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Nagelah Chery

My economic notes show that the teacher’s perception of academic writing is notes in the form of bullets. In the teacher’s mind academic writing is just being able to comprehend the basic points of a theory. Likewise, my business calculus test demonstrates that the teacher views academic writing in the form of writing. When my teacher sees the test he expects to see numbers not letters on how to solve it. Coincidently, I am always learning the same thing in business calculus and economics but one teacher expects me to understand it in terms of numbers and the other teacher expects me to understand it in terms of words. Lastly, my third artifact is an anthropology paper that has been corrected. My teacher specifically gives us a prompt and we are to follow the prompt to get a good grade. The prompts are extremely broad and give us space to express ourselves. This is one of my favorite classes to write papers for because the prompt allows me to announce my true feelings. As long as the topic follows the prompt one can take any direction they want with the paper.

                If my younger sister were to start college next year, I would tell her that she would need to let go of everything she learned in high school and start new. All of the rules students learn in high school do not matter here because academic writing is defined differently by each professor. For example, one teacher might find it okay that you write in bullets and another teacher may want a paper with perfect grammar and headings and what not. Also, in college papers are meant for you to describe your understanding or opinion of certain things. Here, you are no longer given a direction to follow when writing your paper. You must find your own.

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Mastering biology and mastering chemistry are two materials that can help characterize academic writing. These are two websites that are used to complete my homework for chemistry and biology. One thing that can be learned from these websites is that homework is not just a grade, it is also something to help teach you the material. Many students just go through the homework and Google search all of the answers to get a good grade. This is not a good thing to do. The homework is there to teacher you some content that was not taught in class and to reinforce some of the concepts from class. When you just go through and Google the answers then you miss out on these topics and therefore miss these questions on the test. Another material is my chemistry lab write up. On the write up there is a grade on the top signifying the grade that I received out of 100%. Down the paper there are check marks for correct answers and X’s for answers that are incorrect along with a small note saying why it is incorrect. Some of the notes say either wrong calculations or to show sample calculations for credit. My TA uses red pen to grade the lab write up so that her writing stands out on the paper. It is important to check your work and show all of your work in a class like this so that you do not miss points because of small careless mistakes. Those mistakes will eventually add up and bring your class average write quite a bit, which will also bring down your GPA. If you are a pre-med student, having a high GPA is extremely important so you want to get point and high, easy grades wherever you can. 

#vinnymaugeri

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Perspective on Academic Writing

Loumia Mesilas

Academic writing is really just writing following rules that were set by your professor or following the general rules of writing such as grammar, spelling etc. The most important thing  to writing a great academic paper is to include all the that is expected from you by your professor for example when the professor hand out the rubric and point out the things that most definitely go in the paper. This is my definition of an academic paper because everyone professor have a different expectations on what the work they want the assignment to look like, sound like and be like.  Just like my classmate mentioned that professors will emphasize on the things that are more important by underlining them and bolding them on the syllabus. That is what the students ‘attention should focus. Therefore it is very crucial for the student follow the expectation of the professor because every professor their own preference as to they want the students to include in their assignments. The grading policy in one my previous college writing class was not that the student had to be perfect although it doesn’t hurt to avoid making too much mistakes, but it was more that the student needed to understand the materials being taught in class and to be able to elaborate more on it on a piece of paper better. To put to it in better words the student needed to be able to tell someone who is not in the class what the material is about by including the important stuffs that were covered. In many of my graded works I had many drafts. My professor encouraged us to have multiple drafts on which she gave many suggestion because she wanted to see improvement the more improvements she noticed the better grade you’d receive, she underlined with red pens the stuff that were good those that we needed to improve on and she pointed out the stuffs that we had forgotten.        

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Academic Writing Kayla Spector

One of my chosen articles is a guide to writing our one paper for the semester in my philosophy class. Philosophy is a difficult topic to write about, as it has very detailed and confusing concepts that are hard to support on your own. This guide makes writing the paper a little easier, it includes general writing advice, with a list of 10 different items to use while writing your paper, and also clearly explains the three different topics you can choose from to write about. It also states in bold at the top of the sheet, "In your draft paper, you must explain the background material necessary for addressing the evaluative question in your longer paper. You must do all...under 'general writing advice' below." The instructions make it obvious that this paper should be written very specifically and to do well, you mostly just need to follow and include the guidelines provided. Usually, college writing seems more flexible and personal, but in this case, it is much more structured and not solely based on however you want to write. To give advice to an incoming student, this would only pertain to classes as such, where the instructions are concrete and necessary. Make sure you follow all instructions and write your paper exactly the way it is outlined in the guidelines given to you. If you do so, along with accurate information, good detail, interesting writing, and evidence, there should be no reason for you to do poorly on your paper.

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Oddly enough, the only class I really have consistent writing assignments in is this one, Writing 105. Besides this, I have a business class which requires one total paper due at the end of the semester along with an outline before it, and the class human sexuality has one research paper and reflection paper that I was lucky enough to get out of doing. That being said, I will try to capture the most essential parts that my teachers want me to do. As far as my business management class, our one writing assignment is a group industry analysis paper due at the end of the semester. This paper is extremely regimented and our teacher has strict expectations on what he will be receiving soon. One of the key elements of the paper is research; and a lot of it. We chose the coffee production industry, and must dissect its current performance and future prospects in right around 30 pages. Before the final paper, we were assigned to do an outline, which was neatly laid out for us, and he even gave us examples of exactly how it should look. Turning the outline into an actual paper is up to us, but follows many of the same guideline. As for my Human Sexuality class, if you didn’t participate in group discussions (which I did) you were required to write a research paper in R.A.F.T style (Role, Audience, Form Topic). Our teacher laid out a chart of roles you can take, who the paper will be written to, in what form will the paper be presented, and finally what the topic was. There wasn’t much direction to the paper, he wanted to make it simple for the class so just suggested that they follow the rubric. From these two assignments, a characterization of academic writing that I notice is audience; who or what class are you writing your paper for? The business paper is very formal and research oriented, while the human sexuality paper is informal and a chance to express yourself. 

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Two of the materials that I gathered and looked at were my math assignment sheet, and a math homework quiz. What I noticed on my math assignment sheet was that important dates and assignments had altered fonts such as bold or italic. Dates were given for each assignment, and overall it was a very clear sheet to follow and complete the given assignments. On my math quiz homework quiz, there isn’t much to look at because it is very shower. However, my teacher used a different colored pen to write down the score and points, as well as mark off any errors. By looking at these two artifacts, and others of course, I have been able to make a few claims about academic writing, and what I believe is important. Handouts are usually mapped with important information, bolded, in caps, and other forms that differ from the main font that covers the page. A main concept within academic writing that I find to be essential is clearness and organization. When a teacher gives a handout or assignment sheet, students are expected to follow along with them and understand what they are being asked of in order to complete their assignments. The same goes for when a teacher is grading an assignment, as they use a different color pen to make it more visible, and there are expectations for the students to understand these corrections. That is why it is absolutely important that students are able to comprehend these sheets, or else they would not be able to complete their required work. The altering of fonts and use of pen is a branch off organization in that it is a way to make important information stand out to ensure that it is recognized. There are obviously many other important qualities that come into play when looking at academic writing, and I think that organization is one of them. 

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KC Kaicher

Within my Interpretation of Film class we have been assigned a few papers. Each one of them was edited, corrected, graded and sent back to us. Due to all of the corrections that my TA has written on the papers it is way to show me how to better write my next paper. By him doing this it shows me exactly how he wants me to write my next paper so that I can better myself. Chris, my TA, continuously tells me to elaborate more on my writing. When he says this he means that he wants me to go into greater detail, leading me to believe that this is what academic writing should be like. Not only does it make me realize that this is what my TA and professor wants, but that this is the type of writing that should be completed for a film class. These assignments represent academic writing in various ways. The assignment sheets help as well simply because of how perfect they are. The assignment sheets give exactly what the project is, without any ways around it. Anything that is important is in bold or italicized to make sure that it is added in that paper. These guidelines are what help us write such papers and make sure that they are up to par. These guidelines show how important it is to stay on task, and one can see that by the comments that are then made on each of the papers that the TA grades. For incoming students, it is important for them to remember to follow such guidelines. These guidelines are here to help one write the paper, not to confuse you. They are put in place to make your life easier as well as the professor when they are grading it.

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Academic writing doesn’t have an exact definition however, people assume that academic writing is formal, impersonal, and objective writing that is used only by researches, university students to convey a body of information about a particular subject. It may be used by other people but the general sense of academic writing seems to be true. In academic writing, the author covers the selected topic from a specific point of view. The writing is 'thesis-driven', meaning there should be evidence to back up a certain claim in which is used to come up with a conclusion about the claim. So in contrast, simply describing a topic without the questions does notqualify as "academic writing."For example in a chemistry class, we come up with a claim or we are given a claim(in scientific terms, a hypothesis) about a particular experiment that must be proven or disproven. We must prove that our or given hypothesis is true by backing it up or rejecting it with evidence which is generated by conducting a specific experiment. Once the raw data was been drawn from the experiment, a lab report is then generated. We can now find patterns or other sort of analysis to finalize a conclusion either stating the original hypothesis was correct or incorrect. So, a lab report is a great example of academic writing because contains the claim(the hypothesis), the analysis(the evidence), and the conclusion. The lab report can be read by another chemist in which the chemist can interpret what the claim was, how we conducted the evidence, what the evidence shows, and the conclusions made by the data analysis. However, if a person who isn’t a chemist or isn’t in the field of chemistry, they may not understand this particular type of academic writing.

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Elton Durgaj

         I looked at an Econ test and an Econ syllabus. I realized that everything on the test was graded in red pen. The test was also out of thirty-six points. Every important heading was highlighted or in bold. The test followed the same structure and format for every question. It was mainly number based. The syllabus on the other hand was mainly writing. It was very descriptive about what is expected and when everything was due. The syllabus had a mixture of numbers and writing. The syllabus also had a grading rubric so you have a format that you have to follow. With these artifacts I have come to the conclusion that academic writing needs to be very descriptive and it must follow the format that is given beforehand. Another thing I realized is that you must follow the grading rubric and check off and evaluate everything you did and how well you did it. Also based on these artifacts, I realized that everything has a certain deadline when it is due. The deadline gives you more than enough time to plan and draft what you are writing. The deadlines are also bolded because they are very important and they indicate important dates when material is due and where you should be by each date. I would tell an incoming student to take note of everything that is asked. I would tell them to make sure they keep track of important dates and to stay on top of everything that is on the syllabus. 

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When it comes to an exam, the format of it and the feedback you get later will really help you evolve in you academic writing career. First of all, you have to look at the format. Is it true and false? Is it multiple choice? Is it matching? Is it short answer? Is it essay form? Or is it something you have never seen before? Whatever format it is in, there are always strategies for taking an exam of whatever format. The next thing to pay attention to is the instructions at the beginning of the exam. This may reveal some important information that may decide whether you get an A or a C. This is because in college, if you do not follow the directions, professors may just completely ignore what you did and give you no credit for what you did. Also, pay attention to any words that may be bolded or italicized. These words will usually tell you to do something very specific since it is a point of emphasis. Another thing that professors may give you on the instruction sheet is a list of formulas that could be used on the exam. Pay attention to them as you take the test because they may be very useful. Once you understand the format and the instructions, you must now look at the actual questions. Make sure to answer the question presented so that you do not go off on some wild tangent in an essay or short answer exam. Also, to make sure you have answered the question, make sure to go back and reread the question just in case it is a multi-part question. If it is multiple choice or true and false, once again, pay attention to the words and see if any word is bolded or italicized. When everything is corrected and handed back, you will usually see your exam score on the top of the first page. You may then look throughout your exam to see how the professor graded it. Most likely, a wrong answer will be indicated by a red mark and they will either circle the correct answer if it is multiple choice or true and false, or give feedback on what you missed on a short answer or essay. Make sure to pay attention to this feedback because it should make you a better academic writer in the future.

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Academic Writing Meagan King

My assumptions about academic writing are changing a lot from this fall. It is difficult to define academic writing because each of my classes has different expectations for writing assignments. I think the hardest writing is in this class because the type of writing is different for each unit. My sociology class also has interesting writing assignments because we have to limit everything we say to one page double-spaced. My Spanish class is the only class where we write essays and reports that I considered academic writing. In sociology we need to assume that the teacher knows the basics of what we are writing about and we only explain the analytical part, but we never summarize. In this class we needed to do everything that a normal academic paper does for our last assignment, but for the blog post it was very different. In Spanish class we write essays that are very standard. They are the typical five-paragraph essay and have very straightforward and simple directions. The most important thing in that class is that we follow the grammar guidelines. Grammar is extremely important in my sociology class and in my Spanish class, but not that is not true for my writing class. It is important to figure out what the teacher wants because they may not always say it out. Ask a lot of questions. Read the syllabus. I always thought that academic writing was just like book reports or analytical essays but after our research in class I have realized it is much more. It is still difficult to explain what exactly it is, but I know that it is not limited to these things. 

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Academic Writing Mike Maloney

In my comparative politics class we were given a syllabus at the beginning of the year which contained many different styles of academic writing. First, the introduction to the course was written in paragraph form to get the message across in the most efficient way possible. In the introduction, he explains the basics of the course and main assignments. Then, some of the details about these assignments are bulleted under separate headings. There is a chart on the end of the syllabus which breaks down expectations for each class period, the homework expected and anything due on that day. I believe that these represent some of the most important skills for academic writing because, lots of times, there will be times to use different writing structures. I also looked at one of my biology labs, including the pre-lab which I will be unable to bring in because i have to hand it in at the beginning of class. In my biology lab, starting with the prefab, there is paragraphs which explain expectations and then questions to answer and terms to define. As for the actual lab, it has a similar structure, with the paragraphs and questions, but it also has areas for drawings and figures. Finally, the lab finishes with more questions and charts to fill, consistent with the previous pages. The final academic piece I brought in is the unit 2 paper structure for this class. it is in a similar format to the other two documents, with paragraphs and bulleting. If there is anything i learned about academic writing from looking at these artifacts is that it will generally follow a similar instructive structure, with paragraphs to describe the basics, then the bullets to go into detail.

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Academic Writing Nikki Dion

In my sociology class, my professor does not give much direction for our papers. Over the course of the semester, we have three reaction papers due, based off of the readings that we talk about in class. I looked at the assignment sheet for the second reaction paper, and I noticed a few things. The paper is set up as follows: a paragraph at the very top listing all of the requirements for the paper, then the due date, and then four paragraphs, numbered one through four describing the questions for each prompt. The requirements paragraph tells us how the paper should be set up—double spaced, one-inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman—and that he wants it to be three to four pages in length. The prompts tell us which readings to look at, and what he wants us look talk about. Although the questions seem somewhat specific, he gives us a lot of room to roam and talk about what interests us the most. Through the assignments I had in his class, I learned that I can pretty much say anything as long as I back it up with reasonable logic and evidence. Academic writing needs to be supported by data. Advice that I would give to an incoming freshman would be to back up EVERYTHING with data or evidence. Especially in a sociology class, the professor or TA cannot really dispute you or give you a bad grade if you have evidence to support your claim and you have a well written and thought out paper. They do not give as much direction in college as to how to write the paper and what to include in each section. There is a lot more leeway, which is nice, because it is more fun to stray from the five paragraph essay and do your own kind of writing. 

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Academic Writing

Tyler Nickerson

 Academic writing cannot be classified into a single category. The first thing that comes to mind when generalizing academic writing is a focused point with supporting evidence in body paragraphs. An entire high school career is built around the concept of a thesis statement and placing certain information into different paragraphs to prove a point or answer a question. Academic writing, in reality, is completely different depending on the subject and the professor who is grading the assignment. The most important thing to keep in mind while writing an academic essay is how you should appropriately gear the paper to a specific audience in accordance with guidelines. Each class and assignment has a set of exact expectations and these vary among courses. The complexity and depth of a paper may be much more extreme is a political science class rather than a math lab or essay. Some reoccurring similarities found in most of my work was feedback in the form of underlining, check marks, and brief comments where I made a point pertaining to the topic or a point that was obscure. In my Hinduism response paper it was important to stay on target and no stray away from the prompt. In that particular class it is inferred that the reader has background knowledge. In my pre-calculus class, the writer has to anticipate an audience that doesn’t know the background information and all calculations have to be completely verbalized. An important aspect of academic writing has to be interpretation of the prompt and general interest in the subject. The work will definitely be uninspired if the writer is just trying to rush and avoid consuming the information. A rushed paper doesn’t show comprehension of the subject material and doesn’t serve any purpose for the writer or the reader.   

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The first artifact i chose is instagram. I use instagram on a daily basis to see what my friends are posting. I enjoy looking at the pictures people upload and reading the captions they write about the picture.

My second artifact is google. Google is probably the most important artifact to me because I use it for everything that involves literacy. 

My last artifact is a notebook. I use my notebooks to write all my notes. I also use it to keep track of things i have done before. 

#eltondurgaj

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Reddit is becoming a new form of keeping up-to-date with what is going on in the world. CGPGrey explains what Reddit is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlI022aUWQQ . Though I am new to Reddit myself I really think Reddit is changing the way we use the internet. It is some what like a new kind of forum, or like Grey says "newpaper."

I do not think the experience is new to anyone when I say that television has really helped them read, talk, and comprehend language. However, depending on what we watched as we were growing up, or even now, it affects our jargon and "literacy".

Though I do not spend as much as I should in the library now, I spent a lot of my time when I was younger just hanging out in the library. Where I lived I was usually hot so I would go to the library and just read the books there until nightfall. I think the way that I indiscriminately read the books has led to my prejudgments about literature to be very neutral... Until I read the text to which it may end up being "boring and pointless."

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According to my high school teachers working in groups is the best way to improve communications skills. I used to be shy and afraid to talk but I gained confidence thanks to this technique. This was a great experience with my literacy sponsors.

Google translate became my best friend when I arrived here in USA. it wasn't accepted in my school to speak in native language. So I pushed myself everyday to learn words and phrases so I could start conversation.

 I prefer a small classroom than a big lecture where learning is too general there is rarely a chance to ask question or to have a discussion. Its just like the caption says. We are just getting information.