COMMUNICATION SKILLS 2 WORKSHEET

Label the following as formal, informal and semi formal

 I am applying for the receptionist position advertised in the local paper. I am an excellent
candidate for the job because of my significant secretarial experience, good language
skills, and sense of organization.
 I am applying for the receptionist position that is currently open in the company. As you
are aware, I have worked as a temporary employee with your company in this position
before. As such, I not only have experience and knowledge of this position, but also
already understand the company's needs and requirements for this job.
 Hi! I read in the paper that ya'll were looking for a receptionist. I think that I am good for
that job because I've done stuff like it in the past, am good with words, and am incredibly
well organized.

Use the information given on the source of information in addition to the quoted information to
illustrate how to incorporate a quote into one’s writing and how to properly cite and
acknowledge sources in both the in-text and out-text citation using the Harvard OR the IEEE
referencing style.

a. The following information is a quote on page 36 of the book titled Writing in the
Liberal Arts Tradition which was published by Harper in New York (NY) in the year
2013. The book is authored by James Kinneavy, William McCleary and Neil
Nakadate.

The goal of learning to write "in the liberal arts tradition" is the well-rounded writer – a person
with training and experience in a range of writting tasks.

b. The following is a quote from an article titled Come on In written by Edward Abbey
in the issue 2 of volume 49 in the journal named Plateau. It can be seen on pages 3 to
5 of the journal which was published in 2012.

The canyon country of southern Utah and northern Arizona is something special, something else,
something strange, marvelous, full of wonders. So far as I know there is no other region on earth
much like it, or even remotely like it. Nowhere else have we had this lucky combination of vast
sedimentary rock formations exposed to a desert climate, of a great plateau carved by major
rivers--the Green, the San Juan, the Colorado-into such a wonderland of form and color.

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Practice Exercises on Plagiarism

A: Identifying Plagiarism

1. A student uses an internet article in researching her paper. She finds several of the ideas
in the article useful, and develops them in her own paper. Since she does not quote from
the text, she does not cite it in her paper, but she does put the reference in the
bibliography.

2. In researching a paper on Mary Kingsley, a student discovers that Kingsley was born in
Islington in 1862. She didn’t know this fact previously. However, every article she reads
on Kingsley
reports the same fact. She does not acknowledge the source of this information with a
citation.

3. You are taking a class that a friend has already taken. She lets you read her paper in order
to get some ideas, and tells you to use any parts of the paper you find useful. You
incorporate some of her paragraphs into your paper without citation.

4. A friend offers to let you read his paper in order to get some ideas, and tells you to use
any parts of the paper you find useful. You incorporate one of his paragraphs into your
paper, and you are careful to include all of the citations from his paper in your footnotes,
so that the reader will be able to find the original source of the information.

5. A student finds a picture on the web that perfectly illustrates a point she wants to make in
her paper. She downloads the picture, but does not use the website’s analysis; in addition,
she writes her own caption for the picture. Since the analysis and caption are her own, she
does not include a citation for the picture.

6. A student uses a data set collected by his professor in his analysis of economic trends.
Since he develops his own analysis, and since his professor has not published the data, he
does not include a citation for the data set.

7. You find an interesting analysis of Kant’s categorical imperative in a book on 18th

century philosophers. You do not quote directly from the text, but you mention the author
of the book as the source for this idea, and include a citation at the end of the paragraph.

8. A student finds some interesting information on a website that is not under copyright. She
downloads several paragraphs and incorporates them into her paper, but doesn’t cite
them, because they are in the public domain.

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 9. You are discussing your term paper with your professor. She gives you an interesting
idea about how you might interpret some of the material you have been studying. Since
the discussion was informal, and does not pertain to an area in which your professor
intends you publish, you incorporate her suggestions without attribution.

10. You find a very interesting quote from Gregor Mendel’s “Experimentation in Plant
Hybridization” in a book about Mendel’s life. In your paper, you include the quote, and
cite Mendel’s paper as the source.

B. Below is a passage from a scholarly publication and student's attempt to paraphrase the
passage. Please indicate whether or not you think the paraphrase has plagiarized the original
passage. The result will help you determine whether you risk committing plagiarism while
trying to paraphrase a source.

The passage below is taken from Baker, Andrew C. (2001). Reef corals bleach to survive
change. Nature 411, 765 - 766.

The bleaching of coral reefs, in which symbiotic algae are lost from reef-building invertebrates,
is usually considered to be a drastic and damaging response to adverse environmental conditions.
Here I report results from transplant experiments involving different combinations of coral host
and algal symbiont that support an alternative view, in which bleaching offers a high-risk
ecological opportunity for reef corals to rid themselves rapidly of suboptimal algae and to
acquire new partners. This strategy could be an advantage to coral reefs that face increasingly
frequent and severe episodes of mass bleaching as a result of projected climate change. (Baker
765)

Paraphrase 1: As Andrew C. Baker points out, although coral reef bleaching is usually
considered to be a drastic response to adverse environmental conditions and the direct cause of
coral mortality, bleaching may in fact be an opportunity (albeit a risky one) for coral reefs to rid
themselves of one kind of algae-partner in order to acquire a new partner. In other words,
bleaching itself is not what kills off coral reefs but their inability to acquire life-sustaining
partners in their native zones during and after bleaching (2001).

Paraphrase 2: The common belief among scientists and environmentalists has been that coral reef
bleaching is the immediate sign and cause of coral reef death, but new studies indicate that this
may not be correct. These studies suggest that bleaching is only the coral reef's way of getting
rid of unproductive algae-partners in order to acquire different, more sustaining ones (2001).

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Paraphrase 3: Although the common belief has been that bleaching in coral reefs is a reaction to
environmental stress and the direct cause of coral reef death, Andrew C. Baker suggests that
bleaching, itself, is not responsible for coral reef loss. After transplanting reefs from shallower
water to deeper water, and vice versa, Baker concludes that bleaching is, in fact, a way for the a
coral reef to eradicate its unproductive algae-partner (algal symbiont) in order to acquire a
different, more beneficial and life-sustaining algal symbiont. It's only when the coral reef cannot
gain the more productive (and zone-specific) symbiont that it dies (2001).

Paraphrase 4: Contrary to our assumption that bleaching is the direct cause of coral reef death,
Andrew C. Baker suggests that bleaching is, instead, the reef's mechanism for getting rid of
unhelpful algae-partners in order to acquire different, more productive ones.

Paraphrase 5: According to Andrew C. Baker, the loss of coral reefs is not due to bleaching but
to a certain kind of algal symbiont. Coral reefs bleach in order to rid themselves of unhelpful
algae-partners, but they sometimes substitute deadly new partners for the old ones, and this is the
real cause of reef mortality (765).

THESIS STATEMENTS
Identify the better of each pair of thesis statements

1. (a) There is no question that cell phones have changed our lives in a very big way.
(b) While cell phones provide freedom and mobility, they can also become a leash,
compelling users to answer them anywhere and at any time.

2. (a) Finding a job is never easy, but it can be especially hard when the economy is still
feeling the effects of a recession and employers are reluctant to hire new workers.
(b) College students looking for part-time work should begin their search by taking
advantage of job-finding resources on campus.

3. (a) For the past three decades, coconut oil has been unjustly criticized as an artery-
clogging saturated fat.
(b) Cooking oil is plant, animal, or synthetic fat that is used in frying, baking, and other
types of cooking.

4. (a) The iPad has revolutionized the mobile-computing landscape and created a huge
profit stream for Apple.
(b) The iPad, with its relatively large high-definition screen, has helped to revitalize the

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 comic book industry.

5. (a) Like other addictive behaviors, Internet addiction may have serious negative
consequences, including academic failure, job loss, and a breakdown in personal
relationships.
(b) Drug and alcohol addiction is a major problem in the world today, and many people
suffer from it.
6. (a) The bicycle was introduced in the nineteenth century and rapidly grew into a
worldwide phenomenon.
(b) In several ways, bicycles today are better than they were 100 or even 50 years ago.

7. (a) Although many varieties of beans belong in a healthy diet, among the most nutritious
are black beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, and pinto beans.
(b) Although beans are generally good for you, some kinds of raw beans can be
dangerous if they're not well cooked.

For each of the following thesis statements, identify the topic, the opinion or arguable
assertion, and if applicable, the supporting evidence or reasons.

Example: Cell phone use while driving should be banned, for it creates an unsafe
environment not only for drivers using cell phones but also for other people in nearby
vehicles.
topic opinion Reasons or purpose
Cell phone use while driving Should be banned for it creates an unsafe
environment not only for
drivers using them but also
for other people in nearby
vehicles.

1. Violent video games should be made illegal, for it might incite some people to commit
violent acts.

2. An after-school job can be harmful to teenagers as working not only reduces

opportunities for social and recreational time but also takes time valuable time away from
schoolwork.

3. Welfare benefits for single mothers should not be eliminated, for the benefits are needed to
prevent hunger and poverty among our country’s most helpless citizens—our children.

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Analyze the following statements and identify the reason(s) you think they do or do not work as
good thesis statements.

example Drug use is a serious problem in today’s world

analysis Not a good thesis.
Expresses a point that everyone would probably agree with; it does not state an
assertion that anyone would want to argue. The statement is also too broad, and it
contains the vague phrase “in today’s world.” Avoid using such vague or fuzzy
phrases

1. Television has had a serious impact in today’s society.

2. During a recent episode of Law and Order, two people were killed, three were
stabbed, and four were badly beaten.

3. An evaluation of the benefits of Prozac.

4. In this essay I am going to talk about the potential problems if the administration
restructures the Social Security program.

5. How to grow beautiful orchids.

Recognizing Good and Bad Summarizing

Practice Exercise

Here are some examples to help you recognize the difference between correct summarizing and
summarizing that is plagiarised. Read them over and see if you can decide yourself which
version is the correct one and why.

Original:

From Bliss, Michael. The Discovery of Insulin. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1982.
Chapter 8, Section I, Paragraph 1, Page 190:

Most medical people despised the press, holding attitudes not totally unfamiliar today. Reporters
tended to be suckers for every quack, half-quack, over-eager scientist, or naive country doctor
who thought he had a serum to cure tuberculosis, a herbal remedy for cancer, or a new surgical
procedure to rejuvenate the aged. When the newspapers were not wasting space on undeserving
medical stories, they were over-playing legitimate news, getting their facts wrong, and generally
making a nuisance of themselves interfering in the lives and practices of busy professionals.

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Doctors' deep suspicion of what they read in the newspapers and even in the less-carefully edited
of the medical journals, helps to explain some of the early skepticism about insulin in countries
like Britain: Oh, the Americans are always curing everything; this week it's diabetes. Even in
Canada and the United States it was some months before there was enough confirmation of the
unlikely news from Toronto to convince wire services and the more skeptical doctors and editors
that insulin was, indeed, the real thing.

Version 1: Most medical people hated the press, because reporters tended to believe every over-
eager scientist or naive country doctor who thought he had a cure for something. Newspapers
often over-played legitimate news, got their facts wrong, and interfered in the lives and practices
of busy professionals. Doctors became deeply suspicious of what they read in the newspapers
and less-carefully edited medical journals, therefore were skeptical about insulin in countries like
Britain because it seemed the Americans were always curing everything.

Version 2: Most medical people hated the press, because reporters tended to believe every
"over-eager scientist or naive country doctor" (p. 190) who thought he had a cure for something.
Newspapers often over-played legitimate news, got their facts wrong, and interfered "in the lives
and practices of busy professionals" (p. 190). Doctors became deeply suspicious of what they
read in the newspapers and less-carefully edited medical journals, therefore were skeptical about
insulin in countries like Britain because it seemed the Americans were "always curing
everything" (p. 190).

Version 3: Insulin as a treatment for diabetes was not widely accepted as "the real thing" (p.
190) by the medical profession for many months after "the unlikely news from Toronto" (p.
190). Doctors had become skeptical about the legitimacy of medical discoveries as reported both
by newspapers, which tended to waste space on "undeserving medical stories" (p. 190), and by
some less professional medical journals.

Version 4: Insulin as a treatment for diabetes was not widely accepted for many months because
doctors had become skeptical about the legitimacy of medical discoveries as reported both by
newspapers and by some less professional medical journals (p. 190).

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 OUTLINE

Write out the outline correcting all the errors so that it conforms to the conventions of a formal
outline

LIVING ALONE

Thesis Statement: Chances are high that adult men and women will have to know how to live
alone, briefly or longer, at some point in their lives.
I. Living alone because of circumstances.

A. Grown children moving to other cities

1. Going away to school
2. Taken jobs
B. married people not being married forever
1. One out of two marriages ending in divorce
II. Taking care of practical matters

A. Opening a checking account

B. Making major purchases
1. Replacing a refrigerator
2. Buying a car
3. Replacing an old fridge
III. Establish new friendships

A. Students getting used to going to classes without old friends.

1. They are able to concentrate better
2. They are able to meet new friends
3. Single adults going to the beach or parties.

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