from inquiry to academic writing 5th edition

from inquiry to academic writing 5th edition

The Importance of Academic Writing

1. Introduction

Taking into consideration the importance of academic writing, it is therefore crucial for students to work on individual assignments excellently. This cannot be achieved with just one instance of writing, no matter how bright a student. The first try will contain a few mistakes, deviation from the context, and will not be a perfect analysis of data. So it is vital to regularly review and edit your work while referring to your professors or a guide. This method helps take away the errors, and a final good presentation always boosts the confidence of the student. Therefore, editing is far better than the first instance, and a very good practice for editing is to keep all past drafts and make changes on a new file so that you can have a record of what was written and what it is now.

Academic writing can also be termed as a critical analysis or writing based on others’ ideas; therefore, it is important to know the source from which the data is collected is credible or not. This can be done by referring to academic books, magazines, and journals. Reading these sources will add to your knowledge; therefore, you will be able to derive useful data which can be effectively utilized in writing. In a way, academic writing is just like reading a book, taking several others’ thoughts and compiling them.

Firstly, academic writing is an important task to secure better grades. Teachers often interlink a student’s capability or intelligence by means of his/her writing. If the writing is clear, well organized, and using a range of appropriate technologies and resources, this will reflect the intelligence of the student. People who are better writers have a direct proving document of their intelligence compared to people who are not good writers because what is written can be regarded as a tangible record of what actually transpired in the person’s mind. Intelligence is no doubt a variable asset, and one might have good knowledge about a subject but cannot write it in a presentable way, and so will not be recognized for what he/she really knows.

Academic writing is an essential part of education that no student can neglect. Academic writing plays a vital role in all the academic works and assignments. There are several reasons why academic writing is important.

2. Understanding Academic Writing

Although the examples from the text are very personal and thus encourage exploration, the narrative does present some general conclusions about the nature of New Zealand. For example, personal opinions from the writer in the text such as “I think it’s down to self-sufficiency” although not fact driven encourages exploration and could lead to an academic essay examining variations in perceptions of national characteristics. This is in line with Eckersley who says “underlying the subjective notion of national identity is the assumption that a collective self exists that is deeper and more ‘authentic’ than the public image of the nation” which will often be the target of academic writing. By considering his experiences in terms of national character, Delamont’s writing on New Zealand could act as a stimulant for research in this area. An example of a general conclusion drawn about New Zealand was in its nature as an “egalitarian” society citing a supposed absence of a class structure and John Scott’s theory of embodied state to explain there are no viable forms. This sort of statement gives a tangible concept to explore in national character but does assume collective national identity is reflected through the actions of individuals. This error was picked up by the Canadian government during the 1990s in its attempts to bribe expat citizens back to Canada and restore a sense of national identity by showing the thing that made them Canadian was Canadians – a costly venture which ultimately failed. This could be taken as an example of academic analysis.

3. Developing Effective Research Skills

A clear understanding of the issue and assignment is imperative to developing effective research skills. Always keep in your mind that you are trying to find resources to help support your essay. Whether you are assigned a cause and effect essay or a compare and contrast essay, the resources you find will be used to help support your opinion and provide evidence. This evidence will later be used in the rough draft and final copy to help provide more explanation on your ideas and theory. In order to understand what is expected from you, it is important to thoroughly understand the assignment and what it is asking for. Highlight key points and always keep them in mind. This will help narrow down your resources and incorporate all the research into a sole plan.

Academic writing assignments typically ask you to consider and reflect upon the elements of a subject or topic. Often times you are asked to conduct your own research and develop an opinion. Even though your position might not be disclosed until the end of the essay, good academic writing is a completely linear process. You have to possess a deep understanding of the issue at hand. Remember that in academic writing, the author is responsible for the readability of the paper.

4. Structuring and Organizing Your Writing

The central idea behind structuring a paper is to make it as easy as possible to navigate for the reader. An effectively structured paper helps the reader follow the author’s argument. It also prevents the writer from getting stuck, forgetting the direction of the paper, or leaving out a critical point. Keep in mind the reader’s expectations and your purpose when discussing this as a high-stakes contract between the writer and the reader. The importance of academic writing frequently focuses on the significance of choosing a proper topic. But a general rule of thumb is that a well-structured paper will contain a well-structured topic. Consider the following two topics. Topic A is an excellent topic, now undoubtedly the relation to the child’s pre-operational learning that we discussed last week. I am sure that the different cognitive processes the four and five-year-olds use will probably increase their rate of false attribution. However, there were several instances during the class when you hesitated to attribute misbehavior to cognitive factors involving memory and judgment. Compare this with Topic B. Our last conversation about the current trends in NASCAR racing was quite interesting. Now, despite both being a statement of topic for a paper, it is clear that Topic A gives a plan a clear direction to follow. The goal is to frame the different cognitive processes in children, while contrasting with their elders that will give an explanation of the rate of false attribution. This would be an integral point of the paper. Fleshing this out just a bit can provide some very interesting insight and in-depth analysis as to why interference with an earlier decision is so often misconstrued. The writer using Topic A will have a greater understanding of where the topic is going. He knows that it is going to frame the child’s cognitive processes, contrast for an explanation, and finally provide instances both from class and/or the research itself. This will prevent wasted time and effort spent on things marginally related to the topic, leaving more for the reader’s satisfaction. Now a simple reiteration of the topic may not be the most exciting introduction to a paper, but there are other creative ways to get the reader into what the author is trying to do. The importance of the topic and its relation to an effective paper is that the reader is immediately aware of what to expect and can hold the author accountable to frame debates, provide resolution, and possible future discussions on the topic.

5. Mastering the Art of Persuasive Writing

The stating of the objections with a concession will show that the writer considered the different sides of the issue and will be followed by an outright refutation of the opposing claim. All this is very involving but can be extremely rewarding. The persuasive writing techniques can be learned in order to produce quality work.

Finally, the writer must anticipate and refute opposing arguments. This is an onerous task, but the mark of a good writer is the ability to know his or her own weaknesses. Failure to anticipate the reader’s concerns indicates a shortcoming in the argument’s development because a claim that is not explained is not well understood.

Next, the writer must back up his or her position with evidence. This may take the form of in-depth research on the topic with findings reported or an extensive case study.

Persuasive and argumentative writing requires the writer to assume a position and use logical and emotional appeals to convince the reader of its legitimacy. This is achieved through a careful choice of words. Adjectives and adverbs are used to create the emotional language essential to the success of the argument. Similes and metaphors are also effective in this regard.