Overview
The theoretical and practical tools needed by graduate research students to achieve effective communication of their academic ideas in both print and other media.
Designed for postgraduate students, this paper focuses on practical approaches to conveying your point using research drawn from your chosen discipline. Multidisiciplinary by nature, this paper will broaden your understanding of different approaches while deepening your appreciation of why scholars in your subject adopt particular approaches and techniques.
About this paper
| Paper title | Writing and Revision for Graduate Research |
|---|---|
| Subject | Humanities |
| EFTS | 0.25 |
| Points | 30 points |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 2
(On campus)
1st Non standard period (16 November 2026 - 16 February 2027) (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees ( NZD ) | $2,498.25 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Limited to
- MA(Coursework)
- Eligibility
- For students enrolled in the coursework option for the MA; others may enrol by permission of the paper co-ordinator.
- Contact
- Teaching staff
- Teaching Arrangements
- Weekly bad sentence blog (10%)
- Class discussion prompt document (10%)
- Publication venue analysis (10%)
- Weekly in-class activities (10%)
- Grammar modules (10%)
- Online reading quizzes (10%)
- 7–8 min. oral presentation (20%)
- Developed prose piece (30%)
- Textbooks
Set texts:
- Yellowlees Douglas, The Reader's Brain: How Neuroscience Can Make You a Better Writer (Cambridge, 2024).
Recommended texts:
- Wayne C. Booth et al., The Craft of Research, 5th ed (Chicago, 2024).
Optional texts:
- Joseph Bizup and Joseph M.Williams, Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace (Pearson, 2014; widely available secondhand).
- Eric Hayot, The Elements of Academic Style: Writing for the Humanities (Columbia University Press, 2014).
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Lifelong Learning, Scholarship, Communication, Critical Thinking, Cultural Understanding, Ethics, Teamwork, Self-Motivation.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this paper will be able to:
- Understand the concepts of: audience, genre, discourse, mode, intertextuality, metadiscourse, grammar, voice and style
- Communicate effectively in a variety of modes, including oral, print (formal academic), digital and graphical
- Recognise and analyse examples of effective writing in their own and other discourse communities
- Give and receive effective peer feedback on writing
- Write for a variety of audiences
- Present orally to both academic and general audiences
- Self-edit for coherence and cohesion
- Give and receive scholarly criticism appropriately
- Recognise implicit aims and explicitly articulate and address them
Overview
The theoretical and practical tools needed by graduate research students to achieve effective communication of their academic ideas in both print and other media.
Designed for postgraduate students, this paper focuses on practical approaches to conveying your point using research drawn from your chosen discipline. Multidisiciplinary by nature, this paper will broaden your understanding of different approaches while deepening your appreciation of why scholars in your subject adopt particular approaches and techniques.
About this paper
| Paper title | Writing and Revision for Graduate Research |
|---|---|
| Subject | Humanities |
| EFTS | 0.25 |
| Points | 30 points |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 2
(On campus)
1st Non standard period (15 November 2027 - 18 February 2028) (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for 2027 have not yet been set |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Limited to
- MA(Coursework), MTESOL
- Eligibility
For students enrolled in the coursework option for the MA; others may enrol by permission of the paper co-ordinator.
- Contact
- Teaching staff
- Teaching Arrangements
- Weekly bad sentence blog (10%)
- Class discussion prompt document (10%)
- Publication venue analysis (10%)
- Weekly in-class activities (10%)
- Grammar modules (10%)
- Online reading quizzes (10%)
- 7–8 min. oral presentation (20%)
- Developed prose piece (30%)
- Textbooks
Set texts:
- Douglas, Y. (2015). The Reader's Brain: How Neuroscience Can Make You a Better Writer. Cambridge University Press.
Recommended texts:
- Booth, W., Colomb, G., Williams, J., Bizup, J., & Fitzgeraldn, W. (2024). The Craft of Research (5th ed.). University of Chicago Press.
Optional texts:
- Bizup, J. & Williams, J. (2017). Joseph M. Williams, Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace (12th ed.). Pearson. (Widely available secondhand).
- Hayot, E. (2014). The Elements of Academic Style: Writing for the Humanities. Columbia University Press.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Lifelong learning, Scholarship, Communication, Critical thinking, Cultural understanding, Ethics, Self-motivation, Teamwork.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this paper will be able to:
- Understand the concepts of: audience, genre, discourse, mode, intertextuality, metadiscourse, grammar, voice and style.
- Communicate effectively in a variety of modes, including oral, print (formal academic), digital and graphical.
- Recognise and analyse examples of effective writing in their own and other discourse communities.
- Give and receive effective peer feedback on writing.
- Write for a variety of audiences.
- Present orally to both academic and general audiences.
- Self-edit for coherence and cohesion.
- Give and receive scholarly criticism appropriately.
- Recognise implicit aims and explicitly articulate and address them.