Myth Of Academic Writing

After this semester of English 102, at Bristol Community College I feel that I have gained the skill to articulate what I want to convey to the reader in many ways. I don’t just look at grammatical error, but instead I look for ways to make my sentences more effective and concise. Nevertheless, I hope that this strategy will continue to help me improve my writing even further on in the future.

In their book They Say I Say, Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst outline strategies writers can use to avoid common mistakes often seen in academic writing. The book thoroughly outlines the different components that make up academic writing, such as initially summarizing what others have said before, responding with original ideas, proving a purpose to the writing, and connecting the writing in a logical and eloquent manner.

English classes are very important if you want to pursuit your academic goal, and there are a lot of things that I learned about academic writing in this semester. At first, I thought that it was going to be easy as long as I kept doing my brief assignments on time and showing up in classes. However, I was wrong, English is hard, especially if you are an international student because the methods of writing an essay are different. Though, I decided to take English 1301 because I wanted to be able to write something that would make it easier for a reader to understand, and of course to make me get good grades in other classes assignments. Also, because I didn’t know the difference between writing a rhetorical analysis essay and writing a normal

Young instead, encourages dropping the term code switching and adopting code meshing which promotes “blendin two or mo dialects, languages, or rhetorical forms into one sentence, one utterance, one paper”(114). Young doesn’t want writers to feel as though they have to separate the way they speak at home from their academic language. Young also points out ways in which code meshing has already taken effect in tweets from Senator Chuck Grassley to President Obama and Chris Ann Cleland’s Washington Post interview (115). I believe that code meshing is an effective way to write because it makes it easier to get your point across when you’re not worrying about using large words to make your work look better. Code meshing also catches readers attention because they feel like they can relate to what the writer is

The English language has evolved substantially since its beginning. It has evolved from sign language, to Shakespearean, to modern English we speak today. This evolution has also created a standard of writing, known as the SWE or standard written language. David Foster Wallace’s essay “Authority and American Usage”, addresses the function and importance of a writing class. Wallace finds many of these classes to be troublesome due to the lack of correct usage of standard written language. Most of Wallace’s points and opinions come from his own experiences with his writing class and his experience as a writer. I find that replicating and correctly implementing a style and format of writing that is acceptable to Wallace to

As inexperienced writers, it can be easy for students to feel like they need to overcompensate to their professors by using overly extravagant words. In today’s society, thesauruses are available at just a right click in Microsoft Word, so it becomes extremely tempting for students to switch common, “simple” words for words that seem more “sophisticated” so they can sound smart and like they understand the topic more. Even though some “sophisticated” words are more specific and can work more efficiently on many occasions, students need to be aware of their audience and what level to accommodate their

On the evening of Thursday July 23, 2015 I conducted an interview of Alex Benavides- a senior mechanical engineering major at Oklahoma State University. Benavides describes his experiences in his english courses as enjoyable, and notes that it helped him become a better writer. Benavides also states, that from personal experience during summer internships, that there are ineffective writers in positions where clean, flowing, and proper writing is a necessity. Proper grammar is essential in professional writing situations, according to Benavides, and is also often the first area critiqued by professors and teaching assistants. “You only get out what you put in when you write”, says Benavides, “be serious and grind, it makes the difference”.

Have you ever wondered whether a writer’s voice and the standard rules of academic writing can exist on the same page? According to Dr. Debra Pena, English Professor, University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and Mathew Teorey, English Professor, University of New Mexico and the author of "Using Freshman Composition to Analyze What Students Really Know about Grammar" a writer’s voice and the process of academic writing can exist on the same page (Personal Communications February 13, 2017, Teorey 2). However, my first essay In Freshman Composition II titled, “Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE): Is it the New Death Sentence for Future Athletes Playing Sports in America?” where I lost the power of my voice to the process of academic writing.

Greene, Stuart, and April Lidinsky. From Inquiry to Academic Writing: A Text and Reader. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. Print.

The close reading process of a rhetorical analysis includes breaking down an essay into different parts in order to create a certain affect towards the reader. In the article, “Should Writer’s Use They Own,” Young uses diverse language to address the idea of code meshing. Young’s rhetorical appeal in the article intersect with my reading experiences by creating a difficult read, that makes me want to take the time to identify the author’s key points within the article. The article presents two different positions in the issue, whether students should be allowed to use their native language while writing papers for school. The slang words Young uses help capture my attention throughout the article. As the article goes back and forth presenting both Fish’s and Young’s arguments, which make it difficult to keep track of who has better arguments. It is difficult to clearly the article because the article is targeted towards professors. Interacting with diverse language includes breaking down a written paper into sections in order to identify the author’s overall purpose. Throughout, my reading process of the article, I was able to see my capability of reading difficult text.

Constance Hale claims that any reader who follows her guide can easily become a ‘sentence connoisseur’ and will be able to transform mediocre writing into powerful diction, while ditching adjectives in which she refers to as ‘goo’ and ‘bad habits.’ This idea challenges the general educational system’s tendency to instill intermediary and even improper writing practices to its young and inexperienced writers, later resulting in poor compositional skills as older, amateur scholars. The argument that resonated with me and related to my own writing style the most was when she explained that adjectives can perhaps be negative in writing. Hale argues that they may ‘unintentionally’ sway the reader away from the main idea of a sentence, conveyed by

‘Helping students meet the challenges of academic writing’ by Fernsten and Reda is an interesting study how reflective writing practices can be useful for marginalized students, who are struggling with “negative writer self-identity. The possible causes according to Fernsten & Reda are, “issues such as race, class and gender that are marginalized factors for many basic writers”, in addition to the expectations of the dominant academic culture. However, even though Fernsten & Reda illuminated the ‘potential conflicts’ within the academic world, they have failed to provide conclusive evidence that supports their argument regarding their solution. Their reliance on dated research that provides a one sided historical perspective, may

Code switching is when you distinguish between the informal and formal language and use it to talk in different environments. Studies show that students are easily able to code switch depending on the audience and content. Many people believe that if teachers teach students how to code switch and why it is important, that it could make teenagers writing more sophisticated.

The ongoing debate for and against Code switching is demonstrated by reviewing the papers of Vershawn Young and Rebecca Wheeler. Mr. Young voices his harsh disapproval of code-switching in his paper, “Should Writers Use They Own English? (Young 111)”. This is offset by Rebecca Wheeler’s gently persuasive technical paper explaining her implementation of Code-switching which she titled, “Code-Switch to Teach Standard English (Wheeler 108)”. After re-reading both papers several times, trying to move past the emotion, and return to the point of having a US Standard English, I remain with my personal definition of the purpose of US Standard English as a tool to communicate.

Furthermore, perhaps the greatest contrast and the most evident of how language works differently in various types of writing is the discussion blog post. The blog post allowed the class to engage in different types of formality of language. The formality of the language one uses should match the formality of the situation and the relationship between the writer and reader. Therefore, as the public audience was a class of online students taking a required writing course in the summer, the formality of my writing has often been very informal. For example, in my blog post addressing my concern over the unworthy power of Beyoncé I wrote, “It was the year 2008 when the world was blessed with the images of Beyoncé (unapologetically) dancing around in a leotard. Not only is Beyoncé’s single lady video one of her most notable hits it begins her what is now a decade long relationship ending spree” (Marquis, 2016 ). The formality