Citation:
Irvin, Lennie L. “What is ‘Academic’ Writing?”. Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. 1st ed. 2004.
Summary/Description:
In his essay, “What is Academic Writing”, Lennie Irvin tries to help students transition from writing high school level papers to writing higher levels of college papers by introducing some of the myths which intimidated incoming college students while also providing various types of writing that are typically done by students. The author depicts examples of proper writing techniques needed to write a well-rounded paper such as knowing how to communicate effectively if the paper is directed towards certain audiences. Irvine also shows how college writing doesn’t have to be extremely structured as he states that the writer should focus spreading his or her message as effectively as possible. This can either be through creativity or highly structured essays. The author closes his point by providing the most important elements that all writings should have.
Evaluation:
College students like me are the audiences for this article as the author explains the realities of college writings as well as the skills needed to succeed in them. Irvine’s points compelled me to understand how I can get the audience’s attention by applying the elements portrayed in his essay while also avoiding techniques I used in high school. This article also helped me understand the fundamental ideas needed to write an effective college paper. It helped me understand how I can organize these elements in a proper manner by placing them in certain parts of my paper to help me communicate my points to the intended audiences clearly.
Citation:
Rothman, Joshua. “Why Is Academic Writing So Academic?” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 20 Feb. 2014, www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/why-is-academic-writing-so-academic.
Summary/Description:
Modern-day academic writing has transformed into a highly structured and rigid system which is currently losing its appeal to audiences and writers. Nowadays, there are a small number of audiences for academic writing pieces as they provide mundane and technical messages which can be understood by only “intellectuals”. These writings do not contain any humor or appealing qualities that can gain an audience’s interest. As a matter of fact, academic writing is serious and oversensitive that can only be appealing to the writer. Students are forced to learn academic writing as professors have embraced this system of ideas and applied it to their teachings. Hence, modern-day shifts toward gaining support and attention of a larger population diminished the popularity of academic writing.
Evaluation:
This article shows how strict and sensitive pieces of writings are currently losing its value as more and more people are turning away from writing or being audiences for academic writings. This article was interesting due to the fact that college students like me have learned the methods of academic writing during some point of our lives. Students were forced to learn and apply these methods for most of their papers when the value of it was disappearing. This article represents a larger picture of academic works to me as it highlights academic writing as a system where everyone gives into and follows.
Citation:
Orwell, George. “Why I Write,”. The Complete Works of George Orwell. 1947. http://www.resort.com/Why_I_Write/0.html.
Summary/Description:
Whenever a writer writes about anything, he or she must have and portray meaning in them. Having ideas or points which are important or appealing to the writer is important as emotional expressions can drive him or her to convey it in a particular way. When a writer writes a piece that isn’t anything meaningful to him or her the piece essentially becomes invaluable. A meaning gives the author a purpose to write, whether it’s to express certain views or to talk about an important manner. They may also do it for personal reasons such as hoping to gain respect or support from others. Hence, the author’s primary purpose of this article is to show the importance of having meaning.
Evaluation:
This article helped me realize how important having a meaning to any form of writing is. I learned that writing a piece with any goal is essential as it can compel me to express a manner in any desired form. This desired form can help bring my writing to life as audiences find emotional expressions appealing and indulging.