Thoughts on Academic Writing

Writing is an activity I’ve always been fond of, however not so as much when it’s required of me. Nonetheless, I believe every writer has aspects to their writing that they could improve upon. In Teresa Thonney’s Teaching the Conventions of Academic Discourse, Thonney focuses on conventions and characteristics of successful academic writing, specifically how those techniques should be taught to better improve the writing of college students.
When I was reading this article, I was able to relate what Thonney was describing to the essays I have written or plan to write in the future. Thonney’s speak of academic writing was easy to follow as I write frequently for various assignments and thus found this article applicable to my current life. I liked how Thonney was able to focus on features of writing that are beneficial towards students and improving their writing. When I begin to write an essay or assignment, I will be able to refer back to Thonney’s article and apply the writing conventions to my own work. The primary audience for this text is college writing teachers, which adds an interesting perspective when reading this article as I am able to know what teachers look for when reading my work and thus include as many aspects of the article to my own writing.


One convention that was mentioned in the article was entitled “Academic Writers State the Value of Their Work and Announce the Plan for Their Papers,” which differs from the writing that I’ve done in the past as I’ve never described in any essays or papers the plan I have for my writing or a sentence explaining what my writing may be about, rather I just let that be discovered throughout the assignment. However, I see how explaining the purpose of your writing can be advantageous in academic writing as it allows your writing to be blunt and succinct with its purpose and meaning. Describing your topic in your work serves a great purpose: “Scholars must sell their work to editors and reviewers; but students too must “sell” their work to professors,” by explaining the value of your work, you set your work apart from other students and help the reader better understand your writing.


Another one of Thonney’s conventions is within the section titled “Academic Writers Adopt a Voice of Authority,” focusing on how students can create a distinct voice that builds their ethos. Within the section, the use of first and third person is differentiated: “‘Papers should be written in the third person in an objective, formal and impersonal style,” which is similar to what I am used to writing in terms of essays and more serious assignments. However, within my blog I tend to use first person as it reveals more of my voice and allows for readers to get a better grasp on my style of writing. Thonney’s paper establishes the appropriate times to use first and third person, a helpful convention when writing various pieces of work.

Comments

  1. UnknownSeptember 21, 2017 at 8:18 PM

    Thonney’s article was not what I expected an academic journal article to be. I enjoyed her article because, although we’re not her primary audience, she made us feel included. When we enter into college, people tell us the transition from high school academic writing to first year college student academic writing is difficult. Yet, Thonney makes me feel like being a successful academic writer is achievable. She has an appealing layout of her conventions which makes them seem less difficult to approach, if that makes sense. Her article was so helpful and insightful to me, I too will refer to it for other academic works.

    ReplyDelete
  2. jSeptember 21, 2017 at 11:14 PM

    I agree with Thonney that the use of first and third person is important in academic writing. I think that writing in first person is better for less formal situations as it allows writers to show their true personality and seem more personal. I also agree that third person is better suited for sounding more professional and academic such as in the article that Thonney is writing about. Another thing that I agree with is that I also thought that Thonney's writing was easy to follow as her writing was concise and to the point. She included many different specific examples that backed up her points which I thought was helpful to read.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Erin FlewSeptember 24, 2017 at 11:34 AM

    I'm glad you see how decisions like first and third person and how those decisions establish ethos can vary depending on the type of writing you are doing.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Final Dreamz

Image
So, I focused primarily on gender and the American Dream and how the opportunistic feature of the dream is unequal when concerning genders as there are certain notions embedded into society that place men at a higher ranking of success than women. The issues revolving around this idea is that the success and opportunities of women are hindered by the gender stereotypes that surround aspects of living such as education, occupations, income and more. I learned that men and women share slightly different definitions of the American Dream. In terms of the nature of the American Dream, men responded by saying that it was mostly about acquiring material goods, while women were more likely to say that the Dream was about acquiring spiritual happiness (White & Hanson 84). I found that interesting as I would of also expected a sentiment towards material goods from women, however the spiritual happiness I had expected to have greater numbers by women. More knowledge I encountered on my re...
Read more

American Values & What Not

Image
The nation as a whole is composed of various ethnicities and cultures yet America has a distinct nature and connotation associated with its individuals. When referring to Americans, the first words that may come to mind are “individualistic,” or “self-centered,” which are both entirely accurate and a distinction that shouldn’t be frowned upon by fellow Americans as that is just simply what the country was raised with. We, as Americans, are inherently individualistic people, a characteristic that was simply meant to be. In Gary Athen’s chapter entitled "American Values and Assumptions," from American Ways: A Guide for Foreigners in the United States, different American values are elaborated upon and presented in such a way that explains American behavior. Specifically, Athens discusses values including individualism and time, both of which I can relate to my own life and realize how they have exerted influence. Athens presents individualism as his first value and goes i...
Read more

Different Dreamz

Image
In the modern day it may be a bit more difficult to see the American Dream in action, as often when referring to the dream itself, people typically tend to speak about it in reference to the past, as if it has already came and gone. With this perspective, it seems as if the American Dream had more value and meaning in the past, during times when Americans needed something to hold on to. Yet, in 2017 we witness values of the American Dream, but not necessarily the dream itself in the same light as we would of in 1972. In USC Professor Walter R. Fisher’s “Reaffirmation and Subversion of the American Dream,” two American Dreams are focused upon, being a materialistic dream and a moralistic dream, both claimed to be central towards maintaining an overall dream in the country. The claims made within Fisher’s piece are relevant in modern times, specifically how materialism encourages self-centeredness and how moralistic values feed on our guilt. Materialistic values connote feelings...
Read more