An argument is a discourse intended to persuade. You persuade someone by engaging their doubts and providing evidence to overcome those doubts. A journal article, then, is a piece of writing that attempts to persuade a reader to believe in something. It expresses a point of view intended to influence. (p. 82)
... Don't have streams of data without any argument. Make sure that your ideas about the data are organizing the article, not the organization of the data itself. If you have divided your article into sections that mirror the chapters of your literary subject, or the chronology of related events, or the order in which you came across the information, stop and revise. You should arrange and group the data according to what you want to argue about it. (p. 89)
The Instant ThesisI had a eureka moment when I was reading the above text and also reading that first published article of mine. I suddenly realized that it could be the argument that gives the writer a voice. If you are simply stating data and facts and conclusions, that is a report, not a journal article. Anyone can do it, but if you are arguing something, or trying to persuade someone, that is an act of an individual, that is a thinking human voice.
#1. Although ___________ (general statement, opposite opinion)
#2. Nevertheless ________ (thesis, your idea)
#3. Because ____________ (examples, evidence, #1, #2, #3, etc.)
Suddenly, it made sense. I used to like to organize my writing by case studies, or individual by individual, but my supervisor told me that was very boring. On hindsight, not only was it boring, it did not help me argue as well. It is not the best way to position data to prove a point.
This is truly a eureka moment for me. On hindsight, that first article was poorly written because it did not have an overriding message or argument pulling everything together. But I guess the process of writing and publishing it, brought me many gifts, including this newly learnt lesson. So I shall rest my case and not be upset over not learning this earlier anymore. :)
Belcher, W. L. (2009). Writing your journal article in 12 weeks: A guide to academic publishing success. Los Angeles: SAGE (this is amazing book!)
3 comments:
Great job! Once you learn this lesson, you have learned the most important one.
Thank you Wendy! So nice to hear from the author of a book that I adore and found really helpful. I love that story you have in there about the doctor who was hesitant to publish his research but ultimately did and how it was foundational to the work others subsequently did (the limited details I can remember off-hand). Thank you for writing a book that was so well-organized, personal, and impactful!
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