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English 102
8 April 2018
Introduction
Writing is one of the very first things a child learns in school because it is used
everywhere. It is also an essential skill. It gives power to the writer to convey their points to the
reader. Writing is so much more than an essay. It can be as simple as a writing your name, or as
complex as writing a textbook. The important thing to remember is that there are specific forms
of writing for every discipline. The goal for students in English 102 at the University of Arizona.
They were tasked to find out “what are the academic writing practices for their specific academic
Discipline.?” For example, policy briefs are specific to Political Science Program. These briefs
are used to persuade people to reform policies. This writing practice is specific to my academic
discipline, which is political science. The hardest thing for college students to understand is that,
in order to be successful in your field of study, it is important that you understand your desired
Literature Review
There are three terms that will be discussed to understand the foundation of this paper.
They are academic writing, genre, and discipline. It is said that “academic writing is one of the
essential skills that university students are expected to master” (Gimenez). Further, writing
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academically is grouped into specific disciplines which means that writing will differ between
different fields of study. Gimenez states in his article Academic writing in the disciplines:
Practices in nursing, midwifery and social work that “disciplines determine the specific genres
students need to be able to produce” (Gimenez). Disciplines are specific fields that people go
into. Genre represents how people in a certain field communicate with one another through
writing. Thus, it is very important for students to research their desired field of employment to
ensure that they understand and practice their genre of writing while they are in school.
Students will not be blindsided in their careers if they learn to write effectively and understand
Research methods
This project involved three main stages. I initially started my research with an
observation conducted at The School of Government and Public Policy. My major is Political
Science which falls within the School of Government and Public Policy and was perfect for
answering my research questions. The Political Science department is located on the 3rd floor
of Social Sciences building. I chose to observe the Political Science department, so I could learn
more about my academic discipline. Also, the advising department is located there. I felt that the
advising area would have the most information about this academic discipline. I observed the
Political Science department by spending an hour pacing the hallways and sitting and watching
others go through their average day. I also spent my time reading signs, brochures, flyers, and
posters. I even reviewed different types of policy briefs. This allowed me to walk away with a
lot of information I did not know. After my observation, I also conducted interviews with two
different upperclassmen.
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The first interview was with Sarah, who is a Senior in the Political Science Major, with a
May of 2018. I felt that since she was an upperclassman and has practically completed the major,
she could give me insight into the academic writing practices within the discipline. My second
interview was with Mike who is also a Political Science student. Unlike, Sarah, he has a
upperclassman and can provide good insight into the academic writing practice in the discipline
of American Politics. Mike is a junior in college. He has completed most of the requirements in
his major and is very knowledgeable about the genre of writing in his field. lot. After I
completed both interviews, I asked for copies of policy briefs to further my research. Lastly, I
concluded with a genre analysis of policy briefs. This was important because I could find
patterns, and see how to construct a policy brief, what information needs to be included, and see
what the organization of the policy brief looks like. I also discovered that although Sarah and
Mike have different concentrations in the field of political science, but their policy briefs were
Findings
Analyzing the data gathered from the observations, I learned that The School of
Government and Public Policy involves the Political Science major along with other majors.
They are big on connecting students to outside opportunities. They offer opportunities both home
and abroad. They offer internships all over the world, opportunities to shadow congressional
workers, and they also offer study abroad trips in Mexico and other places. This allowing student
to put into practice what they have learned in the classroom and apply it to the real-world
situation. I came to the conclusion that policy briefs are the main practice of academic writing
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within the Political Science major. I came to this conclusion by analyzing the data gathered from
Policy Briefs are “a mixture of research and opinion paper” (pence 3/14). The design for
Policy Briefs is typically two pages long and DO NOT include page numbers. Each page is
broken down into two columns. Policy briefs DO NOT follow the traditional 5-paragraph format,
but they follow a 4 paragraphs format. Each paragraph is separated by titles. Policy Briefs
The style of the policy briefs is very formal. It is descriptive, complex, filled with
information, and includes possible solutions. Some terms used can probably only be understood
by people in this field. The punctuation is good. It utilizes mostly periods and commas.
Abbreviations are used to abbreviate the policy name (DACA instead of Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals). The sentence structure is a variation of compound and complex sentences.
Rarely if ever do they use simple. They also use statistics, graphs, and pictures to make their
point, and offer the reader another way to look at the main idea. Policy briefs are usually written
After conducting a genre analysis, I came to the conclusion that the headings go in the
left-hand corner. The policy that is being discussed is centralized and is the largest size font on
the entire page. The policy name is also colored. The titles stand out by being a different font
size, bolded, colored, and at times underlined. They also include footnotes, which provide more
information at the bottom of the page. Policy briefs are very informative, they pack a lot of
information into two pages. Each paragraph is detailed and serves a very specific purpose. The
paper starts off with an abstract, which is an overview of the paper. Then gives a background
paragraph, which is where the writer gives background information on the policy. From there is a
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paragraph titled current situation, where the writer writes about the policies current situation. The
last paragraph is the writer’s thoughts on a recommended course of action, where the writer
writes about what they would do to improve the policy. In other words, policy briefs tell you
Conclusion
Writing is crucial to the Political Science major. Policy briefs are the main academic
writing practice in this discipline. A policy brief is a mixture between a research and opinion
paper. They require research but also ask for your plan to improve the policy. This purpose of
this paper is to convince the reader to modify or implement a new policy. Policy briefs are set up
in a 2-page paper divided into two columns. It is typed in 10-point font to maximize space. They
include images and graphics. The paper is broken down into five sections to organize the ideas in
a clear and concise way. Policy briefs are understood by people in this discipline. The complex
format, requirements make it hard for people who aren’t in this discipline to understand.
Learning to write in your specific discipline is the hardest thing for college students to do It is
one of the first things we learn in grade school. It is important to realize that although you have
the basics of writing, it does not mean you will be successful in your life. There are different
genres of writing within each discipline or field of study. A business major will probably never
write a policy brief, just like a Political Science major will probably never write a legal
memorandum or legal brief. This is due to the fact that different types of writing are specific to
specific disciplines and follow a certain design, style, and organization. People communicate
within their field of study people in those disciplines can understand the process, but that is fine
Work cited
Gimenez, Julio. "Academic Writing in the Disciplines: Practices in Nursing, Midwifery and
De Los Santos, Raquel A, and Mike Pence. “Academic Writing Practices.” 14 Mar. 2018.
De Los Santos, Raquel A, and Sarah Sanders. “Academic Writing Practices 2.” 16 Mar. 2018.