WRITING SKILLS

Session 1

(Allowed to miss 3 sessions out of 15)

Essay 1: 15% deadline session 6 - 1000 words
Essay 2: 30% deadline session 13
Final project: 15% deadline session 15 - 1000 words

Why writing?
Historically writing had to do with permanence, identity, and power

Permanence: contracts, religion, constitution

Identity (individual & collective): reinforcing own identity, expressing ideas & views,
expressing yourself, national identities (share certain symbols)
Power: What are laws without texts? What is a judge without reading?
“Cultural Capital” communicate in function of specific contexts, writing skillfully opens many
doors

What makes a written text good?

• Tailoured to a target audience
• Clear and well structured
• Strong backing for ideas
• Does not waste a single word
• Avoids cliché language
• Fresh, original, distinct
• Makes reader want to know more
• Memorable
• “Touches” reader’s emotions
• Result of a step-by-step process

ASSIGNMENT #1
• Goal: Why am I writing this? What do I want to accomplish? Make reader laugh and
smile
• Target audience: Who will be reading this? What do they expect? How can I learn
more about them? Teacher, expect to laugh, talk to them ig
• Context: What is acceptable in this situation? What style is most appropriate? Not too
inappropriate but a funny, lighthearted anecdote maybe
• Format: What should my text look like? How long can it be? 120 words, simple font
Exaggeration, chaos, surprise

My second day in Segovia, my roommate was supposed to arrive that afternoon, and I could
barely concentrate from the combination of excitement and anxiety I was feeling. Convinced I
had the house all to myself, I cranked up the techno music and started raving in the shower. I
left the shower with only a towel wrapped around my head, very stylish. As I flung open the
bathroom door with so much confidence, there she was, lying on her bed waiting for me
while I was completely naked. Ridden with shock, instead of a deafening silence or a panicked
scream, we both burst into laughter. Let’s just say we have never had an awkward moment
since then.

What steps did you take to complete it? Before starting to write, I brainstormed a range of
texts I could write, from anecdotes to dad jokes.
What were the most challenging parts? Humour for me is quite a spontaneous, on the go
thing so trying to be purposefully funny is quite unnatural. Also, when I use humour, I
communicate verbally, using different tones of voice and my hands to express myself. So
again, writing in order to be funny felt very unnatural to me.
And the most rewarding? Finally finishing my paragraph and finding it relatively funny.
Did you seek any form of outside help/inspiration and, if so, was it useful? Yes, Itried to used
chat-gpt but chat-gpt is not funny or original.
Have you identified any areas for self-improvement? I could have brainstormed a little bit
more prior to starting the assignment

Session 3: Human Writing and Generative AI

Generative AI follows patterns, feedback loop, info goes in, and AI predicts outcome, answer
goes back to database, find patterns
The more predictable, the more accurate

YouTube: the magic behind ChatGPT

“Artificial Intelligence” can be misleading, predicts the next word in a sequence multiple
times based on a vast corpus of data
è Without proper human intervention, it reproduces biases present in the data
è It makes up information because it does not understand what is being said
è Cannot produce anything truly new or original

Racial bias, AI based on a data base, if data base has racial bias, AI will have racial bias
Eg racist cropping in twitter, AI beauty contest 2016

Censor the system (ChatGPT) boundaries, not getting to root of problem

GPT-4, we don’t know its training data so unaware of biases

Bajohr 2023: Whoever controls language models controls politics

• Such fantasies are part of the hype around AI, which ultimately serves the companies
that develop it
• These are the concerns of “longtermists” – a utilitarian school of thought that gives
possible future humans an incomparably greater moral weight than actual present
ones.
• Through the privatization of language technologies as the future site of political public
spheres
• A new oligopoly that concentrates language technologies in the hands of a few
private companies.
 • Countering this means either censoring the output, as is done (to a degree) with
ChatGPT, and thus rendering it potentially unusable.
• Or, as is also practiced, filtering the data set for its undesirable components – and
thus feeding the model with a better world. This is an eminently political decision.
• However, decisions about the social vision that language models articulate are in the
hands of a few companies that are not subject to democratic control and are
accountable to no one but their shareholders: private government
• It means that values become fixed in place due to the system’s inability to change, so
that no amount of discussion can lead to a change of opinion; a technologically
produced political stagnation is the result.
• To be sure, it is necessary to create legal regulations that prohibit deception by AI or
the use of private data for LLM training without consent.

Long termism is one of main cause areas of “effective altruism” movement: seeks to identify
and priorities actions and interventions that have the greatest positive impact on the world,
with a strong emphasis on long-term consequences

1. Knowledge Limitation: My knowledge is based on information available up to September 2021. I do not

have access to real-time data or events that have occurred after that date. Therefore, for the most
current information, it's always a good idea to verify with up-to-date sources.
2. Possible Errors: Despite efforts to provide accurate information, I can still generate incorrect or
outdated information. It's important to cross-check the information I provide with multiple reputable
sources, especially for critical decisions or information.
3. Lack of Context: I generate responses based on the input provided to me, but I may not always fully
understand the context or nuances of a situation. Always consider the context and seek clarification if
needed.
4. Varied Perspectives: I aim to be neutral and objective, but I can generate responses based on a wide
range of viewpoints present in the data I was trained on. It's important to critically evaluate the
information I provide and consider various perspectives.
5. Human Responsibility: Ultimately, the responsibility for verifying information and making informed
decisions rests with the user. I am a tool to assist with information, but it's essential to use critical
thinking and consult multiple sources for important decisions

Session 4: critical thinking

How we approach information and our own thinking process

• Inquisitive, skeptical, and alert for false truths or arguments
• Open minded, willing to understand other points of view
• Creative, able to find new and original solutions to problems
• Reflective, constantly monitoring their own thinking processes
• Aware of their own cultural and ideological biases

Be alert for misinformation

• Systematically distrust everything
• Never share info without first checking their veracity
• Devise personal list of reliable sources (high-quality journalistic and academic
publications)
• Fact-checking websites
Be open minded to other experiences and views
• No such things as universal subject
• Remain humble
• When you don’t suffer injustice/oppression you don’t see it/think it’s important
• Be aware of cultural superiority
• Eurocentrism

The locus of enunciation the geopolitical and body-political location of the subject that
speaks
è Our backgrounds, experience and traits have a decisive role in shaping our ideas and
worldview, no one can be truly objective
è Acknowledging your opinions are socially determined

Stay creative
AI imitates our creative thinking processes in a predictable way

è Book: Hegel and Haiti

ESSAY 1
1. No point in writing something that could be written by AI
2. When you cite in academic sources, do not merely cite the main points
3. Find research question you care about
4. Always think beyond the assignment, what within PPLE would you like to focus on?

Deadline: session 6: research Q has political implications

1000-word essay
Deadline: session 13: policy paper
1500-word essay

Why women are more successful in microfinance loans?

The role of blended finance in promoting sustainability projects, and is it effective?

"What is the actual impact of blended finance on achieving sustainable development

goals in emerging markets? How can the impact be measured and evaluated
comprehensively?"

How can blended finance be leveraged to catalyze private sector investments in projects
that have lasting environmental and social benefits beyond the project's lifespan?"

"How can blended finance mechanisms be optimized to accelerate and enhance climate
action initiatives, particularly in developing countries, while ensuring sustainability,
scalability, and equitable outcomes?"

https://sdg-action.org/unlocking-the-potential-of-blended-finance/
https://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/blended-finance-
principles/principle-1/Principle_1_Guidance_Note_and_Background.pdf
https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/blended-finance-what-it-is-how-it-works-and-
how-it-is-used-620186/#:~:text=Overview,additional%20funds%20from%20other%20actors.
https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/206745
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3627858

1) Proposed topic for your essay

The effectiveness of blended finance to achieve climate-oriented SDG goals, especially in
lower-income countries

2) Proposed research question for your essay:

How does the integration of blended finance enhance the effectiveness of climate action
initiatives in developing countries?

3) Connection to current events (in the past 2 years):

SDG goals are becoming increasingly important as the timeline for meeting them decreases
every day. This is particularly true now as the COP-28 approaches at the end of November,
where blended finance’s use should be assessed to maximize the potential of these goals
being attained.

4) Why this issue is important to you

I really enjoy reading on economics & finance, and deeply care about sustainability so it is
interesting to see how these financial structures can be used to promote sustainability and
achieve concrete climate focused goals. Although not directly personal to me or my
experiences, this topic is very relevant to my interests and is related to a field where I could
see myself professionally in the future.

5) New ideas that you intend to contribute with

Analyze how effective blended finance has been so far, especially for the lower-income
countries, as this financing structure attracts more investment into middle-income countries
due to the private sector capital component which seeks to find lower risk and higher return
investments, which are more commonly seen in middle-income countries.

6) Link to one article that you have found particularly interesting about the topic, and why
https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/blended-finance-what-it-is-how-it-works-and-
how-it-is-used-620186/#:~:text=Overview,additional%20funds%20from%20other%20actors
Although I did not fully read the article, I found the abstract and first pages very interesting as
it analyses the limitations of blended finance, particularly within the countries and projects it
targets, which are based off the private sector’s own interests. Blended finance is analyzed
with a positive light in most articles, and although a very innovative way to achieve the SDG
goals, it has not been able to attract as much investments as expected, so I think this article
would be a great starting point for my analysis.
Session 5: Research & Sources

Academic research is based on reliable sources

• Personal experience & observation are NOT valid sources
• Wikipedia, google, newspapers, magazines and other websites are NOT academically
valid sources either
• ChatGPT is also NOT valid nor reliable (use bing or bar)
• Valid sources: academic papers, official statistics, primary sources: valid and reliable
because they are peer-reviewed

Primary sources: what you’re talking about

Secondary sources: essays on primary source

Types of academic publications: journal articles, books, book chapters, conference

proceedings, PhD dissertations
Other valid sources: official statistics agencies (.gov); educational resources (.edu); your own
primary sources (interviews, questionnaires, etc)

How?
• IE library website
• JSTOR, google scholar
• Elicit.com
• References list on other papers you read

How to store & organize your sources?

• Zotero.org

Is my academic source good enough?

• Current (published recently)
• Relevant for your project
• Impactful (they have been cited by other scholars)

Using AI generated text without citing it as such is plagiarism

When to cite: ALWAYS
APA citation style – Purdue OWL
• No footnotes, references at end of essay
• Online reference generator

Session 6: Thesis Statement & Structure

Argumentative essay: author investigates a topic, gathers evidence and establishes a clear
position on the issue (a THESIS)
Thesis is made very clear from the start, and it is defended with conviction through solid
arguments
Your goal is to persuade a skeptical reader, which requires strong
INTRO (hook, background, thesis)
• Opening sentence (hook) something related to topic which catches the attention of
your target reader (eg recent event, quote, anecdote, enigma, question, dilemma)
• Context/background help reader understand the topic and why it matters
• Thesis statement your position on the topic and summary of the evidence to support
it that you will use in the body of the essay
What is? Interpretation of significance of issue, road map for reader, direct
answer to a question, a claim that could be disputed by others
STRUCTURAL
• Basic thesis: what What is your stance on the argument?
• Structural thesis: what, how and why What arguments are used to prove this
and in what order?
Avoid weak and vague language
• One could say that
• Definitely bad
• I believe that
• Bad because of …

BODY (supporting evidence and explanations)

• Several body paragraphs: 1000-word essay, advised to write 3 body paragraphs
(without intro and conclusion)
• Paragraph structure
• Topic sentence: introduce main idea
• Analysis & supporting evidence: explain ideas and back with evidence
• Counter arguments & rebuttals: views you disagree with and explain to your reader
why those views are wrong

CONLUSION (summary, thesis, larger context) no new info!!

• Should NOT introduce new info nor cite new evidence in conclusion
• Provide a recap of main ideas in your essay and insist on their significance
• Prospective (optional) last sentence could be a reflection on what should be done
about this topic, including avenues for future research

Session 7: how to use evidence

Academic?
• Google scholar and JSTOR
• Has been published in an issue/volume of a journal and has a DOI
• Published by academic publisher or university press = academic (must include
bibliography, reference list)

When should you cite?

1. When you copy, summarize or paraphrase words and ideas from any source
(even text generated by AI)
2. When you reprint any diagrams, illustrations, charts, pictures or other visual materials
3. Use research obtained through lab or field experiments
 4. When you obtain info interviewing or speaking to another person
5. Even your own work

ALWAYS CITE WHEN quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing (combine) Hi Sir,

Quotations don’t have to be complete, “He went…in the night”

Long quotations: new paragraph and indent to the right
• Needs a title

Intro, Body, Conclusion, Reference

Font size: 11/12, any font (usually times new roman, 12, double-spaced)

Session 8: Professional Writing: the Policy Paper

Essay #2: policy paper

• 1500 words long (10% margin)
• Expand essay # and transform into policy paper
• Due before session 13

Stasis Theory = 4 part question, pre-writing process to orient critical analysis of an issue
• Facts
• Meaning or nature of issue (definition)
• Quality (seriousness)
• Policy:
1. Action to be taken
2. Who is involved?
3. What should be done
4. What needs to happen to solve?
5. Who was it influencing our determination to solve this issue?
6. How/why are these sources/beliefs influencing our determination?

What is a policy paper?

• Short, concise summary of a social problem/gov financing
• Has clear recommendations for policy makers (informed decisions)
• Advocates particular position, but from facts
• Figures, tables, graphs often used
NOT a historical analysis, opinion piece

Objective?
• Convince a policy maker to advocate for change
• Share perceptions around an issue
• Bring issue into policy maker’s attention
• Frame issue for them
• Policy recommendations: how will it impact them
• Argue for specific course of action
 è Bridge between academia and policy maker

Key characteristics
• Clear and concise statements without being superficial
• BLUF: bottom line up front (begin paragraphs with conclusion)
• Fact-based argumentation
• Focus on results & recommendations, not methodology (paper built around policy
recommendation)
Differences with research paper
• Only essential info
• Don’t get bogged down in too many details
• Cover all bases
• Make it as thorough sounding as possible

STRUCTURE
1. Background: brief overview of problem and what actions should be taken
2. Policy Description (scope of problem): discuss issue or policy, convince readers that
problem exists, and action needs to be taken on the policy
3. Policy Alternatives: discuss other possible alternatives to problem. May be solutions
that people have already implemented (inferior solutions)
4. Policy Recommendations: most detailed and should outline specific steps that need to
be taken to effectively address issue
5. Conclusion: summarize analysis and recommendation
6. Sources: APA

è Subtitles
è Bulleted lists
è Callouts
è Charts, photos, graphics

Writing Steps
1. Identify problem
2. Identify audience
3. Find credible sources
4. Develop a thesis statement (focus)
5. Decide on key arguments
6. Remove what is unnecessary and write second draft

Start thinking about

1. How can I improve and expand my research and arguments from essay #1?
2. What will be my goal in essay #2 and how is it different from my goal in essay #1?
3. Who will be my target audience? How knowledgeable and open they are
4. How can I reach readers? Questions, concerns, interests, what it takes to reach
specific readers
5. Persuasion: value, urgency of situation, speaks in benefits and advantages
 Session 9: Quantitative and Qualitative Research

Essay 1: 15% (research paper)

Essay 2: 30% (policy paper)
Final Project: 15% (IE prize in humanities)

Quantitative
Focus: numbers
Ex statistical analyses
• When citing statistics, rely on official sources
• Round numbers whenever possible
• Avoid citing too many numbers in one sentence
• Put numbers in human terms

With an annual growth rate of 2.87%, Capital city is the fastest growing medium-sized city (of
over 300,000 habitants) in the world. This trend is expected to continue, as seen by an
increase in population of 18,600 people just this year, totaling a whopping 750,000 habitants
in 2023, surpassing major European capitals such as Lisbon, Copenhagen, and Athens.

Qualitative
Focus: how and why
Ex analysis of a novel
• Avoid weak claims (I think that; it can be argued that; we live in)
• Base claims in academic sources
• Don’t talk about sources, cite them directly
• Interact with sources: to what extent do you agree with each?
• Always include own arguments

Recommended choice: mixed methods

• Research that combines quantitative and qualitative data and analysis

1. Convergent Design
Collect and analyze quantitative and qualitative data separately, then compare
2. Explanatory Design
First quantitative data to obtain research, then qualitative to explain results
3. Exploratory Design
First qualitative research to identify key factors, then quantitative to measure such
factors
4. Embedded Design
One method is primary/dominate one in research, the other method supports it

Outreach contact your academic research with society

• TED talks and guest lectures
• Published books
• Social media
 • Newspaper/magazine contributions
• Professional writing: reports, briefs

• Topic:
• Focus (i.e., what exactly you will discuss about the topic):
• Target audience (who you will be writing this for):
• Target audience background (their current position, interests, etc.):
• Relevance of your research for your target audience:
• Three things you intend to improve from your Essay #1

Both MFIs and governments should focus on capacity building and educational training
forwomen and more frequent monitoring of such loans, and further research should seek
tounderstand the effectiveness of such measures on empowerment.

1. What policies/tools can MFIs or governments implement to ensure microfinance

interventions maximize empowerment in Bangladesh?
2. The specific initiatives that governments can implement to ensure microfinance is
maximized, targeting both MFIs (ensuring they engage in ethical practices) and
women who receive microfinance (ensuring they are educated on the programs)
OR focus only on MFIs, what they can do to ensure women use MFIs correctly
3. …
4. …
5. …
6. Opening, make it more engaging and captivating
Include more quantitative research
Compare to similar South-East Asian countries: are they better at achieving
empowerment, specifically why?

Topic What policies/tools can MFIs implement to ensure microfinance interventions

maximize women’s empowerment in Bangladesh?

Focus (i.e., what exactly you will discuss about the topic) Introduce the problem and explain it
thoroughly, (the patriarchal gender norms ingrained in Bangladeshi culture that limit the
empowerment benefits of MFIs, and how MFIs can exploit this (indirectly or directly) through
self-interest or not measuring the right indicators. Explore the initiatives that MFIs should
introduce to maximize empowerment and achieve what they are claiming, such as capacity
building and education programmes.

Target audience (who you will be writing this for) Major microfinance institutions in
Bangladesh, specifically those which are for-profit or are considering commercialization and
have women’s empowerment as a social goal.

Target audience background (their current position, interests, etc.) Many MFIs are non-
profits and have social outcomes as their main goals. However, there has been an increasing
commercialization of microfinance institutions, which can lead to mission drift, in which
 microfinance agencies are increasingly concerned with achieving financial goals. This leaves
women particularly vulnerable as without much regulation around such loans, their inferior
social status (in Bangaldesh) is seldom exploited by male figures in the household, leaving
them without much control over their loans.

Relevance of your research for your target audience The research presents a problem within
microfinance that perhaps MFIs had not considered or given much thought to, but which can
seriously impact the performance of their loans. It urges MFI to reconsider their lending
mechanisms and think further about their social responsibility, while recommending ways to
tackle this and achieve greater empowerment benefits.

Three things you intend to improve from your Essay #1

• Opening, make it more engaging and captivating to attract MFIs into reading the
paper
• Include more quantitative research (statistics) which I can use to support my
arguments and make my paper more scientifically credible
• Compare to similar South-East Asian countries: are they better at achieving

Who exactly will you write it for? MFIs

What are their aims and expectations? Concrete programs/initiatives that MFIs can implement
and how it will benefit them
What will your focus be? Initiatives they should implement along microfinance goals
What do you want to persuade your target reader about? Microfinance cannot be done alone,
should be paired with other tools, will lead to greater long run financial gains, both for the
individual and the MFI

empowerment? Include specific reasons why or why not.

Session 10: Rhetoric & Argumentation

Not supposed to look like an essay, including headings, subheadings, graphics, etc
Rhetoric art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the exploitation of
figures of speech and other compositional techniques
1. Ethos – appeals to speaker’s status/authority
2. Pathos – appeals to emotion (conscience, sense of humor, convey sense of urgency)
positive emotions more effective than negative ones = offer solutions
3. Logos – argumentation & logical reasoning

Deductive: General Principle – Special Case

Inductive: Special Case – General Principle

Session 12: Combining Evidence & Argumentation: The Paragraph

• One paragraph: a single idea or aspect which has a logical connection to the main
argument/thesis/focus
 • All claims (including background information

Format
LENGTH
• Academic essays: 150-200 words
• Online articles, professional reports: shorter paragraphs

HEADINGS, SUBTITLES, BULLETPOINT

• Typically used in professional writing (reports, briefs)
• Not standard in academic writing

STRUCTURE
1. Transitional devices: to connect the paragraph to the previous paragraph or to
connect ideas inside the paragraph
2. Topic sentence: the main idea of the paragraph
3. Supporting sentences: provide evidence and

TRANSITIONS
TOPIC SENTENCE main idea + controlling idea
SUPPORTING SENTENCES provide evidence + analyzing that evidence
CONCLUDING SENTENCE

Unity discuss only one idea in each paragraph

Coherence your paragraph makes sense and can be understood

Transitions

Transitional words and devices

First of all, meanwhile, finally, furthermore / after, since when, and

Transitional sentences
Not a single word – using logical progression of ideas that is only valid for this particular
paper
Use subject of previous paragraph to move towards the subject of the next paragraph using
• Passing of time

Improve a paragraph
1. Analyze its internal structures by highlighting
2. ..

Policy paper structure

• Background: this section will include a brief overview of the problem and possibly
what actions should be taken
• Policy description (or scope of problem): in this section, discuss issue or policy.
Convince readers that a problem exists, and that action needs to be taken on the
policy
 • Policy alternatives: discuss other possible alternatives to the problem. There may be
solutions that people have already implemented or propose solutions
- These alternatives are NOT the solutions you are proposing
- These are what you perceive as inferior solutions, so you need to
explain why they aren’t effective
• Policy recommendations: most detailed section. Should outline specific steps that
need to be taken to address the issue most effectively
• Conclusion (optional): Summarize analysis and recommendations

Style

Style in academic professional writing

1. Concise
2. Clear
3. Formal
4. Active
5. Accurate
6. Impersonal

è Be specific!

Poem, Short Story or Essay