How to Have Voice in Academic Writing. I swear it’s possible. I’ll try to make this painless.

Why are we talking about voice?

(writing side-eye)

Writing Vs. SpeakingCode switching: the practice of moving between variations of languages in different contexts

Languages, dialects, accents, contexts = you already know how to code switch

English Standard English (few speak it; appropriate for business, professional, and academic writing—this is what your audience [exam markers] will expect.)

Essentially, in your head, you’re translating your form of spoken English (or other home language) into Standard Written English.

What is my voice? (That’s so meta.)

What is voice in writing?

How do you know when an essay has a strong voice?

Strengthening Your Academic Voice

Just because academic writing is formal does not mean that it cannot be interesting and engaging.

It is arguable that Williams' representation of the very different characters of Stella and Stanley make their relationship unrealistic. Whereas Stella is an aristocrat from the Old South, clearly upper-class and well-spoken, Stanley is a second generation Polish immigrant, 'born and raised in the greatest country on earth and proud as hell of it' who uses working-class demotic language and is presented as the modern 'alpha male'. It could be argued that opposites attract, however it may be difficult for any audience – contemporary or modern – to really understand how these two characters not only got married, but ever even crossed paths.

What does this writer use to create a strong voice?

What constitutes a strong voice in

academic writing?no slang (“loser”)

no overly long sentences (confusing)

no generalizations (“all” and “never”)

no strong bias (“Streetcar is a sexist play because a man wrote it.”)

no first- or second-person pronouns (“In this essay, I will…”)

What constitutes a strong voice

in academic writing?clarity

energy

confidence

intensifiers (but not overused)

active voice

strong verbs

precise words

concrete details

correct use of words

a variety of sentence lengths

clear relationships between ideas

appropriate transitions that connect ideas

What constitutes a strong voice in

academic writing?Above all, be yourself. Don’t try to sound like someone you’re not. Don’t use big words and long sentences just because you want to sound fancy. Just use formal language to express your own ideas. Your writing should sound like you wrote it, and no one else.

Let’s look at another voice. This change of perspective not only links to Jim's departure from the hospital it also explains how Jim feels so distant from Eric. Jim feels he cannot help Eric who is beginning to repel him, like a 'querulous old man' whose 'insistent' questions he cannot cope with. In his heart of hearts Jim knows that Eric is right. Eric's body has been so badly damaged by his experiences that he will be in a bed or chair for the rest of his life, but Jim cannot be cruel and openly agree with him, so he says 'No' and talks about the care he should get from his nurses. Eric wants reassurance. 'Wilya come again, Jim?' he asks, and then says 'Wilya?' twice more. But all Jim replies with is a vague 'You'll be alright', repeated, and 'Of course they will' which is a repetition of 'They're bound to' which he said earlier.

One of the interesting things about this extract is Clancy. Both Jim and Eric would like their former comrade-in-arms Clancy being with them now as he was someone who has the courage of his convictions and would not take no for an answer, unlike the two of them. It seems to suggest both Eric and Jim are both probably just teenagers and therefore unworldly unlike Clancy, and this leaves both of them feeling helpless and scared in their situation.

There is such a thing as TOO strong of a voice in

academic writing.This view of women as nothing but objects of stereotypes is seen explicitly in both poems. Yeats creates the images of a woman as a heartbreaker, labeling one of “passion” as nothing more than a being that will evoke significant pain. Here, her physical beauty, although praised, is further seen as nothing but tools to manipulate men. Her “smooth lips” convey this sense of female objectification. Although this use blazon may be seen as complementary to some, the pathetic tone of manipulative objectification is not only repulsive but essentially archaic to a third wave feminist reader as myself.

Techniques to strengthen your academic writing voice

Keep in mind what constitutes a strong academic writing voice.

When appropriate, write everything for school in English Standard English.

Read released A-level essays written. Underline sentences and phrases that show the writer’s voice. (Go to http://www.aqa.org.uk/ and search for “student exemplars.”)

Read your peers’ papers. Underline sentences and phrases that show voice, and provide ideas for improving it.

Read your academic writing aloud, or have someone read it to you. Does the writer sound informed? Believable? Reasonable? Interested in the content? If not, revise it.

Record and transcribe, or have someone else transcribe, your spoken thoughts on a prompt or theme. That will help you learn to recognize your academic writing voice on paper.

QUESTIONS?

Let’s look at academic and non-academic writing in a different way.

Video

How does Weird Al confuse formal and informal language, as well as spoken and written English?

Why does he make fun of people who are less educated or who privilege different types of writing?