General academic writing

Akisha PearmanUCT Writing Centre

2015

What is academic writing?

Scholarly style of expressionFormal tone – no slang, no abreviationsUsually uses third person (not “I”)Focused argument and presentation of information – no “waffle” Precise word choice

Writing that talks to the intellect, rather than appealing to emotions

Academic writing is not “better” or more “correct” than other styles of writing – but it is what is required in the university space.

Terms, rules and values to learn

Need to develop the skills and be able to “jump through the hoops”

Takes practice!

So what makes good academic writing?More than a topic...You need an approach to the topic. Are you trying to:- answer a specific question?- argue for something?- compare something – theories, data?...etc – you could be doing more than one.

Make sure you understand what you are trying to do.

Clear structure and directionWork out what you want to do in your essay / chapter– and explain this to your reader up front.

Introduction is key. • Overview / background to the issue• Specific topic / question• Your argument (thesis statement)• Roadmap: what you will be doing to

answer your question / develop your argument.

Engage respectfully but intelligently with your sources

Respectfully:• Acknowledge through correct citation.• Be polite about opposing views.• Be aware that you don’t have the final

answer • – use hedging where appropriate.

Intelligently:• Critically weigh up others’ arguments /

evidence.• Think independently. • Develop your own voice.

Provide credible evidence for your claims

What counts as evidence in academia?• Research reported in academic journals /

books / theses• Government data and statistics, e.g.

census data• Independently produced data, e.g. Large-

scale surveys, United Nations data

NOT: individual opinions (e.g. blogs), ‘common sense’, personal experience

“South Africa has very high levels of violent crime compared to other

countries.”

“South Africans are a sport-loving nation.”

“Getting adolescents involved in sports after school helps to keep them away

from drugs.”

How do you know this?What sort of evidence would be relevant

here?

Tell a coherent story

Work out your overall structure: • What are your key ideas / pieces of

information? • How are they connected to each other? • How should you move from one to the

next one, so that you tell a logical story?

This paper is all over the place!!

Where is the author taking

me??

Yikes!This is moving too

fast!!Waaaaaaaaaahhhh!

Think of stepping stones:

Talk your reader through your ideas, one step at a time.

Deal with important ideas in detail. Don’t expect the reader to know what you know.

Be clear!Make yourwork easy to read, not a slog.

Try to express

complex ideas as simply as possible.

One idea per paragraph!

Paragraph structure: topic sentence, elaboration, evidence / examples

Links between paragraphs

Cohesive writing flows by showing the connections / relationships between ideas.

Mechanics of academic writing:

the paragraph

Exercise

University of Cape Town Writing Centre

Approach: Talking through writing

Not editing service but we have lists of them

uct.mywconline.com

Thank you and see you at the Writing Centre!