Part A - To prepare for this assignment:
• Consider examples of writing that you have read that showed indications of personal opinions and bias. Did these examples cause you to question the quality of the writing and/or the evidence on which the writing was based?
• Read the following paragraph and analyze it for the author's strengths and weaknesses in terms of scholarly writing, bias, opinion, quality of evidence, and appropriateness to its target audience:
"One of the great breakthroughs in the past 50 years has been the widespread availability of the personal computer. This powerful learning tool has revolutionized everything from commerce to education and changed the very way everyone conducts his or her daily lives. And most notably, where only a few years ago people wrote about the "digital divide" between those could afford computers and those who could not, there is almost no discussion along these lines any longer. And, in fact, why would there be? Poor people can now save enough to buy their families a computer for home and school use. In fact, an article in Business Week in 2001 estimated that more than 80% of all high school students were "plugged in."
The assignment:
• Write an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of this author's effort at scholarly writing, and an assessment of the paragraph in terms of bias, opinion, quality of evidence, and appropriateness to its target audience. Be sure this is written in a scholarly voice and uses your scholarly writing skills.
Part B - To prepare for this assignment:
• Review and save the following article.?Meier, K. J., Eller, W. S., Marchbanks III, M. P., Robinson, S., Polinard, J. L., & Wrinkle, R. D. (2004). A lingering question of priorities: Athletic budgets and academic performance revisited. Review of Policy Research, 21(6), 799-807 http://web.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/detail?sid=ef20342f-5cbc-45dc-864b-72058d821766%40sessionmgr115&vid=1&hid=108&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=sih&AN=14928186
• Review the Study Notes: Introduction to Scholarly Writing: Finding a Scholarly Voice.
The assignment:
• Write a one- to two-paragraph summary of the article you saved in which you:
• Describe the central research problem.
• Explain, as best you can, why the study was undertaken.
• Describe what the authors discovered.
Include an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the article as a piece of scholarly writing that employs a scholarly voice and of its appropriateness to its intended audience.??Be sure that your summary and analysis demonstrate your understanding of and skill in using scholarly writing and a scholarly voice, and is appropriate to your intended audience.
Part C- To prepare for this Discussion, consider the following:
• What is an effective scholarly voice?
• What is scholarly writing, what are its characteristics, and why does it matter?
• How does the intended audience affect the tone and substance in a piece of writing?
What do you need to do to develop your scholarly voice and hone your scholarly writing skills?