Throughout history, civilizations have used numerous evolutions of writing systems as a method of communication and documentation of complex concepts and financial transactions. As people have evolved, so has our need for thorough methods of written communication. When we think about writing today, the genres and mediums where writing occurs appears to be vast and limitless, however, there are several writing styles that guide us in how we create published works today. Some of these writing styles are descriptive, narrative, analytical, persuasive, argumentative, scholarly, academic and expository, and I will explore each of them below.
Descriptive writing is poetic and connects with the readers five senses. By using description to portray the appearance, smell, mood, taste, or feel of something, it adds awareness and presence to the importance of that item to the story. This style of writing encourages students to broaden their vocabulary by describing a person, place, or thing in a way that invokes a mental image of what the author wants to portray. This style of writing is found in poetry, diary entries, or nature writing, to name a few.
Narrative writing requires several elements in order to weave together a compelling story. There must be a theme, and main character with well-defined personality traits, and well-developed supporting characters engaging with the main character. Narrative writing also includes a setting in which the story takes place, and a style in which the story is told through dialogue, description, and action. In addition, there must also be good use of vocabulary and literary elements such as symbolism, simile, and metaphor. Typically, the narrative style is used for writing such pieces as novels, screenplays, biographies, or mythology.
Persuasive writing is a form of non-fiction writing which has a mission: to win you over with a particular point of view. This writing style is designed to present evidence to support an opinion, and to logically and emotionally appeal to you, in order to win support, or justify your call to action. The goal of this writing style is to deliver information, and use facts to selectively build a case. Persuasive writing may be seen in academic papers, editorial writing, advertising copy, product reviews, and even letters of recommendation.
While it sounds similar to the prior mentioned writing style, argumentative writing has a different objective. In argumentative writing the author takes a formal position on an issue or topic, and supports that position through research from credible sources. The components of an argumentative paper include a thesis, which states your argument; several points of discussion to support the argument and provide evidence as to whether the thesis is true; and cited credible sources within the research paper. This writing style presents a single issue and discusses the most important arguments for and against this topic. While persuasive writing uses personal thoughts, feelings, and opinions to appeal to an audience, argumentative writing uses facts and data to generate a thesis statement and support an argument.
Expository writing is used to inform or instruct readers about a subject or instructions about how to do something, without trying to change an opinion. This writing style is interested in presenting facts, through quotes, links, illustrations, tables or charts, and key data points. It doesn’t strive to present a bold opinion, but rather gains its credibility through delivering straightforward information. Some examples of this writing style include news articles, nonfiction books, textbooks, scientific and medical research, instruction manuals, and cookbooks.
Analytical writing is the ability to look at a statement, argument, character, or theme, and decide whether or not it has merit. The credibility of an analytical writer comes in their ability to identify and dissect the subject matter, and then offer an argument about it’s meaning and merit. This writing style doesn’t assess specific content knowledge, but rather it tests critical thinking, the ability to articulate and support complex ideas, while also constructing and evaluating arguments and sustaining a focused discussion. This writing style requires students to read, comprehend, and analyze.
While there are different writing styles, there are also different purposes for writing. Academic writing is a formal and objective writing style which is used for empirical fieldwork or research, conference papers, essays, term papers, reports, and part of a students body of academic work. Some of the characteristics of academic writing include the consistent use of citations, avoiding contractions, use of formal language or technical jargon. In addition, academic writing is not written in first person, and always follows the MLA style guide for formatting and citing. As also seen in the several of the descriptions above, academic writing should be clear and precise, well-sourced, consistent and focused, and formal and unbiased. The aim in academic writing is to convey information in an impartial way, while basing arguments, and support for those arguments, upon evidence. Scholarly writing communicates original thought, whether through primary research, or through synthesis. It should always present the authors unique perspective on the research presented.
References:
Hasa. (2016, August 17). Difference between academic writing and general writing: Features, choice of language, use. https://pediaa.com/difference-between-academic-writing-and-general-writing/.
Scholarly Writing: Overview. Academic Guides. (n.d.). https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/scholarly.
What Is Academic Writing?: Dos and Don’ts for Students. Scribbr. (n.d.). https://www.scribbr.com/category/academic-writing/.
My Journey Through Instructional Design 