Writing in English Studies

How does academic writing work in English linguistics and in English literary and cultural studies? This book serves as a student guide to the conventions of writing in these disciplines. It introduces how linguistic and literary and cultural researchers think and write in their fields. Vivid examples and quotations from student papers show elegant solutions for approaching structure and formulation in academic writing. In this way, this volume makes the composition of university papers more accessible.

Instead of a preface 7 1. The practices of writing 11 1.1 Why academic writing is hard 12 1.2 Academic writing means joining a conversation 13 1.3 Finding literature 28 1.4 Text in progress: drafting, revising, and editing 36 1.5 How to become an expert on your own writing 44 Reference list 50 2. Writing in linguistics 51 2.1 Thinking, writing, and communication in English linguistics 51 2.2 How linguists write about linguistic questions 56 2.3 Content of linguistic writing 57 2.4 Finding a topic and formulating a research statement 71 2.5 Structure (IMRaD) 81 Reference list 100 Suggested solutions to the tasks 102 3. Writing in literary and cultural studies 104 3.1 Thinking, writing, and communication in Anglo-American literary and cultural studies 104 3.2 Building your argument: rhetoric, argumentation, and structure 111 3.3 Building your argument: theory, formal analysis, and interpretation 134 3.4 How to begin 149 Reference list 156 Acknowledgements 159 Index 160