Wednesday, January 28, 2015

What is Academic Writing?

"I'll take 'Go Back to College' for 800, Alex."

I'M ON JEOPARDY!

To enter the conversation as an academic writer means that you are adding your two cents in on a topic or issue that has already been discussed.  You enter the conversation, say what you have found, and then leave (in this case in the form of the paper).  The conversation keeps going after you have finished, but now it includes your research and your contribution.

In order to enter the conversation, writers must effectively synthesize the "They Say" on the subject and then convey the "I Say".  You gather evidence from credible sources, presenting both sides of the argument, and then respond using your personal experience and references to the research you've done.  The art of summary and then response requires practice, and using some of the templates in "They Say I Say" are a great start.

In academic writing, it is important to keep your audience in mind.  First, you need to decide who your audience is going to to be.  Are they experts in the field? Or do they only have basic knowledge on the subject and need more guidance?  Once you've decided that, you can determine what they need from you.  Writing is a conversation, thus, you have to engage readers and them how this said issue/topic affects them.  You need the "So what?" of your argument.  What are you trying to convey to readers, what is the point of your paper?

Picking a topic to write about can be the most difficult part of writing.  Most of the time, the issue is that the topic is just too broad, like you are "trying to change the world with one paper".  Finding a research question is a project in itself.  You can start by choosing a topic and then asking yourself what you want to find out within that topic, and then following that up with what you want your readers to take away or understand from your paper.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

1st blog post!

 As I writer, I am very organized, fact-driven, and to the point.  In English 201, I hope to learn how to write directly, yet more creatively.  Whenever I write research papers, my paragraphs are definitely fact-heavy, thus I hope to learn to write more conversationally and in turn put more of myself into my writing.  My writing may seem "cold" but I am a very logical thinker and that's how my writing comes across.  I'm a very curious person and I'm excited to pursue topics related to my field (education) that I feel passionate about.  I think that this class will open up my mind to different ways of writing and in turn make me a better writer.  Like I said before, I'm going into Education, elementary specificallyIts very interesting to me to look at the home lives of students.  Some students' home lives are not supportive, and thus, changes their mindset towards school.  I also am very interested in sociology and maybe combining that with education will produce a very interesting research question.  Some other topics I'm interested within that umbrella are the differences (pros/cons) of public schooling compared to private schooling, and also how the "common core" initiative is changing schooling.  And although I'm not going into law enforcement, crime and the psychology behind it has always been a topic I have been curious about.