Intro to Academic Writing(适合学术英语写作、四六级考试)

Dear students,

A Brief Introduction to the Course of

Academic Writing

Let

me begin by

informing

you that

your success

in this course

will depend a

lot on

the

extent

to

which

you

understand

this

introduction;

always

keep

it

in

mind,

and

always apply it in your writing homework assignments and other essays written under

the course.

A) Alternative Names for the Course

The

following

alternative

names

that

we

may

use

for

this

course

may

help

you

get

an

idea

of

what

this

course

is

all

about

and

the

method,

style,

or

approach

that we are going to be using in our essays.

i)

ii)

iii)

iv)

v)

vi)

Academic Essay Writing

Research Project Writing

Research Methodology

Thesis Writing

Position Paper Writing

Argumentation

B) Some General Things to Keep in Mind about

Academic Writing

1) Academic Writing is Different from other forms of writing.

The first thing I would like you to keep in mind about Academic Writing is that, as its

name suggests,

it

is DIFFERENT

from the other

forms of writing such as

literature

and/or

fiction;

including

prose,

poetry,

play/drama

etc.

Unlike

the

other

forms

of

writing

in

which the writer

may

just express

his/her emotions and

imaginations, and

use

any

style

that

pleases

him/her

including

description,

narration

and

suspense,

Academic

Papers,

Writings,

Works,

or

Projects

are

usually

based

on

existing

social

realities, issues, and facts.

2) Academic Writing is not Creative Writing, and there is no fiction in it.

It

is

worth reiterating

that

Academic Writing

is

“

not Creative Writing

”

like

fictions

in

which

the writer can apply

his/her

imaginative skills

and use a

lot of

imaginary or

“

made up

”

information. Virtually all the academic essays that you will ever write will

be

about

and/or

base

on

real

social

phenomena

and

issues,

and

not

imagined

ones.

That

is

why

all

your

essays

would

be

based

on

facts,

reasoning

or

logic,

and

evidences.

3)

In

Academic

Writing,

we

use

the Research

and

Writing

methods

used

in

the

Social Sciences.

Given

that

virtually

all

the

topics,

issues,

and

phenomena

to

be

written

about

in

Academic Writing are social realities, I will be teaching you (and requiring you to use)

the

research

and

writing

methods

used

in

the

Social

Sciences,

and

not

those

“

free- style

”

methods

used

in

the

in

the

Arts,

including

literature,

and

neither

the

simple description and

narration

used

in

the Natural Sciences. I

would advice

you to

prepare

yourselves

for thinking or reasoning and writing

like Social Science students.

They are

logical, analytical, convincing (with persuasion and evidence), and coherent

in

their

presentations.

And

since

their

information

and

pieces

of

evidence

are

never

based on imagination, they

always acknowledge their sources through paraphrases

and quotations which are further documented in their footnotes or endnotes.

4)

The

main,

if

not

the

only

writing

style

used

in

Academic

Writings

is

that

of

Argumentation

–

It is like debating

by

way of

writing.

Having said that

Academic

Writing

is

not

Creative

Writing,

and

thus

the

writing

style

used

is

not

“

free- style

”

,

let

’

s

look at

the style

used

in Academic Writing.

It

is called

“

Argumentation

”

. It

has

been mentioned above (perhaps repeatedly) that virtually all our academic essays will

be based on real social

topics, phenomena, and/or

issues. And, as

you know,

virtually

all

social

topics

are

controversial

and

thus

debatable.

So,

Academic

Writing

is

like

Debating,

though

this

time,

it

is

done

in

writing.

Every

debater

or

academic

writer

must

be

able

to

begin

by

quickly

presenting

the

topic

and

its

“

Problematic< /p>

”

or

the

controversy

and

then

“

making

a

clear

or

unambiguous

and

balanced

argument

”

or

“

taking a clear or

unmistakable stance

”

, or call

it

“

a clear and

unequivocal position

”

,

or

stating

a

clear

thesis

”

.

With

this

method

of

Argumentation,

the

writer

must

state

his/her argument/thesis/stance/position on the

issue as early as possible before

using

the

rest

of

the

essay

to

explain,

substantiate,

support,

and/or

prove

that

his/her

argument

is

correct

and

the

best.

The

Thesis

(usually

stated

in

the

introduction

or

very early

in

the

essay)

is

the

main argument of

the essay

.

But within

the essay

,

the

writer will

use many smaller arguments to support the big or

main argument. And the

writer

must

conclude

by

making

a

summary

of

all

such

smaller

arguments

which

he/she

has

used

to

support

and

prove

his/her

main

argument

as

correct.

–

see

the

section on the Structure of an Academic Essay

.

5) An academic Writing

must

be an unbiased or objective and comprehensive or

holistic analysis of the topic or issue under discussion.

In addition to being coherent and

logical,

any Academic

Writer that would

like

to be

respected

must do

his/her best to be a

neutral or

unbiased and objective analyst.

The

academic

writer

must try to keep all personal emotions and sentiments out of

his/her

analyses. For example, he/she must not support Country X simply because he/she is a

citizen or

national of the country;

he/she

must

not support

the students or

the school

administrators

simply

because

he/she

is

one

of

them;

she

must

not

support

women

simply because

she

is

female, and

he

must

not support the

men simply because

he

is

male. He/or she has to be rational, objective, and honest with the facts.

6) The academic writer must demonstrate critical thinking