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Some Guidelines for Academic Writing
(for English 101: Freshman Theme-Based Inquiry Seminar/ Writing Intensive)

What makes a good thesis?

Your thesis is what you are arguing. It is more specific than a general topic and makes a specific point.
It is something someone could argue with—that is, not completely obvious or not something everyone agrees on.
Your thesis should say something significant about the literary work—your interpretation of the work that shows us something we didn’t know before.
It should be narrow and specific—avoid generalizations (In the world today..., men are all... or women are all..., the time of Homer was ...) always qualify your statements when appropriate.

Use this formula to test your thesis

WHAT (what is going on in the work, what aspect of the topic are you focusing on?)
WHY (why is the author doing that or why is this?) and
SO WHAT (what's so important about knowing that?).

You are essentially asking yourself what is important about this thesis? Why would someone want or need to hear more about it?

Some conventions of Academic prose to keep in mind:

Content/Values:

Academics value certain things such as complexity, accuracy, historical context, precise language, making fine distinctions (qualifying statements), further investigation, talking about complex theories, and making arguments about things external to themselves.
The goals of academic prose are often to argue a point or present a theory: to convince an audience in a reasoned, thoughtful way.

Style/Tone:

Academic prose employs an educated vocabulary and varied sentence types (long sentences and short, simple and complex). Often irony or other rhetorical strategies such as metaphors and parallelisms will be used.
It conforms to the conventions of standard grammar and usage rules—this helps insure accurate communication
Formal introduction of the work under discussion is necessary (give author and full title at beginning so reader knows what you’re talking about).
This formality also includes courtesy. Be clear but not condescending.
A clear organization beginning with point to be argued and following with supporting materials
Academic prose has an authoritative tone (avoid admitting that you don’t know something or that you didn’t understand something or were confused by it—make sure you do understand what you are writing about)
It employs a formal and unbiased/fair tone and avoids use of pronouns (esp. “you” when referencing the reading audience—but also “I” which can be distracting to the reader).
It makes few emotional or passionate remarks because reasonable argumentation not passion or emotional appeals is valued.
On the whole there is less use of personal narratives and more impersonal discussion of theories.
Academics only praise each other sparingly ("In Jane Smith’s insightful analysis of ...")
Academics have no need to praise the author of the literary work ("Chaucer did an excellent job in the Canterbury Tales")—there is an assumption already in place that the work is valued and worthy of being written about.

Audience:

Academic prose tries not to insult its audience. It assumes its audience knows or can find out certain things (like the plot of the work) but not everything (like remembering all times or dates etc.) It also assumes that the audience is willing to participate in the fiction of your authority (they are willing to participate in the unfolding of your point.)
An academic audience will have assumptions about you as an academic writer: for instance that you have a point to make, that you will have thoroughly researched your point so as not to waste their time, that you will provide convincing evidence of your point, and that you will ethically use your sources.

Style of argumentation/what kind of evidence is valued:

Literary analysis in particular values use of quotes from the literary work to support your points, but citing of authorities is also important.
Academic prose values discussion of the critical works of others (example: People working on Milton or Chaucer will often discuss in depth other scholars’ interpretations and theories when advancing their own in an attempt to fit their scholarship into the on-going discussion—this often results in a metaphor of building—we are building our understanding of Milton or Chaucer on the foundation of other theories or studies but also differentiating our own from those earlier works).
A fair and unbiased tone is necessary for sounding persuasive, reasonable, courteous and authoritative. Even when criticizing other scholars, academics often use a very understated way of criticizing (“Smith fails to focus on this issue in depth…”) because to sound angry at someone or to use strong words (“he’s an idiot”) makes the writer sound too personally involved.

Things to remember when discussing the writing of others in your writing:

Read the essay or work that you’re discussing several times and take notes on it.
Look up all the words you don’t know
Make absolutely sure you’ve got the person’s point exactly before you say anything about it
Remember that you are working on two skills here and that both are necessary for an analysis of any kind 1) understanding the reading in a subtle way and 2) picking it apart in a subtle way
Take the needs of your audience into account. What do they know? What do they need to know to understand your point? How much of the other writer’s point do you need/want to provide?
Do not let the other writer’s words overshadow your own point. Never leave a quote ending a paragraph or forget to explain why you provided the quote.

Checklist

Does your paper have a central thesis? Is that thesis clear and up front or do you only explain your real point on the last page?
Make sure none of your paragraphs are longer than 3/4 a page or shorter than three sentences.
Did you italicize or underline the title of the work (The Canterbury Tales, The Odyssey)
Did you spell all proper names and titles correctly?
Did you cite the page number of the quotes you use? "Quote" (35).
Is your name on the paper?
Did you spell check and proofread
Is the paper typed and stapled or paper-clipped?
Use the author's full name the first time, then only the last name
Introduce the author and title of the literary work at least once at the beginning
Did you meet the page requirement?