Writing the Academic Essay

This college text introduces expository writing across the academic curriculum, illustrating the prose with student and faculty models. It applies the basic principles of rhetoric to academic writing-in the arts, sciences, and technological fields-to build an interdisciplinary bridge between academic islands so often isolated. No longer is writing of concern just to English teachers; now all faculty-in zoology, sociology, engineering-concern themselves with student writing. Hence, this text uses writing from various academic fields, not only from students but also from faculty, from the best academic journals in these areas. The student writing samples illustrate both problems and successes; the author has reinforced these successes with prose from professionals in the students' fields. A student of zoology, for example, will be able to see not only how his peers write an essay but also how the scholars handle similar material. As a method of teaching writing, imitation has a long history, and perhaps today's students can learn as Benjamin Franklin learned, by immersing themselves in the best.