Conley 1 Nathan Conley Megan Keaton English 111-06 8 July 13 Good Academic Writing: Easy As Pie Essay due.

The mere sight of the phrase conjures up images of sleepless nights, slaving away in libraries, typing away endlessly, desperate to fulfill the requirements of the assignment well enough to receive a passing grade from whichever diabolical professor handed out this torturous task to begin with. The stress alone is enough to cripple a student for the remainder of the semester, or perhaps, even the rest of their entire college career. To avoid this unenviable situation, Ill take a look at some of the basic elements that go into a good piece of academic writing and compare it to a very simple process baking a pie. At some point in our lives the kitchen has served as an experimental, culinary playground in which an attempt was made to concoct some sort of delicious dish. Writing is not any different. Over the course of these next few paragraphs its my desire to show how good academic writing can be achieved by using three basic elements: purpose, substance and structure. And its as easy as opening up a cookbook and baking a pie. The Picture. This is the purpose of the paper. For the point of this exercise, think of the office as a personal, confectionary laboratory. The desk is no longer some outpost the writer has been banished to until the completion of this laborious academic endeavor. Its now a platform for creative freedom, which allows the hands to work and develop a vision. The picture in the cookbook is the reason anyone is in the kitchen to begin with. Its the promise of the finished product, piping hot and ready to be devoured. Its the first thing that draws us to the recipe.

Conley 2 Without this picture, the purpose of the process would be entirely lost. Its the same with academic writing. If theres no purpose or point to the writing, then it not only fails to offer any sense of meaning, but it also fails to provide the reader with a sense of vision, and consequently, he or she, will lose interest. The purpose announces the writers intention. Its the driving force behind the vision of the work. In academic writing, this is typically located within the introduction of the paper. The introduction is a very vital element of academic writing. There are several different styles of introductory paragraphs (i.e. CARS, as we learned from Swales), but the main purpose it will serve is to preview the rest of the paper for the reader. Some academic writing may introduce the purpose in the form of the thesis sentence, but this is not always a necessary component. Despite its significance, the purpose cannot be the sole component. The Ingredients. This is the substance of the paper. While every good piece of pie is only as good as its ingredients, every good piece of writing is only as good as its substance. Substance is at the heart of good writing. Its the gooey, flavorful center the best part. It can be packed with fresh fruits, velvety meringues, buttery creams, or decadent chocolates. The ingredients are always interchangeable, just as the substance of the writing can vary. The one descriptive quality of the ingredients, which cannot be altered, is that they must be supportive. The ingredients are the elements which come together to create the aforementioned picture. Without the right ingredients to match the picture, the cook will find a very different creation than what was originally intended. This is not any different from how a good piece of writing is formed. The substance of the paper must support the purpose. As I mentioned before, the purpose is the most important part, but it cannot stand on its own. The picture of the finished product is great for what it represents, but without the proper ingredients, it will lack substance and will never actually exist outside of its depiction within the pages of the cookbook. Its

Conley 3 imperative the author uses substance to support his or her purpose. Just as the cook gathers his ingredients after deciding what to bake, the author must also gather and develop the substance of his paper to ensure both are working harmoniously to form that finished, tangible and tasty product. In other words, just as the picture represents a purpose and provides an introduction, the ingredients work as the body of the good academic writing. The introduction previews what will be in the body the ingredients. Therefore, it is important for the body to support that original purpose. These two components operate congruously with each other in forming good academic writing and its impossible to have one without the other. Within the body there must also be some semblance of appropriate writing style, paragraph configuration, sentence construction and proper grammar, just as any piece of good academic writing will entail, but this is close to infringing upon the next step of this process. With two of the main elements already in the mix, theres only one remaining step to tie this operation all together. The Directions. This is the structure of the paper. The final crucial element, the directions, serve as a detailed set of rules designed to help put the ingredients to work in order to bring that picture of the pie to life. Directions have several different characteristics. Some specify how long the pie should be cooked. Some describe how to handle different types of ingredients and when they should be integrated into the mix. Just as the types of directions might fluctuate, there are different rules of writing to govern the various parts of a paper. As I alluded to in the previous paragraph, the writer must adhere to certain standards of the English language. The writer must determine how to form suitable sentences (to include suitable subject and verb agreement with properly conjugated verbs to match), what constitutes proper grammar and when a new paragraph should be inserted, among other things. Some of other practices must be executed in order to achieve good academic writing. Proofreading for spelling errors is

Conley 4 paramount. The easiest way to discount a paper as being a piece of good academic writing is to include simple spelling errors. It is also of the utmost importance to ensure that research is not only implemented accurately, but that it is also cited appropriately. Any words or thoughts that were taken from a secondary source, and are not from the author of the work directly, need to be given the proper credit. Different academic settings also can require different formats. For the purpose of this class, MLA (Modern Language Association) format is appropriate. This an entire separate set of rules that govern the style of the paper, i.e. the spacing and margins. Lastly, when dealing with directions, there is usually a final step in the process to wrap everything up. This serves as the conclusion. The conclusion is the final step in achieving good academic writing. It summarizes the entire paper, from start to finish. Whatever was previewed in the introduction and then supported in the body, the conclusion provides the reader with a quick synopsis. Just as the final direction does for the chef, the conclusion also alerts the reader that that the paper is reaching its end. These are all examples of the different directions that serve as a roadmap to attaining the type of structure that is inherent to achieving good academic writing. They help establish an order, and any deviation from that order runs the risk of ruining that once promising pie that seemed so delightful at the outset. So to recap this delectable adventure of baking up a piece of good academic writing: the purpose gives direction, and the substance helps fill in the middle, but the structure is what pulls everything together. And while each is incredibly important individually, all three are intrinsically dependent upon one another. There are all different sorts of pies all over the world and there is more than one way to bake those pies. The same rules apply for writing. Writing styles will vary, the content will inevitably shift, and even different structures are appropriate for different formats. However, as long as a purpose is identified, substance is utilized to support

Conley 5 that purpose, and the framework of proper structure is applied, the writer will always have an appetizing piece of academic writing to pull out of the oven one of which to be proud, and one that others will also be able to share and enjoy.