1.1 Conducting Inquiry with Integrity
Forms of academic discourse…document with integrity what is known, while recording principled inquiry into the unknown, including analyses, reports, exploratory essays, essay exams, case studies, summaries, abstracts, and annotations.
CCCC Statement on the Multiple Uses for Writing
Inspired by the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Statement on the Multiple Uses for Writing, each of the six chapters of readings in this anthology features a different kind of communication, of which “academic discourse” is only the first. We could argue that this entire anthology is made up of academic discourse, defined broadly. However, we have decided to explore the multiple realms of communication in which we live, where an understanding of academic discourse is necessary, but no longer sufficient. (For the statement in full, go to http://www.ncte.org/cccc/resources/positions/multipleuseswriting.)
Many college-level anthologies approach academic discourse in very formulaic ways. Often, they shoehorn readings into academic modesWays of studying, observing, or approaching a subject. such as narrationMode of academic discourse using storytelling and organizing events into a logical sequence, often for a dramatic effect., descriptionMode of academic writing designed to illustrate something with vivid detail., definitionMode of academic writing designed to give a more comprehensive, detailed sense of a person, place, thing, concept, or idea., classificationMode of academic writing that sorts a subject into categories., comparison and contrastMode of academic writing that examines the similarities and differences between two items in the same category; organized by examining each item in its entirety according to all criteria or by examining each criterion and alternating back and forth between items., causal analysisMode of academic writing that analyzes the specific causes of an effect., problem-solutionMode of academic discourse that explores the causes and severity of a problem and proposes a possible solution to it, often after weighing several alternatives., and persuasionMode of academic discourse attempting to move a specific audience to think or act in a certain way.. You’ve probably already taken a number of language arts courses during your time in K–12 education that encouraged you to believe that your apprenticeship as an academic writer and reader involved little more than learning how to mimic these academic modes. We respectfully disagree with this proposition. “Description essays,” “classification essays,” “comparison/contrast essays,” and so on simply do not exist in nature; to reduce these fundamental ways of looking at the world to hidebound academic essay patterns ultimately does you a disservice.
As your academic writing projects become increasingly complex, you will seldom, if ever, write an entire essay confining yourself to a single mode for its own sake. Certainly, ten years from now, it’s safe to say no employer, colleague, or client is ever going to ask you to write another 750-word comparison/contrast essay. However, you will continue to narrate, define, describe, classify, analyze causes, solve problems, persuade, and yes, compare and contrast—often all in a single writing project! But unless you know why, when, how, and for whom you are making these intellectual and rhetorical moves, their power will remain…well, only academic.
The genresRecognized forms and conventions for organizing discourse in academic settings (or elsewhere). listed in the CCCC statement—analysisGenre of academic discourse that breaks down a larger concept or idea into its component parts., reportGenre of academic discourse designed to convey an objective set of facts about an issue or concept., exploratory essayGenre of academic writing designed to open up a subject to further examination., essay examGenre of academic writing requiring students to write an extended response to a prompt from an instructor (sometimes administered in a “take-home” format, sometimes taken on-site in a timed, impromptu setting)., case studyGenre of academic discourse (commonly used in the social sciences) using narrative to exemplify or describe a concept or phenomenon., summaryGenre of academic discourse designed to reduce a large body of material into a shorter, distilled version., abstractGenre of academic discourse distilling a larger piece of writing (such as a published or proposed article) into a brief summary, usually about 100–200 words., and annotationGenre of academic discourse that summarizes a collection of sources into a series of abstracts (if part of an annotated bibliography); more generally, an explanatory, marginal note accompanying a text.—do exist in nature, some of them even outside academia. There’s no question that mastery of these genres (and others) is an essential element of being successful in college and beyond. But this chapter of readings does not merely display templates of these genres with the suggestion that following them will lead to your academic success. The process is more than a matter of filling in the blanks. Ironically, in order to succeed academically at the college level, you will need to become adept at far more than just academic writing.
True academic discourse involves knowing how to join and advance a series of conversations. It involves living up to the standards set by the CCCC statement: “document[ing] with integrityIn academic terms, maintaining high ethical standards for the appropriate use of others’ words and ideas. what is known, while recording principled inquiryIn academic terms, the process of asking questions and testing hypotheses in a principled, ethical way. into the unknown.” Certainly, we can make no claim that the twelve eclectic texts in this chapter are the only ones in this book (or in the universe of possible texts) that can claim to live up to these standards, but that’s partly the point. This is a collection that should immediately invite additions by your instructor—or better yet, by you.
A good general activity you could perform on any of the texts in this chapter or anthology, or any text you find on your own, is to reconstruct the writer’s purposeThe writer’s (or speaker’s) set of intentions for the piece of communication, not only the reception desired from the audience, but also the relationship desired with that audience moving forward. for writing. For all its specialized forms, genres, traditions, and contexts, academic discourse still involves managing the same kinds of rhetorical considerations of purpose present in all types of communication: voiceThe persona of the writer or speaker in a piece of communication; the way the writer or speaker comes across to the audience., audienceThe person or group being addressed in a piece of communication., messageThe topic of a piece of discourse., toneThe relationship between the voice (speaker or writer) and the audience (listener or reader)., attitudeThe relationship between the voice and the message being conveyed; the writer’s (or speaker’s) stance toward the topic., and receptionThe relationship between the intended audience and the message being conveyed.. As you read, always ask yourself the following simple, fundamental questions:
Voice. What kind of personality is the writer projecting?
Audience. To whom is this piece of communication directed?
Message. What, exactly, is the writer trying to communicate?
Tone. What kind of relationship is the writer trying to forge with the audience?
Attitude. What is the writer’s stance toward the subject matter?
Reception. What does the writer want the audience to do after reading?
Get into the habit of asking these questions about everything you read, and it will become second nature for you to ask these same questions about your own writing.
You might also ask yourself some basic questions about the rhetorical moves writers make within a single piece of academic discourse:
How, when, why, and for whom do writers narrate, define, describe, classify, compare and contrast, analyze causes, solve problems, or persuade?
How, when, why, and for whom do writers use certain academic genres (including analyses, reports, exploratory essays, essay exams, case studies, summaries, abstracts, and annotations)?
How, when, why, and for whom do writers balance the “known” with the “unknown” by building on what has come before and inviting others to rebut or amplify their claims?
Finally, and perhaps most important, in your own academic writing pursuits, think about how, when, why, and for whom you can emulate the spirit of “integrity” and “principled inquiry” these texts demonstrate when they are at their best. After all, the first step to making these kinds of moves in your writing is learning how to recognize them in your reading.