What is “Academic” Writing?

In What is “Academic” Writing by L. Lennie Irvin, we learn how to write, format, and proofread a proper academic paper. Through demystification of what makes a good and bad essay, we learn that writing an essay isn’t as daunting as we might have initially thought.

The paper starts off with getting rid of some of the superstitions common among college freshman. In this part of the text, Irvin states their mission and the point of this piece of writing:

“This chapter is designed to introduce you to what academic writing is like, and hopefully ease your transition as you face these daunting writing challenges, (Irvine, pg. 3)”.

What Is “Academic” Writing?
by L. Lennie Irvin

This quote shows that the paper will ease you into to becoming a much better writer and that the myths you heard about writing college essays are soon to be debunked.

A lot of the myths included actually quite shocked me, in a good way. For example, I was always taught to avoid using the word “I” along with the fact that not all good writers start writing once they have everything figured out. Another interesting one was that it’s okay to have a five-paragraph essay depending on the situation. These little tidbits were extremely relieving to know.

Irvin’s writing has helped me a lot and I plan on applying a lot of what I learned to future papers. Getting rid of all the rumors I have heard has helped ease me into becoming a better writer who can properly read, analyze, and then write an academic piece.