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A Handbook on Thesis Writing

1 BASICS OF THESIS WRITING
Thesis Writing is a requirement for graduating students particularly those who opted for Plan A (Thesis) instead of a comprehensive examination. This book focuses on the mechanics on how to develop a thesis and is made simple for easy understanding of the processes. Many students are confronted with tasks that demand good writing skills. They need guidance on how to go about the complex job of writing a thesis or dissertation. This book will therefore serve as a guide. Thesis Writing is subsumed under Technical Writing. All professional fields require technical documents that help readers perform tasks and understand specific tasks. As mentioned by some authors, thesis is classified under technical writing as it provides vital information to specific readers. Technical Writing refers to the provision of specific information to clearly identified readers who will use the information for a specific purpose.

KEY FEATURES OF TECHNICAL WRITING Three Elements of Technical Writing. The elements are reader, purpose and writing situation. The reader seeks information for a specific purpose. The purpose is to design a document that will serve the reader's need and help the reader understand the information. The writing situation consist of both reader and purpose, as well as such factors such as the sponsoring organization's size, budget, ethics, deadlines, policies, competition and priorities. Three General Stages of Technical Writing. The stages are planning, multiple drafting and revising/editing. In the Planning stage– a writer analyzes the reader, purpose and writing situation; gathers information and tentatively organizes the document. All these may recur several times during the writing. Multiple drafting – a rough draft is the next step. It focuses on thoroughly developing the information you have gathered

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