tThis essay focuses on evidence from at least three specific passages. you’re considering and develop each of your body paragraphs using these passages to demonstrate your thesis. Use formal academic prose.

evidence from at least three specific passages

Construct your essay using a thesis statement that is based on evidence from at least three specific passages in the story (or stories) you’re considering and develop each of your body paragraphs using these passages to demonstrate your thesis. Use formal academic prose.    -Discuss the parent/child relationship in “Two Kinds”. Make sure you base your thesis and conclusions on specific passages that you quote and analyze in the body of your paper. ^ This above statement is the most important part of the assignment, please also follow it up with a strong thesis statement that is relevant in the story!

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Five Characteristics of Academic or Bureaucratic Prose

The term academic prose (synonymous with academese, bureaucratese, and legalese) indicates an inflated and static writing style, one that is usually less effective than a direct and lean style.

To characterize academic prose, I have told a simple story below (farmer fumigates field) in a direct and lean style and then in an increasingly academic style.

Here are the five characteristics of academic/scholarly prose:

1. Academic prose emphasizes nouns rather than verbs. What happens to the verb fumigated in the academic example? What happens to the action in the verb?

Direct and lean: The farmer fumigated _verb his field.

Academic: A fumigation _noun occurred.

An abstract noun derived from a verb or an adjective is called a nominalization. Fumigation is a nominalization (as is nominalization).

2. Academic prose uses static verbs rather than action verbs. What happens to the transitive active verb in the academic example? Again, in which example is the action easier to follow? I realize that neither is difficult in this case, but is it easier to understand what happens if you immediately know who does the action or if you must wait?

Direct and lean : The farmer fumigated_{transitive active} his field.

Academic: The field was fumigated _{transitive passive} by the farmer.

When characteristics 1 and 2 are combine, the statement becomes abstract, indefinite.

Academic: A fumigation occurred. or A fumigation was need. or There is need for fumigation.

3. Inflation and embellishment characterize academic prose. Direct and lean: rats, farm workers, house. Academic: small faunal species, agricultural laborers, residential facilities.

4. and 5. Academic prose is also characterize by long and complex sentences.

Direct and lean: Because rats infest the house, the farm workers refused to enter.

Academic: In so far as manifestations of infestation by a small faunal species were evident in the residential facilities provide for the agricultural laborers, an unwillingness to occupy, utilize, or in any manner inhabit the facilities was therefore demonstrated by the aforementioned laborers.

Note that the last sentence demonstrates all five characteristics of academic prose.

Below I have tried to change, in steps, a direct and lean sentence into various stages of ‘academese’ or scholarly prose, emphasizing decreased action and increased abstraction.

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