POLS1009 Chap.9 Academic Language and Paragraph Structure
Academic Language and Paragraph Structure
This chapter brings together the writing strand of Weeks 6 and 7, which is about delivering an argument to someone who only has the page in front of them. It starts with register: who the reader is, why a visible structure helps them, and the language conventions the course sets out, from field terminology and active voice to avoiding colloquial phrases, contractions, sentence openers such as But, and words like obviously.
A worked repair shows those rules applied to a chatty draft. The central part dissects a single paragraph built on the MEAL scaffold, a main idea followed by evidence, analysis and a link, and sets it beside the other descriptions the lectures give of the same shape: point first, and the topic sentence with its three moves. It records that the two weeks give different guidance on length.
The chapter closes with revision at the level of the whole draft: the two paths to a structure, signal words, the reverse outline routine for checking that paragraphs tell one story, and the need-to-know test for lists, tables and figures.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Writing for a time-poor reader with a visible structure
- 02
Language conventions: terminology, register, contractions and openers
- 03
Active and passive voice
- 04
The paragraph as a unit of thought, and its length
- 05
The MEAL scaffold and its four moves
- 06
Topic sentences and the point-first shape
- 07
Reverse outlining a whole draft
- 08
Signal words and need-to-know formatting
Worked example · free
Planning the anatomy of one MEAL paragraph on livestreamed council meetings
- 1Main idea, 30 words. Open with the claim itself: councils that livestream their meetings receive input from a wider range of residents than councils that meet only in person.
- 1Evidence, 70 words. Report the comparison: written comments per meeting in two neighbouring councils before and after one began streaming, with the source cited.
- 1Analysis, 60 words. Explain why the counts support the claim: the rise came from residents who had never attended in person, which a general increase in interest would not explain.
- 1Link, 30 words. Tie the point to the thesis and open the next step: if streaming widens input, the following paragraph asks whether that gain justifies its cost.
Key terms
- Topic sentence
- A sentence at or near the start of a paragraph that announces the step in the argument the paragraph will develop.
- MEAL scaffold
- A four-part paragraph pattern that moves from main idea to evidence, then analysis of that evidence, then a link back to the thesis and on to the next point.
- Reverse outline
- A revision technique that summarises each finished paragraph in a short label or its topic sentence, so the sequence of labels exposes gaps, repeats and misplaced paragraphs.
- Active voice
- A sentence construction in which the actor is the grammatical subject and performs the verb, as in 'the authors code the speeches' rather than 'the speeches were coded'.
- Signal words
- Connecting words and phrases that tell the reader how one idea relates to the next, and that introduce a quotation or paraphrase.
Academic Language and Paragraph Structure FAQ
How long should a paragraph be in a politics essay?
The course gives two figures. The Week 6 slides suggest roughly 150 to 250 words, enough for a point with its evidence, while Week 7 offers 250 words as a conservative upper limit. Both stress that a paragraph is defined by holding one idea rather than by a word count, so a short paragraph that completes its point is fine.
Can I use I in academic writing?
The Week 6 slides raise the question directly, contrasting phrasings such as the article shows, I show and we show, and they favour active voice as more engaging. What they rule out is conversational narration: describing your feelings or the journey of your research. Stating what you do and why, in the first person where that is clearer, fits the conventions described.
What is the difference between MEAL and PEEL?
They are two names for the same four-step paragraph scaffold. Each begins with the point or main idea, supports it with evidence, explains how that evidence backs the point, and finishes with a link that ties back to the thesis and prepares the next paragraph. Week 6 presents them together, and Week 7 develops MEAL.
How do I check whether my essay structure works?
Use a reverse outline. Number your paragraphs, pull out each topic sentence or write a three-to-six-word label, and read the list in order. If a label covers two topics, split that paragraph; if the sequence jumps backwards, reorder it; if a step in the argument is missing, you have found the paragraph you still need to write.
Why should I not start a sentence with But or And?
The course lists it as a convention of academic writing, alongside avoiding contractions and colloquial phrases. In practice a linking word placed inside the sentence, or a fuller signal phrase such as however or in addition, shows the relationship between ideas without the conversational tone that a sentence-initial conjunction tends to carry.
Exam move
Treat this chapter as a checklist you apply to your own drafts rather than as content to memorise. Take a page you have already written and mark every contraction, colloquial phrase, sentence opener such as And or But, and passive sentence with a hidden actor, then fix them. Next, label each paragraph with its MEAL moves in the margin; any paragraph missing an analysis move is a priority.
Finally, run a reverse outline on the whole piece and read the labels in order. Then swap drafts with a classmate and see whether they can state each paragraph's claim from its opening sentence alone. Practising on real drafts, with a timer running, builds the speed you will want for short-answer writing.
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