College Composition / Unit 18 CMP 0430 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Academic Voice
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The idea
The academic voice aims to sound objective, authoritative and reasonable, like one thinker addressing another.
In practice
Academic papers still express opinions, but opinions based on evidence and argued rationally, in a professional rather than intimate tone.
Where people slip
Academic does not mean stilted; convoluted sentences and abstract language make the voice harder to read, not more scholarly.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
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