Academic Writing

Academic writing generally refers to the kinds of prose used by college students, faculty, and researchers to write about subjects under study. Academic writing can be viewed as a kind of conversation, which is ongoing and open-ended: When new participants (students) join the conversation, they need to seek background information on the topic before they can understand and respond in a reasonable, informed manner. Then, other participants can respond to them. The conversation continues after these individuals have participated (Burke 110 – 11). It is crucial that participants deeply engage in the conversation, which entails listening to, summarizing, and responding to others’ views, that is, “using what others say ... as a launching pad or sounding board for your own ideas” (Graff and Birkenstein 3). Academic writing is based on inquiry and study, relies more on reason than emotion, and is intended to inform and evoke a response from a real or imagined audience (Thaiss and Zawacki 5 – 8).

Academic writing compared to other kinds of writing

This chart makes distinctions among creative, personal, academic, and professional writing in terms of the elements of rhetorical situations; however, these categories also overlap and have similarities. Sometimes a writer’s rhetorical situation may invite or require combining characteristics from more than one category. Also, a piece of writing can change categories; for example, a paper written by a graduate student for an academic course may later be published in a professional journal. Creative writing can be done in a private, academic, or professional setting. While creative writing is an academic discipline, it can be argued that many kinds of writing involve creativity.

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