Get the full ebook with Bonus Features for a Better Reading Experience on ebookgate.

com

Writing for Academic Success 2nd Edition Gail

Craswell

https://ebookgate.com/product/writing-for-academic-
success-2nd-edition-gail-craswell/

OR CLICK HERE

DOWLOAD NOW

Download more ebook instantly today at https://ebookgate.com

Instant digital products (PDF, ePub, MOBI) available
Download now and explore formats that suit you...

Writing for Academic Journals 2nd Edition Rowena Murray

https://ebookgate.com/product/writing-for-academic-journals-2nd-
edition-rowena-murray/

ebookgate.com

Writing for Academic Journals 2nd Edition Rowena Murray

https://ebookgate.com/product/writing-for-academic-journals-2nd-
edition-rowena-murray-2/

ebookgate.com

Academic Writing for International Students of Business

2nd Edition Stephen Bailey

https://ebookgate.com/product/academic-writing-for-international-
students-of-business-2nd-edition-stephen-bailey/

ebookgate.com

English for academic study writing Anne Pallant

https://ebookgate.com/product/english-for-academic-study-writing-anne-
pallant/

ebookgate.com
Writing for Academic Journals 3rd Edition Rowena Murray

https://ebookgate.com/product/writing-for-academic-journals-3rd-
edition-rowena-murray/

ebookgate.com

Writing for Academic Journals 4th Edition Rowena Murray

https://ebookgate.com/product/writing-for-academic-journals-4th-
edition-rowena-murray/

ebookgate.com

Master Writing for the SAT What You Need for Test Success
2nd Edition Margaret Moran

https://ebookgate.com/product/master-writing-for-the-sat-what-you-
need-for-test-success-2nd-edition-margaret-moran/

ebookgate.com

Academic Writing A Practical Guide for Students 1st

Edition Stephen Bailey

https://ebookgate.com/product/academic-writing-a-practical-guide-for-
students-1st-edition-stephen-bailey/

ebookgate.com

Academic Writing A Handbook for International Students 3rd

Edition Stephen Bailey

https://ebookgate.com/product/academic-writing-a-handbook-for-
international-students-3rd-edition-stephen-bailey/

ebookgate.com
 =} SAGE Study Skills

"AVaiitate me)
WNexele(=\aaye
Success
Cfo] R@celsy=)|
& Megan Poore

VARYom xelli(e)a
 CU i 305977135/

> a©
OXFORD
UND
Ven RST
Ur ( Ihe WTS} ARAN ARENe
See ROVElsGeErS

EDUCATION LIBRARY
Oxford University Library Services
‘LS: Norham Gardens) 9», 4
Oxford OX2 GPY) 1 \
Tel: (2)74028 (enquiries and renewals)
htep://www.education.ox.ac.uk/library

This is a NORMAL LOAN item.

We will email you a reminder before this item is due.

To check when your books are due back

and to renew online, please see:
www.lib.ox.ac.uk/olis
Fines are charged on overdue books
SAGE has been part of the global academic community
since 1965, supporting high quality research and learning
that transforms society and our understanding of individuals,
groups, and cultures. SAGE is the independent, innovative,
natural home for authors, editors and societies who share
our commitment and passion for the social sciences.

Find out more at: Www.Sagepublications.com

S)SAGE
Writing for
Academic
Success

Gail Craswell
& Megan Poore

2nd Edition
 OXxTorG UNIVersny LIOraLy

© Gail Craswell and Megan Poore 2012

First published 2005

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or

private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may
be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form, or by any
means, only with the prior permission in writing of the
publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction, in
accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright
Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside
those terms should be sent to the publishers.

SAGE Publications Ltd

1 Oliver’s Yard
55 City Road
London EC1Y 1SP

SAGE Publications Inc.

2455 Teller Road
Thousand Oaks, California 91320

SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd

B 1/11 Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area
Mathura Road
New Delhi 110 044

SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd

33 Pekin Street #02-01
Far East Square
Singapore 048763

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011923532

British Library Cataloguing in Publication data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-0-85702-927-0
ISBN 978-0-85702-928-7 (pbk)

Typeset by C&M Digitals (P) Ltd, Chennai, India

Printed in India by Replika Press Pvt Ltd
Printed on paper from sustainable resources
 Contents

List of Figures pat

List of Tables Xlil

Introduction 1
Aims, limits and organization of the book 2
Terminology and other practices 3

1 Managing your Writing Environment 5

Effective self-management 6
Networking for support 6
Pre-planning: maximizing effort 8
Electronic tools for increasing productivity $2
Managing multiple communication tasks 14
Communicating with lecturers and supervisors 16
Resolving uncertainties a
Digital communication issues 18
Issues in cross-cultural writing and communication 20
Being critical 20
Developing independence 20
Accepting guidence 21
Entering tutorial ‘conversations’ 21
Using the English language val
Using the disciplinary language 22
Conducting interpersonal relations 22
Researching on the move 23
Advantages of using mobile technologies 23
Keeping safe online 25
Backing up your work 3 30
Further resources Sy
2 Fundamentals of Solid Preparation 33
Understanding the graduate writing culture 34
Mastering disciplinary writing practices 35
Treating information critically 38
Critically appraising source materials 38
Critically evaluating theory 40
Critical enquiry and the status of
existing knowledge 42
Working with different types of information 42
Following your hunches 43
Ensuring task-focused information 44
Assessing the academic merit of source materials 45
Avoiding the urge to rush into data-gathering 46
Discriminating information needs 47
Managing your reading load 49
Reading intensively and skimming 49
Strategies for information storage 50
Managing common writing concerns 51
Monitoring your approach 52
Confronting the ‘writing block’ 53
Handling critical feedback 54
Further resources 55

Essentials of Academic Writing 56

The mechanics of academic writing 56
Ensuring consistency of practice 57
Spelling, grammar and proofreading 57
Punctuation 58
Referencing and plagiarism 58
Choosing a referencing style 59
Avoiding plagiarism 60
Attending to readers’ needs 63
The reader as disciplinary practitioner 64
The reader as subject specialist 64
Signposting: signalling your intentions 65
Clarity: the first rule of style 65
Other style issues 66
Conciseness 68
Aspects of voice and tone 70
Further resources 72

Principles of Sound Structure 73

Visual mapping of material 74

vi
 Contents

Brainstorming and mind-mapping 74

Sequential outlining 75
Using sub-headings effectively WA
Developing texts 19
Effective paragraph development 80
Strategies for linking paragraphs 82
Manipulating sentence structure 84
The ‘discards’ file 85
Improving overall structure 86
Further resources 87

Research Essays 88
‘Essays’ and their synonyms 88
The short essay 89
The research essay as formal argument 90
Decoding the meaning of ‘argument’ 90
Basic criteria applied in assessing essays ot
Topics (or questions) 91
Setting up a topic 92
Analysing a given topic 92
Compiling an introduction 94
Establishing the context 95
Defining important terms, phrases or concepts 95
Laying out a position 95
Making a procedural statement 96
Building an argument ell
Building a ‘position’ as you read o7
Arguing from sources 98
Avoiding faulty reasoning She)
Strategies that strengthen argument 100
Developing an argument 102
Ensuring structural coherence 102
Maintaining relevance 103
Working up a conclusion 104
Cutting to meet word length 104
Reviewing the essay presentation 105
Further resources 106

Book or Article Reviews and Online Writing 107

Book or article reviews 107
The different types of reviews 107
Conducting an academic review 108
Structuring a review 110

vil
Online writing 110
Blogs Le
Wikis It:

Coursework Exams 113

Setting up a revision plan 114
Stage 1: focusing your plan 114
Stage 2: systematizing your plan 116
Stage 3: testing the efficacy of your plan 13
Exam room strategies 120
Interpreting exam paper instructions 120
Determining the order of your answers 120
Working out a time schedule 21
Writing the exam paper 121
Essay papers 122
Short answer papers 123
Multiple-choice papers 123

The Literature Review 125

Purpose and functions of a literature
review 125
Writing tasks engaged 126
Review mode and orientation 126
Exploiting hbrary and Internet resources 127
Your institution’s library 127
The Internet 129
Strategically managing the reading 129
Discovery mode 130
Refining mode 131
Appraisal mode 131
Critical appraisal of the literature 132
Processing information to facilitate writing 133
Processing information 134
Processing and structure 135
Shortcomings in reviews 136
Reader processing needs 136
Contrary findings in the literature 136
The all-important: ‘So what” 136
How your research fits in 137
Further resources 138

vill
9 Reports and Research Proposals
Reports
Possible audience considerations
Business reports
Focusing a business report
Experimental or technical reports
The interlocking relationship of the structural divisions
Focusing the different parts of the report
Formal reports
Two prominent structures
Distinctive features of the formal report
Field reports
Keeping precise records
Progress reports
The purpose of a progress report
Research proposals
The different purposes of proposals
Focusing and developing a proposal
Further resources

10 Thesis Writing
Managing the project
Orientation to thesis writing
Using online tools to manage the research project
Anticipatory thesis management strategies
Setting up a thesis writing schedule
Settling on typography and formatting
Expectations of theses
Standard expectations
Bringing examiners into view
Longer theses
Quality indicators in examiners’ reports
Shorter theses
Different topic orientations
Constraining factors
Structuring a thesis
Dividing up the text
Key structuring strategies
The thesis statement
Chapter structuring options
A science model
Vriting Tor acagemic success

A social science model 175

An illustrations-based model 175
A sequential model 176
An open-ended model 176
Gaining overall thesis control Lee
Visually mapping core chapters Lit
The table of contents 178
The detailed thesis outline 179
The thesis abstract 181
The thesis introduction 182
Timing the writing of an introduction 182
Focusing an introduction 182
The thesis conclusion 183
Processing the thesis findings 184
Organizing a thesis-writing group 186
Further resources 187

11 Presentations 188
The nature of oral presentations £39
Distinctive features of presenting 189
Tutorial and seminar presentations 190
Clarifying expectations 190
Forestalling criticism in progress review seminars 191
Conference presentations £91
Getting a paper accepted WOT
Poster presentations 193
Factors that might influence design 194
Design principles 194
Planning for success 196
Audience analysis 19%
Language appropriateness 198
Venue considerations 198
Building ‘time’ into a plan 1199
Formatting options i99
Using scripted notes ig?
Reading a paper as a presentation 200
Reworking a lengthy paper to present 201
Slideshow (PowerPoint) presentations 201
Fine-tuning and rehearsal 204
Encoding audience management 204
The value of prior rehearsal 207
On the day: issues of delivery 207
 Contents

The presenting venue 207

Dealing with the unexpected 208
Canvassing audience questions 208
Managing nervousness 209
Further resources 210

12 Publishing and Raising Your Profile oul

Pre-publishing or self-publishing online 212
Advantages of distributing work online 212
Some points to watch 213
Raising your profile: setting up an eportfolio 214
Basic eportfolio 215
Expanded eportfolio 215
Choosing a service to host your eportfolio 217
What to include in your eportfolio 218
Journal publication 219
ejournals 219
Open access journals 220
Including supervisors as co-authors 220
Targeting an appropriate journal 221
Profiling the targeted journal 221
Shaping a paper for publication 222
Being professional 222
Focusing the abstract 222
Reviewing scholarly practices 223
Engaging the reader 223
Approaching a book publisher 226
‘Strategic considerations 226
The peer review process 228
Questions addressed by referees 228
Dealing with the outcome of peer review 229
Forming a publication syndicate 230
Further resources 231

Appendix: Words and Phrases for Developing Discussions 232

References 235
Index 239

xi
 OxrorG Universivy

© Gail Craswell and Megan Poore 2012

First published 2005

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or

private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may
be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form, or by any
means, only with the prior permission in writing of the
publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction, in
accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright
Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside
those terms should be sent to the publishers.

SAGE Publications Ltd

1 Oliver’s Yard
55 City Road
London EC1Y 1SP

SAGE Publications Inc.

2455 Teller Road
Thousand Oaks, California 91320

SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd

B 1/11 Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area
Mathura Road
New Delhi 110 044

SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd

338 Pekin Street #02-01
Far East Square
Singapore 048763

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011923532

British Library Cataloguing in Publication data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-0-85702-927-0
ISBN 978-0-85702-928-7 (pbk)

Typeset by C&M Digitals (P) Ltd, Chennai, India

Printed in India by Replika Press Pvt Ltd
Printed on paper from sustainable resources
 Contents

List of Figures xl
List of Tables xl

Introduction 1
Aims, limits and organization of the book 2
Terminology and other practices 3

1 Managing your Writing Environment 5

Effective self-management 6
Networking for support 6
Pre-planning: maximizing effort 8
Electronic tools for increasing productivity 12
Managing multiple communication tasks 14
Communicating with lecturers and supervisors 16
Resolving uncertainties 17
Digital communication issues 18
Issues in cross-cultural writing and communication 20
Being critical 20
Developing independence 20
Accepting guidence Qi
Entering tutorial ‘conversations’ 21
Using the English language Zi
Using the disciplinary language 22
Conducting interpersonal relations 22,
Researching on the move 23
Advantages of using mobile technologies 23
Keeping safe online 25
Backing up your work 30
Further resources Sy
 ASSET

List of Figures
WW

tal The self-management matrix

Dek How theories work
2.2 Different types of frameworks
2.3 Scale of qualification
4.1 Simple brainstorming plan
4.2 Sample mind-mapping outline created with Bubbl.us
4.3 The structural relationship between point of view
and paragraph development
Ou Ensuring relevance 104
5.2 Cutting material to meet word length 105
ped Orienting and outlining a revision plan 115
12 Systematizing a revision plan 116
7.3 Testing the efficacy of a revision plan AbiES
7.4 Making use of the permitted study period 120
Sal Indexing different types of information 134
oul A model of a business report 141
922 Typical parts of an experimental or technical report 143
9.3 Structural outline of a formal report 147
9.4 Progressive refinement of a topic 151
LL Basic divisions of a thesis a.
10.2 Computer modelling of thesis chapters 177
10.3 Core questions for structuring an abstract 181
Ll The basic elements of an oral presentation 189
11.2 Key aspects of audience management 204
12.1 Creating a Research Space — the CARS model of
journal introductions 224
 KEW

List of Tables

10.1 Core questions for structuring at any level of the text 173
10.2 Information scale for the general and chapter introductions 183
1401 Implications for focusing a conference abstract 193
iat Strategies for engaging the reader 225
sound logic and evidential support in argument, and so forth. Material of this
type is covered in Chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5.
Other aspects of context may also feature prominently in graduate com-
munication. For example, disciplinary influences on style and language are
much reduced where there is a broad audience for, say, a conference paper,
or with publications in journals targeting a more general audience. While
audience needs are a crucial consideration in all academic communication, at
times they exert primary influence on both the treatment of information and
the language, style and formatting of a paper or talk.

Aims, limitations and organization of the book

The overall aim of this book is to ease the path towards successful communi-
cation of your study and research. It is in this sense a practical, developmen-
tal guide. The usefulness of the book lies in your following through on
suggestions and testing their appropriateness in the context of monitoring
your own practices, attempting the exercises or following step-by-step pro-
cedures where relevant, applying strategies in practice, and opening up
conversations with lecturers, supervisors, conference convenors and editors
or publishers where uncertainties remain.
We make no claim to either comprehensive coverage of all types of gradu-
ate writing or detailed coverage of all the varied and complex communication
challenges graduates encounter, both of which would be impossible.
Nevertheless, much of the material covered in the first four chapters will
apply in most writing situations, and the different types of self-help strate-
gies presented throughout the book should prove useful if you encounter
types of writing not covered here.
The book’s underlying organization mirrors a developmental movement
from consideration of general issues in academic writing and communication
in the first four chapters, to coverage of issues specific to different types of
writing, presentations and publications in subsequent chapters. In effect, the
first four, foundation chapters engage a broad range of strategies that under-
pin all types of graduate writing and communication; hence the frequent
references back to them in the chapters that follow.
Effective management of your writing environment will reduce stress and
improve your confidence and efficiency. Chapter 1 explores multiple strate-
gies towards this end, including strategies for networking, managing yourself
and your writing in the context of life-commitments and goals, exploiting
electronic tools to increase productivity, handling communication challenges
(cross-cultural and digital), enabling positive communication with lecturers
and supervisors, and developing capacity with mobile technologies.
 introduction

No amount of effort during writing will result in well-written papers with-

out careful preparation in the research and reading phases: you need to
ensure your foundations are solid. This involves understanding the purposes
of the type of writing (genre) you now have to produce, mastering disciplinary
writing practices, defining task-specific goals before proceeding to reading
and data-gathering, treating information critically, managing the reading
load to cut down on unproductive reading, accessing quality sources, both
print and electronic, and improving information retrieval to reduce frustra-
tion when writing, all of which Chapter 2 explores.
Chapter 3 provides an opportunity to review the essentials of academic
writing with a view to improving or changing practice if needs be in a range
of contexts including the mechanics of academic writing, referencing and
plagiarism, and key aspects of academic style. As it is essential that readers
do not become confused or lost, that they can follow development of your
ideas and access your important insights, Chapter 4 explores principles of
sound structure at different levels of the text to aid structural coherence.
(Issues specific to structuring different types of writing are discussed at
appropriate points in context.)
Chapters 5 and 6 discuss in detail prominent types of written assessment
in many graduate courses: research essays, book or article reviews and online
writing (blogs and wikis). Chapter 7 turns to coursework exams to consider
effective revision and writing strategies for different types of exam papers.
Chapter 8 enters the challenging terrain of the literature review and Chapter
9 continues with a detailed probing of other graduate writing genres:
reports and research proposals.
Chapter 10 is devoted exclusively to thesis writing, both shorter and longer
theses. Chapter 11 moves to full consideration of the topic of presenting.
This chapter initially considers different types of presentations — tutorials,
seminars, conferences and posters; it then engages a range of issues inte-
gral to the planning, formatting, rehearsal and delivery of a presentation.
Chapter 12 takes up issues specific to publishing and raising your profile,
which is particularly important if you wish to continue with a research
career.

Terminology and other practices

We have tried to keep the terminology in the book as simple as possible. This
means you may find it does not necessarily fit the understanding current in
your institution (for example, under some systems, course = unit, or subject,
and programme = course). Here, the term ‘course’ refers to the degree in
which you are enrolled, and is sometimes used interchangeably with ‘degree’;
‘subject’ refers to a specific unit you are taking within, say, a taught course;
and programme is used to refer to such as a ‘doctoral programme’.
We make only three distinctions as regards graduate degree structures:
degrees by coursework or taught courses (no research component), degrees by
coursework and research, and degrees by research only. These distinctions do
not allow for the wonderful array of titles given to different graduate degrees
or the variable structures of degrees, but they are recognizable distinctions
easy to apply to your own situation.
All identifying signifiers have been removed from illustrative materials
taken from graduate student writing. To preserve students’ anonymity, ‘[ref-
erence]’ is substituted for actual details of source references, and [X,Y, Z and
so forth] for countries, authors, etc. named in the writing.
 Managing your Writing
Environment

A\l7
k developmental objectives
¢

By applying the strategies, doing the exercises and following the procedural steps in this
chapter, you should be able to:

Take a proactive approach to reducing the stress that accompanies academic writing.
Learn how to network for support.
ldentify strategies and online tools to increase productivity and manage more effi-
ciently yourself and your writing.
Ensure results-oriented communication with your lecturers and supervisors.
Understand key cross-cultural challenges of writing and communication, why these
exist and how to address them.
Develop capacity with mobile technologies and make informed decisions about using
commercially hosted web services.

It is common for graduates to experience ups and downs with academic writing
and communication. Feelings of confidence, excitement, self-doubt, disinter-
est, frustration, lack of motivation, isolation and so forth may alternate, such
mood swings being typical rather than unusual. This chapter covers a broad
range of management strategies designed to reduce stress and improve the
quality of your writing environment.
Effective self-management
Effective self-management for academic writing invites a variety of strategies.
We begin with the importance of establishing networks.

While networking requires effort, it can be worth the investment of your

valuable time, particularly if you are enrolled in a longer research degree.
These networking strategies should help alleviate stress while contributing
to a greater sense of integration in the academic community at large.

Generating peer support: local, national and international

Students in your course or research group can be an excellent support resource,
so be proactive in making yourself known to them. Make contact too with the
eraduate student organization within your institution, if there is one. Such
organizations usually provide a range of social and academic support, have use-
ful online resources, are often advocates for resolution of issues of concern to
eraduates, and may represent graduates’ interests on important institutional
committees. It is similar with national sites, such as The National Postgraduate
Committee (UK), the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations or the
National Association of Graduate-Professional Students (USA).
There are numbers of international graduate student and dissertation sup-
port sites on the Internet. Many enquiries about writing are posted on such
sites, as 1s copious information about ‘surviving’ graduate studies. Even joining
a chat group with other graduates sharing your interests can lend support —
discuss this possibility with peers and academics in your area. Well-established
and useful sites with an international reach include The Association for
Support of Graduate Students, Graduate Junction: the worldwide community
of graduate researchers and Vitae: Realising the potential of researchers.
If you do not know about it, check out Jorge Cham’s ‘Piled higher and
deeper: a graduate student comic strip collection’, which will afford light
relief and a welcome sense of solidarity in knowing that, whatever your prob-
lem, others have been there before you!

identifying institutional resources available for developmental assistance

Thoroughly explore your institution’s website to find out what supplementary
assistance is on offer for study, research and writing. Search across institutions
too as you may locate the precise materials you need on another institution’s
site. Academic skills, learning or writing centres of different institutions in
different countries often provide electronic resources specific to graduate writing
and communication that could be useful. Check with your lecturer/supervisor
that advice provided is sound in their view, if you are unsure.

6
 Managing your writing environment

Making use of visiting scholars and other disciplinary experts

Introduce yourself to visiting scholars and attend relevant conferences/seminars
they give while at your institution. Where research interests coincide, a visit-
ing scholar may be willing to give advice and even provide feedback on a
draft. You could also benefit from contact with other disciplinary experts.

ay case study example

box 1.1 Other disciplinary experts can be a valuable resource

A doctoral student realized when writing up that there was a gap in her reading (not
so unusual). She needed an overview of one aspect of a famous philosopher's work
about which she knew little, as she was not a Philosophy student. A quick database
search turned up literally hundreds of potential sources that left her, as she said,
‘totally depressed’. So she searched for an expert in nineteenth-century philosophy,
contacted him, explained her situation and asked him if he could refer her to an
appropriate source for what she needed. This he did. In her own words: ‘This saved
me heaps of time — there were just so many sources — really put me on the right track
with my reading.’

Cultivating understanding of close ones

Colleagues, friends and family can be excellent sources of support if you culti-
vate their understanding of your study commitments. Sometimes, however, it
can be difficult for those closest to you to accept what appears to them to be
inflexibility, or even selfishness on your part, when you are unavailable for a
social invitation or a request for help. As this type of dilemma is not unusual,
you may need to work at gaining more understanding from those close to you
(see > the ‘Balanced self-management exercise’ below, which includes rela-
tionship goals in time management). Tell them well in advance that there will
be times when you will not be available, and remind them of this when such
occasions arise. Perhaps, too, keep reminding them, and yourself, that what-
ever the duration of your studies, the period will come to an end.

By identifying peak writing periods in advance (see the next section), you will be able to
give partners, family and friends ample warning.

7
Working on your inner resources
It is not easy to find the right words to express complex ideas, to structure or
organize material on the scale of, say, a dissertation, a long report or essay,
or to develop subtle arguments and discussions. Writing is an intellectually
demanding task and one that rarely goes smoothly. As one student said: ‘Writing
is a matter of thinking writing, thinking writing, thinking writing — it is
never just writing.’
There will be difficult spots. At such times there can be a tendency to be
harshly self-critical, even to resurrect inner saboteurs (‘I’ve always been
hopeless at writing’), to use negative reinforcers that cement a sense of
failure. It is then necessary to work on your own resources with a view to
positively reinforcing your efforts, to recall past and present academic suc-
cesses, to be patient with yourself, to remember that the act of writing is
always about learning to write (it is little different with presenting), to
genuinely value your own efforts and to visualize that degree certificate in
your hand — it will happen.

Building your online networks

Having good relationships with your face-to-face research group or course-
work colleagues is important, but so too is drawing support from online com-
munities and contacts. Use Facebook and other social networking services
not only for sharing experiences and keeping in regular touch with friends
and family, but also for developing collegial and professional networks in
your discipline area. These networks need not be limited by space and time
and you could find some of the contacts you make extremely valuable later
on. You might also consider starting up a Facebook group with your local
‘study buddies’ or one based on your field of research.
If Facebook does not appeal, then other social networking services can
prove highly valuable. Ning.com is widely considered the standard for
group social networking but it charges for most of its services. However,
there are a number of free group services available, all with excellent func-
tionality, including discussion forums, chat and instant messaging (IM),
video and photosharing, blogs, event announcements, subgroups and more.
Just Google ‘free alternatives to Ning’ and you will find a number of such
services.

Maximizing effort entails effective self-management in all sectors of your life.

It is near impossible to maximize effort in terms of communication activities
in a course of study or research if other significant areas of your life are under
strain.
 Managing your writing environment

exercise: balanced self-management

Step 1

Review closely the ‘The self-management matrix’ in Figure 1.1. Thinking about the impli-
cations of these four quadrants for your own situation can be illuminating, particularly if
you are writing a thesis in a research-only degree where there are no course deadlines
to meet.

Urgent Not Urgent

Quadrant 1 Quadrant 2 ©

Shrink 1: Move Across

Immediate commitments Empowering activities

Deadline-driven projects Proactive, principle-centred
Crises Balance: relationships and results
¢
Pressing problems oriented (holistic)
Always putting out fires Prioritization, clarifying values,
Problem-minded assessing worth of activities
Fragmentation Specific goal setting — long,
Controlled by events intermediate and short term
-3>
3B
OTD
RFR
9-
HIGH STRESS — burnout Scheduling time to meet goals
Opportunity-minded
Synergy
Fun and relaxation
In control
LOW STRESS - flexibility

U Quadrant 3 Quadrant 4 ©
n
Proximate activities (need to Time wasters (in context of work)
watch these) Escape activities
m
p e Interruptions, some phone calls Social chat: face-to-face, email,
O e Some social and popular Facebook, Twitter, etc.
r activities TV, computer games, Internet, some
t e Some mail/email phone calls
a e Some meetings Endless housecleaning
n e Many proximate and pressing Trivia, lots of busywork
t matters

FIGURE 1.1 The self-management matrix (adapted from ‘The time management
matrix’ Covey, 2004: 151)
(Continued)
Effective self-management means avoiding the trap of Quadrant 1 (all too easy
for busy graduates), of being driven to the time-wasting distractions of Quadrant 4
because of Quadrant 1 pressures and stress, or of attributing undue importance
to the activities of Quadrant 3, which need to be monitored closely. It means
training yourself to reside comfortably in Quadrant 2 as much as possible, for as
Covey says:

The way you spend your time is a result of the way you see your time and the
way you really see your priorities. If your priorities grow out of a principle centre
and a personal mission, if they are deeply planted in your heart and in your
mind, you will see Quadrant Il as a natural exciting place to invest your time.
(2004: 158)

Work towards embedding your study or research priorities as a set of balanced life
activities. Generate expectations focused on preserving and enhancing relationships
and on achieving results. Develop a clear idea of the results you desire in your life, and
organize and execute priorities aimed at these results.

Step 2

Detail all regular commitments, and include prioritized weekly goals in terms of desired
results. Do this for each of the four sectors tabulated below, with the aim of achieving
balanced self-management:

Research/Study/Writing | Work/ Relationships Individual/Personal

Teaching Development
Partner? Physical
Children? Mental
Other family Emotional
members? Spiritual
Friends?
>

(Detail priorities and (It is important not to

specific goals for the exclude your private/
week in terms of desired personal needs)
results)

Step 3

Set up a weekly timetable. Build in flexibility - allow for (at least in your mind) the
unanticipated ‘urgent’ of Quadrant 1. A scheduled activity might need to be passed
over because of a higher value (for example, a sick child). Better still, is a yearly diary
or calendar in which you can detail goals, and activities to meet those goals, week-
by-week.

10
 Managing your writing environment

Step 4

Set up a timeline that gives you an overview of your whole course (whether a research or
coursework degree):

ci
Starting
date
RE OR End date

Mark along the timeline priority dates (for example, due dates for items of course-
work assessment, or dates for seminar/conference papers, progress review papers,
thesis outlines or chapters, and so on). As these become known, include in your
yearly calendar advance deadlines and dates for preparatory activities to meet those
deadlines.

Exploit your natural biorhythms

On a more immediate level, individual circumstances, course requirements, per-
sonal preferences and personal peak energy flows can influence when you write
and how you organize your writing time and other communication activities.
Some students concentrate better in shorter periods, taking frequent short
breaks. Others prefer longer writing periods with fewer but longer breaks. Some
work a 9 to 5 day, or stay up half the night and sleep late. Some see no choice
but to write at night after full-time employment and/or when the children have
gone to bed. Maximize effort by harnessing your natural biorhythms to best
effect, reserving peak energy periods for the harder intellectual tasks of writing.

Regularize your writing pattern

Whatever your circumstances, try to establish a regular writing pattern
that is viable for you, allows you to write when you are likely to be most
productive, given your various commitments, and that can be adjusted
when necessary. Graduates have reported that regularizing the writing pattern
helps in these ways:

e Reduces the anxiety often associated with the ‘I'll write when | can’ approach, an
approach that easily leads to writing being delayed.
e Encourages thinking through the setting up of a detailed writing schedule.
e Provides a stronger sense of working steadily towards completion of the writing task.
e Increases confidence in completing the task given your many and varied commitments.
e Allows you to forewarn family and friends of your unavailability at certain times, which in
turn reduces household stress.

ii
Writing for academic success

Boost your motivation

Motivation is another issue frequently raised by graduates. Motivation levels
will fluctuate. But your inner ‘motivator’ may at times need a full recharge.
Perhaps your interest in your project is depleted — you feel bored, or your
confidence has plunged and you seriously doubt your potential, or you are
frustrated because you cannot get the help you need, or a troubled relation-
ship is claiming all your attention, or you are oppressed by financial struggle
and so forth. Any one, or a combination of these factors, can make you feel
flat, not motivated at all.
At this point STOP! Try to recharge your motivation by employing the
‘action before motivation’ technique. The idea behind this method is that if
you ‘just do something, anything’, then the motivation to continue will natu-
rally follow. To help you get under way, begin with the ‘principle of five’: just
do five pages, or five paragraphs, or five minutes, or five of anything you set
yourself. If you can get through five of something, then you will probably find
either that your motivation has returned, or that, because you have made a
start, it is not worth stopping. If this does not work, then you might also try
to pin down what is causing you to feel so unmotivated. Address the particu-
lar problems sapping your motivation, perhaps by talking these over with a
professional counsellor, so as to take control of the situation.

Managing the hazards of computer work

Engaging in proactive strategies to manage physical stress is no less impor-
tant than for psychological stressors. More attention is now being given to the
health hazards accompanying long hours of sitting at a computer or desk. It
is best to vary your activities as much as you can. Intersperse computer work
with other tasks such as reading, monitoring experiments or tests, drafting
ideas for the next chapter, outlining an essay or report and so forth, anything
that you might be able to do away from the computer. Make your tasks multi-
various, particularly when producing lengthy texts like theses and long
reports. Also watch for web-based time-wasters — such as Facebook and
YouTube — that drive you to spend lengthy periods at the computer screen.
Obtain advice or material from the occupational health and safety service
in your institution on how best to avoid occupational overuse syndrome,
which can lead to debilitating repetitive strain injuries. Ask if staff can
review the set-up of your workstation and provide you with a range of simple
flexing and stretching exercises to perform frequently.

Electronic tools for increasing productivity

Once you understand the principles of effective self-management you can

begin to explore ways to support your planning activities through the use of

WZ
 Managing your writing environment

productivity tools available both on the web and digitally. These tools can be
downloaded and installed (for example, calendaring software such as iCal or
Outlook) on your computer or smart device or accessed online by logging into
an account (for example, Google Calendar).
Which tools you choose will depend on your needs and circumstances. For
instance, if you work across a variety of digital devices — a computer in the
office, a smartphone for when you are on the go, and a laptop at home — then
you should choose tools that will synchronize across those devices or that are
accessible anytime online. If you work primarily on one machine, for exam-
ple, your home personal computer (PC), then installing locally hosted soft-
ware might be your preferred option. Given the increasingly mobile nature of
modern workplaces, however, finding tools that will synchronize across
devices is probably the safest way to go.

Calendars and reminders

Calendar applications are available as software that you can install on your
computer (for example, iCal or Outlook) or as applications that you can access
anywhere online (for example, Google Calendar). Most digital calendaring
systems allow you to set different ‘views’ — daily, weekly, monthly, yearly,
and so on — and your activity can be made public or kept private.
If you work across several devices, then choose a calendar service that will
synchronize. Calendars will also allow you to set ‘reminders’ for matters such
as important meetings, events or due dates, but reminder applications are
also available independent of calendar services, and can be downloaded for
smartphones and tablet devices. Search your smartphone’s app store for
‘reminders’ and you will pull up a number of useful applications.

To-do or task lists

Many people prefer writing their to-do lists on paper, but more and more are
finding it convenient to keep such lists online or on their mobile devices. The
more established calendaring systems will often support to-do or task lists,
but smaller, more dedicated services such as Rememberthemilk.com or
Toodledo.com provide more flexibility in how you set up your lists and have
the added bonus of supporting apps that synchronize content across your
devices.

Note-taking
Again, many students prefer to take notes on paper, but the advantages of
taking notes electronically is that they become more accessible, can be
archived more effectively, and are more easily searchable. The disadvantage
is that you always need a digital device at hand for recording your notes!
Online services such as Evernote.com and Zoho.com’s Notebook allow you to

13
include images, audio, hyperlinks, pdfs and other rich media in your notes. If
you are fairly mobile, then a service that synchronizes across your devices is
preferable. Many dedicated note-taking apps are available for smartphones
and tablet devices — just do a search in your app store.

File storage
Because of problems with version control, it is not desirable to email docu-
ments to colleagues (or yourself!). At the same time, it is :mprudent to keep
all your important files on a flash drive. Having an online repository for your
files is a smart way to manage your many documents and files, whether you
are sharing them with others or simply accessing them yourself. Services
such as Box.net and Dropbox.com permit you to organize your files and fold-
ers online and synchronize them to your local computer or device (including
smartphone) for pick-up when you are offline. As with most such productivity
tools mentioned here, you can choose to share materials with others or to
keep them for your access only.

Online documents
Although most students are accustomed to using Microsoft Office products
(that is, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and so on), growing numbers of people are
finding it convenient to use non-proprietary and freely available online docu-
ment services such as Google Docs, Open Office and Zoho. These are online
software suites that include word processing, spreadsheets, presentations
(slideshows), forms, drawing, file storage, and more. They can be accessed
anywhere online, meaning that you do not need to store your files separately
or carry a flash drive around with you just so you can work on your thesis,
report or essay. For most purposes, the basic functionality of these tools is
comparable with that of Office products, but if you use more specialized tools,
such as macros or labels, then you should stay with Microsoft Office.

Google
If you are looking for a ‘one-stop-shop’ that covers all of the above online pro-
ductivity tools, then Google is probably your most efficient solution. A single
Google account will give you access to dedicated calendar, file hosting and
document services, and provide you with an array of ‘gadgets’ that you can
add to your account settings to boost functionality. There are also smart-
phone apps available for many, but not yet all, Google services.

Managing multiple communication tasks can be complicated, particularly if

you are a coursework student with several items of assessment for different

14
courses due around the same time. This type of situation can cause course-
work graduates much anxiety. As a research student, you may also have
converging deadlines, and feel the resulting pressure. To improve your man-
agement of multiple communication tasks, consider these procedural steps
well in advance.

exercise: multiple communication task planning

Step 1

Count the number of days that remain to the due date of your final item of assess-
ment. Now, decide how many days from your total number of days you wish to allot
to each item of assessment. Consider the value of each item of assessment in doing
this; an item worth 20 per cent does not warrant time equal to an item worth
80 per cent.

Step 2

Nominate an end-date for completion of all tasks for each item of assessment. Your
end-dates will not be the same as actual submission dates or exam dates, as indi-
cated below for three hypothetical items of assessment to take place in one week
in June:

(Report due 16 June): end-date for completion 19 May

(Research essay due 18 June): end-date for completion 3 June
(Exam on 20 June): end-date for all revision 19 June
You may prefer to complete an item before moving to the next, or to work simultaneously
on specific tasks associated with two or more items (for example, database searching for
an essay while drafting a report).

Step 3

Discriminate tasks needing to be done to meet your end-date for each item of assess-
ment. For example, for an essay (see > ‘Research essays’, Chapter 5), these tasks could
be as follows:
e Search for appropriate source material after brainstorming the topic (see > ‘Topics (or
questions)’ in Chapter 5).
e Read identified source material and take notes (see - ‘Ensuring task-focused
information’ in Chapter 2).
(Continued)

15
 e Produce an essay outline (see -5 ‘Visual mapping of material’ and ‘Sequential outlin-
ing’ in Chapter 4).
e Draft the essay (one, two or three drafts?).
e Proofread, check accuracy of references, figurative illustrations and their legends, and
polish presentation.
Now, set up timelines for the different items of assessment. Include rough estimates of
time to complete the specific tasks for each item of assessment, as indicated below by
way of an essay example:

Date? Date? Date? Date?

Meeks es | |(End date?)

(Finding sources) | |
(Reading and (Essay (Drafting) (Proofreading)
note-taking) outline)

(Work backwards from the end-date in allotting time to completion of specific

tasks)

Add your different timelines to your electronic calendar or pin them above your regular
workstation so that you can monitor your progress in meeting deadlines.

Communicating with lecturers and supervisors

Good communication is the key to establishing positive working relationships
with your lecturers and supervisors. Never think that you may be thought
inadequate because of some question, however trivial, you want to ask: you
are always learning and your lecturer/supervisor is there to help you progress.
Also, never assume that your supervisor will recognize that you need help.
Supervisors are busy, preoccupied people too, and may think that all is going
well if you do not tell them otherwise.

Dama key points

Ask questions — any questions you want to ask — and keep asking them until you under-
stand, until the matter is clarified or resolved.
 Managing your writing environment

Simple communication queries may be quickly answered in class or even

in casual conversation with your lecturer/supervisor at a chance meeting.
If, however, you have more substantive enquiries, or indeed are having
serious problems, you will need to take action to resolve these by arranging
a meeting.

exercise: resolution action planning

Step 1: clarify the nature of your uncertainties

Clarify the nature of your uncertainties before the meeting takes place by considering
questions of this type:
e What precisely do | need to clarify or sort out (detail these)?
e Under what conditions do my uncertainties about writing/communication arise? Try to
be specific.
e What outcomes do | hope for in a meeting with my lecturer/supervisor? Jot these
down.

Step 2: set up a discussion agenda

Setting up a discussion agenda is a useful strategy when initiating meetings.
When you have clarified precisely what you wish to discuss and reasons for doing
so, (1) make a concise dot-point list for discussion (your agenda), and (2) give them
a copy of your agenda before the meeting so that they have time to review your
points.

Step 3: at the meeting

When you meet with your lecturer/supervisor, you want the discussion to remain focused
on your concerns, not become sidetracked. These are strategies to help with this:
e lf your lecturer/supervisor begins to digress (students do report this), try to refo-
cus attention on your agenda, those points worked out during the clarification
process.
e Keep an eye on time so that you will be able to get through all the points on your
agenda.
e You want the meeting to be helpful to you, so do not hesitate to say so if you are still not
clear about the advice being given.

17
Effective digital communication is key to dealing with your lecturer or super-
visor. We cover some strategies for electronic communication below.

Email communication between students and lecturers/supervisors is popular,

convenient, easy, and may afford a welcome degree of anonymity not possible
in face-to-face conversation. It can be an appropriate and effective medium of
communication and is preferred in the workplace over forms of communica-
tion such as Facebook. Still, where there is a choice of communication media
(for example, face-to-face talk, office telephone or email), it is worth consider-
ing whether email is the best option given the purpose of your communication
and a possible need for privacy. Certainly, issues do arise in terms of the
appropriateness and effectiveness of email as a medium of communication
between graduates and their lecturers/supervisors.

Appropriateness Most lecturers/supervisors will respond to emails, but do

clarify with them the purposes for which email communication is to be used
before dashing one off. Determine whether there are any restrictions on what
types of emails they might welcome and when (for example, making an
appointment might be welcomed whereas expecting written comments — let
alone copious comments — on an attached draft might not).
Email communication may seem a less confrontational forum for discuss-
ing sensitive or difficult matters, but it may not be the most appropriate for
resolution of these matters. It can be difficult to encode in written communi-
cation nuances of feeling, to achieve a fuller understanding without those
non-verbal cues that can be so vital in resolution dialogue. Perhaps a tele-
phone conversation or face-to-face talk might be a better option.

q fs

It is most important to practise self-censoring.

Avoid sending an email that may antagonize or alienate the recipient if you
are feeling angry or upset. Sit on the email for a day or night until you have
calmed down, and, as a safeguard against accidentally hitting the ‘send’ but-
ton, do not write in the recipient’s address in the address line until you are
certain you want to proceed. Think further about the wording of your email
before hitting the send button, or maybe you should not send it at all.

18
 Privacy or confidentiality can never be assured with email, and deletion
does not mean final erasure. Emails can go to the wrong address, others may
have access to the recipient’s computer, the recipient can pass emails on with-
out a sender’s permission, or they can be retrieved from servers after deletion.
So think twice about using this medium if confidentiality is a high priority.

Evectiveness The quality of the relations between you and your lecturer/
supervisor will influence the effectiveness of your email communications.
Where there is trust and openness, these should work well. But where ten-
sions exist, particularly in a context of unequal power relations, email might
not be the best choice. At least think about it.
The desired timescale of the communication can also affect effectiveness.
Many students report frustration at delayed responses, or no response at all.
This might mean that the lecturer/supervisor is away, that the email is not
welcomed, that it has been accidentally overlooked in a hundred other unread
emails (a big problem) or that the pressure of overall responsibilities has
prevented the lecturer/supervisor from providing a timely response. A follow-
up email may help, but not necessarily; you may still need to telephone or
make a face-to-face appointment if possible.
Clarity of communication is also important. As with any written text, it is
important to think carefully about readers’ needs and overall text quality to
ensure a message will be clearly understood by the recipient. It is easy for
misunderstandings to arise with hastily put together emails, and so invite
an unhelpful or negative response. Be aware that the online medium itself
constrains development of the more task-sensitive dialogue developed in
face-to-face communication, which is so valuable in negotiating understand-
ing about textual production and settling on strategies for improvement. So
bear this in mind if the email feedback seems somewhat brusque or even
insensitive.
As a final point, where sensitive issues are being dealt with via email over
time, keep hard-copy records in case there is a future need to review this
‘conversation’ as, for example, in resolving differences of opinion about what
transpired in the course of events.

Facebook
Social networking services such as Facebook today provide many people with
their primary means of online personal communication. Although your lec-
turer or supervisor may have a Facebook profile, they may prefer to receive
‘work’ communications in the form of emails. Similarly, you may not wish
your lecturer or supervisor to have access to your private profile. Discuss
with them whether or not Facebook (or similar) is an appropriate means of
communication in your situation.

7)
Mobile phones and texting
Just as social networking is popular as a means for personal communication,
so too is communication via mobile phones, and similar questions apply as to
their appropriateness or otherwise as a means of contact between teacher
and student. Some lecturers or supervisors will prefer that you call their
mobile phone, others will not. There may be limits around texting or the
hours between which to call; of course, the same applies for you and your own
preferences. Again, discuss the matter early on, so that there are no misun-
derstandings about what constitutes a fitting method of contact.

Issues in cross-cultural writing and communication

Many of the writing and communication challenges experienced by interna-
tional students are similar to those experienced by other graduates; so do
review the previous sections. Nonetheless, it is unwise to assume that what
has previously worked for you will do so now, and equally unwise to attribute
all communication difficulties to a problem with English if English is a sec-
ond language, perhaps even a third.
Cross-cultural issues of the following type can arise because of embedded
expectations about teaching and learning and the conduct of relations
between students and academic staff.

It will be expected that you take a fully critical approach to all materials
being discussed in your writing and communication. If the need for analysis,
critical appraisal and argument in writing is proving difficult and challeng-
ing, the section on “Treating information critically’ in Chapter 2 will help;
also review > ‘Building an argument’ in Chapter 5.

If you come from a culture where the teacher/supervisor 1s viewed as the

authority from whom the student is to learn, you may expect your supervi-
sor to direct every stage of your studies or research. A major expectation in
Western universities is that students be self-directed, with guidance from a
lecturer/supervisor. This is a crucial reason to talk through a supervisory
relationship early, so that you are clear about what will be expected of you
and what you can expect from your supervisor. Expectations can vary
across supervisors.

20
If you are returning to study from a position of authority and respect in your
home country, perhaps as a senior public servant or academic, you may find
it difficult to accept student status. Your adjustment in this case will invite
strategies the opposite of those just mentioned. You might need to work at
not being too independent, at accepting an appropriate level of guidance from
your supervisor. Supervisory input is vitally important to ensure that the
thesis meets the standards appropriate for the level of the degree, of which
supervisors will certainly have the best understanding.

You may find the tutorial meeting a somewhat strange affair, with everyone
talking at once. Students may be perceived as disrespectful to the lecturer,
and the tutorial unhelpful in providing instruction. But this is a matter of
different cultural behaviour. Because of the emphasis on critical engagement,
lecturers mostly choose not to provide answers, preferring instead to stimu-
late students to think for themselves by asking questions of them, allowing
them to discuss issues as a group, to challenge each other’s viewpoints and
the lecturer’s own, and to argue and debate at will.
Some international students can find it difficult to join in, being too polite to
interrupt others. If you have this problem, ask for your lecturer’s help. Try at
every tutorial meeting to have at least one point from your reading you want
to introduce into the discussion, and ask your lecturer if he or she could invite
you to speak at an agreed-on signal. You will gradually become confident
enough to enter ‘noisy’ tutorial conversations.

Most graduates worry about giving tutorials, seminars or conference pres-

entations (see > ‘The nature of oral presentations’, Chapter 11), though
not all have the added burden of speaking in a language not native to
them, so that pronunciation becomes a concern. Or it may be that English
language/expression is preventing you from communicating clearly in
writing. Explore these avenues of assistance to determine what help is
available:

e Find out what writing assistance your lecturer/supervisor is prepared to provide.

e Investigate assistance provided by academic skills, learning or writing services within
your institution.

21
 e Ask an English-speaking friend, or some other appropriate person to run through your
paper with you to practise pronouncing words about which you are uncertain.
e Search for helpful web materials or online services that focus on English grammar/
expression/pronunciation (Purdue OWL is very good — Google it).
e Download pronunciation, grammar and dictionary apps to your smartphone or other
digital device. Pronunciation apps, and some dictionary apps, will provide audio exam-
ples of correct pronunciation. When choosing a pronunciation app, try to find one that
displays visual examples.
e identify whether there are courses for credit in English for Academic Purposes that you
may be able to take that fit with your schedule.

Most useful is to practise your English in context, meaning in situations

where you are actually in the process of producing the various texts required
in your degree, or preparing your presentations. While this type of develop-
mental assistance will help you to improve your control of English, it will not
necessarily extend to a full editing service — that is to say, fixing the gram-
mar. Other second-language issues appropriate to context are discussed
throughout this book.

SOE

Effectively using the disciplinary language (as distinct from English) may
also cause concern when writing and presenting, in which case visit the exer-
cise under > ‘Mastering disciplinary writing practices’ in Chapter 2.

In conducting interpersonal relations with lecturers and supervisors, you

may find marked differences. You may need to be more proactive in asking
questions, in negotiating the terms of, say, a relationship with your supervi-
sor, in adjusting to different forms of address (for example, using first
names), or in setting discussion agendas for meetings with your supervisor.
If you are asked to do the latter, between meetings with your supervisor keep
notes on the following:

e Interesting ideas about or interpretations of your readings and data.

e Ideas you have about your overall research plan.
e Suggestions for changes in focus or direction of your research.
e Any uncertainties about or difficulties with content or research procedures that need
discussing.
e Anything else you consider important to discuss.

22
Researching on the move
Mobile technologies are becoming increasingly central to everyday communi-
cation practices. Such technologies present students with new, more flexible
ways of accessing learning content, increased opportunities for contributing
to real-time debates in the field, and improved methods for data recording
and distributing research.

Mobile phones
You do not need to own the latest smartphone to have accessto a powerful
mobile learning and research tool. The most simple of mobile phones today is
equipped with robust data recording and playback functions, including a
camera and voice and video recording; still others have the ability to record
text notes. You can use these functions to record data in situ and to access it
later at a more convenient time. Some institutions will send you important
communiqueés via text message to your mobile, such as emergency alerts or
automated course information, so make sure you keep your contact details up
to date on the student administration system.

Smartphone applications
If you own a smartphone, such as an iPhone, Blackberry or Android phone,
then you have access to a myriad of ‘apps’ that can extend your study or
research. Productivity apps can be accessed regardless of location to allow
you to schedule events or tasks, retrieve documents or files and take notes. If
you are an international student for whom English is a second language, then
having instant access to applications for grammar, spelling and punctuation
can be especially useful. Other apps that you might find useful include calcu-
lators, unit and currency converters, clocks and stopwatches, compasses,
protractors and rulers and sound level indicators — just about anything that
you might need in your particular discipline area.

Tablet devices
These touchscreen devices are finding a niche among students and academics
who want an ‘always on’ computing appliance that is both portable and versa-
tile. Tablet devices allow you to download and read ‘e-books’ and course texts,
access files, write notes either by hand or via keyboard, and make use of many
apps similar to those provided for smartphones. The advantage of a tablet
device over a laptop is that it is considerably smaller and lighter in weight,
making it perfect for on-the-go Internet access, data recording and travel.

29
However, its small size can also be a drawback: if you need a more powerful
device, then you should invest in a laptop computer.

For many students, a laptop is their main personal computing device. As

opposed to a tablet device, a laptop will do everything that a normal computer
will do and thus provides a sensible middle ground for mobile study and
research if you cannot afford a device for all occasions.

Voice recording
Graduate students do not typically exploit the benefits of voice recording
even though it is simple enough and you can probably do it with a device you
have either on your person or in your bag right now, that is, your mobile
phone or laptop. Voice recording can be used to make a note of ideas that
suddenly pop into your head while you are walking to the bus, or to document
conversations about course or research topics with fellow students. It can
even be used to record lectures or seminars — with permission, of course. You
can then listen to the recording in your own time and at your own pace, which
can be particularly effective if you are a second-language speaker.
Some students use voice recordings as part of their everyday research
activities, such as when they record interviews with study participants who
are in their own environments or workplaces. In such cases, you will require
a dedicated digital voice recorder, which typically has more storage space for
voice files than, say, a mobile phone. Such recorders are small and unobtru-
sive and essential for certain types of fieldwork and research, but they come
with varying degrees of quality: in general, you get what you pay for. Your
laptop may also have the ability to record, but it might be too cumbersome to
carry around and too intimidating to place in front of an interviewee.
Do remember that you will likely be in breach of privacy laws if you record
someone without their permission, and/or if you upload a digital recording to
a third party website — even if you keep the file ‘private’ (see 3 section
‘Keeping safe online’ later in this chapter).

Video recordings and photographs

Quick video recordings or photographs can be taken on just about any mobile
phone and can be effective if you need to chronicle more visual proceedings,
such as performances, certain laboratory experiments, or any other phenom-
ena that you encounter in your studies or research. The same principles
apply for video recordings and photographs as for voice recordings: if you
need a dedicated video set up, then be prepared to pay for quality, and do not
post anything online containing someone’s image unless you have their
express permission to do so.

24
 Managing your writing environment

Podcasts and digital audios

A limitless supply of podcasts and audios can be found online, and many of
these will be relevant to your study or discipline area. Take the time to
search 1Tunes, iTunes U or other podcast directories such as Podbean.com,
PodcastDirectory.com or PodcastAlley.com to find material to subscribe to or
to download onto your MP3 player. Being able to listen to such material at
your convenience can greatly enhance your comprehension of study topics
and may give you ideas that you can follow up on later.

as 4 ge
M £8237 ris SLVTSS CATR
NEEOING Sore onine

As you make your way through this text, you will see that we advise you to
use commercial online digital tools or services to support your writing and
planning. Finding the right digital tools can greatly help you in your studies
and research: they can increase your productivity, help you to visualize an
argument, organize your research materials and streamline the writing process.
However, it is important that you do not sign up for, or download from, sites
and services indiscriminately. Here are some points for consideration before
you sign up for anything online.

Exercise caution whenever you create an account with an Internet-based service.

Copyright and intellectual property, including university regulations

When you sign up for an Internet-based service, you should be especially
aware of the implications for copyright and intellectual property (IP), as you
may be inadvertently giving away rights to material that you do not techni-
cally own.

Copyright Copyright laws vary greatly from country to country and are very
complicated, but in general copyright automatically reserves to you all rights
in any creative work you produce, such as research essays, theses and slide-
shows. Reputable services will not ask for any control over your copyright,
and any work or data you post to the service will remain yours, assuming
that you are, indeed, the copyright holder to begin with.
As a student, you are likely to own copyright in any material you produce
during the course of your degree, but this is not always so, as might be the

Z5
case if you have, for example, an industry scholarship. You should be clear
about what you do and do not own in terms of copyright — it can be easy to
assume that once you have created a work it is yours, even though someone
else may actually own its copyright.

oS key points

You need to check your university's copyright and IP policies to clarify what rights you have —
and what rights your institution has — to your work.

Ir perty ((P) Services are also likely to ask for a sub-licence to your
IP (so that ee can display your work). Both staff and students typically
retain their intellectual property rights, but this varies from institution to
institution, and some institutions will require an exclusive licence to any IP
you produce under their auspices, regardless of whether you are staff or stu-
dent, as might an industry scholarship provider.

Mate oonus create accounts with websites and Internet services without read-
ing the Terms of Service (aka Terms and Conditions), even though we are
asked to agree to those terms before signing up. It can seem tedious to have
to read a lengthy screen of legal jargon, but there are a few things you should
look for and understand before clicking the ‘submit’ button. Do remember, of
course, that the Terms of Service can change at any time. Copyright issues
have been covered above, but here are some further issues under the Terms
of Service that you should be familiar with.

oo key points ©

Make sure you understand, and are comfortable with, the privacy policy of the service you
wish to sign up for.

You should be aware of how much personal information the service

stores and to whom this information is made available. Many services allow
you to keep some or all parts of your site ‘private’, but in effect this only
means ‘not publicly viewable’, which may be perfectly acceptable to you in
your situation. You need to ensure that you, yourself, comply with the privacy

26
legislation of your jurisdiction. In many countries, you are not allowed to give
away other people’s personal information without their permission, so if you
upload a database of contacts to a third party you could be breaking the law.

Data securit How will the service store and secure your data? Some services
ste third eure to access your data, but only for the purposes of maintain-
ing the service and only after those parties have signed confidentiality agree-
ments. Other services are less scrupulous and will allow anyone who pays
them (such as advertisers) to view your details. You should also see if the
Terms of Service outlines how the service secures your data against unau-
thorized access or attack.

Deleting information Some services will delete data that have remained idle
for a certain Sees of time. For example, if you have not accessed your
account for six months, the service might automatically shut down your
account or remove your material as a matter of course.

Providing information to a service You should only be required to provide a user-

name,Pel address and password to create an account with any given service
(some services do request a date of birth if there are minimum age restrictions
on users). Even though there may be signup fields that ask for your address,
ethnicity, hobbies, religious affiliation, or political beliefs, these should not be
required fields and you should be circumspect about providing such details.

Controlling email notifications Better services will allow you to control the
aohacitene or pean emails they send you. If there is no way in your
profile settings to turn off these messages, then you probably should not sign
up for the service. In many countries, such messages are counted as ‘spam’
and are ulegal if you cannot control receipt.

Pricing Many tools and services available on the web are supplied free of
charge, even though they are provided by a commercial company. These
companies often make their money through contextual advertising and by
offering ‘premium upgrades to their basic services. If you do not want to have
to pay for a service, then only select services that provide for free the baseline
functionality you need. But, even then, be aware that some services may
choose to start charging for their product at any time they like.

Considerations regarding the service itself

The Terms of Service will lay out many of the conditions under which you
agree to use a service, but that is not all you need to know about a company
when signing up. If you think that you will be using a service in the longer
term, then it useful to know a little bit about the business and its business

2/
model. Technology industry websites such as Mashable.com and Techcrunch.com
can be excellent sources of information in this regard, and they frequently
comment on the remaining points now discussed.

Business robustness and longevity In the modern web environment, a company

that is five years old is often regarded as well established and successful, but
it should also have a sound business model behind it. For example, how does
the company make its money? Who are its investors? What other sources of
capital does it draw on? How many people does it employ? You do not have to
become a business guru to understand these things, but you should have
some knowledge about the company that is hosting your data.

Reliability All online services will have periods of time when users cannot
access them, whether it is because the company needs to make upgrades to
their software or hardware, or because a technical glitch has entered the
system. Having said this, some services are more reliable than others. Visit
the service’s discussion forum (it should have a forum or similar) to see if
there are complaints about the service’s dependability. You can also gauge
from these forums how satisfied users are with the service overall.

Data lock-in Regardless of how reliable or otherwise a service is, you do not want
to sign up with a company that locks your data into it, and it alone. To this end,
you should choose a service that allows you to export your data in a common
format (for example, XML, OPML, RSS, depending on the type of data you are
working with) so that you can transfer that data to another place if you wish.

Practicalities
Finally, there are some practical considerations to take into account when
using a commercial online service. These are items that are largely within
your control and include the following:

Public versus private sites Many commercial services allow you control over
who can and cannot view your material. You need to decide upon the level of
visibility you want for your data. For instance, if you were seeking to raise
your profile amongst the research community (see 4 ‘Raising your profile:
setting up an eportfolio’ in Chapter 12), then obviously you would want your
work to be public. If, however, you are using an online service to host confi-
dential or sensitive research findings, then choosing a service that allows you
to keep your work ‘private’ is essential.

Backups If a company were to disappear overnight, would you lose all the
data or work you had stored there? This is a frightening scenario for any
graduate student, but it is one that can be mitigated quite easily by choosing

28
 NVianaging your writing environment

a service that (1) allows you to export your work so that you can keep a local
backup, and that (2) exports that backup in a common format (see the earlier
point about data lock-in). Even better is to find a service that synchronizes
your data to your local hard-drive automatically, in which case you will not
have to think about taking regular, manual backups (see > the next section,
‘Backing up your work’).

Help anc support Free web services are designed so that you do not need an
instruction manual in order to use them as the instructions are typically built
into the very design of the site. This is why there is usually no ‘helpdesk’ to
call when you have an account with an online service. However, there may be
times when you simply cannot figure out how to use a certain feature, or why
your file did not upload as you anticipated it should. In these situations, you
are expected to help yourself by searching the site’s FAQs (frequently asked
questions) or forum, or by ‘Googling’ the problem and finding an answer else-
where on the web.

Bandwidth, Internet access and student quotas The amount of bandwidth

needed to support your online activities will vary, depending on the type of
service you are using. If you are uploading large files (for example, video,
audio or image-intensive slideshows) to a site, then you need a fast Internet
connection — otherwise it could take hours. The same applies for download-
ing. You should also bear in mind whether or not you have Internet access
all the time. This may seem an obvious point, but if you are conducting field-
work in an area without Internet or wireless coverage, then you will not be
able to access your online data (yet another reason for finding services that
synchronize your data to your local device/s). And, finally, there is no point
in using a suite of online services and tools if there are quotas on your
Internet usage at your institution and you are likely to exceed those quotas
regularly.
In the end, it is up to you as to what you sign up for or even if you sign up.
The key point is to be aware of the issues and implications involved and to
account for them whenever you are online. Digital data are different from
physical data and having your work in digital environments exposes you to
both risks and rewards — you need to be able to manage both safely. It is use-
ful to keep in mind, here, what danah boyd [sic] (2011) identifies as being the
four main characteristics of what she calls ‘networked publics’:

e Replicability. What you put online can be copied, forwarded, repurposed and reused in
ways that you have no control over — but also in ways that might delight you!
e Searchability. Anything online can be sought and found, regardless of whether or not
you have your site set to ‘private’ — there are always people who can find their ways
around your privacy settings.

Zo
 e Persistence. What you post online will be there forever. Even if you think that you have
removed something from public view, a search engine is likely to have found and cached
(archived) your material.
e Invisible audiences. You cannot be sure who is watching. Indiscreet comments or poor
quality work may be read by unknown spectators — always be professional, just in
case.

A final consideration in managing the modern graduate writing environment

is that of backing up your work in electronic format. Much of your work,
whether essays, notes, photographs, databases, or the like, will be in digital
format and you must create backups so that you can continue to access your
material in the event of a computer crash or any similar incident that pre-
vents you from retrieving your originals. Backing up, however, is not the
same as simply ‘saving’ your work: backing up means taking a whole copy of
a digital asset and placing it in, ideally, two different digital places, whereas
saving your work means only that you have a single local copy of the latest
version of the file you are working on.

a |or key points »

Remember: backing up your work is your responsibility.

Backing up the less obvious

Most students habitually backup thesis chapters or coursework essays but
neglect to backup less obvious items such as photographs, databases, video
collections, diagrams, lists of websites, electronic notebooks and, even, soft-
ware packages. Anything that goes into the production of a piece of writing
or research should be backed up. You should also keep copies of important
emails and communications from your supervisor, lecturer or institution, as
you never know if they may be needed. ‘Tag’ everything using keywords so
that you can easily search for and find them later, or use a well-organized
folder system to arrange your digital materials.

yon! in » assicr

If you are required to complete an assignment online (such as via a wiki, blog
or discussion forum), then it is your responsibility to have a backup of the

30
submitted version of your work, just as you would if you were handing in a
paper assignment. If your lecturer has chosen wisely, then the service you are
using for your assignment will allow you to export your material in a standard
file format and keep a copy of it wherever you want (thumb drive, local hard
drive, and so on). If being able to export your material direct from the service
is not an option, then take an html copy of your work via your Internet browser.
Simply go to File > Save As and save your work locally that way, and then cre-
ate an external backup, just to be sure. You will be able to open and read a local
copy of the page you have saved by opening it in your browser software.

Backing up regularly
You should backup your work at least weekly as a matter of course. Set aside
a regular time for backing up your work, for example Fridays at 5 p.m.
However, you should backup more frequently if you have made significant or
important additions to your materials: this might mean you are taking a
backup once a day or even every few hours. Let common sense dictate when
you need to take a backup, but remember that it is better to have a backup
and to not need it than it is to not have a backup and to lose an entire month’s
work through poor backup practices.

Creating external backups

Having an extra copy of a file on the hard drive you are currently working from
is not a backup; it is just an extra copy of a file on your hard drive. A proper
backup exists on a different system or device altogether from the one on which
the file normally resides. The most obvious and common way of creating this
type of ‘external’ backup is to save your materials to a ‘thumb’ drive. These
small drives are perfect for keeping files and folders that do not take up much
disc space. However, if your work consists of larger files (for example, specialist
three-dimensional design records or high-resolution images or video), then
thumb drives are unlikely to hold everything you need. Invest in a large-capac-
ity (that is, 500 GB, 1 TB or larger) external hard drive so that if or when your
computer crashes you have a full backup of all your hard work.
Keeping your work online or, ‘in the cloud’ as it is also known, is a further
way of creating an external backup; as long as you have Internet access, you
have access to your work. It can also be prudent to burn your most precious
work to CD or DVD, as this means you have yet another way of accessing lost
work in a worst-case scenario. And do not forget that hard copies of your work
also count as external backups. Drafts of thesis chapters, for instance, can be
printed out and kept in a filing cabinet just in case your digital data are cor-
rupted. However you choose to keep your external backups — and we recom-
mend that you use a variety of formats — you should have at least two
external backups to have a proper redundancy in your backup procedures.

=]
There is no point in asiniar aa backups in the one physical location
if that location becomes unviable due to fire, flood or other catastrophic event.
Keep a backup of your work at home and in the office, or in another secure
location, or make sure that your online backup is up to date.

Using automatic backups

As an adjunct to backing up your work yourself manually, you should also
consider finding ways of creating backups automatically. Numerous online pro-
viders provide this service at a cost (search for ‘automatic data backup’ or ‘auto-
mated backup service’ or similar), so do some investigating before choosing this
option. Having said this, however, the advantage of using such a service is that
an external backup on the Internet is created at the same time as your work is
automatically backedup. If you have a Macintosh computer with “Time Machine’
facility, then make sure you have it activated with an external hard drive and
schedule it to take hourly backups. Time Machine automatically backs up not
only your documents and files but your entire system, including applications
and settings, allowing a crashed Mac to be completely rebooted from scratch
and re-set to the latest saved version on your computer (or even to an earlier
version, if you prefer). A final way of creating an automatic backup is to use an
online folder or notebook service such as Evernote.com, Dropbox.com or Box.net
that automatically synchronizes your local materials to an online environment,
as well as across multiple devices if you so choose.

Fowler, H.R. and Aaron, J.E. (2001) The Little, Brown Handbook. 9th edn. New York: Longman.
Anything but little, but rather a valuable reference book that works hard to live up to its claim:
‘answers all your questions about writing’.

Mainhard, T., van der Rijst, R., van Tartwijk, J. and Wubbels, T. (2009) ‘A model for the supervisor—
doctoral student relationship’, Higher Education, 58(3): 359-73. An article describing the prob-
lems that can arise in a supervisory relationship, and presenting both a model for interpersonal
supervisory behaviour and a questionnaire on supervisor—doctoral student interaction.

Swales, J. and Feak, C. (2004) Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Tasks and
Skills. 2nd edn. Ann Arbor, Ml: University of Michigan Press. An excellent resource for dedicated
students for whom English is not a first language who are willing to invest time in exploring the
intricacies of cross-cultural writing differences and learning how to overcome these to produce
solid academic papers.

a2
_ Fundamentals of Solid Preparation

k developmental objectives

By applying the strategies, doing, the exercises and following the procedural steps in this
chapter, you should be able to:

e Understand the influence of genre (type of writing) and disciplinary practices on aca-
demic writing, and build on your current skills by studying practices suited to the types
of writing you now have to produce.
e Develop competence in treating information critically so that you do have the right
types of information for your writing tasks.
e Appreciate that having the best information means accessing quality academic
sources.
e Realize the importance of clearly defining research goals/aims, before reading or
data-gathering, to ensure task-focused information.
e Identify strategies to manage the reading load, cut down on unproductive reading,
and improve information retrieval.
e Manage concerns relating to the efficiency of your approach to writing, handling feed-
back from lecturers/supervisors, and dealing with ‘writing blocks’.

Effective academic writing is seeded in solid preparation. Understanding the

shaping influence of genre and disciplinary practices on all academic writing
is an essential step in that preparation. Most importantly, you will need to
embed sound information management practices that will issue in the best
and right information to successfully complete a specific writing task,
whether that task involves writing a report, a blog entry, a research essay, a
thesis, or any other type of writing.

Understanding the graduate writing culture

The graduate writing culture is indeed complex. You are likely to be producing
genres as different as, for example, a blog entry, a report, an essay, a substan-
tial thesis, a conference paper or a journal article. Because different academic
genres have distinctive purposes, they can have different underlying conven-
tions that affect the language, style, structure and treatment of information, all
of which are further influenced by preferred disciplinary practices.
Because of this complexity, you could find yourself confronting unantici-
pated challenges: doing types of writing with which you are unfamiliar; or
finding your understanding of a particular type of writing is now insufficient
(for example, you have experience of writing reports in the workplace or for
an undergraduate degree, but find you need to change/adapt your practices
to meet specific requirements of report writing in your present course); or
discovering that the types of questions raised in treating familiar concepts/
information are now different in your present course.

a : key points

Take time to orient yourself to specific requirements of course genres if you are transfer-
ring disciplines at a graduate level, returning to study or research after many years in the
workforce, or have not previously studied in Western universities. Enlist the help of your
lecturer/supervisor.

Or perhaps you are grappling with a new disciplinary language because

you are transferring disciplines or, even, cultures where you now have to
develop proficiency in using the disciplinary language in academic texts writ-
ten in English. Disciplinary language refers to distinctive language of the
type emphasized in these extracts from students in different disciplines:

Law:

In ACTV and Nationwide, a majority of the Justices drew the implication

of a freedom of speech from the overall structure or fabric of ... X argued

34
 that freedom of speech regarding political matters is required for the
proper working of government and as such ruled the relevant sections
of the Political Disclosures Act 1991 (ACTV) and the Industrial Relations
Act 1988 (Nationwide) as invalid [reference].

Systems Engineering:
Reports from the sonar sensor were combined until the belief converged to
be equal to or greater than 0.99.

You will see that it is not just the nature of the subject matter (the content)
that is different in each case, as expected. In the Law example, the phrases
emphasized are distinctly legal; we would not normally talk about drawing
the implication of ‘a freedom’, or ruling ‘relevant sections’. Equally distinctive
is the unusual use of the word ‘belief — meaning ‘probability distribution’ — in
the Systems Engineering example.

aXe &Z

By studying models of the types of writing you now have to do, you can gain
insight into composition processes: how a text is put together in terms of focus,
structure and disciplinary writing practices, including the disciplinary language.
The next exercise, which is designed to help you to gain control of genre
and disciplinary writing practices, is potentially very beneficial if you
invest time in it.

sy, case study example

box 2.1 Students report significant benefits from studying

disciplinary writing practices

A second-language student experiencing difficulty in using English verb tenses gath-

ered an impressive set of examples on their complex usage in thesis writing in her
discipline of Archaeology, which helped her to overcome the problem. Another
graduate reported that he felt he had ‘learnt’ the art of argument by studying, as he
said, ‘how they put their arguments together and what evidence means’. Yet another
student having difficulty writing strong discussion sections studied organizational
strategies of ‘discussions’ in published articles and said he felt ‘much more confident
about how to do it’.

35
 Another Random Document on
Scribd Without Any Related Topics
 HE WAS DRESSED IN DEEP BLACK

“Let that Good Fellow have a Glimpse of Heaven”

Then hundreds of evil spirits trembled and shivered so violently that the
door creaked on its rusty hinges, and the windows of Hell rattled.
“If that is the state of things, I shall never succeed in getting inside,” said
Smith, and he decided to retrace his steps, and to take the narrow path.
After walking some hours, he arrived before a splendid castle surmounted
with high pointed turrets, and surrounded by a high wall, in which was a
white carved doorway, on which was written in luminous letters, “This is the
Gate of Paradise. Here enter the good and wise.”
Without hesitation, Smith decided to try his luck with the inhabitants of
Heaven. He very carefully wiped his hands on his leather apron, and then
knocked at the door. After a few minutes the grill in the door was opened,
and an old man’s bearded face appeared. He asked in a pleasant but severe
voice, “Your name?”
“John James Francis Lewis William Verholen,” our pilgrim replied, as he
had done at the Gate of Hell.
“Smith Verholen,” cried St. Peter indignantly, “you are reckless boldness
personified. How dare you come here? You sold your soul to the Devil. Your
place is in the nethermost Hell.”
“That was my own idea, but they refused me admission. As I have come
such a long way, I beseech you, good St. Peter, let me at least look through a
crack in the door to catch a glimpse of the Divine radiance.”
“You shall never enter here,” said St. Peter, and he was about to close the
grill, when a voice behind him said, “Little Peter, let that good fellow have a
glimpse of Heaven.... I know him, he is very good-hearted. He gave shelter
to Mary and me when we were fleeing into Egypt.”
St. Peter did not altogether approve, but dared not oppose St. Joseph’s
wishes. He half opened the door, and Verholen put his head through the
crack and looked in. As quick as thought our pilgrim threw his leather apron
inside, and uttered all kinds of strange cries, such as “Ooh! boo! ooh! my
poor head, you are crushing it. Ooh! ooh! my ear, my neck, my nose.” He
pushed the door with his shoulder, and before St. Peter could stop him, he
was seated on his leather apron, and cried, “Here I am, sitting on my own
property, my friend. No one can turn me out.”
St. Joseph laughed heartily, and St. Peter himself was forced to
acknowledge that Smith had played his part well.
So Smith remained in Heaven and had as much work to do as on earth.
He had to repair the swords, breastplates, helmets, and shields which the
archangels wore when they amused themselves by punishing the devils who
became too bold.
This work was a pleasant pastime for Smith. In his spare moments he
chatted a little with old friends he met in Paradise,
“OOH! BOO! MY POOR HEAD”
 THE PROCESSION

humble and simple folk like himself, such as the Girl without Hands, Hop-
o’-my-Thumb, Little Red Riding Hood, the Babes in the Wood, Snowdrop,
and Puss in Boots.
There was one thing which very much displeased Smith. He enjoyed the
rice pudding with plenty of sugar, which was served in golden plates and
eaten with silver spoons, and the heavenly scones with butter spread thickly.
But he never had a drop to drink, never a hand at “whist” or “bridge.” He
found that dull, so dull that sometimes he secretly wished himself back on
earth, among his friends and acquaintances in his own village in Brabant.
It was Easter Eve, the bells of Heaven were ringing for the great feast. St.
Peter came to Smith, and said to him, “As you are aware, Smith, to-morrow
we fête the Lord’s Resurrection. On this occasion, the heavenly host goes
forth in procession. All the saints and all the elect take part. I know you are
very strong. Will you carry the large flag and walk at the head of the
procession? You will go out by the principal gate, mount the fortifications,
and continue straight ahead to the end of the Milk-and-Honey Avenue.
Directly you hear the sound of the cannon, you will turn round. Every one in
the procession will do the same, and, retracing their steps, re-enter Heaven.”
“Dear me,” thought Smith, “that may be my opportunity for returning to
earth.” He placed himself in St. Peter’s hands and promised to do his best.
Easter dawned, High Mass was over, and the procession set forth. Right
in front walked our Smith bearing the flag, then followed a countless host of
cherubim, seraphim, and other angels led by St. Michael, seated on the
flaming horse which drew Elisha’s chariot; then dressed in glittering armour,
all mounted on flaming chargers, St. Martin, St. George, St. Victor, St.
Maurice, St. Sebastian. All these had been warriors on earth. Then came the
martyrs, confessors, hermits, and pilgrims—more than tongue could number;
then followed the Blessed Virgin surrounded by seraphim; and, lastly, Our
Lord Himself clothed in papal robes, under a golden canopy.
Smith did exactly as he was told; he went out by the Great Gate, mounted
the fortifications of Heaven. He walked with great dignity and with
measured tread until he reached the Milk-and-Honey Avenue. Then
suddenly, “boom” the canon sounded, and was answered by all the echoes of
Heaven. Smith turned round, all the procession did likewise and re-entered
Paradise. When our standard-bearer found he was the last before the gate, he
signed to an angel in front of him and begged him to hold the flag for a
moment; he then turned round and disappeared to the left.
 Milk-and-Honey Avenue

In a few hours he found himself on earth once more before the door of his
smithy.
No one in Heaven grieved at his departure. Smith recommenced his
happy life on earth, and from the words of the song which is still sung by
Flemish children, one may conclude he is still alive.

Smith Verholen, Smith Verholen,

For seven years received wood and coal,
Iron, lead and copper,
From the devil Lucifer.
Smith Verholen may burn, may be knocked on the head,
But Smith Verholen is never dead.
Balten, the Barrel, and the Wolf
BALTEN AND THE WOLF
ONG, long ago, when the animals were able to speak, two brothers
called Jack and Balten lived in a little hut in a dense and gloomy
forest in Flanders.
Needless to say they were very poor or they would not have
lived in this lonely wood.
One day, Jack was sitting at the window plaiting a whip, while Balten
was at the fire preparing their supper. Suddenly a wolf rushed into the house
with his mouth wide open and ran towards Jack. The latter, seeing his
danger, looked to his brother for help. He had an inspiration and cried
loudly: “Balten, pour! Balten, pour!” Balten understood what Jack meant.
Quick as lightning he seized the saucepan and poured the boiling soup over
the wolf.
The wolf fled out of the door howling with pain, for his back was terribly
burnt, while Jack and Balten, having recovered from their fright, laughing
heartily, watched him run off into the distance.
When the wolf, half dead with pain and shame, heard peals of laughter
behind him, he turned round and shouted to them:
“Ah, ruffians, good-for-nothings and scoundrels, you are much amused,
but wait; whichever one of you I see first I shall devour!” So saying he
disappeared among the trees.
 The Wolf stared at Jack

Shortly afterwards Jack went to gather acorns for their little pig. He was
deep in the forest, when suddenly he saw a wolf a few yards in front of him,
watching him from among the bushes.
Jack was very much frightened, especially as he saw scars on the wolf’s
back, and thus immediately recognized him as the one they had so
shamefully handled. The wolf stared at Jack, and on recognizing him sprang
at him, crying:
“Oh, ruffian, good-for-nothing! You are one of the scoundrels who treated
me so badly that I dare not show my face anywhere. Wait! I shall at once
make mincemeat of you.”
The wolf was about to spring at Jack, but the latter, seeing that to fight
would be useless, climbed like a cat up the nearest tree. There he was high
and dry and out of his enemy’s reach, as he fondly imagined. But the wolf
was not to be thwarted; smothering his rage he disappeared behind the
bushes.
 “I will stay quietly here,” thought Jack. “I must be on my guard against
this wretch. I lose nothing by waiting.”
 “BALTEN, POUR! BALTEN, POUR!”

He was right, for in five minutes the wolf returned accompanied by a

dozen wolves as bad as himself.
“Ha ha, scoundrel,” he cried, “you will not escape me this time! If you
think you are safe you are greatly mistaken, you know. We shall have you
down in no time.”
What did the wolf do?
He planted himself firmly near the tree trunk and formed the base of a
ladder for his companions. They seemed quite accustomed to this trick, for
another wolf immediately climbed on the shoulders of the first. Then a third
and fourth followed his example.
At first Jack was very much amused at the idea of such a ladder and
roared with laughter. But he soon realized that it was no joke, but a very
serious matter. The ladder of wolves became so high that Jack, frightened
out of his wits, had to climb into the topmost branches of the tree.
The ladder became yet higher!
“Have you caught him?” cried the first wolf.
“A little higher,” replied the topmost wolf.
“Do not let him escape,” shouted the first wolf, “for it is a tasty morsel
and we shall enjoy it. It is such a long time since I have eaten any that I quite
forget the taste of human flesh.”
“So do I,” said another wolf; whereupon they all laughed.
Jack was in no laughing mood; he was so frightened that he had cold
shivers down his spine.
“Oh, heavens!” he thought, “what a terrible death to be eaten alive! What
will my poor brother say when I fail to return? I have no means of defending
myself, not even boiling soup.”
The wolf which was to reach him had already begun to ascend; he heard
him grunting and panting. In his distress Jack had an inspiration and began
to shout at the top of his voice: “Balten, pour! Balten, pour!”
This had a curious effect. The first wolf, who supported all the others on
his shoulders and who knew by experience what “Balten, pour!” meant,
believed that Balten was behind the tree ready to throw boiling soup on his
back. He leapt aside as quick as lightning and ran like a hare. At the same
time all the wolves fell down one on top of the other, howling fiercely. One
had a paw broken, another a crushed foot,
and a third had his head smashed in.
All swore at their cowardly comrade,
who had organized the undertaking and
then so treacherously deserted them. Those
of them who were still able to run chased
the coward and soon caught him.
“Oh! that is the way we were to help
you get the man out of the tree. Your
intention was to do us all a bad turn.”
They all set on to the unhappy wretch,
who only made good his escape after
having all his skin torn off and losing an
ear.
Jack, now recovered from his fright,
was a spectator of this scene and laughed
long and loud. “What a curious result my
crying ‘Balten, pour!’ had,” he thought,
and he returned home.
More than a year passed and neither
Jack nor Balten had met the famous wolf.
The time came when Jack had to take
the little pig, now well fattened, to market.
After selling it, he was on his way home,
when he was attacked by robbers. They
stole his money and knocked him about.
Not satisfied with this, they put him into
an empty barrel, which they found by the
roadside, and nailed down the lid.
Poor Jack was now a prisoner and
could not imagine how he could ever hope
to escape. There was only one aperture,
through which he could hardly squeeze his
hand.
However, he did not despair. “Time
cures everything,” he thought; “I have
been in greater danger!”
For several hours he was thinking and
meditating in the barrel. Suddenly he
heard a sniff quite close to him. He looked
out and saw the wolf, the famous wolf
with scars on his back!
Jack watched him, and as soon as the
animal’s tail was within his reach, he
seized it through the hole in the barrel and
cried as loud as ever he could:
“Balten, pour! Balten, pour!”
This shout again had the desired effect:
the wolf, mad with fear, fled, dragging the
barrel after him. Jack held tightly on to his
tail, shouting all the time as loudly as
before: “Balten pour! Balten, pour!”
The louder he shouted, the faster ran
the wolf. The barrel crashed and banged
against the trees, it cracked and finally
broke. The ribs fell in and Jack found
himself once more on his feet, none the
worse except for a few bruises.
The wolf ran on and on. Perhaps he is
running still?
 THE LADDER BECAME YET HIGHER

ONE HAD A PAW BROKEN

THEY PUT HIM INTO AN EMPTY BARREL
The Mermaid and the Child
THE MERMAID
ONG ago, in a little hut by the seashore, there lived a fisherman’s
widow with her only child.
The water had a wonderful fascination for the little girl.
Nothing delighted her more than playing on the golden sands,
where the tide washed up thousands of shells. She ran gaily with
her small naked feet into the water, jumping over the little waves, which
came rolling in from the deep like little white horses.
The mother, who still grieved in secret the loss of her husband, who had
been snatched from her by the cruel sea, looked on sadly at her child’s play.
She dreaded that the sea would steal from her her one and only remaining
treasure.
“My child,” she besought her each morning, “do not go beyond the sand-
hills. The sea is wicked and cunning, my darling. It swallowed up your dear
father; do not go near the treacherous water.”
However, she was not able constantly to watch her little girl, and it so
happened that one day she awaited her in vain. She searched for her
everywhere, ran up and down the sand-hills, questioning all the fishermen
she met, but in vain! No one could give her tidings of the little girl.
When evening fell, and the sun had sunk like a ball of fire into the sea,
the poor mother returned to her home in the blackest despair.
Presently she heard a voice singing. The voice rose from the waves as
they lashed the sand-hills. She looked up and saw a mermaid with plaited
hair, and a crown of coral and pearls, standing waist-high in the water.
The words of her song were:

Under a roof of sparkling water

In a crystal palace,
My little loved ones play.

On hearing this, the widow thought that her child might be among the
little loved ones. She fell on her knees, and implored the mermaid to tell her
if she had seen the little girl who played on the sands every day. “Yes, I
certainly know where she is,” replied the mermaid, “she grows and prospers
 with
thous
ands
of
other
child
ren
in
my
cryst
al
palac
e at
the
botto
m of
the
deep
blue
sea.
She
is
happ
ier
than
SHE FELL ON HER KNEES any
child
on earth.”
With a fresh outburst of weeping the mother begged the mermaid to
restore to her her child. The water queen answered her that she was touched
by her grief, but that the sea never returned alive the mortals it took away.
The only thing she could do for the poor mother was to allow her to descend
with her to her watery palace in order to see her child.
“Will you have the courage,” she added doubtfully, “to follow me on the
mighty ocean for a hundred hours towards the West, and to dive with me
where the sea is deepest, far down beneath the waves?”
“I have the courage,” answered the mother; “I am ready to follow you.”
Then the mermaid swam ashore near the sand-hill. She
 EVERY MORNING THE MERMAID LOOKED IN AT THE WINDOW

told the widow to seat herself on her green and scaly fish’s tail, then she
swam away faster than the fastest ship over the surface of the water. The
boundless sea was soon plunged in the darkness of night as they continued
their journey towards the West.
At length a ray of light was visible on the bosom of the ocean, and
presently they came to an archway of coral, which they entered. “Here we
are,” said the mermaid, “take a deep breath into your lungs; courage, we are
going to dive.”
The dive was much quicker than the voyage over the ocean, and in a few
seconds they found themselves in the most marvellous palace that mortal
eyes have ever beheld. It was exactly as the mermaid had described it.
The roof was of sparkling water.
The building of crystal, flooded with a golden light.
The mother paid no heed to these splendours. She looked around on every
side in the hope of discovering her beloved child. The mermaid led her into a
hall framed with silver, to a glass door, behind which they saw a number of
little girls and boys playing happily together. The mother was allowed to
look as long as she pleased, but was forbidden to enter the room.
At first she could not see her child, but afterwards discovered her among
a group of merry children. She was in blooming health, and was enjoying
herself every bit as much as her companions.
The mother was very unhappy, and begged the mermaid to allow her to
live in her palace, as she could not bear to be far away from her little girl.
Her request was granted, and every day she would look with longing eyes
through the glass door. She implored the mermaid daily on bended knee to
allow her to return home with her child, but in vain.
One day she took pity on her, and said, “I will give you back your child,
but on one condition.”
“Ask what you will,” said the mother; “I am willing to do anything
possible.”
“You must weave me a cloak of your own hair,” said the mermaid. “Here
is a pot of ointment which will make your hair grow again.”
 Th
e
moth
er
imme
diatel
y set
to
work;
she
conti
nued
witho
ut a
pause
day
and
night.
Ev
ery
morni
ng
the
merm
aid
looke A NUMBER OF LITTLE GIRLS AND BOYS
d in
at the window of her room to see what progress she had made. She could
only make half a cloak, as she had used all her hair. She begged the mermaid
to be satisfied with this, but in vain; she was immovable and demanded that
the work should be completed.
At length, after sad years of waiting, the wonderful cloak was finished.
The mermaid was delighted with it, and the little girl, now a young maiden,
was restored to her mother.
The mermaid ordered a beautiful rounded barque, inlaid with shells, and
with a brazen pelican as figure-head. Four mermaids were harnessed to it,
and took the mother and her child across the mighty deep, back to their own
home, where they lived happily ever after.
THE MERMAID, THE MOTHER, AND HER DAUGHTER

The Half-cock, the Two Foxes, and the Two Robbers

Welcome to Our Bookstore - The Ultimate Destination for Book Lovers
Are you passionate about books and eager to explore new worlds of
knowledge? At our website, we offer a vast collection of books that
cater to every interest and age group. From classic literature to
specialized publications, self-help books, and children’s stories, we
have it all! Each book is a gateway to new adventures, helping you
expand your knowledge and nourish your soul
Experience Convenient and Enjoyable Book Shopping Our website is more
than just an online bookstore—it’s a bridge connecting readers to the
timeless values of culture and wisdom. With a sleek and user-friendly
interface and a smart search system, you can find your favorite books
quickly and easily. Enjoy special promotions, fast home delivery, and
a seamless shopping experience that saves you time and enhances your
love for reading.
Let us accompany you on the journey of exploring knowledge and
personal growth!

ebookgate.com