{"id":209,"date":"2019-04-30T13:06:35","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T13:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/academicskills\/?p=209"},"modified":"2019-04-30T13:06:35","modified_gmt":"2019-04-30T13:06:35","slug":"your-writing-playlist-no-scrubs-by-tlc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/academicskills\/2019\/04\/30\/your-writing-playlist-no-scrubs-by-tlc\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Writing Playlist: No Scrubs by TLC"},"content":{"rendered":"

The second in our new series in which we use popular song to help you consider the oft-posed question: \u201cIs my writing academic enough?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Academic writing is about constructing a scholarly identity. You might not *feel* like an authority on a particular subject, but it\u2019s necessary to *sound* like one in order to convince your readers they\u2019re in safe hands.<\/p>\n

You can begin projecting this authority from the get-go with an introduction that tells your readers:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. I know exactly what I\u2019m talking about<\/li>\n
  2. I know exactly what I want to say<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    We now refer you to TLC\u2019s 90s feminist anthem, No Scrubs<\/a>, <\/em>as the perfect example of an authoritative introduction.<\/p>\n

    To begin with, the ladies \u2013 T-Boz, Left Eye and Chilli \u2013 define their terms. You may notice that this series talks a lot about the need to avoid ambiguity in academic writing. Indeed, it\u2019s crucial there\u2019s no room for misunderstanding between you and your readers. In this case, you may be slightly mystified as to what a \u201cscrub\u201d is. Are the ladies declaring their refusal to wear protective overalls whilst working in a hospital? Are they happy with every other item in their Boots No. 7 gift set aside from that exfoliating face wash? It would be impossible for me to understand, let alone begin to agree with, their argument if I didn\u2019t know what they\u2019re rejecting in the first place. Luckily, the opening lines of the song inform me that a \u201cscrub is a guy who thinks he\u2019s fly\u201d. Moreover, the group helpfully explain that a scrub \u201cis also known as a busta\u201d \u2013 just in case I\u2019m familiar with the concept, but happen to call it something else. I\u2019m also impressed that TLC\u2019s knowledge of their topic is such that they\u2019re aware of variations in terminology.<\/p>\n

    When it comes to your own writing, you may think there is no need for you to define your terms in this way. After all, you\u2019re writing for somebody who already knows them: your tutor. But remember that one of the reasons this tutor is reading your work is to assess your knowledge and understanding of the topic. So you know that they know, but they want to know that you know. Right? And maybe there are \u2013 as in the case of a \u201cscrub\u201d \u2013 several possible definitions and even synonyms. It\u2019s important for your readers to know which definitions you\u2019re using.<\/p>\n

    Anyway, once TLC has clarified exactly what they\u2019re talking about, they get right down to outlining their argument. \u201cNo, I don\u2019t want no scrub,\u201d they declare. \u201cA scrub is a guy that can\u2019t get no love from me.\u201d Straight away, then, we know what critical stance the ladies will be adopting in this song. They then go on to provide a rationale for this argument, stressing that this gentleman is being rejected because he is \u201changin\u2019 out the passenger side\/Of his best friend\u2019s ride\/Trying to holler\u201d at them. Justifying your claims in such a way is, of course, good practice in academic writing where much of your authority stems from having evidence to support your claims rather than leaving them unsubstantiated.<\/p>\n

    Is your writing as authoritative as it could be? Use our TLC editing checklist to make sure:<\/p>\n

    T<\/strong>erms: have you defined them?<\/p>\n

    L<\/strong>ay out your argument and\/or aims in your introduction<\/p>\n

    C<\/strong>heck you have supported your claims with evidence<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The second in our new series in which we use popular song to help you consider the oft-posed question: \u201cIs my writing academic enough?\u201d Academic writing is about constructing a scholarly identity. You might not *feel* like an authority on … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5886,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academic-style"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/academicskills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/academicskills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/academicskills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/academicskills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5886"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/academicskills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/academicskills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":210,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/academicskills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209\/revisions\/210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/academicskills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/academicskills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/academicskills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}