the topic has to offer.

Q2. What is ‘expository writing’? Describe, with examples, the techniques used to write expository texts.

Ans)  Expository writing aims to explain, illuminate, or 'reveal' something. Essays, newspaper and magazine pieces, instruction manuals, textbooks, encyclopaedia entries, and other forms of writing that strive to explain are all examples of this type of writing. Expository writing is distinct from other types of writing like fiction and poetry. In terms of aim, design, and language function, this form of writing is distinct.

Techniques which can be used in writing expository texts are:

1. explanation of a process

2. use of examples

3. reasons in support of a statement

4. comparison and contrast

5. classification

6. restatement

7. definition

8. analogy

9. cause and effect

10. analysis

Examples of expository writing

Scientific reports, academic essays, and magazine articles are some of the most common types of expository writing. An expository writer can't presume that their audience already knows or understands the content they're presenting.

Q3. Briefly describe the three major types of study skills and show how they help us to become better learners.

Ans) There are three major types of study skills identified in the literature on study skills:

1. Gathering Skills

Learners can use these abilities to seek and identify useful information. These abilities include reference skills as well as reading sub-skills such as scanning and skimming. They provide the student with the tools to locate information sources.

2. Storing Skills

Note taking and note creating are two methods we use to do this. These abilities are necessary for storing knowledge so that it may be retrieved and used quickly. They should have the notes written down in a concise and exact manner so that they can refer to them quickly. In fact, each student develops his or her own method of information storage.

3. Retrieval Skills

Students must summarise their thoughts in a logical style while writing an examination or participating in a conference or seminar so that their readers may understand them. Alternatively, they may be required to write a research abstract based on their reading. Of course, the student's summary or abstract will be based on the notes they produced previously.

Q4. What aspects of format, structure, etiquette and language should be considered while writing an official email? Write an official email to the head of your institution keeping all these aspects in mind.

Ans) Email to Head of Institution:

Subject: Complaint against ragging

Dear Mr. Dean

We are the fresher students of the course 1st year of bachelor’s in engineering of your institution.

This is mail is for your kind attention towards ragging and anarchy that prevails at the academic area and hostels of the institute. The Junior’s Hostel is everywhere dotted by seniors and no authorised official from the institution is there in the hostel to take care about the students. The hostel warden is sitting far away from the hostel building, whereas the Anti-Ragging regulation mandates the access of seniors to juniors’ premises be monitored by the warden himself.

Every day and night cruel ragging is going on with the silent support of the Administration. Whenever anyone complains against this anarchy the institution just sits on the complaint, and seniors are informed of our names so that we are even more ragged. We fear for our security and wellbeing under such conditions.

Sir, we are very sad to face such conditions at the hostels of your institution. If seniors continue to mentally torture us, we fear about our future. Human rights violations in the name of ragging are going and nobody in the hostel or from the anti-ragging squad is responsible enough to take care of it. Though it is easy to dismiss this complaint, we sincerely request you to kindly look into the matter urgently on humanitarian grounds, and to ensure effective protection for the juniors.

Sincerely Yours,

Baban Mehta

Student Body President

09678845632

SECTION C

III. 1. Write a paragraph of about 150 words on the topic given below.

Q1. Underline the topic sentence after writing the paragraph. “Water Conservation: a Challenge for India in the 21st Century.” 15

Ans) Water means life. It is a basic resource in all human activities. Since early times, people have been searching for adequate water supply systems to meet their needs, and historically, most cultures were established and grew around major water sources. This means that water is a major factor determining the demographic map of the whole world and is a particular challenge in India.

Water is becoming scarce in quantity and inadequate in quality in many areas around the world. This is mainly due to ever-increasing demands that persistently exceed available supplies. Increasing water consumption due to population and economic growth is the most crucial feature and will continue at an accelerating rate so long as current attitudes and patterns of water utilization remain unchanged.

Current water-related challenges require urgent actions. These actions must include not only new policies at national level, but also strong international support with well-coordinated donors. The current water stresses and the magnitude of the problem worldwide widens, defining the major challenges facing water resources management. The major international commitments and targets set by the world community to face the water-related challenges and to ensure proper management of limited freshwater resources are reviewed. Finally, a set of priority actions is proposed.

Q 2. Write a well - developed composition on the topic given below: “Social Media Usage: Advantages and Disadvantages.” Your composition should have a clear introduction, body and conclusion. 20

Ans) Composition on “Social Media Usage: Advantages and Disadvantages.”:

Introduction

Social media is a tool that is becoming quite popular these days because of its user-friendly features. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and more are giving people a chance to connect with each other across distances. In other words, the whole world is at our fingertips all thanks to social media. The youth is especially one of the most dominant users of social media. All this makes you wonder that something so powerful and with such a massive reach cannot be all good. Like how there are always two sides to a coin, the same goes for social media. Subsequently, different people have different opinions on this debatable topic. So, in this essay on Social Media, we will see the advantages and disadvantages of social media.

Body

Advantages of Social Media

When we look at the positive aspect of social media, we find numerous advantages. The most important being a great device for education. All the information one requires is just a click away. Students can educate themselves on various topics using social media.

Moreover, live lectures are now possible because of social media. You can attend a lecture happening in America while sitting in India.

Furthermore, as more and more people are distancing themselves from newspapers, they are depending on social media for news. You are always updated on the latest happenings of the world through it. A person becomes more socially aware of the issues of the world.

In addition, it strengthens bonds with your loved ones. Distance is not a barrier anymore because of social media. For instance, you can easily communicate with your friends and relatives overseas.

Most importantly, it also provides a great platform for young budding artists to showcase their talent for free. You can get great opportunities for employment through social media too.

Disadvantages of Social Media

Despite having such unique advantages, social media is considered to be one of the most harmful elements of society. If the use of social media is not monitored, it can lead to grave consequences.

It is harmful because it invades your privacy like never before. The oversharing happening on social media makes children a target for predators and hackers. It also leads to cyberbullying which affects any person significantly.

Thus, the sharing on social media especially by children must be monitored at all times. Next up is the addition of social media which is quite common amongst the youth.

This addiction hampers with the academic performance of a student as they waste their time on social media instead of studying. Social media also creates communal rifts. Fake news is spread with the use of it, which poisons the mind of peace-loving citizens.

Conclusion

Many people think that social media is a blessing for us, but some others consider it as a curse. No doubt due to the popularity of social media now we can get united in a very short time, can take opinion from different people on an issue in just a click, but we have also witnessed different anti-social activities those are fuelled by social media. So, the discussion on whether social media is a boon or curse for us will go on always.

In short, surely social media has both advantages and disadvantages. But, it all depends on the user at the end. The youth must particularly create a balance between their academic performances, physical activities, and social media. Excess use of anything is harmful and the same thing applies to social media. Therefore, we must strive to live a satisfying life with the right balance.