Learn the Rules and Tools for Good Academic Writing

Focus, Development, Organization, Sources, Technique, Editing

 By Randee Baty at The Lukeion Project

    “My teacher just doesn’t like my writing style!” I remember my daughter coming home from college with this complaint about her English professor.

    Most writing instructors and professors don’t care about style, at least not as students think about "writing style.” Those that evaluate student writing for a living have fairly objective criteria for judging a student’s work, whether it is creative, academic, or any other type of writing. Parents and students alike can learn to apply the same criteria to any writing project to see if something is objectively well-written or poorly written.

    Writing instructors, at least the kind most likely to help build strong student writing skills, typically use rubrics to grade writing. If they don’t use a rubric, they have some sort of checklist that keeps them focused on objectively analyzing student writing. Our rubric for research writing at The Lukeion Project has six criteria: focus, development, organization, use of sources, technique, and editing. These guideposts provide clear goals for students to meet without worrying whether the instructor “likes” their “style” or even agrees with their conclusions!

Focus

    The paper should relentlessly focus on the prompt given. For instance, if a student is asked to analyze Moby-Dick, they are not being asked for a biography of Herman Melville. That is extraneous information unless something in Moby-Dick specifically relates to the author’s life. Then the student would need to give enough information to relate those elements together, but not more. Analyze the prompt, know what you are being asked, and don’t stray away from the prompt as you devise your answer. If you do, the instructor will deduct points because of a lack of focus. Well-written papers are focused.

Development   

    Whatever point the writer wishes to make requires evidence or analytical reasoning to back it up. Unsupported statements or claims will not fly in academic writing. If a student says that Julius Caesar was an ambitious leader on his way to becoming a tyrant, he must provide plenty of evidence to support his conclusion. The student can’t, like Brutus and Cassius, simply make guesses about Caesar’s plans. Students should give examples of his behavior and use analysis of his behavior and accomplishments to make their point. Vague thoughts or feelings won’t work. It’s all about evidence and analysis. Whether or not the instructor agrees with conclusions does not matter in the paper’s grade as long as the writer has strong support and evidence to back up the argument. Well-written papers have evidence and analysis to support the author’s point.

Organization

    A good paper will have proper essay structure, paragraph structure, and reasonable progression through the argument being made. The essay needs to begin with an introduction that ends in a thesis statement. Well-developed body paragraphs must follow with relevant evidence. Evidence and analysis must relate back to the thesis statement without getting off track. The conclusion should tie all the evidence together and answer the “so what?” test (your readers should never wonder “so what?” after reading your work).

    Paragraphs should begin with a topic sentence, and everything in that paragraph must relate to that topic sentence. One point of the student’s argument must logically follow the previous point. If a student argues that settling Mars is too expensive for NASA to consider, she shouldn’t follow that conclusion by listing the benefits of settling Mars. Simply following logical thought-progressions will go a long way to improve a good analytical project. Check through the paper to ensure it progresses in an organized manner toward the conclusion. Well-written papers are organized and flow from one point to the next.

Excellent Sources

  Use sources appropriate to the paper. Always use them in a way that enhances the argument rather than hijacking it. Always cite the sources are appropriately. Appropriate sources offer credibility to the written project, but students struggle to understand what sources trustworthy and which ones are best left out. For example, some hobbyist’s blog or opinion piece won’t offer much credibility but a source written by a person with a proven academic track record as an expert in the topic will be best for a good academic assignment. Check the credentials of the writer so you are only using the best and most reliable expert sources. If you can’t tell who the author is or find out that author’s background in that subject area, don’t use that source! 

Works that are older than about 25 years should be used with caution on many academic topics to avoid using out-of-date information. Only use an older source if you can verify that that source is foundational and formative for an understanding of your subject matter. If you aren’t aware how much more we’ve come to know about most subjects over the last 25 years, you are the perfect candidate to avoid all older academic sources! In that span of time, we’ve gone from email being new and optional to vast libraries of data being accessible at every laptop in mere seconds after a few keystrokes. Most 16-year-old writers can’t appreciate what data-accessibility has done to change the shape of research in the last two decades. Parents, here’s where you get to entertain your student with stories about life before technology!   

Once you accumulate several reliable researchers in your subject matter, don’t let those sources replace the point that you want to make. Quoting extensively from a biography on J.R.R. Tolkien must never replace the argument you were supposed to be making on the influences of Finnish authors on The Lord of the Rings. Quotations or information from any source must enhance what the student has already observed from their reading of Tolkien. Don’t let one (or two or three) sources hijack a paper. An author must always do her own analysis. Too many quotations turn the paper into a wiki rather than an academic research paper and will show the instructor that you are more focused on hitting the word-count rather than examining and analyzing relevant information.  

Part of using sources well is mastering how to cite sources well. Citing your sources is a foundational principle in academic writing but it strikes fear in the heart of student and parent alike primarily due to a lack of experience with citation. The good news is this: methods for citing are set. Students should learn either MLA or APA formatting as early as possible during late middle school and high school. MLA is the most used formatting method in the humanities and by most colleges. Various resources are available to help students learn these methods but writing that doesn’t cite sources will be graded very harshly. Good writing uses sources must support rather than hijack an argument and all sources must be cited whether they are being quoted or employed to supply any relevant data.

Technique

There are several essential writing conventions that young authors must learn, master, and employ evermore. These are the basic rules of academic writing. These techniques are fairly different from casual writing (like this blog) or creative composition. Being aware of these academic writing laws show that the student writer comprehends the task well and is writing skillfully.  These are things that can be objectively graded because good writing uses the techniques expected when one scholar writes to another. Here are a few of the biggies on the list of academic writing laws:

• Always write in third person (he, she, it, they) with no first (I, we) or second person (you) ever appearing in any academic writing.
• Keep writing concise. Use no unnecessary words such as “very,” “interestingly,” “in conclusion,” “furthermore,” or “really.” In fact, simply eliminate 95% of your modifiers and intensifiers. They always clutter and conceal rather than enhance. You might arrive at your word count faster by including them, but your work will be judged more harshly.
• Remove all slang, cliches, or casual language. There’s plenty of room in casual and creative writing for these things. They don’t belong in academic writing.
• Keep the writing in an academic tone while you avoid sounding pompous or pretentious.
• Use the shortest word that fits the sentence rather than the longest word (use “use” rather than utilize “utilize.”). The reader should be able to read without stumbling over difficult constructions or long rambling sentences with too many clauses.

Proofreading

         Employ proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar always. Use proper formatting according to MLA, APA, or whatever format the instructor requires (and remember that everything in a paper is formatted). Edit your work several times before handing it off to somebody else to read. If you really want to catch all errors, have that person read your work out loud to you. No matter how many times you edit your work by reading it silently to yourself, an objective reader will always find areas that need work.

         As you can read, nothing here says anything about “style” per se. Grading for academic work is clear-cut and nothing is subjective or based on mood, whim, or personality. If you get a lower-than-preferred score, it is because one or more of these areas are lacking, not because the instructor dislikes your style. By focusing on these aspects, you’ll be able to objectively help your student--or help yourself--become a better writer.