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Writing your World: Finding yourself in the academic space
  • Level Foundation
  • Duration 19 hours
  • Course by University of Cape Town
  • Offered by

About

Throughout the world, writing serves to express, record, and even create meaningful moments. In academic spaces, writing becomes the bridge between ourselves and the world of ideas. In this course, we provide practical insights into how to write an academic essay. We show you how to develop the academic skills needed to be a competent academic writer. You will have an opportunity to engage with texts written by academics, and to see how some of the ideas in these texts are used by students in constructing an academic essay. We address some of the challenges these students face with respect to academic writing and offer you the opportunity to practice and to develop your own writing style. For this course, we centre our lessons around a specific topic - the concept of identity, since it forms such an important feature of how we locate ourselves in an ever-changing global world. In other words, this course teaches academic writing skills through getting you to write and reflect on your understanding of identity. So if you are thinking about studying at a tertiary institution, or if you just want to brush up on your academic essay writing skills, this course is for you!

Modules

Introduction to the course

    • 3 Videos
    • 3 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Is this course right for you?

1 Discussions

  • Introduce yourself to your peers

3 Videos

  • Writing your World: Finding yourself in the academic space
  • Thinking about your essay
  • Meet our student writers

3 Readings

  • How this course works
  • Meet your instructors
  • Week 1: What to expect

Understanding definitions and identity

    • 5 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Woodward Practice Quiz

5 Videos

  • Through the looking glass: Who am I?
  • Woodward on identity: I, me and the world
  • Woodward on identity: Roots and routes
  • How do definitions work?
  • Definitions in context

1 Readings

  • Summary of Woodward's interview

Writing your definition of identity

    • 2 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Week 1 Graded Quiz

1 Discussions

  • Share your definition of identity

2 Videos

  • Drafting your definition
  • Giving feedback on definitions

1 Readings

  • Week 1 recommended readings

Write your definition of identity

    • 1 PeerReview
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1 Peer Review

  • Write your definition of identity

Identity and mobility

    • 3 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
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1 Discussions

  • Share an example of movement across borders

3 Videos

  • Recap on identity
  • Identity and mobility through the ages
  • Nelson Mandela: Terrorist or freedom fighter?

1 Readings

  • Week 2: What to expect

Reading to write

    • 3 Videos
    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Sichone and Blommaert practice quiz

3 Videos

  • Reading strategies
  • Applying reading strategies: Sichone’s chapter
  • Applying reading strategies: Blommaert’s chapter

2 Readings

  • Required reading - Xenophobia by Owen Sichone
  • Required reading - Discourse by Blommaert

Starting to write

    • 4 Videos
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Week 2 practice quiz

4 Videos

  • Understanding the course essay
  • Drafting your introduction
  • Giving feedback on introductions
  • Relationship between the introduction and conclusion

Write your introduction

    • 1 Discussion
    • 1 PeerReview
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Critique an introduction

1 Peer Review

  • Write your introduction

1 Discussions

  • Share your introduction with your peers

Identity, mobility and culture

    • 4 Videos
    • 2 Readings
    • 1 Discussion
    • 1 Assignment
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1 Assignment

  • Thornton Quiz

1 Discussions

  • Thinking about cultural resources

4 Videos

  • Recap on identity and mobility
  • Case study of an international student
  • Pool of abundance: Understanding culture
  • Round table discussion on culture

2 Readings

  • Week 3: What to expect
  • Required reading: Culture: A contemporary definition by Thornton

Writing your paragraph

    • 8 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 2 Assignment
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2 Assignment

  • Week 3 practice quiz
  • Paragraph development quiz

8 Videos

  • Writing paragraphs
  • Quotes and paraphrasing
  • In-text referencing
  • Coherence and cohesion
  • Student writers drafting their paragraphs
  • Giving feedback on Ada’s paragraph
  • Giving feedback on Ziggy’s paragraph
  • Giving feedback on Joey's paragraphs

1 Readings

  • Cohesive devices - Linking words

Writing your paragraphs

    • 1 PeerReview
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1 Peer Review

  • Writing your paragraphs

The essay building blocks

    • 8 Videos
    • 1 Readings
    • 2 Assignment
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2 Assignment

  • Week 4 practice quiz
  • Critique an essay

8 Videos

  • Looking back on the course
  • Round table discussion: Reflection on the readings
  • The essay building blocks
  • Referencing and managing sources
  • Giving feedback on Ziggy's draft
  • Giving feedback on Joey's draft
  • Giving feedback on Ada's draft
  • Looking forward

1 Readings

  • Week 4: What to expect

Revising and reflecting as a writer

    • 1 PeerReview
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1 Peer Review

  • Writing your first draft
Gideon Nomdo
Instructors

Gideon Nomdo

Aditi Hunma
Instructors

Aditi Hunma