Kevin Deissler

EDTECH 551
Module 2
Its essential for an author to hook the reader within the first few sentences. Steven Pinker,
author of Why Academic Writing Stinks, plays to my interests right away by referencing my favorite
and iconic Bill Watterson comic strip, Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin and his stuffed Tiger Hobbes speak in
a language that reminds me of a time when I used to use the thesaurus to purposely substitute big
words in my papers; only they can rattle off prose in a way that defines the humor of the strip. I have a
hard time reading professional papers because of their intense use of the English and scientific
language; I find them monotonous and mind-numbing, and I feel I shouldnt have to go look in the
dictionary three words out of every sentence. Pinkers article seeks to explain why authors use this kind
of language and what the intent of certain words or punctuation could mean. He also makes a plea for
writers to stop using academese in their writing, and that is a plea that I could rally behind!
Pinker suggests that the reason authors write in a way that no normal person can comprehend
is actually threefold: because of the intricacies of our subject matter, its unavoidable to write with such
description, readers are looking to see whether or not the authors statements are true or false, and
finally because editors insist on writers baffling readers in order to sound collegiate. These suggestions
may offer a bit of humor, but as someone who has a habit of letting his persona bleed through into his
writing, I enjoy Pinkers statement, the gatekeepers of journals and university presses insist on
ponderous language as proof of ones seriously; (p. 3) or in my own terms, use big words to sound
smart. Mr. Pinker does in fact move on to propose that we further understand academese from the
academia standpoint. He highlights practical vs. postmodern styles of writing, in which the author
chooses either to provide the reader with information or forces you to analyze the authors words to
form your own deductions. Each of these styles offers different challenges to the reader and depending
on a students reading level may either struggle or thrive with being challenged while reading certain
academic writing. I personally find it tedious and boring to sift through large words in order to find
understanding, but I recognize I may not be at the level to understand an authors meanings.
A word I had not seen used when referring to writing is hedging. Upon reading Pinkers
description, Ive been at fault of hedging my writing since Ive began putting words on a paper. I would
argue that to some extent, elementary students are predominantly taught how to fill space rather than
analyze their writing. Ive spent years trying to teach students that you should not finish a paragraph,
And that is why. All theyre doing is restating the topic sentence the same exact way in order to get
to the required five sentences per paragraph. Ill admit that to become a better writer you need to
write, and since Ive started blogging, I feel like Ive become better. I may continue to hedge my
sentences here and there, but at least Im trying to end the cycle one student at a time to try and teach
better writing. One other point that Pinker makes is, English grammar is an enabler of the bad habit of
writing in unnecessary abstractions because it includes a dangerous tool for creating abstract terms, (p.
6) meaning some writers change the suffix to a word to make it mean something else. I believe there
are times when my mouth moves faster than my brain, and thus Ive managed to splice some words
together to make them mean something different. My friends had even started my own dictionary
because of some of these unintended mistakes. Its important these types of words, however, dont
make their way into your writing. Students 2day r beginning 2 type the way dey text #notgoodwriting. I
wonder if any of this grammar, since its being spoken and written (albeit in text form) will be acceptable

Kevin Deissler
EDTECH 551
Module 2
in academic writing; or is the fact that students talk to each other this way bring them down from
understanding a more academic environment?
The other major contributor to academese is a cognitive blind spot called the Curse of
Knowledge, (p. 7). I teach kindergarten students computer skills: the letters on the keyboard, where
the Start button is, how to log on and log off, and how to make capital letters. As someone who has
been around computers for a long time, you forget that these students are a blank slate and may have
no idea how to even use a mouse. Even I fall into that Curse of Knowledge point of view sometimes.
Writers need to decide if they want to write to sound smarter than everyone else or if they want to
write to share their information with the common individual. By eliminating certain jargon that the
reader may need to go look up, authors could provide a more enjoyable reading and learning experience
while sharing their knowledge with others.
Michael C. Mungers article, 10 Tips on How to Write Less Badly, should be shared in every
middle school and high school. I can remember at least three language arts classes that I took in 6th,
10th, and 11th grades that had zero effect on my writing based on lack of class management leading to a
bad attitude towards grammar and writing, and ignorant youth. If teachers spent some time sharing the
suggestions in this article, even that may have had an impact on my writing earlier in my career. As it
stands, I feel that high school English classes taught me how to fill paper with words. I recently started
blogging because I actually wanted to write. Munger states that writing is an exercise and I never
started to flex my muscles until within the past two years. This exercise coupled with learning more in
graduate classes has led me to feel that there may come a day when I could publish something.
According to Munger, Im still finding my voice and thats ok. Like writing a grant, you dont write to
play with the toys, you write for a purpose and how does that purpose impact your students.
Edit your work, over and over, (p. 12). Once youve edited it over and over, edit it again.
Having one other person look at it may not be enough either. I have some friends who know not just
how to be critical of my writing, but are critical of my opinions; and thats not necessarily a bad thing. A
parent on our home and school association questioned my proposal for a MacBook, asking why the
iPads couldnt perform the same functions. He didnt disagree with the need for a MacBook, he wanted
to make sure of my intentions, that I had a plan. Finding some editors who will challenge your point of
view will not just strengthen your writing, it will strengthen how you think, how you need to prepare to
defend or justify what you ask for, particularly in grant writing. Edit your work for facts, for grammar,
and for depth. Are there any loopholes in your proposal that if youre challenged would you be able to
rebuke it? You may miss something like that, but the right editor will help you fix it and strengthen it.