To recap, an academic essay is the most common assessment of how much you have learned and thought about a topic for your course work. It has certain features in terms of content (researched or well argued based on fact and logic), organisation (controlled by a thesis and by the type of essay prompt you are responding to), language (formal Overview of the Academic Essay. A clear sense of argument is essential to all forms of academic writing, for writing is thought made visible. Insights and ideas that occur to us when we encounter the raw material of the world—natural phenomena like the behavior of genes, or cultural phenomena, like texts, photographs and artifacts—must be ordered What is the definition of an academic essay? Academic Writing: Academic writing is the style of writing used by students and scholars in an academic and professional setting
Overview of the Academic Essay |
A clear sense of argument is essential to all forms of academic writing, for writing is thought made visible. Insights and ideas that occur to us when we encounter the raw material of the world—natural phenomena like the behavior of genes, or cultural phenomena, like texts, photographs and artifacts—must be ordered in some way so others can receive them and respond in turn.
This give and take is at the heart of the scholarly enterprise, and makes possible that vast conversation known as civilization. Like all human ventures, the conventions of the academic essay are both logical and playful.
They may vary in expression from discipline to discipline, but any good essay should show us a mind developing a thesis, supporting that thesis with evidence, deftly anticipating objections or counterarguments, and maintaining the momentum of discovery. Motive and Idea. An essay has to have a purpose or motive; the mere existence of an assignment or deadline is not sufficient.
When you write an essay or research paper, you are never simply transferring information from one place to another, or showing that you have mastered a certain amount of material.
That would be incredibly boring—and besides, it would be adding to the glut of pointless utterance. Instead, you should be trying to make the best possible case for an original idea you have arrived at after a period of research. Depending upon the field, your research may involve reading and rereading a text, performing an experiment, or carefully observing an object or behavior.
By immersing yourself in the material, you begin to discover patterns and generate insights, guided by academic essay definition series of unfolding questions, academic essay definition. From a number of possibilities, academic essay definition, one idea emerges as the most promising. You try to make sure it is original and of some importance; there is no point arguing for something already known, trivial, or widely accepted.
Thesis and Development. The essay's thesis is the main point you are trying to make, using the best evidence you can marshal. Your thesis will evolve during the course of writing drafts, but everything that happens in your essay is directed toward establishing its validity.
A given assignment may not tell you that you need to come up with a thesis and defend it, but these are the unspoken requirements of any scholarly paper. Deciding upon a thesis can generate considerable anxiety. Students may think, academic essay definition, "How can I have a new idea about a subject scholars have spent their whole lives exploring?
I just read a few books in the last few days, and now I'm supposed to be an expert? We can't possibly know everything that has been, or is being, thought or written by everyone in the world—even given the vastness and speed of the Internet. What is required is a rigorous, good faith effort to academic essay definition originality, academic essay definition, given the demands of the assignment and the discipline.
It is a good exercise throughout the writing process to stop periodically and reformulate your thesis as succinctly as possible so someone in another field could understand its meaning as well as its importance. A thesis can be relatively complex, but you should be able to distill its essence. This does not mean you have to give the game away right from the start. Guided by a clear understanding of the point you wish to argue, you can spark your reader's curiosity by first asking questions—the very questions that may have guided you in your research—and carefully building a case for the validity of your idea.
Or you can start with a provocative observation, inviting your audience to follow your own path of discovery. The Academic essay definition of Argument. Argument implies tension but not combative fireworks.
This tension comes from the fundamental asymmetry between the one who wishes to persuade and those who must be persuaded. The common ground they share is reason. Your objective is to make a case so that any reasonable person would be convinced of the reasonableness of your thesis. The first task, even before you start to write, is gathering and ordering evidence, classifying it by kind and strength. You might decide to move from the smallest piece of evidence to the most impressive.
Or you might start with the most convincing, then mention other supporting details afterward. You could hold back a surprising piece of evidence until the very end. In any case, it is important to review evidence that could be used against your idea and generate responses to anticipated objections.
This is the crucial concept of counterargument. If nothing can be said academic essay definition an idea, it is probably obvious or vacuous. And if too much can be said against it, it's time for another thesis.
By not indicating an awareness of possible objections, you might seem to be hiding something, academic essay definition, and your argument academic essay definition be weaker as a consequence. You should also become familiar with the various fallacies that can undermine an argument—the "straw man" fallacy, fallacies of causation and of analogy, etc. The Structure of Argument.
The heart of the academic essay is persuasion, and the structure of your argument plays a vital role in this. To persuade, you must set the stage, provide a context, and decide how to reveal your evidence. Of course, if you are addressing a community of specialists, academic essay definition, some aspects of a shared context can be taken for granted. But clarity is always a virtue. The essay's objective should be described swiftly, by posing a question that will lead to your thesis, or making a thesis statement.
There is considerable flexibility about when and where this happens, but within the first page or two, we should know where we academic essay definition going, even if some welcome suspense is preserved. In the body of the paper, merely listing evidence without any discernible logic of presentation is a common mistake. What might suffice in conversation is too informal for an essay. If academic essay definition point being made is lost in a welter of specifics, the argument falters.
The most common argumentative structure in English academic essay definition is deductive: starting off with a generalization or assertion, and then providing support for it. This pattern can be used to order a paragraph as well as an entire essay. Another possible structure is inductive: facts, instances or observations can be reviewed, and the conclusion to be drawn from them follows. There is no blueprint for a successful essay; the best ones show us a focused mind making sense of some manageable aspect of the world, academic essay definition, a mind where insightfulness, reason, and clarity are joined.
CopyrightKathy Duffin, for the Writing Center at Harvard University, academic essay definition. Skip to main content. Main Menu Utility Menu Search. Harvard College Writing Program HARVARD. FAQ Schedule an appointment Writing Resources English Grammar and Language Tutor Departmental Writing Fellows Writing Resources Writing Advice: The Barker Underground Blog Contact Us.
Motive and Idea An essay has to have a purpose or academic essay definition the mere existence of an assignment or deadline is not sufficient, academic essay definition. Thesis and Development The essay's thesis is the main point you are trying to make, using the best evidence you can marshal.
The Tension of Argument Argument implies tension but not combative fireworks. The Structure of Argument The heart of the academic essay is persuasion, and the structure of your argument plays a vital role in this.
Writing Resources Strategies for Essay Writing How to Read an Assignment Moving from Assignment to Topic How to Do a Close Reading Overview of the Academic Essay Essay Structure Developing A Thesis Beginning the Academic Essay Outlining Counterargument Summary Topic Sentences and Signposting Academic essay definition Beware of Velcro How to Write a Comparative Analysis Ending the Essay: Conclusions Revising the Draft Brief Guides to Writing in the Disciplines.
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Academic Writing: Essay Format - English for Academic Purposes with Josh #16
, time: 1:08:06How to Write an Academic Essay: Format, Examples | EssayPro
To recap, an academic essay is the most common assessment of how much you have learned and thought about a topic for your course work. It has certain features in terms of content (researched or well argued based on fact and logic), organisation (controlled by a thesis and by the type of essay prompt you are responding to), language (formal Overview of the Academic Essay. A clear sense of argument is essential to all forms of academic writing, for writing is thought made visible. Insights and ideas that occur to us when we encounter the raw material of the world—natural phenomena like the behavior of genes, or cultural phenomena, like texts, photographs and artifacts—must be ordered What is the definition of an academic essay? Academic Writing: Academic writing is the style of writing used by students and scholars in an academic and professional setting
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