Writing is a skill that requires diligence for students to establish a distinct, clear, and appealing academic tone. In this case, it is critical for students writing an academic paper to present their arguments in an essay format clearly and succinctly. Unfortunately, many students do not receive high grades for their essays since they do not adhere to well-established academic norms. In particular, even skilled students formulating their academic papers don’t know what academic no-no’s to avoid when writing their essays. Should you seek A-grade essay examples, we advise you to look here.
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Avoiding Colloquialisms and Slang
Using colloquialisms and slang words is one of the most common academic writing no-no’s. Colloquialisms are terms or phrases that are often used in regular speech and text communications. While avoiding slang is simple, most students struggle to eliminate the less evident colloquialisms from their writing. Colloquial expressions are acceptable in spoken English and casual text exchanges, but they should be avoided in academic writing. It is because they are placeholder terms and phrases connecting concepts based on the context of a dialogue.
Avoiding Complicated Phrasing
Phrasing, punctuation, and grammar are the fundamental building blocks of academic writing. However, when the ideas being examined are complicated, many students often assume that their writing needs to be complicated. As a result, they use long phrases filled with complex and obscure terminology. However, it is a no-no in academic writing and should be avoided at all costs because academic writing necessitates well-organized, concise, exact, and eloquent writing.
Avoiding Exaggerations and Hyperbole
Exaggeration, also called hyperbole, is used by students who want to emphasize a point in their academic writing that they want the reader to concur with. Hyperbolic expression is a no-no that makes academic writing feel phony, as it assumes that readers will take everything literally. In turn, all academic writing must be accompanied by facts only. Speculations are only allowed when personal reflections are part of an essay.
Avoiding Generalizations
Making broad generalizations in articles is an academic writing no-no’s related to hyperbole, which many students showcase in their writing. Learners typically utilize generalizations to present material or to elicit an emotional response from the reader. In academic writing, generalizations should be avoided since they are difficult to prove and typically have no bearing on the argument. General statements in academic writing are only valid if they introduce a concept that will be further defined in the essay.
Avoiding Plagiarism
One of the most prominent academic writing no-nos is plagiarism. In a bid to quickly finish an academic writing assignment, a student might decide to copy someone else’s work or copy-paste content from reading materials without paraphrasing or citing the author correctly. This aspect constitutes plagiarism and is a real issue in many academic institutions. Often, the penalty for submitting plagiarized work may be as stiff as expulsion from a course or learning institution.
In conclusion, students need to be keen about ensuring that their academic writing is excellent. To achieve this goal, skilled students have to avoid these writing no-nos to have better grades for their essays. They are also more likely to enhance other life skills, like communication, expression, and others.