The four main forms of academic writing are descriptive, analytical, persuasive and critical.

Published on August 25th, 2019

The four main forms of academic writing are descriptive, analytical, persuasive and critical.

In many texts that are academic will have to use one or more type. As an example, in an thesis that is empirical

  • you will definitely use critical writing into the literature review to show where there is certainly a gap or opportunity into the existing research
  • The methods section shall be mostly descriptive to summarise the strategy used to gather and analyse information
  • the outcomes section may be mostly descriptive and analytical you collected as you report on the data
  • the discussion section is more analytical, as you relate your findings back to your quest questions, and in addition persuasive, as you propose your interpretations regarding the findings.

Descriptive

The simplest type of academic writing is descriptive. Its purpose would be to provide facts or information. An illustration would be a directory of an article or a study associated with the total outcomes of an experiment.

The kinds of instructions for a assignment that is purely descriptive: identify, report, record, summarise and define.

Analytical

It’s rare for a university-level text to be essay writing purely descriptive. Most writing that is academic also analytical. Analytical writing includes descriptive writing, however you also re-organise the facts and information you describe into categories, groups, parts, types or relationships.

Sometimes, these categories or relationships are actually the main discipline, sometimes you certainly will create them designed for your text. For instance, if you’re comparing two theories, you might break your comparison into several parts, for instance: how each theory deals with social context, how each theory deals with language learning, and how each theory can be used in practice.

The sorts of instructions for an analytical assignment include: analyse, compare, contrast, relate, examine.

To produce your writing more analytical:

  • spend plenty of time planning. Brainstorm the known facts and ideas, and attempt different ways of grouping them, according to patterns, parts, similarities and differences. You could utilize colour-coding, flow charts, tree diagrams or tables.
  • create a name for the relationships and categories you will find. For example, advantages and disadvantages.
  • build each section and paragraph around one of the analytical categories.
  • result in the structure of your paper clear to your reader, by using topic sentences and a introduction that is clear.
  • In many academic writing, you have to go a minumum of one step further than analytical writing, to persuasive writing. Persuasive writing has all the features of analytical writing (that is, information plus re-organising the info), by the addition of your point that is own of. Most essays are persuasive, and there is a element that is persuasive at least the discussion and conclusion of an investigation article.

    Points of view in academic writing can include an argument, a recommendation, interpretation of findings or evaluation associated with work of others. In persuasive writing, each claim you create needs to be supported by some evidence, for instance a mention of research findings or published sources.

    The kinds of instructions for a assignment that is persuasive: argue, evaluate, discuss, take a posture.

    To greatly help achieve your point that is own of in the facts or ideas:

    • read several other researchers’ points of view on the topic. That do you are feeling is the most convincing?
    • look for patterns within the data or references. Where may be the evidence strongest?
    • list several interpretations that are different. What are the real-life implications of each one? Those that could be most useful or beneficial? Which ones involve some problems?
    • discuss the facts and ideas with somebody else. Do you agree with their point of view?

    To develop your argument:

    • list the reasons that are different your point of view
    • think about the types that are different sourced elements of evidence which you can use to guide your point of view
    • consider different ways that your point of view is comparable to, and different from, the points of view of other researchers
    • search for various ways to split your point of view into parts. For example, cost effectiveness, environmental sustainability, scope of real-world application.

    To provide your argument, be sure:

    • your text develops a argument that is coherent all of the individual claims work together to guide your current point of view
    • your reasoning for every claim is clear to the reader
    • your assumptions are valid
    • you’ve got evidence for every single claim you make
    • you use evidence that is convincing and directly relevant.

    Critical writing is common for research, postgraduate and advanced undergraduate writing. It has all the features of persuasive writing, aided by the added feature with a minimum of one other point of view. While persuasive writing requires one to have your own point of look at a concern or topic, critical writing requires you to consider at least two points of view, including your own.

    For example, you might explain a researcher’s interpretation or argument and then measure the merits for the argument, or give your own interpretation that is alternative.

    Types of critical writing assignments include a critique of a journal article, or a literature review that identifies the strengths and weaknesses of existing research. The kinds of instructions for critical writing include: critique, debate, disagree, evaluate.

    • accurately summarise all or the main work. This could include identifying the main interpretations, assumptions or methodology.
    • have an opinion concerning the work. Appropriate forms of opinion could include pointing out some issues with it, proposing an alternative approach that could be better, and/or defending the work resistant to the critiques of others
    • provide evidence for the point of view. With regards to the specific assignment and the discipline, several types of evidence may be appropriate, such as for instance logical reasoning, mention of the authoritative sources and/or research data.

    Critical writing requires strong writing skills. You need to thoroughly understand the topic while the issues. You ought to develop an essay structure and paragraph structure that allows you to analyse different interpretations and develop your own argument, supported by evidence.

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