Academic Writing
Throughout a person’s educational career, he or she has done some type of academic writing in high school and college. In fact, basic academic writing can start as early as middle school. So why is academic writing considered so important? Well, maybe because it helps us think critically and allows us to write with a purpose in mind. Although academic writing enhances many skills, it is typically unappealing to writers as it requires them to follow certain guidelines in which their writings are primarily judged off of how well they have followed such rules. Academic writing is also more self-centered as topics written using the elements of it cover more sensitive and serious subjects rather than humor or creativity. There is a huge difference between academic writing and other forms of simpler writings. Other than having pages of analytical claims and reasoning which may be obscure for those who are unfamiliar with the topic, academic writing is used to spread a critical message or a persuasive claim. The writing is organized in a way that depicts the author’s intention on what his or her goals are when writing. Academic writing is written in a highly structured format in which the writer conveys his or her points by using a specific tone and by utilizing logical reasoning to support his or her claims. My experience with academic writing has been neutral as the amount of times I have done it throughout my career has helped me gain enough practice to excel at it, while the elements of it makes me dislike academic writing as they compel me to make my writing highly structured using specific methods learned throughout my college and high school career.
Academic writing can be classified as a set of principles and concepts in which the main purpose is supported with detailed and persuasive arguments backed by factual evidences. The structure for most academic writing is an organized format. This means that these types of writing start off with a beginning where the topic first gets introduced. Then the middle part is when claims are introduced in which the writer has to back them up with factual support using credible references. It then ends with a conclusion providing a deep and clear explanation on how and why the evidence supports the claim. Academic writing is primarily constructed around sending a message based on theoretical thoughts and ideas. In his article, Joshua Rothman states how academic writing is there to achieve an “ambiguous mission.” (Rothman). Its primary purpose is to break apart abstract ideas into a bit simpler terms and expanding arguments on them using logical reasoning. These are concepts that can’t be described simple words; rather, these ideas need an explanation using technical terms that can only be understood by a few. Hence, certain topics require the right audiences. Joshua Rothman uses Kristof’s statement to explain how academic writing is a “culture of exclusivity.” (Rothman) Certain topics of academic writing are not intended to serve everyone. A viable audience is someone who has a prior knowledge about a topic presented and has views that can relate or oppose to the writer’s outlooks. Therefore, academic writing is directed towards a small group of people who are mostly knowledgeable people being able to grasp certain theoretical topics and contribute to them by sharing their perspectives. A proper tone is also important to highlight important information that the audiences should be aware of. Without changes in tone, the writing wouldn’t look appealing which can prevent audiences from understanding the writer’s concepts in a way he or she intended to express. Lastly, there has to be a purpose for academic writing as it focuses on strict topics. Without a goal or purpose in mind, the writer will be unable to express his or her thoughts in a clear manner which cannot be as persuasive or comprehensive to the audience. As a result, the writing becomes invaluable when attempting to achieve a goal.
The ability to succeed as an academic writer depends entirely on the mindset of the person. My experience with academic writing has given me a combination of positive and negative perceptions. Initially academic writing was my most hated task to accomplish. Since academic writing can be based around closed or open prompts with theoretical analysis and ideas, it required critical thinking skills which I lacked in the beginning. Each claim needs relevant evidence which then had to be backed up using additional explanations in order to provide a detailed analysis of the claim. The difficult part was finding the right evidence which connects to the claim properly and explaining how it connects the argument; it required thinking beyond the text and the prompt, and expressing my views in a way which would please a specific group of audience. Using an organized structure, each which build off another was another vital aspect which I found difficult. One of the recent academic papers I have done happened last semester was when I had to write about how the Macroeconomic issues differ from Microeconomic issues in terms of impacting the economy as a whole. I had asserted a thesis that stated “Macroeconomics differs from Microeconomics as it studies the national economy as a whole rather than individual decisions, which makes this part of Economics extremely crucial when making important choices pertaining to governments and national problems.” In order to support my thesis, I had to bring up a couple claims to show how Macroeconomics was more important than Microeconomics and back these up using factual evidence from credible sources. I was compelled to write in an extremely technical style, using economic terms learned in class when presenting and backing up my claims. The writing was directed towards my professor and my peers as the main audiences as they were proficient with the terms and the topics that were discussed.
Although academic writing helped me enhance my critical thinking skills, it forced me to refrain my creativity in college as I was forced to write a certain way. I found this frustrating day by day in the beginning as I was required to follow an abstract guideline which made me avoid practicing new techniques with my writing or adding creativity. Writing a few pages felt extremely difficult from following the rules set by academic writing. However, with enough practice I learned the skills needed to excel in academic writing. The best advice that I can offer to any incoming student who have to write college papers using the elements of academic writing is to keep practicing. Understanding the task in the beginning plays a crucial role in writing a good paper. It is best for the writer to know his or her purpose for writing and how he or she is going to deliver that message to the audience in a clear and organized manner. As long as one can understand and analyze texts to use them as evidence when arguing a claim, he or she will be off to the right start. The most crucial part is supporting the claim with relevant evidence and explaining how the evidence connects to the claim. Also another important aspect noted by Lennie Irvine which I found helpful is “whenever the author is moving from one main point to the next, the author needs to clearly signal to the reader that this movement is happening.” (Irvine) From providing a smooth transition, the reader will be able to understand the author’s points in a clearer manner, thus allowing a better opportunity to get main points across efficiently.
Academic writing, though intimidating and frustrating, can become easier with enough practice. There is a strict guideline that one must follow which can be confusing and abstract. However, once the writer understands how to approach the task, he or she can organize where to place the claims and how to explain each of them using evidence. Speaking from personal experience, academic writing can be unappealing due to its principles. In fact, many people may never be perfect at it. In order to improve as an academic writer, one must have a proper understanding of the principles and the task in which academic writing’s standards must be applied. From this, people can enhance not only their critical thinking skills but also improve their persuasive strategies.