learnable elements of scholarly writing
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"Learnable" Elements of Scholarly Writing
Wendy G. Troxel, NACADA Research Center
Marsha Miller, NACADA Research Center
2016 Annual Conference
October 8, 2016
Welcome!
O Introductions
O Overview of the session (kind of a workshop )
O We’ll write
O We’ll chat about writing
O We’ll write some more
O We’ll chat about how other people write
O We’ll write some more
O We’ll celebrate how much we’ve learned about writing!
Let’s write!
Activity 1
O Because of looming budget cuts, your
president has asked for a brief essay on the
importance of professional advising on
campus.
O Write a short persuasive paragraph
addressing this request.
Activity 2
O Report out:
O How did you go about the process of
developing your essay?
O Where did you start? How did it flow?
Activity 3
O The art of feedback . . .
O Share your essay with your “critical friend”
(it’s okay!)
O Critical friend, read the essay and provide
feedback in the space that follows
O What do you like about the essay?
O What might make it stronger?
Let’s chat for a bit…
O With any writing task it’s important to
consider:
Audience Purpose
What is “scholarly” writing?
O “Formal” writing is scholarly/analytical
O “Informal” writing is opinion-based
O Analytic writing vs. response writing
O “Your opinion” – but backed by evidence
O A structured argument – just like we did in elementary school
Sources: Otto (2015) & Booth (2008)
Scholarly writing, cont.
O Persuasive
O Audience is kept in mind
O Communicates a new idea
O Is clear and concise
O Is “believable”
O Grounded firmly in the literature
O Significant (“So what?” “Who cares?”)
O Organized (no surprises!)
Sources: Otto (2015) & Booth (2008)
The Building Blocks
O Claims (voice)
O Evidence (From where? What kind?)
O Warrants (principles that make your
reasons relevant to your claim; they
explain to your audience why the
evidence is convincing)
O Getting ahead of reasonable (or
unreasonable!) audience objections
(counterarguments)Sources: Otto (2015) & Booth (2008)
Claims
O Stated in a single, declarative sentence
O Usually begins a paragraph
O Use language that cues your reader to pay
attention
O Should be substantive and contestable
O Claim example:
O “Hybrid cars are an effective strategy to fight
pollution.”
Sources: Otto (2015) & Booth (2008)
Evidence
O Usually follows the claim immediately in order to support it
O Must be reliable and relevant
O Claim example:
O “Hybrid cars are an effective strategy to fight pollution.”
O Evidence example:
O “Driving a private car is a typical citizen’s most air-polluting activity.”
Sources: Otto (2015) & Booth (2008)
Warrants (Reasoning)
O Generally fall into two categories:
O Commonly held beliefs or principles, based
on assumptions or empirical evidence
(Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.)
O Appeals to authority
(When X says Y, Y must be so.)
O Connect claims to evidence validly
Source: Booth (2008).
Adding Warrants
O Claim example:
O Hybrid cars are an effective strategy to fight pollution.
O Evidence for this claim:
O Driving a private car is a typical citizen’s most air-polluting activity.
O Warrant to bridge the claim with evidence 1
O Because cars are the largest source of private, as opposed to industry-produced air pollution, switching to hybrid cars should have an impact on fighting pollution.
Sources: Otto (2015) & Booth (2008)
Adding Warrants
O Evidence 2
O Each vehicle produced is going to stay on the
road for roughly 12 to 15 years.
O Warrant for Evidence 2
O Cars generally have a long lifespan, meaning
that a decision to switch to a hybrid car will
make a long-term impact on pollution levels.
Sources: Otto (2015) & Booth (2008)
Adding Warrants
O Evidence 3
O Hybrid cars combine a gasoline engine with a
battery-powered motor.
O Warrant for Evidence 3
O This combination of technologies means that less
pollution is produced. According to Smith (2014)
“the hybrid engine of the Prius, made by Toyota,
produces 90% fewer harmful emissions than a
comparable gasoline engine” (p. 45)
Sources: Otto (2015) & Booth (2008)
Anticipating Objections
O Counterclaim (anticipating objection to your argument)
O Some say that instead of focusing on cars, which still encourages a culture of driving even if it cuts down on pollution, the nation should focus on building and encouraging use of mass-transit systems (Wilson, 2012; Jones, 2011).
O Rebuttal of counterclaim
O While mass transit is an environmentally sound idea that should be encouraged, it is not feasible in many rural and suburban areas, or for people who must commute to work; thus, hybrid cars are a better solution for much of the nation’s population.
Examples adapted from Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
How to begin…
O Briefly set the context for your reader (you can go into more depth on context after your thesis paragraph)
O Thesis statement (don’t get fancy . . . just follow the script)
O In this paper I analyze the film Beasts of the Southern Wild using Butler’s (2004) theoretical concepts of “public grieving” and “vulnerability” as my lens to reveal how public mourning allows humans to reinvent and reimagine community in the wake of large-scale collective loss.
Source: Otto (2015)
How to begin…
O Briefly set the context for your reader (you can go into more depth on context after your thesis paragraph)
O Thesis statement (don’t get fancy . . . just follow the script)
O In this paper I analyze the film Beasts of the Southern Wild using Butler’s (2004) theoretical concepts of “public grieving” and “vulnerability” as my lens to reveal how public mourning allows humans to reinvent and reimagine community in the wake of large-scale collective loss.
O Provide a roadmap for your reader using “trigger” words and transition cues
Activity 4 - Let’s try it!
O Go back to your paragraph (essay) and look
at your first sentence.
O Do you still like it?
O Is it a powerful “narrative hook?”
O Revise it on your worksheet, if you’d like.
Activity 5 – Using Templates
O Let’s try something crazy! Use the template
in the worksheet and fill in the blanks to
create a complex argument in just a few
sentences. (Think about claims, evidence,
and warrants.)
How did that go?
Activity 6 – Seeing it in action
O Decoding Tillman’s (2002) Culturally Sensitive Research Approaches: An African-American Perspective or Lowenstein’s (2014) Toward a Theory of Advising
O Take a look at paragraph 1 – what strategies do you see?
O Continue to the rest of the page (and eventually beyond)…write notes in the margins
A note about Reviews of Related Literature
O They’re HARD to write, but they’re critical to scholarly publications.
O If needed, seek out others to help you learn how to synthesize previous publications
O Try to present the literature thematically, not study-by-study
O Be sure the sources are current, as appropriate to the topic
O Learn “concept mapping” to help organize
Back to audience & purpose
170+ individuals wrote for NACADA venues in 2015
O The NACADA Journal
O Academic Advising Today (AAT)
O Clearinghouse of Academic Advising Resources
O NACADA books
O Pocket Guides
O NACADA Blog
Author Guidelines
O This is your most important document to
give you the best chance of acceptance.
O Learn and embrace APA 6th edition style
Nuts & bolts
O Present verb tense (and historical present tense)
O First person voice
O Saying “I” or not
O AVOID “I believe…” or “I feel…” language. Use analytic language in your claims. You’re the author. Own it!
O I posit…
O I argue…
O I infer…
O I maintain…
O I therefore claim…
O AVOID “the royal WE” or “you”
Sources: Otto (2015) & Booth (2008)
Nuts & bolts, cont.
O Every move you make cues your reader as to what you’re doing and how it fits
O Never let your reader do the work you should be doing
O Do not allow quotations from sources to speak for you: your argument, your voice
O “Tip your hat!” Show your reader you know your stuff
O Anticipate objections and address them head on
O Temper your claims to fit your evidence
O Practice, practice, practice!Sources: Otto (2015) & Booth (2008)
The art of collaboration
O Build a team – this doesn’t have to be an
individual sport
O Each co-author can have an important role
to play
O Literature nerd
O Methodologist
O Content expert
O Proofreader (thank you!)
Embracing revision
O Rejection of your manuscript submission
does not make you a bad person!
Next steps
O Commitment to writing
O Time
O You don’t have it; you have to make it
O Space
O Where is your happy place?
O Energy
O What’s your motivation?
O So…. What’s your plan and who can help
hold you accountable?
Activity 7 – Your revision plan
O Now . . . phew . . . take a look at your initial
essay and the work you’ve done since then.
O Jot some “revision plan” notes to yourself
O What else do you need to strengthen your
argument?
O More current sources?
O Trigger words and transition sentences?
O Time, space, energy?
O Collaborators and critical friends?
Questions & Comments?
Great Work! We need you to share your expertise!
Great Work! We need you to share your expertise!
“10 Tips on How to Write Less Badly”
(Munger, 2010)
1. Writing is an exercise
2. Set goals based on output, not input
3. Find a voice; don’t just “get
published”
4. Give yourself time
5. Everyone’s unwritten work is brilliant
“10 Tips on How to Write Less Badly”
(Munger, 2010)
6. Pick a puzzle
7. Write, then squeeze other things in
8. Not all of your thoughts are profound
9. Your most profound thoughts are
often wrong
10.Edit your work, over and over
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