ABSTRACT
The Elements of Writing are the various skills that are needed for most types of academic writing, whether it is a short report, a long essay or a dissertation. Many essays, for instance, begin by defining a term in the title (unit 2.5 Definitions), then make some generalisations about the subject (unit 2.8 Generalisations) before going on to give examples of the main areas the writer wishes to examine (unit 2.7 Examples). Throughout the essay the writer needs to provide references to sources used (unit 2.11 References and Quotations) and to employ an appropriate academic style (unit 2.13 Style). Many academic subjects also require discussion of statistics (unit 2.9 Numbers), and graphs and charts (unit 2.16 Visual Information).
