Recently, in class, I had to deal with something that I haven't thought about for ages: the difficulty of academic writing. Now, I don't mean difficult in the way you are probably thinking. I can (as well as many of you, I'm sure) write academically with a fair amount of ease; however, when the rules get really strict, I find that it is difficult to want to write in a strict academic manner.
Upon receiving some of my written work back from the professor, I noticed that I had been docked some points for using contractions. So what? I can easily not use contractions in the future, right? Well, right. But, at what cost? It may seem trivial, and to some people there may be no cost in giving up contractions. However, I feel that they are a stylistic choice that stops the writer from sounding like a complete tool on the page.
But this blog really doesn't need to be about me ranting away, and don't think I don't see the method behind the madness. Contractions were labeled as vernacular language rather than stylistic. The fact is, we have standards that are upheld in academic writing. Really, what's stopping us from using text language in our essays? Well, maybe we see it as a colloquial, casual, or vernacular writing style just like contractions once were.
So, I guess my question is, where is the line drawn? How are changes made acceptable in academic writing? More importantly, do we want to see these changes? I'll be the first to say that I never want to see text language in academic study.
Am I the oppressed or the oppressor here?
Let me know,
-Rainamoinen
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