Joining the Academic Conversation - Graduate Writing Center

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Joining the Academic Conversation


At one time or another, we’ve all asked ourselves, “Who am I to engage with—let alone contradict—this bigwig who’s published a book for every year I’ve been alive? What can I possibly contribute to this field?”

Questioning ourselves is simply human; even the subject-matter experts question themselves. In fact, they probably do so more than most: questioning our thoughts and beliefs is essential to critical thinking.

The bottom line, though, is that a good idea is a good idea no matter where it comes from, and the "academic conversation" is simply an ongoing conversation to which people from all over the world and across time contribute knowledge.

They don't necessarily talk to each other in person, although sometimes they do. You don't have to have a special ID or credential to take part. Simply by participating in the conversation—talking in class, writing papers, and possibly even publishing—you become a part of that conversation. 

To that end, adapted from Dr. Zach Shore's method, our Strategic Reading infographics will help you comprehend and synthesize authors' arguments efficiently:

  • Part I explains how to quickly extract an author's argument and structure from a text.
  • Part II walks through the steps of critiquing a text.

Interested in a guided tour of these techniques? See the video versions of part I and part II.

For a full, NPS-specific overview of these ideas, take the next "Debating with Your Sources: They Say/I Say" workshop. Workshops are offered in the first four weeks of each quarter; you can sign up during workshop season through WCOnline.

Joining the Academic Conversation Links

GWC - all topics list heading

All-Topics Index


The following index makes searching for a specific topic easier and links to the most relevant page for each item. We think we have all of them, but please email us at writingcenter@nps.edu if we're missing something!

A-Z content menu

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

A

abbreviations

abstracts

academic writing

acronyms

active voice

adjectives, compound

advisor, selecting and working with

apostrophes

appointment with GWC coaches, how to schedule

argument

article usage

assignments, understanding them

audience

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B

body paragraphs

booking an appointment with a GWC coach

brackets, square

brainstorming

building better sentences tips

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C

capitalization

citations

citation software

citation styles

clauses

clarity

clustering

coaching, about

coaching, how to schedule

colons

comma splices

commas, FANBOYS

commas, introductory

commas, list

commas, nonessential / nonrestrictive information

commas, Oxford

commas, serial

common knowledge

commonly confused words 

compare-and-contrast papers

compound adjectives / modifiers

concision

conclusions

conference presentations

conjunctive adverbs

coordinating conjunctions

copyright and fair use

critical thinking  

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D

dangling modifiers

dashes

dependent clauses

dependent marker words

display equations

distance learning

double submission of coursework

drafting

Dudley Knox Library

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E

editing your own work

editing: outside editors

em dash

en dash

equations

exclamation points

executive summary

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F

FANBOYS

FAQs

first person, use of in academic writing

footnotes

fragments

free-writing

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G

gerunds

grammar

group writing

GWC appointment, how to schedule

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H

homophones

Honor Code, NPS

hyphens

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I

ibid.

incomplete sentences

independent clauses

introductions

iThenticate

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J

Joining the Academic Conversation

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L

LaTeX

library liaisons

lists, syntax of

literature reviews 

logic and analysis 

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M

M dash

making a GWC appointment

mathematics

memos

methodology

modifiers, compound

modifiers, misplaced

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N

N dash

nominalizations

note-taking

noun clusters

numbers

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O

organization

outlining

Oxford comma

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P

paragraph development 

parallelism

paraphrasing

parentheses

parts of speech

passive voice

periods

persuasion

phrases vs. clauses

plagiarism, how to avoid

plagiarism-detection software

plain language

polishing

prepositional phrases 

prepositions

pronouns, clarity with

pronouns, grammar of

proofreading

publishing

punctuation

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Q

questions

quotation marks 

quoting

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R

Reading with Intent I

Reading with Intent II

redundancies

reference software

reflection papers 

research

research guides, discipline-specific

research questions

restrictive vs. nonrestrictive information

reusing papers

reverse outlining

revision

roadmaps

run-on sentences 

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S

scheduling a GWC appointment

self-citing

semicolons

sentence fragments

serial comma

signal phrases

significance

so what?

source blending

sources, engaging with / critiquing

sources, evaluating the reliability of

sources, citing

spelling

standard essay structure

STEM / technical writing

Strategic Reading I

Strategic Reading II

style

subject–verb agreement

subjects, grammatical

subordinating conjunctions

summarizing

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T

technical writing

tense

that vs. which

thesis writing

thesis advisor, selecting and working with

thesis process overview

thesis process tips

Thesis Processing Office (TPO)

thesis proposals: common elements

thesis statements

this, that, these, those

tone, professional

topic sentences 

transitions

types of papers

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U

United States or U.S.?

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V

verbs and verb tense

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W

which vs. that

Why write?

writer’s block 

writing process

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Z

Zotero

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