{"id":40687,"date":"2017-09-26T13:38:26","date_gmt":"2017-09-26T20:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=40687"},"modified":"2017-09-26T13:38:26","modified_gmt":"2017-09-26T20:38:26","slug":"academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\/","title":{"rendered":"Academic writing is like a painful, upper middle class dinner party"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Although I got reasonable marks for my creative essays in high school, literary criticism was never my strong suit. One of the issues with my analytical writing was that I didn\u2019t really understand how to use verbs. It wasn\u2019t until I nearly finished my masters degree that I found out that verbs function in academic conversation much like table manners at a middle class dinner party.<\/p>\n

Let me explain.<\/p>\n

I owe much of my education in verbs to the good work of Pat Thomson and Barbara Kamler and their excellent book \u2018Helping Doctoral Students Write\u2019. This book was crucial for helping me understand that in humanities writing, the verb you use to describe someone else\u2019s work indicates your feeling about the quality<\/i> of the work. For instance, \u201cMewburn (2010) argues<\/strong>\u2026\u201d is kinder than \u201cMewburn (2010) asserts<\/strong>\u2026\u201d. By using the verb \u2018argues\u2019 I invite the reader to consider that what Mewburn is doing is actually arguing \u2013 a scholar who asserts is not really a scholar at all.<\/p>\n

Looking up the verbs in a dictionary makes the difference quite plain. According to Google, the first definition of \u2018argues\u2019 is \u201cgive reasons or cite evidence in support of an idea, action, or theory, typically with the aim of persuading others to share one\u2019s view.\u201d By contrast, the definition for \u2018asserts\u2019 is \u201ccause others to recognize (one\u2019s authority or a right) by confident and forceful behavior\u201d. In the humanities, at least these days, we are meant to make knowledge by persuasion, not through authority. Authority is used more often in political or religious arguments. If you read back into the history of Western academia, you will find examples of writing that seems very strange to contemporary eyes. The tone is much more commanding and confident \u2013 this was because the origins of Western universities were monastic and it was acceptable to make an argument on the grounds that God had ordained something.<\/p>\n

Times have changed (despite what some Australian politicians would like to think). When you think about it, most academic writing is highly passive aggressive. By using a verb to express your evaluation of someone else\u2019s work you avoid directly stating your opinion, leaving it up to the reader to infer what you think. To read between the lines if you like. In academic writing you would never, for example, write \u201cMewburn (2010) is shit \u2013 don\u2019t bother reading this paper. She\u2019s a rubbish scholar\u201d. You\u2019d say something like: \u201cMewburn (2010) relies<\/strong> on insufficient evidence\u201d.<\/p>\n

You mean the same thing, but it\u2019s you know \u2013 polite. At least it\u2019s polite according to dominant cultural norms in academia which, it\u2019s important to recognise, are not \u2018natural\u2019. While some people struggle mightily with the idea that verbs are like manners at a middle class dinner party, indigenous students, and people who are first in family to get to University, tend to get it straight away. When I shared this analogy with one Wiradjuri<\/a> woman she laughed and said \u201cRight, so to succeed in the academy I have to write like an uptight white person? That makes perfect sense. I\u2019m surrounded by them all the time\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sadly true.<\/p>\n

Kamler and Thomson were writing for humanities scholars, but their work led me to develop an interest in deep nerd grammar within the sciences. The most interesting difference between science writing and humanities writing is the use of verbs, or rather \u2013 the lack of them. When scientists are evaluating the work of other scientists they tend to drop the verb altogether. In the brilliant \u201cDisciplinary Discourses: social interactions in academic writing\u201d<\/a> (told you it was nerdy) Ken Hyland points out that scientists will make a statement and then put the reference for the fact at the end of the sentence, like so (totally made up example):<\/p>\n

\u201cThe molecules in saline solutions cluster together tightly (Mewburn et al, 2010)\u201d.<\/p>\n

By placing the reference at the end and not associating it with a verb, the scientist \u2018imports\u2019 this idea without comment and effectively expects the reader to accept the idea as fact. Even when they do include verbs, scientists do it in \u2018sciencey\u2019 ways. If the scientist was inclined to more \u2018flowerly\u2019 language, they might use a neutral verb, for instance:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been shown<\/strong> that molecules in saline solutions cluster together tightly (Mewburn et al, 2010)\u201d<\/p>\n

In this sentence, the past tense functions to leave out the identity of the person who showed how the molecules cluster, that\u2019s because, generally, in the sciences the identity of the person who did the work is irrelevant. Scientists are assumed to be identical to each other and employ scientific methods and procedures exactly the same way. This point of view has been questioned by some who argue that scientists are human like the rest of us, but that\u2019s not a Pandora\u2019s box that I need to open here. To complicate matters further, not all scientists use verbs in this way all the time. Hyland points out that Biologists are the outliers of the science world and tend to deploy verbs much more like humanities people. In other words, it\u2019s complicated, but you need to know the norms of your \u2018tribal dialect\u2019 to fit in.<\/p>\n

So how can you operationalise this knowledge? Well, unless you want to take a risk challenge academic norms (and hey \u2013 don\u2019t let me stop you!), give your writing an \u2018uptight white person\u2019 make over. Grab a few papers from scholars you admire and make a list of the verbs they use. Then cluster the verbs into three columns based on a passive aggressive index: \u201cthis work is great\u201d, \u201cThis work is fine\u201d and \u201cthis work is terrible\u201d. You can look at my own verb cheat sheet <\/a>as a model, but you\u2019re best advised to make your own.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re finished, stick your cheat sheet to your wall. While you are doing your literature review, examine your feelings about the work you are reading, and then pick a verb from the list that fits your judgment. Varied verb use will make your writing more interesting and precise If you are a science student, closely examine your own verb placement and compare it to work in your discipline \u2013 could you afford to use a few more verbs? Or do you need to pare it back?<\/p>\n

I hope that\u2019s clear \u2013 I\u2019ll be making edits when I put this post into the book, so your questions are helpful!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although I got reasonable marks for my creative essays in high school, literary criticism was never my strong suit. One of the issues with my analytical writing was that I didn\u2019t really understand how to use verbs. It wasn\u2019t until I nearly finished my masters degree that I found out that verbs function in academic […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":40688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[13315],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-40687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-higher-education","tag-academic-writing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAcademic writing is like a painful, upper middle class dinner party - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Academic writing is like a painful, upper middle class dinner party - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Although I got reasonable marks for my creative essays in high school, literary criticism was never my strong suit. One of the issues with my analytical writing was that I didn\u2019t really understand how to use verbs. It wasn\u2019t until I nearly finished my masters degree that I found out that verbs function in academic […]\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-09-26T20:38:26+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/verbs.png\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"300\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"headline\":\"Academic writing is like a painful, upper middle class dinner party\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-26T20:38:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1090,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/09\\\/verbs.png\",\"keywords\":[\"academic writing\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Higher Education\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\\\/\",\"name\":\"Academic writing is like a painful, upper middle class dinner party - World leading higher education information and services\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/09\\\/verbs.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-09-26T20:38:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/09\\\/verbs.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/09\\\/verbs.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":300},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Academic writing is like a painful, upper middle class dinner party\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\",\"name\":\"World leading higher education information and services\",\"description\":\"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\",\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kevin\"},\"description\":\"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/author\\\/kevin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Academic writing is like a painful, upper middle class dinner party - World leading higher education information and services","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/world.edu\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Academic writing is like a painful, upper middle class dinner party - World leading higher education information and services","og_description":"Although I got reasonable marks for my creative essays in high school, literary criticism was never my strong suit. One of the issues with my analytical writing was that I didn\u2019t really understand how to use verbs. It wasn\u2019t until I nearly finished my masters degree that I found out that verbs function in academic […]","og_url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\/","og_site_name":"World leading higher education information and services","article_published_time":"2017-09-26T20:38:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":300,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/verbs.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Kevin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kevin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\/"},"author":{"name":"Kevin","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"headline":"Academic writing is like a painful, upper middle class dinner party","datePublished":"2017-09-26T20:38:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\/"},"wordCount":1090,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/verbs.png","keywords":["academic writing"],"articleSection":["Higher Education"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\/","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\/","name":"Academic writing is like a painful, upper middle class dinner party - World leading higher education information and services","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/verbs.png","datePublished":"2017-09-26T20:38:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/world.edu\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/verbs.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/verbs.png","width":300,"height":300},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/academic-writing-like-painful-upper-middle-class-dinner-party\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/world.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Academic writing is like a painful, upper middle class dinner party"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/","name":"World leading higher education information and services","description":"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee","name":"Kevin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kevin"},"description":"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.","sameAs":["https:\/\/world.edu"],"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/author\/kevin\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40687"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=40687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}