Academic Writing

[musical introduction]

The journals in this course and some assignments in select courses will emphasize academic writing skills. In this course we will write in a style that I am calling “non-personal academic writing.” Let me explain my decision regarding this further.

We are products of our language, reading, and culture. I come from the “Boomers” generation, and you are from the “Zoomers” generation, “Generation Z.” As I mentioned earlier in my introduction, the influences upon my use of language come from print media as well as online news. I strongly suspect that your use of language is most influenced by social media and the conventions of your peers.

Our cultures and languages greatly affect how we view the world and how we express ourselves. For instance, here is a summary of what Malcom Gladwell wrote in his book Outliers.

“Gladwell describes the 1997 crash of Korean Air Flight 801. The pilot was experienced and in good health. The aircraft was in perfect working order. As the flight approached Guam, the Ground Proximity Warning System alerted the pilot that the plane was within five hundred feet of the ground. Unable to see the runway in the rain, the first officer suggested aborting the landing and circling around for another attempt.” [1] However, the pilot didn’t heed the warning and the plane crashed killing everyone on board.

In the twenty years prior to that crash, Korean Air lost at least six other planes. Compared to other airlines in a ten-year period, the loss rate for Korean Air was up to seventeen times higher. “In April of 1999, Delta Air Lines and Air France suspended their partnership with Korean Air over safety concerns. But shortly after that, Korean Air’s record changed completely. Since 1999, they have had a spotless safety record.” [1]

So, how did Korean Airlines fix the problem? They had to change their language. The Korean language is honorific, meaning that the language itself expresses deference to others and submission. This was the problem with the discourse between the first officer and the pilot. The first officer could not be assertive enough and the pilot in the superior role was not required to obey the request for change. Korean Airlines decided that going forward all communication between the flight staff would be in English not Korean. Changing the language leveled the communication between pilot and first officer, giving each authority with their words.

Well, now, to extend the analogy, I am seeing a lot of plane crashes, airplane crashes, in the written assignments in my courses. My observation of written projects from Generation Z is that students prefer to write more about their emotional and psychological interaction with music than about the musical issues, music, or musical projects themselves. Many students struggle to make use of specialized vocabulary and more objective observations. The words “I” and “me” are found in many student papers. This use of language is just like they would appear in social media posts. My courses will change the language of discourse much like the change that the Korean pilots made by using English. The courses will require “non-personal academic writing.”

Starting in Fall 2023, all of my online courses will make use of weekly journals, which will account for about 30% of the course grades. Each journal will help to refine these important skills:

·       Non-personal writing. Avoid references to self, classmates, and personal pronouns

·       Academic writing making use of technical terms,

·       Timely submissions,

·       Proper file labeling,

·       Deep reading and following directions,

·       Delivery of assignments in the correct location (this will vary by week!),

·       Proper citations and alphabetization,

·       “Rule of 2.”

In my courses you may make use of any Internet resources or print resources. This includes making use of ChatGPT. You are required, however, to provide citations for all of your sources. You will be accountable for all of the content of your assignments.


Well, that summarizes my introduction to the course. Please now proceed to an overview of the format of syllabi I use in my courses.

[1] https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/outliers/