QUESTION: I’ve been told that, if I use some big and long words, I will get a better grade. True?
Papers written for university faculty members have a higher threshold for acceptance than do papers at lower levels. They must be more sophisticated in their approach to a topic, more complex in their argumentation, more convincing in their conclusion.
Every academic writer hopes to have a paper published and widely read within the academic community. While that is a reasonable hope, it can be a distracting one during a paper’s planning and composition.
QUESTION: I have been given so many warnings about plagiarism that I am afraid to write down anything for fear I have unconsciously stolen it from someone. Am I being paranoid?
The previous paragraph communicates clearly, but conversationally. It violates several recommended principles of academic writing. “Number 1 military guy” is a colloquial expression, as are “emotional wimp” and “perfectly good” and “here and now,” among others.
The professor awaits your query on academic writing, though in all honesty, he doesn’t have time for you. He is a tenured full professor and author of yet another magnificent academic tome. Even so, he has graciously consented to entertain your question. Submit it and prepare to be edified.
This secondary poem that I read hidden within Fred Chappell's “Narcissus and Echo” contains a potent message, but what does it mean?
While the previous paragraph communicates coherently, it violates several recommended principles of academic writing. The “book-learning” phrase is purely colloquial, as is “by guess and by golly.” Such informal and casual phraseology is not appropriate for academic papers.
At the university level, scholarly papers are written for other scholars. Therefore, the topic of an academic paper should appeal to a scholar.