Aspects of academic prose

Dr John Morley School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures

• Please sit in groups of four or five

• Open the envelopes and distribute the strips of paper (one or two strips each).

• Without showing anyone else your sentence(s), determine the correct order of the sentences (you will need to speak!)

An example of textual cohesion• Trait theory is based on the idea that there is a set of

personal characteristics or traits which an individual must have in order to be a leader.

• Commonly cited examples of traits are integrity, charisma, ambition, and courage.

• However, despite considerable research in this area, the theory suffers from a number of weaknesses.

• In the first place, no one universal set of traits has yet been identified.

• A further limitation is that the theory attempts to examine leadership in isolation.

• This is clearly unrealistic. • Finally, the theory does not sit well in democratic

societies.• Here, ‘meritocratic’ patterns of hierarchy are preferred to

notions of certain individuals being ‘born to lead’.• It is for these reasons that other theories of leadership,

such as style theory, are favoured.

An example of textual cohesion• Trait theory is based on the idea that there is a set of

personal characteristics or traits which an individual must have in order to be a leader.

• Commonly cited examples of traits are integrity, charisma, ambition, and courage.

• However, despite considerable research in this area, the theory suffers from a number of weaknesses.

• In the first place, no one universal set of traits has yet been identified.

• A further limitation is that the theory attempts to examine leadership in isolation.

• This is clearly unrealistic. • Finally, the theory does not sit well in democratic

societies.• Here, ‘meritocratic’ patterns of hierarchy are preferred to

notions of certain individuals being ‘born to lead’.• It is for these reasons that other theories of leadership,

such as style theory, are favoured

• The University has no higher priority than to develop virtuosity at all levels by consistently appointing excellent people and creating working environments in which such people may reach their full potential (see strategy 2.3 and 2.4).

• One of its essential strategies for doing this is to make a number of exemplary appointments of scholars whose virtuosity has been recognised in ways that give them iconic status within and beyond the international higher education community.

• The most obvious example of such iconic status is the award of a Nobel Prize for achievement in a research discipline

• The University has no higher priority than to develop virtuosity at all levels by consistently appointing excellent people and creating working environments in which such people may reach their full potential (see strategy 2.3 and 2.4).

• Making a number of exemplary appointments of scholars whose virtuosity has been recognised in ways that give them iconic status within and beyond the international higher education community is one of its essential strategies for doing this.

• The award of a Nobel Prize for achievement in a research discipline is the most obvious example of such iconic status.

Achieving cohesion (flow):Known information precedes new information

Familiar/known information → New

information

Achieving cohesion (flow):Known information precedes new

information 1. Of all the wars in American history,

none has exceeded the Civil War in the huge number of wounded and dead.

2. The memory of this terrible carnage is one of the reasons for the animosity between North and South today.

Transition statements

• In the above discussion several advantages of the X have been considered. It is important however to also examine Y

• Having examined the role of X in Y, it is now necessary to consider the ……..

• In the second section, we will now move on to look at the politics of two novels which also incorporate the 1842 strikes into their narratives

Characteristics of Written Academic Style

Tested and Refined

• Courage is standing firm in the face of the enemy. (Laches)

• Courage is intelligent endurance. (Socrates)

• Courage is intelligent endurance in the face of danger.

Statements are Supported by:

• argument• example• reference to authority • quotation• statistics• explanation• detail or elaboration

Sentence patterning with a linked theme

The early feminist movement was greatly influenced by works like "On the Vindication of the Rights of Women" (1792) by Mary Wollstonecraft. She proposed a feminist agenda whose aims were to expose the exclusion of women from traditionally "male" spheres like politics, economics, education and religion, to take apart these structures, which denied women their deserved rights, and to attempt to achieve these rights for them in the male dominated spheres. These aims became a main focus for religious women in particular, at the time, in the United States.

Sentence patterning with a linked theme

The early feminist movement was greatly influenced by works like "On the Vindication of the Rights of Women" (1792) by Mary Wollstonecraft. She proposed a feminist agenda whose aims were to expose the exclusion of women from traditionally "male" spheres like politics, economics, education and religion, to take apart these structures, which denied women their deserved rights, and to attempt to achieve these rights for them in the male dominated spheres. These aims became a main focus for religious women in particular, at the time, in the United States.

Style shift

• Colloquialisms are absent: if you see what I mean / sort of

• Contractions avoided: can’t, didn’t

• Popular spoken phrases: ‘The patient weighed a tonne’

Style shift: words• worry• story• use• a lot of • not much• look at• give up• find out • trouble• not … any• not enough

• concern• account/anecdote• deploy• considerable• little• examine/analyse• renounce• determine• difficulty• no• insufficient

Style shift

Tests to find out whether the cancer has spread can include a CT scan, an MRI, or a bone scan.

Tests to determine whether the cancer has spread can include a CT scan, an MRI, or a bone scan.

Style shift

The trouble with making comparisons with Neolithic and Palaeolithic samples is the result of the very different treatment of the deceased.

The difficulty in making comparisons with Neolithic and Palaeolithic samples is the result of the very different treatment of the deceased.

Style shift

Until the nineteenth century, there was not much known about the history and antiquities of Egypt and the Nile Valley.

Until the nineteenth century, little was known about the history and antiquities of Egypt and the Nile Valley.

Tentative – avoiding over generalisation

Muslims find the tone and claims of revisionism offensive.

Many Muslims find the tone and claims of revisionism offensive.

Common abbreviations

• et al. • abr.• Ibid.• cf.• i.e.• pass.• viz.

• et alii (and others)• abridged• ibidem (in the same

place)• confer (compare)• id est (that is)• passim (throughout)• videlicet (namely)

1. Many women feel that they are under a lot of social pressure to conform to a certain physical shape.

2. The models will also provide a base for various simulations to find out the effects of modern urban impact on our rich archaeological heritage.

3. The accounts given by the German propaganda machine, however, gave away nothing of the mounting hopelessness of the 6th Army's position.

4. Later, Florey got together with Fildes in an experimental study of the use of curare to relieve the intractable muscular spasms.

5. Queen Anne was considered a bit of a remarkable woman and hence was usually referred to as Great Anna, or Annus Mirabilis.

6. Therefore after six months the dieter is behaving according to all twenty-six goals and she has achieved a big reduction in sugar intake.

Tentative – avoiding over generalisation

• Past studies, which have been observational, have shown that poor patients have higher mortality rates after suffering a heart attack.

• Past studies, which have been observational, have shown that poor patients tend to have higher mortality rates after suffering a heart attack.

Tentative – expressing uncertainty

• The settlement had its origins in the Middle Bronze Age.

• The settlement appears to have had its origins in the Middle Bronze Age, although evidence of substantial occupation only appears in the Iron Age period.

• The site was then probably abandoned for some years, although it is possible that an, as yet undiscovered, pagan religious building may have continued in use into the Roman period.

Tentative – expressing uncertainty

• The Iraqi military are able to deploy these weapons within 45 minutes of a decision to do so;

Iraq’s Weapons Of Mass Destruction The Assessment Of The British Government: September 2002

• The Iraqi military may be able to deploy these weapons within 45 minutes of a decision to do so;

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-iles/Politics/documents/003/08/27/ August26AM.pdf

Shielded - reducing author responsibility

• Children are better language learners than adults.

• It is commonly believed that children are better language learners than adults (Grass, 1991: 109).

Tentative - expressing uncertainty + reducing author responsibility

• Drinking alcohol causes breast cancer in women.

• Some studies suggest that drinking alcohol also increases the risk of breast cancer. 12

1. Many historians believe that Arthur very likely did exist, if not quite as the romantic hero he has become.

2. Financially richer people tend to be happier than poorer people, according tosociological researcher Glenn Firebaugh

3. Many wealthy Romans may have suffered from dementia as a result of a few too many sips of wine and water from lead goblets.

4. It is thought that at some very early stage in its history, the entire visible Universe underwent a brief period of very rapid expansion.

5. A word square bearing the words "Pater Noster”, dated at between 170-175 AD, suggests that the population of Mamuciam were Christian.

Attributing to sources

• These sources suggest that from the fifth century onwards, the Blemmyes. played an important role in the Red Sea trade centred in the harbour of Berenike.

• According to Josephus, the death of the 960 inhabitants of Masada and the destruction of the palace and the possessions were the premeditated acts of all the people acting in unison.

• However, as has been shown elsewhere, the increase in testicular cancer incidence in Denmark has been levelling off for birth cohorts born after around 1963.2

Attributing to sources

• As Levinsohn (1994:7) has pointed out, topicalized constituents have a bi-directional function, anchoring the subsequent material to material already in context and also indicating “the primary basis for linking what follows to its context.”

Hollingsworth, K. (2002) Mofu-Gudur Hortatory Discourse, SIL http://www.sil.org/africa/cameroun/bydomain/linguistics/manuscripts/Mofu%20-%20gud%20Hort02.pdf (correct on 27.10.06)

Academic writing tends to be impersonal

• People tell me there’s lots of racism in the health service.

• There is considerable anecdotal evidence of racial discrimination at work in the health services (Akinsanya, 1988; Beishon et al, 1995).

Academic writing tends to be impersonal

I reviewed 210 newspaper articles published in The Times between 1901 and 1902.

Two hundred and ten newspaper articles published in The Times between 1901 and 1902 were reviewed.

“The theoretical clue to this conundrum is a

topic that shall concern us in this book”.

“Very briefly, I argue that three key doctrines of post modernist thought have conspired to discredit the classical concept of ideology.”

Eagleton, T. (1991) Ideology. London: Verso. (p.xi).

“I became interested in Irish Republican

prisoners after reading David Beresford’s book, Ten Men Dead, on the 1981 hunger strikes. ……I hope to convey some of my fascination for the subject, as well as expressing my admiration of the artistic achievements of those involved.”

From: Kathryn Pugsley (2003) Ireland Interned: Colonialism and Creativity in Late Twentieth-Century Irish Republican Prison Writing. MA Dissertation . University of Manchester, page 5.

• The production of a large number of journal articles and books and the propagation of his ideas to a very wide audience were important achievements in the life of John Dewey.

• During his life, John Dewey produced a large number of journal articles and books, and propagated his ideas to a very wide audience.

Reducing nominalisation

• The production of a large number of journal articles and books and the propagation of his ideas to a very wide audience were important achievements in the life of John Dewey.

• During his life, John Dewey produced a large number of journal articles and books, and propagated his ideas to a very wide audience.

• The recruiting of foreign troops was common practice for European armies of the late eighteenth century.

• During the late eighteenth century all major European armies recruited foreign troops.

• At the universities of Sydney and Melbourne, the emphasis on teaching the science and culture of Europe discouraged the students to be path finders of a new civilization in their adopted country.

• At the universities of Sydney and Melbourne, the professors introduced their students to the science and culture of Europe, never thinking to encourage them to be path finders of a new civilization in their adopted country

• The recruiting of foreign troops was common practice for European armies of the late eighteenth century.

• During the late eighteenth century all major European armies recruited foreign troops.

• At the universities of Sydney and Melbourne, the emphasis on teaching the science and culture of Europe discouraged the students to be path finders of a new civilization in their adopted country.

• At the universities of Sydney and Melbourne, the professors introduced their students to the science and culture of Europe, never thinking to encourage them to be path finders of a new civilization in their adopted country.

Achieving balance

• Her degree, her work experience, and being able to complete complicated projects qualify her for the job.

• Her degree, her work experience, and her ability to complete complicated projects qualify her for the job.

• Her degree, her work experience, and being able to complete complicated projects qualify her for the job.

• Her degree (Her + noun) , her work (Her + noun) experience, and her ability (Her + noun) to complete complicated projects qualify her for the job.

Balanced coordination

Neitherthe vacuous emotion of day time soap operanor the mindless eroticism of night time sitcoms

reflects the best

that American artists are able to create or that American audiences are willing to

support.

From: Williams (1990) Style: Towards Clarity and Grace, The University of Chicago Press, London.

• 1. Machiavelli advocates relying on one's own strength, leaving as little to chance as possible, and the need to get rid of sentimental attachments.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………• Machiavelli advocates relying on one's own strength, leaving as little to

chance as possible, and ridding oneself of sentimental attachments.

• 2. The project is aimed at anticipating events in this region, and to enhance our limited ability to discern and interpret signs of unrest in other volcanic areas.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………• The project is aimed at anticipating events in this region, and enhancing

our limited ability to discern and interpret signs of unrest in other volcanic areas.

• 3. Nietzsche wrote good poetry, composed music and the most significant friendship in his life was with the composer Wagner.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………• Nietzsche wrote good poetry, composed music and developed an

important friendship with the composer Wagner.

• Central to an understanding of both rebellions is the debate over …..

• The essay will discuss the debates over the nature of …….

• The language used in each case will be

compared……

• The first section shall deal with the creative swim ……

• We shall consider how the affirmation of the self enabled …

• If we view the first section as one which deals with the construction …….

• We begin by regarding how an example of a subjective experience ……

• This essay will explore the tension between between these two judgments of ……

• I will consider the uses to which it is put and the criticisms Woolf levels at historians and historical method

• …… and I include both its scholarly methods and the particular version of

• In order to ……., it was necessary to bind the participants ……

• It is impossible to speak of language without situating within a context;

• it is that context after all that determines meaning and significance.

• To justify ……., it was made known that only those monastic houses …….

• Significantly, it was Henry himself who tightened …….

• Notwithstanding its translation ……., it can be said that religious language ……

• Describing such an inherently creative process shall be achieved…….

• Starting from the basis that all language systems are constructed …….

• Travelling through France he and his parents arrived at …….

• Viewing the branches cutting across the blue sky, he was taken ……

• We are here reminded of …….., becoming enraptured to the sonata that moves him so:

• feeling himself transformed into a creature estranged from humanity, blinded, derived of his logical faculty...

• Dane evokes both literary and literal ancestry to ……

• In ‘The Historian and the Gibbon,’ Woolf lauds Gibbon for the ‘……

• Woolf finds fault with Gibbon’s devotion to fact, a presumed objectivity

• Dane goes on to discuss Gibbon’s role in Woolf’s fictions, finding that ……

• In A Voyage Out, Gibbon stands as a ‘test’ which Rachel Vinrace must pass…….

• Woolf’s examination of history cannot be separated from her fascination ……