Discourse, the ability no other animal, or being, on Earth has perfected as well as humans. The ability to craft discourse has been unique to defining our level of sophistication and intellect as a species. However, this level of sophistication varies from individual to individual, depending on the many experiences or transitions experienced throughout an individual’s life. Transitioning into university presents an overwhelming amount of new obstacles and hurdles. One of the many hurdles is academic writing. However, academic writing is merely a composition of three elements: forum, genre, and audience. Together, these elements can aid in producing successful works of academic discourse. Undoubtedly, the simplest element of academic writing
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The audience is both aware of the forum and genre of the discourse being presented. In Bartholomae’s essay, he addresses the first student as a systematic researcher who, “Moves quickly into a specialized language (his approximation of our jargon) and draws both a general, textbook-like conclusion” (Bartholomae 48). In this example, Bartholomae illustrates that this student effectively addresses the audience in their own specialized “jargon” (Bartholomae 48). Although it may be specialized, it gives the writer a sense of authority and knowledge about the subject, while also giving the mature audience more depth on the subject. Thus, the student gave the audience, a group of professors, a thorough piece of discourse, rather than an elementary styled piece of discourse. Expanding, Davis provides an excerpt from Lucille McCarthy’s research project stating, “The purpose for the writing task and the student’s involvement with the task were important to the writer’s success; this implies that students write better if they are actively involved in the topic they are writing about” (Davis 87). The reason many writers struggle during the formative years of university is partly due to the fact they are exposed to a variety of courses that hardly pertain to their major. This phenomenon has two effects on a student at university. For one, the student can master the use of discourse in multiple forums and genres in such a …show more content…
Starting off, Irvin illustrates a key point about perfect drafts by stating, “We put unrealistic expectations on early drafts, either by focusing too much on the impossible task of making them perfect, or by making too little effort … inevitable problems” (Irvin 148). Irvin remedies this problem by suggesting that students compose an archaic draft, then build upon that draft with polished ideas and grammar. Building upon Irvin’s suggestion, a student can also use this archaic draft to get feedback from other students, professors, or simply individuals within the discourse community being addressed. By undergoing this formative essay process, a student can better address the forum, genre, and audience of a discourse community. Likewise, Irvin proposes the single most important aspect of academic writing in university as applying argumentative points throughout an essay. Irvin explicitly states this point with the phrase, “In college, Evertyhing’s an Argument” (Irvin 152). Arguments are simply the pinnacle of a paper. They are statements that are deduced from information and reprocessed in a fashion that is intended to sway an audience’s opinion about a subject. Otherwise, the audience is merely given a book report, rather than a piece of academic writing that provides insight, as well as a response to the information. Bartholomae expresses this point
The audience is both aware of the forum and genre of the discourse being presented. In Bartholomae’s essay, he addresses the first student as a systematic researcher who, “Moves quickly into a specialized language (his approximation of our jargon) and draws both a general, textbook-like conclusion” (Bartholomae 48). In this example, Bartholomae illustrates that this student effectively addresses the audience in their own specialized “jargon” (Bartholomae 48). Although it may be specialized, it gives the writer a sense of authority and knowledge about the subject, while also giving the mature audience more depth on the subject. Thus, the student gave the audience, a group of professors, a thorough piece of discourse, rather than an elementary styled piece of discourse. Expanding, Davis provides an excerpt from Lucille McCarthy’s research project stating, “The purpose for the writing task and the student’s involvement with the task were important to the writer’s success; this implies that students write better if they are actively involved in the topic they are writing about” (Davis 87). The reason many writers struggle during the formative years of university is partly due to the fact they are exposed to a variety of courses that hardly pertain to their major. This phenomenon has two effects on a student at university. For one, the student can master the use of discourse in multiple forums and genres in such a …show more content…
Starting off, Irvin illustrates a key point about perfect drafts by stating, “We put unrealistic expectations on early drafts, either by focusing too much on the impossible task of making them perfect, or by making too little effort … inevitable problems” (Irvin 148). Irvin remedies this problem by suggesting that students compose an archaic draft, then build upon that draft with polished ideas and grammar. Building upon Irvin’s suggestion, a student can also use this archaic draft to get feedback from other students, professors, or simply individuals within the discourse community being addressed. By undergoing this formative essay process, a student can better address the forum, genre, and audience of a discourse community. Likewise, Irvin proposes the single most important aspect of academic writing in university as applying argumentative points throughout an essay. Irvin explicitly states this point with the phrase, “In college, Evertyhing’s an Argument” (Irvin 152). Arguments are simply the pinnacle of a paper. They are statements that are deduced from information and reprocessed in a fashion that is intended to sway an audience’s opinion about a subject. Otherwise, the audience is merely given a book report, rather than a piece of academic writing that provides insight, as well as a response to the information. Bartholomae expresses this point