Academic writing is clear, concise, focussed, structured and backed up by

evidence. Its purpose is to aid the reader’s understanding.

It has a formal tone and style, but it is not complex and does not require the
use of long sentences and complicated vocabulary.

Each subject discipline will have certain writing conventions, vocabulary and
types of discourse that you will become familiar with over the course of your
degree. However, there are some general characteristics of academic writing
that are relevant across all disciplines.

Characteristics of academic writing

Academic writing is:

 Planned and focused: answers the question and demonstrates an

understanding of the subject.
 Structured: is coherent, written in a logical order, and brings together
related points and material.
 Evidenced: demonstrates knowledge of the subject area, supports
opinions and arguments with evidence, and is referenced accurately.
 Formal in tone and style: uses appropriate language and tenses, and
is clear, concise and balanced.
 DESCRIPTIVE WRITING
 Descriptive writing has a unique power and appeal, as it evokes sights, smells, sounds,
textures, and tastes. Using description in your writing brings the world within your text to your
reader.

Creating A Dominant Impression

The first step in using effective description is to focus on a dominant impression. A dominant
impression creates a mood or atmosphere in your paper. This mood can be conveyed throug
Can you feel the mood of this paragraph? The author is trying to convey a feeling
of safety, comfort, and happiness. Notice how the author does not tell the reader she feels safe
and happy. She shows the reader through descriptive detail. Her dominant impression is one of
comfort and happiness.

Sensory Details
Sensory description uses sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste to sketch an impression in writing.
Consider a paragraph without sensory description.

Analytical writing style is often called for at university level. It involves reviewing what you’ve read in light of other
evidence. Analytical writing shows the thought processes you went through to arrive at a given conclusion and
discusses the implications of this. Analytical writing usually follows a brief description and focuses on answering
questions like: ‘why?’ ‘how?’ and ‘so what?’

What is persuasive writing?

Persuasive writing is a written form of an oral debate and can be a fun and interesting style of writing for students.
Persuasive writing is used to convince or persuade a reader that the writer’s opinion of a topic or cause is correct.
When writing persuasive essays students need to be well versed in word selection, framing logical arguments and
creating a strong cohesive closing argument.
Why is persuasive writing important?
For students, persuasive writing can be a wonderful means of expressing their views about a subject. It is a way to
tap into what students are passionate about and give them the opportunity to do research on subjects that they are
interested in. This helps students be more involved in their class work.
Engaging in persuasive writing also helps students improve skills such as different styles of writing, writing structure,
doing research, and forming evidence based logical conclusions, opinions and arguments.
 What is critical writing?
The most characteristic features of critical writing are:

 a clear and confident refusal to accept the conclusions of other writers without evaluating
the arguments and evidence that they provide;

 a balanced presentation of reasons why the conclusions of other writers may be

accepted or may need to be treated with caution;

 a clear presentation of your own evidence and argument, leading to your conclusion;
and

 a recognition of the limitations in your own evidence, argument, and conclusion.

Academic writing styles: Persuasive academic writing

OCTOBER 9, 2019 BY TAA 0 COMMENTS

Academic writing is far from a one-size-fits-all genre. Applicable to the broad

variety of academic disciplines and their unique approaches to conducting and documenting research efforts in
the field, one might find it challenging to identify clearly what constitutes academic writing.
In our latest series of #AcWriChat TweetChat events on Twitter, we explored four commonly accepted
academic writing styles: descriptive, analytical, persuasive, and critical. This article focuses on the discussion
about the third of those four styles – persuasive academic writing.

Defining persuasive academic writing

We began our discussion with the foundational question, “What is persuasive academic writing?” Eric
Schmieder replied, “Academic persuasive writing is research-based articles intended to encourage others to see
your point of view on a topic of interest or discussion.”

An online resource from Roane State Community College distinguishes a persuasive essay from a typical
research paper stating, “It’s important to remember that a persuasive essay doesn’t simply report information
(like a typical research paper would)–it uses that information to make an argument or prove a point!”

Virginia Kearney with Owlcation provides a list of 100 Academic Persuasive Research Topics for
consideration. She introduces the list with an answer to our fundamental question, saying that in academic
persuasive writing “Your job is to make a claim and support it using facts, logic, and research.”

Choosing an argument that is discussable/debatable

Perhaps one of the hundred topics on Kearney’s list fits your research interests, but if not, our discussion
continued with the question, “How do you choose an argument?” Specifically, “What factors are critical to
ensuring the topic is discussable/debatable?”

Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL) claims that “An argumentative or persuasive piece of writing
must begin with a debatable thesis or claim. In other words, the thesis must be something that people could
reasonably have differing opinions on.” For topics that may be worthy of argument, the Natural Therapies
Institute states, “Hot issues in the news often make good topics for argument essays because the majority of
people are aware of them.”

In their article, “Tips on How to Write and Argumentative Essay”, ThoughtCo offers, “To find a good topic for
an argumentative essay, consider several issues and choose a few that spark at least two solid, conflicting
points of view.”

Schmieder noted during the discussion, “I find that I can argue either side of a topic (and sometimes enjoy
researching and arguing against my beliefs) but I tend to be more effective when the argument is something
with personal conviction or impact.”

Whether arguing for or against your personal beliefs, it’s important to understand that “A discussable issue is
one that can be debated.” Butte College offered this definition with the additional advice to “Choose a topic
about which there can be more than one reasonable opinion” when writing a persuasive essay.

Selecting supportive research

Once a suitable topic has been selected for an argumentative or persuasive essay, it is equally important to find
research that supports the claim you choose to defend with your work.
The University of Montana Writing Center offers three ways to support an argument: statistics, examples, and
expert opinion. Scribendi echoes these methods in their article, “Helpful tips for writing a successful
persuasive essay”, stating, “It is important to be able to back up your argument with data. In order to further
strengthen the argument in your persuasive essay, try using one or two direct quotes from experts on the
topic.”

Addressing the counter-argument

When writing a persuasive academic paper on a topic with at least two conflicting points of view, there will, of
course, be a counter-argument to whichever point of view you choose to support with your efforts. So how do
you address the counter-argument in order to overcome objections to your claim?

The Harvard College Writing Center resource on counterargument, says “When you counter-argue, you
consider a possible argument against your thesis or some aspect of your reasoning.” According to Walden
University, “Addressing counterarguments also gives you an opportunity to clarify and strengthen your
argument, helping to show how your argument is stronger than other arguments.”

During the chat event, Schmieder said, “If you’ve carefully selected an argument, you have likely thought of
the objections ahead of time and can plan your argument to meet those counter-claims before they are
presented.”

Convincing the reader

Now that you have considered the counter-argument, we asked “What elements of your writing can help
convince the reader of your argument?” The Quad offers 7 Quick Tips for Writing a Great Persuasive
Essay and Schmieder responded saying that the important elements are “consistent tone and message, cohesive
easy-to-follow structure, and a clear position/thesis”, but Editex may answer this question best with their “10
Easy Steps to Convincing your Reader with Compelling Academic Writing”, as follows:

1. Make a valid and supportable claim

2. Use engaging storytelling
3. Focus on one side of an argument only
4. Conduct in-depth audience analysis
5. Work on persuasive strategy
6. Keep all ideas clearly organized
7. Use strong and active language
8. Select your sources wisely
9. Smoothly transition between ideas
10. Use examples to demonstrate your point
Organizing the paper for persuasive effect

Hamilton College claims that “No matter how intelligent the ideas, a paper lacking a strong introduction, well-
organized body paragraphs and an insightful conclusion is not an effective paper.” Schmieder agrees stating,
“An organized paper allows the reader to follow the argument from start to finish and fully understand the
author’s reasoning, supportive research, and natural conclusion drawn from the presented information.”
A Washington College online resource offers eight patterns of organization: chronological, sequential, spatial,
compare-contrast, advantages-disadvantages, cause-effect, problem-solution, and topical.

In closing for the TweetChat event, we asked, “How do you assess the organization of the article during the
revision process?” Schmieder suggested the use of reverse outlines, stating, “Reverse outlining is a good way
to review the organization of the article and determine if the intended argument is being made clearly. If the
sequence of the narrative is off, you will quickly identify where revision or re-organization may be needed.”

Regardless of technique, Time4Writing.com says, “In the revision phase, students review, modify, and

reorganize their work with the goal of making it the best it can be.” and suggests keeping the following
considerations in mind:

 Does the essay present a firm position on the issue, supported by relevant facts, statistics, quotes,
and examples?
 Does the essay open with an effective “hook” that intrigues readers and keeps them reading?
 Does each paragraph offer compelling evidence focused on a single supporting point?
 Is the opposing point of view presented and convincingly refuted?
 Is the sentence structure varied? Is the word choice precise? Do the transitions between sentences
and paragraphs help the reader’s understanding?
 Does the concluding paragraph convey the value of the writer’s position and urge the reader to think
and act?

1. Analyze the essay prompt

The most important step in writing an essay or research paper is to fully

comprehend the essay question. An essay can be wonderfully articulated
and thought out, but will still result in a poor grade if it doesn’t adequately
answer the prompt provided. Break the prompt down into two parts.

1. What is the prompt directly asking?

o What is the essay topic?
o What research do I need to do to fully understand the topic?
o How long does the essay need to be?
2. What is the prompt indirectly asking?
o Is the prompt asking for my opinion, the opinion of credible scholarly
sources, or facts?
o How can I relate this essay topic to what we have covered in class?

Once these questions have been answered, you can begin constructing your
essay.
2. Create a thesis statement

Start your essay with a thesis statement that will guide your entire
paper. Based on the prompt, what do you want to argue in your essay? Your
thesis statement should be concise, but incorporate all the main points you'd
like to address in your paper. Continually refer to your thesis statement when
writing your essay and make sure to never stray from your main points. A
good thesis statement can be the difference between an A and a B.

3. Make an outline

Use an outline to plan out your essay/research paper before writing it.
Working from your thesis statement, plot out how you want your paper to
flow and what information you want to include. This will make writing the full
draft of your paper much easier

4. Begin with the body, not the introduction

Don't start with the introduction. The introduction is where some students

struggle the most, so to avoid getting bogged down, create the
introduction later. This will allow you to fully form your thoughts and ideas
and come back and integrate the main ideas into your introduction.

5. Begin each paragraph with a topic sentence

Begin each paragraph with a topic sentence, which expresses the main idea of
the paragraph. Each paragraph should contain quotes or contextual
information to defend your topic sentence and thesis statement.

6. Use credible sources

Quotes and contextual information are important for establishing credibility

and supporting your argument, so make sure that the quotes and information
are coming from credible scholarly sources. Examples of scholarly sources
include academic journals, peer-reviewed articles, textbooks, books by
accredited authors, and NPR articles. Examples of unacceptable scholarly
sources are magazine articles, open forum submissions, encyclopedia entries,
and unverified online sources. If you’re looking for credible sources to use
within your essay, check out Google Scholar.

7. Don't fake it

Teachers aren’t dumb. They know when you don’t fully understand the essay
topic and when you’re rambling to make it longer. Don’t use fluff to bulk up
your essay.  Instead, make sure that every sentence adds substance to your
work. If it isn’t absolutely necessary, cut it out. Most teachers would rather
have a well-written essay that doesn’t quite meet the length requirement
than a paper that meets the requirement, but is 80 percent fluff.

8. Conclude your essay

Your conclusion should always begin by restating your thesis statement. This is
your chance to tie all of your main points together and go out with a bang. A
good conclusion will address the main arguments of each body
paragraph in a succinct way and thoroughly prove your thesis statement.

9. Proofread, then proofread again

Reviewing is critical to composing a great essay. Some teachers won't even

finish reading essays if they're not grammatically sound or riddled with
spelling errors. Here are a few ways to make your essay/research paper more
academically acceptable and better overall.

 Take out all conjunctions (aren’t, don’t, couldn’t, etc.). This will make
your paper longer and is more appropriate for academic writing.
 Print out your paper, read it, and mark it up. You will notice more errors
when reading it this way than on a computer screen.
 Have friends or parents read it. A second set of eyes can catch any
mistakes you missed.
 Read it out loud. This will help with grammar mistakes. If it sounds
wrong, it probably is.