Expression of Ideas and Information and Structuring Written Communications Containing a Thesis and Argument The most important part of academic writing is to make sure that the audience understands what is being communicated and there are some solid ways of achieving this if certain steps are followed, including providing a thesis statement and using topic sentences. It is also vitally important for academic writers to encapsulate their main thesis and argument in their analysis of texts in ways that make them distinguishable and understandable. Finally, it is also critically important for all writers to avoid plagiarizing others by ensuring that all sources used in a research paper are properly cited and all ideas are properly attributed. This paper provides a review of selected chapters from Diana Hacker's Rules for Writers (2004) to explore these issues in greater details, followed by...

According to Hacker, "A paragraph should be unified around a main point. The point should be clear to readers, and all sentences in the paragraph should relate to it" (p. 40). To help communicate what the paragraph is about, it should begin with a topic sentence but there are other factors that should be taken into account when shaping effective structure paragraphs. In this regard, Hacker advises that, "Aim for paragraphs that are clearly focused, well developed, organized, coherent, and neither too long nor too short for easy reading" (p. 40). In addition, it is important to include transition sentences in well-structured paragraphs to alert readers…