Week 2 Application: Assignment 1: Essay—General Features of Academic Writing

For Assignment 3 last week, you located two academic articles for analysis: an ES article, and an O

article. This week, you will select one of those articles to analyze for features of academic writing. Your

analysis of the article also will be the basis of Discussion for this week.

To prepare for this assignment:

Review sections 2.01-2.13 in the APA Manual to become familiar with the parts of a manuscript.

Review Unit 1 in Academic Writing for Graduate Students and the Study Notes: Academic

Writing.

Review the ES article and O article you located last week, and select one of the articles to

analyze for this assignment.

The assignment:

Write a short essay (at least 1 page, no longer than 2 pages) about the characteristics of

academic writing, drawing your conclusions and examples from the article that you selected.

Cite specific examples from the article that you selected to illustrate the points that you

make. While the questions below are intended to suggest what you might write about, it is not

necessary to answer all of them.

o How would you describe the quality of the writing in the academic article that you

selected? Does it seem well written?

o In what ways is the article similar to other “good writing” that you have read in your

day-to-day life? In what ways is it different?

o What assumptions does the article make about the background of the readers? (Who

are the readers likely to be? Is the vocabulary sophisticated or technical? Does the

article assume that the readers are familiar with concepts that are likely to be known

only to people who have undertaken specialized study? For example, does it refer to

tests that members of the general public may not know about? Does it explain basic

principles of statistical analysis, or does it use such principles without explanation? Do

you notice any other assumptions?) Give specific examples to illustrate the assumptions

that you identify.

o How is the article organized? What are the major parts of the article? Do any of the

parts have subheadings? If you are writing about your ES article, how closely do the

headings match the headings and subheadings listed in the APA Manual on pages 10

and pages 23–29?

o As a reader and a writer, what challenges do you face with this kind of academic text?

o What strategies help you successfully read academic writing?

Submit your essay to the Dropbox by Day 7.

Save your Assignment as a ".doc" or ".rtf" file with the

filename lastname_firstinitial_w2_AcademicWriting. For example, Sally Ride’s assignment filename

would be "Ride_S_w2_AcademicWriting". Use the "Submit an Assignment" link, choose the Week 2:

Academic Writing basket, and then add your Assignment as an attachment.