Officially Scholarly Articles

By Gabriella D.

Scholarly articles are difficult to read. Often, I find myself re-reading the passages of hard text for my 300-level and 400-level classes leaving me to take up as much as half the day to fully finish one scholarly article. It is a common idea that learning about things you are interested makes understanding easier, however certain proses make this task harder than it needs to be. Within the scholarly article form, it is common to see official style. Even with specific search techniques, like using keywords to narrow down my results to my interests, this article that seemingly served my interests was a hard read. Nathan K. Chan’s scholarly article published in the Political Research Quarterly showcases characteristics of official style throughout many aspects of the piece. The article attempts to understand the contradiction of how Asian Americans are the most digitally wired racial group while simultaneously also being the least politically active group online. They dive into possible theories and hypothesis, comparative analysis from pre-existing literature, and the results of their study. However, from the standpoint of an Asian American who is a junior majoring in Political Science, my interest in the article drastically decreased from the beginning to the end. The official style significantly lowered the readability score and made it a difficult read. In this piece, I want to analyze the variety of stylistic strategies the author used and its effect on the context in which the article could be used in the spheres of human activity.

First, I will show how the language used in the article can make it difficult for readers to understand. By way of the author’s sentence structure, word choice, and stylistic strategies, these official style strategies efficiently combined two thoughts into one sentence and consequently created longer sentences. Frequently, there were instances where two types of official style strategies were used in one sentence! Here is an example I found shortly after reading the short introduction on the article’s second page,

Asian Americans may turn out to vote less often because some may not have access to the ballot box but “rather than being passive objects of social forces, Asian American men and women have been pragmatic and calculating actors who have adopted a multifaceted style of politics to maximize their chances of survival and [realizing] their interests (Lien 2001, xii) (883).

There are many strategies that make this single sentence so complex. Here, the author is combining his thought with another author’s thought. Within each respective author’s thought, they each use at least one strategy to connect their ideas. So, to sum up the number of thoughts within this sentence, there are actually four complete thoughts. To be more specific, the two types of stylistic strategies used are relative clause and subordination. Towards the beginning, the author uses subordination through the word “because”. Afterwards, Chen references another author who uses relative clause through the word “who”. Using these strategies create the building blocks of official style – automatic higher readability scores due to longer sentences. I imagine I would be harder to read this article because of the probability of getting lost in who said what in any point of the article. Here, we can see that official style affected the coherency and conciseness of the article.

Next, I want to explore the implications surrounding the context of the article’s circulation, exclusivity of topics, etc. First, we must consider, can a piece be considered “official style” outside of word choice and grammar? An abundance of specific official style strategies is not necessary for a piece to be considered “official style” because exclusion is the main principle of official style. So, if exclusion is the main principle of the official style, what are the other ways a piece can reach this goal? There are many aspects to be considered that exclude groups of readers, for example, through the lack of background information on the article’s contributors, the very little circulation of the article, and the exclusive nature of the subject regarding digital modes of political behavior – a rather niche subject to begin with. To start, there is little to no information readily available surrounding who the author is, and what they do, but instead are left with no distinct information behind who wrote the article. In terms of the article’s circulation, I found this piece on a username-and-password search database unavailable to the public. It’s also important to consider its niche language. Using the concepts of “digital divide” and “pan-ethnic identity”, this terminology required a google search. For example, Chen explains how Asian Americans are less politically active due to less available political space online and offline,

The difficulty for Asian Americans, compared to other racial groups, to share a common pan-ethnic identity with one another helps explain why digital venues are far less developed for them (886).

We can see how the context of an article outside of its actual content can add to how an article can be considered official style due to its common trait of exclusion.

To conclude, the official style can make things harder than it appears to be. Personally, I was interested in understanding the nuances behind political participation as it relates to identity, however I started to become lost within the sea of official style strategies. The language created a maze of thoughts, sometimes occurring all within one sentence. In addition, the context surrounding the article itself continued to exclude parts of the public that not only may find this article hard-to-follow, but also who don’t have access to these articles. It seems that the purpose of the piece was to spread awareness through analysis, but some choices make this information difficult to understand. Therefore, the use of official style was not appropriate and negatively affected the article.

https://journals-sagepub-com.libweb.uwlax.edu/doi/pdf/10.1177/1065912920945391

How Narrative-Driven Text Could Revolutionize Academia

By K.C. Cayo

Case studies within any field are often structured like a thesis or standard scientific research paper with separate sections for the theoretical framework, the methods, the results, and the findings. Environmental research and environmental justice are not different in this regard. Case studies are good for recounting, comparing, evaluating, and understanding different aspects of a given research problem. Though they can be narratively driven, this is not usually the case in the field of climate justice, and yet it is an increasingly prevalent technique used to build rapport with an audience.

“Hogwashed, Part 1: Hundreds of Poor, Mostly African-American Residents of Eastern North Carolina Say Big Pork Is Making Their Lives Miserable” by Ken Fine and Erica Hellerstein is the first of a three-part investigation into North Carolina's hog-farming industry. Using story-banking as the primary way to set the scene, they assess the claims made by lower-income Black residents of eastern North Carolina that hog farms have polluted their properties and efforts by lawmakers to shield pork producers from litigation. The study also examines the environmental impacts that hog farming has had over the last two decades as well as ways to make the industry itself more sustainable. The authors introduce us to the Miller household, focusing on Rene Miller, a sixty-six-year-old Black woman who lives in a home she inherited from her grandmother as part of a post-slavery grant. She shows us the family cemetery where her nephew is buried, having died of cancer years earlier. The most striking part of this narration is that the land with its sprawling hills and greens and wildflowers smells like death and decay because of the “cesspool of pig waste” not even fifty yards away—and that, according to the Millers, is the smell of hog country, and stretches for miles.

After offering cited sources and data statistics from other sources and studies, the authors explain not only the environmental impacts of the hog industry, but how the impacts are tied to environmental racism, or the idea that environmental problems are more harm Black and Brown bodies (and, often, this is intentionally and wittingly done). Hog farms disproportionately affect African-American households. The houses smell like manure, which lowers the property value of their homes and makes it impossible for them to sell, so even if they can afford to move to a cleaner area they are tied down. It has been shown that there is a correlation between air pollution from hog farms and “higher rates of nausea, increases in blood pressure, respiratory issues such as wheezing and increased asthma symptoms for children, and overall diminished quality of life for people living nearby.” These farms are well-documented to be a public health crisis, as well as a clean water crisis.

Though this study is undoubtedly written in the official style (e.g. legalese, research papers, etc.), with lots of compound-complex sentences, appositives, passive voice, and prepositional phrases that lengthen and complicate sentences, it somehow manages to be a simple read. In fact, the introduction to the aging Rene Miller, followed by a data-driven analysis that supported all the Miller’s claims, provided not only a seal-tight argument, but invokes a certain protectiveness from readers. The audience, whether they be scientists, lawyers, farmers, environmental justice researchers, or students will read this and empathize with the people who are forced to live this way. The narrative is daunting and horrific, especially with the added lens of the multitude of times the law did not protect citizens over corporations, or how the government continues to prioritize the booming economy that is the hog industry over human lives, and it is surely improbable for any level of researcher to read this without wanting to take action. Despite the detached technique that is often attributed with the official style of writing, this case studies, and others like it within the environmental justice field, are proof that not only does this style not need to be impersonal, but that it does not necessarily benefit from being impersonal, either.

This research manages to be both professional and engaging, intrinsically linking us with the plight of the Miller family and other Black households while still informing, while still providing the audience with possibilities for how to alleviate this climate emergency for ourselves and others. At no point is it implied that the authors do not understand the subject material, or that they are too emotional, or that their research is anything less than perfect. This narrative-driven study humanizes an issue that, at face value, might have appeared as a very distant issue. We are given no opportunity to distance ourselves from this problem that affects not only the majority of folks in North Carolina, but people in other states and countries as well. This form of injustice is not unique, and there are proposed measures to combat it in a meaningful way that could save lives. Straying from the strictly-set instructions that come with the official style was a benefit for this case study, and taking elements from non-official spaces, even when writing in the official style, will make your text more accessible.

Fast Fashion, Addressed Slowly

 

By Olivia B.

Sustainable markets: Motivatingfactors, barriers, and remedies for mobilization of slow fashion is an academic article that discusses the harsh the impact that the current fashion industry is having on both society and our planet, as well as what changes can be made to consumers’ habits to make an impact. Written by professors, Zeynep Ozdamar Ertekin and Deniz Atik, the article was published in the Journal of Macromarketing, a peer-reviewed academic journal that covers a variety of business disciplines but focuses on marketing and the social issues that surround and connect to it. Because this is an academic article, it’s main audience is other scholars. It is hard to access the whole article online, so only people who have access to a resource like the UWL library database, or want to pay, can see it. This excludes a lot of the general public, as the majority of readers are likely students or other academics preparing to conduct their own research.

Based on this particular situation, I would argue that publications in academic journals written in the official style are not always the most appropriate way to share research findings. In situations where a lot of background knowledge on the topic is not necessary to understand the findings, official style is the only thing that is standing between the general public and this information. In this case in particular, excluding them almost defeats the purpose of the findings of their study.

In order for their message to make a difference, pretty much everyone needs to know what the research found and what they can do about it. It seems as though they aren’t really trying to change anything with this article, but rather just report their findings to an elite audience. It is an academic article, published in a journal, so it makes sense that it would be written at such a high level, but the content is too important to be hidden in the official style.

The current audience being addressed appears to be environmental activists, other researchers, students doing research or learning about the topic. The audience should, however, be the general public, or at least people who shop for clothes a lot. This is where things get complicated, as there is vast diversity in levels of reading, background knowledge, and topic understanding. The group of “the general public” is extremely diverse because that includes all individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and reading levels. The audiences of this article range everywhere from teenagers who like to shop at H&M with their friends, to academics conducting research on environmental issues, and that is a very broad range of reading and understanding levels.

Small changes in diction and sentence structure would make a huge difference in making this information accessible to the people that really matter. Shorter sentences, reducing unnecessary phrases, and using easier words would make a big difference. For example, “this necessitates taking into account cost/benefit trade-offs among social, ecological, and generational consumption consequences (Prothero et al. 2011) and trade-offs among different accounts of well-being (Dolan et al. 2006)” is such a complex sentence, that the message is getting lost. I like their use of modifiers to describe nouns, like “excessive consumption” and “capitalist system,” but if they were used in a way to make the nouns more understandable, rather than more complex, it would help. These stylistic choices improve the authors’ credibility and establish a certain level of expertise among readers, so if that is what they are going for, they did a great job.

In addition to the authors’ word choice, the decision to write the article in passive voice creates another barrier for readers. Because the piece is written to be an academic article, it is written in passive voice, addressing the issue and possible solutions as abstract concepts, not direct instructions. This article has great suggestions as so how to begin to remedy the issues with the current fashion industry, but instead of urging readers to follow their instructions, they present them as research findings.

Lack of knowledge, skills, awareness, and consideration in sustainability issues and problems often act as barriers (Bonini and Oppenheim 2008; Kollmuss and Agyeman 2002; Thøgersen 2005; Vermeir and Verbeke 2006; Williams and Dair 2007). Increased concern for the environment alone is often not sufficient; increased awareness of the relationship between technological, political, and economic institutions and environmental deterioration is also required (Kilbourne, McDonagh, and Prothero 1997). However, individual consumers rarely connect consumption practices and outcomes (Connolly and Prothero 2003; Hobson 2004). In this regard, education systems and related activities are critical in increasing awareness and knowledge (Ertekin, Z. O., & Atik, D., 2015).

The above quotation, taken from the text, is an example of passive voice because it is addressing an issue that readers can work fix, without the direct call for them to do so. The sentence: “education systems and related activities are critical in increasing awareness and knowledge,” could instead read as “schools need to teach students about the consequences of fast fashion.” The second example addresses who needs to do something different and what they can do, while the first is just recognizing that there is an issue with what might be a possible way to improve. Nobody is being addressed, so the call the action can easily be missed.

            Despite the many reasons that this information should be available to the general public, I can’t help but consider the arguments as to why this article should remain in the official style and only available in online databases. The biggest reason for this is likely that to establish credibility. The authors are signifying expertise by using complex word choice and technical jargon. The tone of the official style also demonstrates a level of credibility. Because they are talking about shopping and clothing production, it might be difficult to gain the attention and respect of other academics. Without the credibility that follows official style, this research might not get much, or any, attention.

Nay, Official Style is Here to Stay!

 By Peter Hliqaim

Writing has transformed over the millennia into the many stylistic forms we know today such as the official style. Official style is the higher educational approach many credible individuals adopt to deliver their research and findings. The Death of Language: Listening to the Echoes (of Georges Bataille) in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II—The Sith Lords is no exception to the system. Author Marcin Hanuszkiewicz uses official style strategies to address his audience. The article was published in 2020 and made available through the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse’s Murphy Library. Hanuszkiewicz is a graduate student from the University of Silesia in Katowice. The article was published in the journal Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory, and Culture. It compares the similarities between Star Wars video-game character Kreia and her ideological position regarding the Force, to ideals presented by philosopher Georges Bataille and the constraints and rules of language in mankind. Hanuszkiewicz’s text can be used in the context of education, philosophy, and videogames. Though Hanuszkiewicz’s audience is limited due to the content of his text, the official strategies prove to be effective for the intended purpose.

There is a constant among all official style texts, and that is writing in the passive voice. This means text is mainly written from the third-person point of view. Writers are more focused on the subject being acted on and not the action being performed by the subject. The passive voice strategy helps emphasize focus on the topic of the text, and in this way, there is less emotional attachment between the reader and the text allowing for more objective observations. This is critical to official style texts as most are of informative nature. Writing objectively is an important element of official style text and being able to effectively communicate between parties and professionals is a valued skill.    

Official style has been around for a long time and can be difficult for many individuals to comprehend. The difficulty makes it apparent that the intended audience is not geared towards a wide array of groups. Professionals use official language as a communication tool and it makes sense that not everything has to be understood by the average person outside the field. It can be argued that the use of official strategies are not needed to express ideas, but if the reader is not within the intended audience, then there is no need to have writers accommodate the general public. Audience is a key factor in every piece of writing, and though official style limits this, it works for higher education and professional purposes. 

 Further analysis of Hanuszkiewicz's text reveals that the audience does indeed gravitate towards insiders, individuals who fit into the category of philosophical theorists, Star Wars enthusiasts, and video gamers. In-depth analysis of texts and inclusion of many philosophical figures may not make complete sense to individuals unfamiliar with these kinds of texts and ideals. Hanuszkiewicz includes references to other figures such Vladimir Nabokov, “Therefore, if one is to listen, then one has to listen in a way reminiscent of the listening described by Nabokov: ’I am like one of those inflated pale spiders you see in old gardens...’” (Hanuszkiewicz, 2020, p.264) Readers unfamiliar with Nabokov, would have to research background information to grasp an understanding of why the inclusion of his ideas make sense in this text. Again, audience is a key factor in why using official strategies make sense and work for this text. Not only is the audience important, but word choice also narrows the scope further.

How an author chooses to express ideas and emotions through word choice plays an important role in the level of writing which can be accomplished. Complex word choice can tie in ideas with deeper meaning. This stylistic approach brings forth the idea of credibility and appearance of intellect. As an individual who writes at a high level, there is a component of professionalism to be kept. Academic text is no stranger to this element, and The Death of Language: Listening to the Echoes (of Georges Bataille) in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II—The Sith Lords follows this style. Hanuszkiewicz displays this with word choice such as “bereft” (deprived of or lacking), “etymologically” (relating to the origin and historical development of words and their meanings), and “vehemently” (in a forceful, passionate, or intense manner; with great feeling) which he does an excellent job at expressing more emotion in an official style text. An inevitable encounter with complex word choice can be the abrupt stop in the reader’s flow of thoughts. It will cause the reader to seek out the meaning of the word with the context in mind. An argument can be made as to why the writer did not choose more easily understood words and phrases because there are alternatives to which the same emotion can be expressed, but in some cases, one meaningful word can do the same as a five-word descriptive phrase. There are so many tools to use in writing an effective official style text, and some are more effective than others.

Some strategies used in Hanuszkiewicz’s text help emphasize ideas by adding more details to an introduced idea or by combining thoughts for fluency. This adds an element of credibility by showcasing an author’s writing skill, as well as helping the text be more engaging and not too dry. This is done well in the text as Hanuszkiewicz uses them effectively to add more details and combine thoughts that do not need to be separated. In this instance, he uses both appositive and coordination strategies to effectively introduce the idea of the Force, “The Force seems to be a life-force, a fabric of energy woven into the matter of which all things are made, a rhizome of pangalactic proportions, the pulsations of which can be heard by those attuned to it—Force sensitives.” (Hanuszkiewicz, 2020, p.260) This sentence describes the force in detail by continuously adding on to what it is, that it actually is something else to make sense of it in terms of human understanding. The thoughts could be separated at “a rhizome of pangalactic proportions,” but by combining these like ideas and not separating them, it adds emphasis to how massive and important the force really is to the Star Wars universe. Being able to effectively use official style strategies like this adds so much color, credibility, and understanding to the ideas presented in a text. Collectively, all of these elements make an effective official style text because it checks off all the marks for its intended purpose. Though these make an effective text, some may question the necessity for official style strategies to be used in communicating ideas.

Realistically, the same message can be expressed without using official style prose strategies, but there has to be established credibility beforehand. Official style is used to communicate professionally, and when ideas are communicated without this level of formality, the background of an individual comes into question such as their education, profession, and experience. Once this has been established, this is where individuals can express their ideas in plain text for the general public to digest, otherwise, it would be effective any other way.

Overall, official style strategies prove to positively affect the message intended for its audience. They provide the desired established credibility individuals seek and professionalism expected by peers and experts. There may be the limitations of which audiences can understand these texts, but overall these strategies provide the necessary basis of professional writing. Arguments can be made to eliminate official style writing altogether, but that can be said about any writing style, and it's evident there is a purpose for its continuous utilization in today’s society.

The Significance behind Credibility: Context or Style?

 

By Tiffany Yang

This blog post analyzes a scientific article and compares and contrasts the significance behind the rhetorical context and the physical texts used, to answer which one plays a bigger role in determining credibility and the human sphere of activity.

An article was chosen to analyze Official Style strategies used, to determine if the prose style or the context have a significance or play a role within the sphere of human activity. The article in question is “Natural anti-aging skincare: role and potential,” written by Idris Adewale Ahmed, and co-written by Maryam Abimbola Mikail, Norhisam Zamakshshari, and Al-Shwyeh Hussah Abdullah. These writers have graduated with Ph.D.’s in various fields of sciences. This article was published by Biogerontology Journal. To briefly elaborate on the specifics of this journal, here is a description from their website:

The journal Biogerontology offers a platform for research which aims primarily at unravelling the biological mechanisms of ageing with an aim of achieving healthy old age. The focus is on efforts to understand, prevent, cure or minimize age-related impairments. Biogerontology provides a peer-reviewed forum for publishing reviews and original research data, new ideas and discussions on modulating the ageing process...

The article was found on the Murphy Library page located on the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse’s website. The article contains information about what the skin is, how the skin works and ages, and what steps or preventions could be taken to alleviate the signs of age within one’s skin. It is obvious that this article is scientifically informative, with the goal of educating and informing an audience to whom it may concern. The audience this text may have relevance to but not limited to: scientists, researchers, educators, professors, students, organizational businesses, entrepreneurs, etc. This article circulates within the libraries of colleges and universities, meaning it carries reliable and credible information. In my opinion, the use of Official Style is most fitting and appropriate for a genre such as this piece. Although the contextual factors of this article show its purpose of being credible, looking at the physical text and strategies being used can help determine how this article successfully portrays itself as a trustworthy piece.

To prove why the physical text is a greater indicator of how a piece is portrayed, specific examples of strategies used and related evidence will be provided, and a reflection of the significance behind each one. To simplify this breakdown, only the abstract of the article was analyzed, which is essentially a compressed version of this article. The first obvious piece of evidence is the data we get when putting this abstract into a readability calculator. The Gunning Fog Index indicates the number of formal educations that a person requires to understand the text calculated. This abstract has a Gunning Fog Index of 24.70, which is high compared to most accessible texts. This means a person would need 24 years of formal education to fully comprehend the text. We should consider the Flesch Reading Ease as well, which determines the reading complexity of this text. The higher the number, the easier it is to read, the lower the number, the harder it is to read. This text had a Flesch Reading Ease of 4.07, which is very low, meaning this text is considered overly complex to read. Having a high Gunning Fog Index and a low Flesch Reading Ease are indicators this text may be using Official Style strategies.

The next piece of evidence we will discuss is the physical and textual strategies seen within the abstract. The first strategy I identified was the continuous use of passive voice. Passive voice is often used in scientific papers like this one and is a distinctive indicator that Official Style is being used. Some examples from the text are: “Therefore, the aims of this review...,” “Recent investigations have shown that...,” “These trending narratives have....” The use of passive makes the article appear credible through the means of presenting and stating thoughts, facts, or evidence in a formal tone.

Secondly, there was an abundance of complex sentences used. Complex sentences usually involve many other Official Style strategies such as verbose language that uses excessive jargon and euphemisms. Verbose is often used to describe “hard to understand,” jargon is the use of specific terminology, and euphemism is substituting words or phrases to sound more pleasant. When you put all three of these strategies together, it can create complex sentences. Here is an example from the article: “The deterioration of the skin morphology and physiology is the first and earliest obvious harbinger of the aging process which is progressively manifested with increasing age.” This could be described as verbose writing because there are simpler ways to state the ideas presented in this sentence, such as: skin deterioration is the first sign of aging. The special terms here are morphology and physiology, which showcase high levels of expertise and knowledge within the science field. Euphemism can be seen in the phrase “...earliest obvious harbinger of the aging process...” which simply means: first obvious sign of aging. Another phrase is “...progressively manifested with increasing age.” which could be interpreted as: increases/grows as we grow old. These strategies serve a purpose which also happens to be more general ideas of Official Style and contribute to the author of this article and their goal to provide credible information.

The first one we have briefly mentioned was the showcasing of knowledge and expertise within the science field. This article shows that they are knowledgeable when it comes to skin, aging, and the science behind it when they use scientific jargon terms. Secondly, by advertising one's expertise, you are invoking authority. This is another strategy of Official Style that can be used. In doing so, this makes the reader feel insufficient when it comes to knowledge about the skin and views the writers as higher than themselves, in turn making the article and the writers seem trustworthy and creditable. This same concept can be applied to anything, for example when one has little to no knowledge about a topic, it is a common initial reaction to believe what you first hear/read from someone who appears to know more.

Before we draw any conclusions, let us now discuss arguments/counterarguments, other possibilities, and questions. After carefully analyzing and taking into consideration the context of this article and the physical text, I argue that although the physical text and strategies used may seem to have more significance (in terms of appearing credible) than the context, context of a piece plays a bigger role in how it is perceived and used within the human spheres of activity. Let us consider hypothetical instances, the first one being the writers are Ph.D. graduates in science fields but wrote the article exactly the opposite of Official Style and did not incorporate any strategies. Would the article still be considered credible and reliable? I can argue that the answer is yes because their status of education still shows they are knowledgeable, reliable, and certified in their area of expertise. When one goes to the hospital and the doctor gives you recommendations, do they say it in an obscure way for one to believe it and take their advice? I would say no, many would agree the doctor's status alone is credible enough and a simple worded recommendation still serves its purpose. Now consider the opposite instance, if the writers were not Ph.D. graduates and had no experience in the science field but wrote their article in Official Style, would it be credible? I argue that it would no longer be credible. That is not to say they are not educated, but when it comes to the contents of this article (science and skin), they could be educated enough to write in Official Style but educated in the specific contents of science and skin, to provide accurate, reliable information the reader needs. Others could argue that Official Style is needed to grant credibility. A hypothetical situation we could consider for the counterargument would be if a doctor who does not know or understand medical terminology, plans to give you medical advice, without understanding what your medical condition means, would the doctor feel credible? Most would say no and find it concerning that a doctor, who is an educated and trained professional, is clueless about terms they should know.

Other contexts to consider that could change are the purpose, genre, and the audience. If these contextual factors were to change it would then affect my opinion on whether Official Style is the appropriate prose style to use. If the purpose is to entertain, this would fail at entertaining readers because of the formal tone and lack of creative and artistic writing. If the targeted audience were children, this article would be too complex for them to understand, and Official Style would no longer be appropriate. This discussion then leads me to my conclusion.

To conclude, this article successfully used the Official Style strategies to prove credibility, but the context of this article is what makes it credible and affects the way this article will be and would be used in the spheres of human activity. The context appropriately fits the use of Official Style, which is why I was able to locate it on a college university library website, where only trusted sources are allowed. If the context of this article were not considered credible, this would entirely affect how readers view and use the article. They may question the accuracy of the information provided, the reliability, and as a result it could deter them from utilizing this article as a source. In addition, the level of writing may not have been as advanced to what college universities, professors, or researchers desire, also affecting the purpose this article is meant to serve. Context determines the audience, accessibility, and the sphere of human activity. Therefore, Official Style may have a significance, but not as determining as the context of a writing piece.

 

Confusing Language in Psychological Research? Here’s Why

By Garrett O.

Most people that have read a scientific journal article can probably relate to the confusion that arises when trying to understand the details. Why is the content of important scientific research so hard to understand? This is a question with many possible answers. The technical term for this type of writing is “official style.” Official style is often strung with complex and winding sentences, high reading levels, increased punctuation, and the use of passive voice. Many readers are able to identify official style writing without even knowing its defining characteristics.

“Stress and Personality,” by authors D. Lečić Toševski, O. Vukovic, and J. Stepanovic is a perfect example of how the official style is used in psychological research papers. It was originally published to Psychiatriki, which is a psychiatric-based publisher located in Greece. Psychiatriki was created by the Hellenic American Psychiatric Association to give Greek Psychiatrists a tool to exchange professional resources. According to their website, the journal’s intended use is for anything from scientific exchanges to professional aspirations. This means that the article was written specifically for a niche audience. Picking apart the language of the article makes this even more clear. Psychiatrists often pass research to their peers to help treat patients more effectively. “Stress and Personality” could potentially help a psychiatrist give a more accurate diagnosis to a patient.

              The article begins with a sentence reading: “Stress is an adaptation reaction of living organisms in response to internal or external threats of homeostasis.” This sentence develops the intended audience very quickly. Unless the reader is scientifically educated already, they might wonder what internal threats or homeostasis might mean. Essentially, this sentence is saying: “The reason we feel stress is because our mind is trying to protect our well-being.” The sentence in the original article must be decoded to uncover the meaning. So, what is the difference between the example sentence and the one from the original article? Content wise, there is almost no difference. There are many potential reasons for why the authors might be writing like this, but the most pressing one is to deny access. The niche community of psychiatrists that consult this information are one of the few that can easily understand it. The links between stress and personality type could be useful information for many people, regardless of their reading and education levels. However, more people poking and prodding at the research could be a very bad day for an author who doesn’t want to be challenged on their findings. On the same token, having medical and psychological discoveries easily available to the public could strain the level of trust between a patient and their doctor. With all the negatives that come with “coded language,” it is probably beneficial that not everyone can understand all medical terminology. It is proven that a certified surgeon and therapist can do surgery and aid in mental health better than someone who isn’t fully educated in the field.

              Another official style tool that is frequently seen in the article is the use of passive voice. When reading this article and other articles that use the official style, it sometimes feels like the information is simply “as-is.” There are no action verbs, only anticlimactic facts laid out without any ownership. Some examples from the article include: “Studies have recorded considerable consistency in coping strategies…” and, “Positive affect has been associated with positive reappraisal…” It seems like the authors are citing someone else’s work, which is not the case. Then what is the purpose of this language? The most obvious answer is to gain credibility. If I were to say, “I just discovered a new nutrient in this broccoli,” I would probably seem less trustworthy than if I said, “A new nutrient has been discovered in broccoli.” I am not a scientist, nor do I know the slightest about the nutrient content of broccoli, but I am automatically more credible when conveying information rather than claiming it. In addition to this, passive voice and third person language serve more than just this purpose. They also close many loopholes that might be left dangling in the claims. For example, people might attack my faulty research if I actively take ownership in it, but not if I just stated that “Findings indicate a new broccoli nutrient.” A researcher lacking confidence in their claims or an author seeking a position of trust and authority are both great candidates for the use of official style.

              With the individual pieces of the official style dissected, it is slightly easier to understand why an author would choose to adopt it. This does not mean that the reasoning isn't frustrating at times. If an individual wants to learn more about a specific topic, how is it fair that access is essentially denied? Should an individual have to take advanced reading and writing courses just to understand a summary of research? Many college students that have learned to decipher the official style were probably never taught it in the first place—at least not right away. In my own college experience, learning how to read official style was mostly done using the Google search bar. There are drastic shifts in the language of textbooks from high school to college and failing to become accustomed to them could greatly affect understanding. The ability to learn new information is a “right” in the United States, yet information is being carefully masked by the language itself.

Having important information easily understandable should be a right for everyone. Communities with low socioeconomic status aren’t only more prone to mental health disorders, but they have lower rates of education. This demonstrates how important it is for psychological resources to be easily accessible. Legally binding documents such as lease and privacy agreements can also exploit vulnerable populations. I would argue that there is a time and place for the “official style,” but plain style writing should be accessible when the information could help large groups of people.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Olivera-Vukovic-2/publication/221772331_Stress_and_Personality/links/02e7e52b5fa1c11155000000/Stress-and-Personality.pdf#page=20

Official Style in Scientific Research--Why?

 By Olivia Revels

Scientific research articles are known for being long, confusing, and credible- just like the official style is at first glance.  The text I am exploring is a scientific research article on epithelial ovarian cancer called Ovarian Cancer.  I figured I would have luck finding the official style being used in this realm of texts and I was quickly proven correct.  I found this specific article in the online Science Direct database; however, this article was also published in The Lancet, a print medical journal in 2014.  The authors of the article all stemmed from cancer institutes or centers for cancer research and follows the exact general pattern any other scientific research paper would.  All these factors together make this article a perfect opportunity for the official style to prosper and is commonly accepted in this genre of texts.  But I want to explore how the official style is used, despite the claim that writing in science should be direct and concise, when the official style has only made this article more complex, does not establish credibility that was not already present and restricts readability in academic/scholarly texts like this one. 

Ovarian Cancer has the official style throughout it.  One strategy that is used is having complex and long sentences.  This can be seen with the average words per sentence being 24.51 and an example sentence with 39 words is:

Findings of epidemiological studies have shown that the risk of ovarian cancer is reduced by states of anovulation, such as pregnancy or the use of oral contraception; or through tubal ligation-reduced reflux of menstrual products onto the ovary. (1376)

 This sentence has a complex vocabulary and grammar structure, like the use of a semicolon.  The vocabulary used has specific medical terminology, or jargon, like platinum-based cytotoxic chemotherapy, antiangiogenic drugs, palliation, stromal tumours, endometriosis, supraphysiological ovarian stimulation, etc.  These limit who is able to understand the jargon and who has that level of education, further excluding a vast majority of readers from this text. 

After looking in the text a little, now we need to understand the motives of the publishers for wanting a work like this made and how it establishes credibility.  The original publisher, The Lancet, is an “independent, international general medical journal” that has been in business since 1823 that is recognized worldwide for its longstanding and incredible scientific research.  The Lancet’s goal is to “make science widely available so that medicine can serve, and transform society, and positively impact the lives of people.”  We can clearly see that an article on the deadliest form of gynecological cancer would fit the bill for this medical journal’s interests and representation.  Already, the article has not been read nor its use of official style established credibility, and yet, we have credibility already completely covered due to the reputation and peer-reviewed nature of this journal. 

Not to mention that the authors of the article are all experts in the field of ovarian cancer.  Professor Gordon Jayson has a PhD in medicine and oncology, and he is currently teaching at the University of Oxford.  He researches ovarian cancer for the Christie NHS Foundation Trust that is an international foundation working to cure cancer.    Another author, Elise Kohn, is a practicing physician (MD) and researcher that works for the Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute in the U.S.  The next author, Henry Kitchener, also is a practicing physician (MD) and is a professor at the University of Manchester.  He researches ovarian cancer at the Institute of Cancer Studies in the United Kingdom.  The last author, Jonathan Ledermann, is a practicing physician (MD), an affiliate of the UCL Cancer Institute, and a professor at the University College London.   After all this credibility being set, why would official style still be used if not to establish credibility? 

This then begs the question of who the audience of this article is to see why official style is still being used.  Ovarian cancer uses jargon, long and complex sentence structures, prepositional phrases, coordination, and passive voice.  All of these are official style strategies.  And all these strategies used helped make the article longer, more difficult to read, more formal, and- most importantly- more official.  When considering the entirety of this article’s use of official style strategies, we see an increase in how much harder it becomes to understand and how that restricts its access to readers. 

To understand the complex sentences and grammar tools used, someone would need to at least be able to read at a college level.   Then, when we add in all the specific and jargonistic medical terminology from diseases, treatments, biological/cellular processes and structures, we limit the audience to a super small group of individuals.  These people include other scientific researchers in this same field, medical professionals like physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners also in this field, or someone in the general public that happens to be well-versed on epithelial ovarian cancer.  Based on these requirements, very little of the population will want to read this and can understand this article.  So, why is official style being used if the goal of The Lancet is “to make science widely available,” when it has only excluded more and more readers? 

Other strategies of the official style present are the use of the passive voice throughout since no personal pronouns are ever used.  A sentence that shows the passive voice is, “The management of epithelial ovarian cancer needs expertise in surgery, chemotherapy, imaging, histopathology, and palliation; specialist multidisciplinary teamwork is essential to achieve optimum outcomes” (1376).  We see that there is no active voice in this sentence since the subject is “the management” and not an individual or object but an action itself.  There are also prepositional phrases sprinkled throughout the article like “with”, “is changing”, “in which there has been a decreasing”, “within”, etc.  Then, there is also the use of coordination with conjunctions like “and”, “but”, “although”, “if”, “however” and “for”.  The strategies listed all create longer and more complex sentences in this article as a tool of the official style, which results in a much more difficult to understand text.  This then leads to less readers going to the trouble of understanding this text. 

In conclusion, I am confused as to what the purpose of official style being used is for.  It has not helped in establishing credibility other than showing off fancy writing and it has not increased reader turnout of this article.  Yet, it persists here and in a vast majority of other scientific research articles in the same genre of academic/scholarly texts.  It could be to further prove how smart and reliable the authors and/or publisher of this article are, or it could have been the only way for peer-reviewers to approve and accept this research if the authors used this style of writing.  If that is the case, then it is something to consider ethically that only one style of writing is acceptable despite the information needing to be read and understood by as many people as possible.  This then brings up more questions regarding how official style is being used in other scientific articles to possibly intentionally exclude readers, similar to how certain pharmaceutical companies sell their products.  But lastly, why do you think the official style is being used in this article when it so clearly does not need to be? 

Inside Zadie Smith's Writing

“Creative Style” Critique:  Zadie Smith

            Creative style is far different than its companions, official and plain, solely, in my opinion, because of its freedom, its infinite vision, particularly when paired with the fictional novel.  There really are no significant or harsh boundaries required of the creative style, similarly with fiction literature, and it is free to incorporate all styles into one; an exquisite example of this use would be in the writing of White Teeth by Zadie Smith.  Her story mainly follows two families, the Joneses and the Iqbals, as they navigate the contemporary world of living as a human being.  There are a handful of perspectives that are presented throughout the novel, but they all connect in the very end, both literally and figuratively.  This freedom allows Smith to share her message or story in a way that she finds most effective.  She intelligently chooses which styles to use, where, and how.  This is what leads Smith to spread her message; she can speak to anyone who picks up the novel and reads, simply through her book.  Smith takes on the challenge of using creative style, so she can teach and delight, the foundation of literature studies.

            For our view, we will begin with readability statistics to get a formal, albeit superficial, basis for Smith’s writing.  There were two specific excerpts from separate sections of the book that were analyzed, and they can give us a workable range of readability to get a sense of the novel overall and where Smith’s writing can stretch.  The Simple Measure of Gobbledygook, also known as SMOG, offers approximate required years of education in order to comprehend the reading; White Teeth’s excerpts scored 11.02 to 16.78.  As for the Flesch Reading Ease, it scores between 0 and 100—the higher values indicate an easier read while the lower values imply higher difficulty.  Smith’s Ease score fell between 35.13 and 60.12.  These arbitrary numbers actually give us some insight into how readers will take to the novel.  For instance, the SMOG results show that Smith’s work could be taken well with High School to College-educated individuals, and the Ease score shows a standard to difficult comprehension. 

            A deeper dive into Smith’s language shows her use of all three styles in various ways.  For example, she has a fantastic way of distinguishing characters and their development.  Some characters, like the Chalfen family, are known as intellectuals and can be picked out easily by their dialogue.  They use a lot of official style strategies like longer, more complex sentences with a large, sophisticated vocabulary, like specific botanical terms or science strategies.  In addition, when Smith starts detailing a memory, or flashback, or even a background description, she tends to write in a more official to plain style, sort of like a news or blog article.  However, when Smith starts exploring more creatively, readers start to become more engaged.  The creativeness is what is real to readers and what truly speaks to them.  There is a plethora of figurative and creative language such as diazeugma, expletives to catch attention and for emphasis, epithets, appositives, similes, and so on.  This kind of language is what sets creativity apart.  Official and plain styles follow guidelines and seem to retain less emotion or humanity; they are monotone.  Creativity lets humans express themselves in a way they see fit.  It is colorful, it is raw, it is honest.

            There is a true beauty to creative style; it can attract so many people, readers, and writers alike, and offers just as many insights and evaluations.  Official and plain styles may get to the point faster, if you will, and are professional or universal to a point where it may be masking a writer’s unique voice and visions.  With creative styles, there is the potential to be limitless in understanding and influence.  It becomes a more intimate experience between audience, text, and author, and it never stops growing—the creativity, the discourse, the ability to reach more and more people each in their own way.

The Creative Reach of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

The first thing that comes to mind when I hear “creative style” is a well-written novel where I can get lost in a world different than my own. The Harry Potter series, a favorite of mine, is the best-selling book series in the world, and for good reason. This series transcends age and is truly a magical journey for any reader. This is a unique part of J.K. Rowling’s writing of the Harry Potter series. 12-year olds love it, 30-year olds love it. It is hard to capture such a wide-ranging audience with the same story, having to be sophisticated enough for the adults but simply imaginative enough for the younger readers, but Rowling’s version of creative style in Harry Potter does just that.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third installment in the Harry Potter series and often regaled as one of the best books of the series. Rowling churned out the third book in about a year, directly following the release of the second novel, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Despite being one of the shorter books, Azkaban delivers a story of depth and growth, as the writing evolves as Harry gets older.

The first few pages of a book often establish the pace and style in which the rest of the writing will follow. In the beginning of Azkaban, Rowling manages to convey the longing and sorrow a child has for their friend over the summer break from school, while also bringing in sophisticated emotion in Harry’s struggle with his non-nurturing family and the gut wrenching feeling you have when your life is so tragic, even you forget your own birthday.

The biggest anomaly to me is Rowling’s ability to capture attention across multiple generations. Perhaps it is a mixture of relatability to Harry as he endures common adolescent troubles that everyone can either look back on or look forward to combined with the mature experience of agony Harry feels after facing death and abuse.

Rowling’s first unique use of creative style is when she includes an excerpt from Harry’s magical textbook. Instead of just telling the reader Harry is reading a textbook, the reader gets to look at the words as well, as if they are in Harry’s Place.

“The quill paused at the top of a likely looking paragraph. Harry pushed his round glasses up the bridge of his nose, moved his flashlight closer to the book, and read:

Non-magic people (more commonly known as Muggles) were particularly afraid of magic in medieval times, but not very good at recognizing it. On the rare occasion that they did catch a real witch or wizard, burning had no effect whatsoever. The witch or wizard would perform a basic Flame-Freezing Charm and then pretend to shriek with pain while enjoying a gentle, tickling sensation. Indeed, Wendelin the Weird enjoyed being burned so much that she allowed herself to be caught no less than forty-seven times in various disguises.”

Within this excerpt and as well as in the other writing Rowling uses distinction often to provide the meaning of some words, especially when they are specific to the magical world. This helps the younger reader in understanding things that may still be confusing to them but may also aid the older generations of readers who are focusing more on the story and less on the wizarding world vernacular.

This small example of Rowling’s writing of the Harry Potter series shows a variety of rhetorical strategies. A small example of scesis onomaton is used in her description of Harry’s attempt at being discreet in doing his homework in the dark when he “slowly and very carefully” opens his ink bottle. By saying he is slowly opening the bottle implies he is also being careful, but the repletion of the idea truly emphasizes the care he must take in order to complete a simple task. The emphasis on Harry’s attention to keeping his magical activities on lock and key comes later in the example when he puts his things away. Instead of providing his actions in one sentence separated by commas implying he is doing things simultaneously or right after the other they are separated by semi colons.

“He replaced the top of the ink bottle; pulled an old pillowcase from under his bed; put the flashlight, A History of Magic, his essay, quill, and ink inside it; got out of bed; and hid the lot under a loose floorboard under his bed.”

This gives the idea that each step he takes to put his things away is a separate move, as if he has to pause carefully after each movement in order to maintain the silence that is expected of him.

The Harry Potter series is loved by decades of people and it is due to J.K. Rowling’s ability to write in a way that appeals to that large of an audience in a successfully creative way. Her words and use of rhetorical devices are precisely the reason so many find her world just as magical as Harry finds his.

Noelle H.

Plain Style to Unite Audiences

The world of media is a lot more complex than some may realize, navigating billion-dollar acquisitions, company mergers, and network ownership. Knowing who controls the media you consume is important for a wide audience because of the impact ownership can have on content biases, particularly in the news realm.

Journalists must relay this kind of information not only to the general public, but also to other media outlets not involved, stock market enthusiasts, and business moguls. They do this through plain style.

Interestingly, this NPR article about the Disney/Fox merger popped up in their business section, not entertainment, iterating the importance of the financial effects of this deal over the effect on content now that Disney owns iconic, and sometimes raunchy, characters like Homer Simpson and Deadpool. This emphasis on financials is the reason it is more integral to the business world but is also the reason it is written in plain style.

The article utilizes many plain style strategies in order to make this topic accessible to a wider audience, however its readability statistics would tell you otherwise. Where the typical reading level for a standard audience to understand is seventh grade, this article clocks in at almost 13th grade! This could be due to the quotes that are included, increasing the sentence length, as well as the frequent mention of money and numbers from the financial aspect of it.

Coleman Liau index:12.11
Flesch Kincaid Grade level:12.98
ARI (Automated Readability Index):12.96
SMOG:14.77

The most glaring plain style strategy is the use of short and concise paragraphs, each containing one topic. Quotes are used to further explain topics while giving the audience the chance to contextualize what they are reading in the sense of who is being affected by this deal. Creative language is thrown in as occasional descriptors. This is probably to ease the financial heavy language of numbers and networks in order to keep readers more interested in the impact of their media engaged. The author dubs Disney an “entertainment behemoth,” references Disney “flirting with the idea,” and even begins the entire article by referencing two major characters from each empire. The initial sentence that introduces the merger to its audience is perfect:

“Homer Simpson probably won't become the newest member of the Avengers, but anything's possible now that Disney owns 21st Century Fox.”

The image of Homer Simpson on a life-threatening mission with the Avengers is ridiculous, but this descriptive, straight-forward sentence puts the Disney/Fox merger into context for those not as well versed in media acquisition but also exemplifies the impact it will have on content going forward in this new landscape.

Using plain style is further supported in this article when tweets are used to provide credibility instead of convoluted sentences. Tweets from Simpsons writer AI Jean and Ryan Reynolds, aka Deadpool show support and excitement in the simplest way. The additional use of tweets helps break up the places of jargon without taking away the importance of the subject matter or dumbing it down too much.

Plain style in this piece of writing is essential because of the audience it is targeted toward. What makes it credible isn’t the ability to explain the topic in a convoluted way like official style, but the way in which the author can write in a way that is understandable to the masses, despite the higher-grade level.

Noelle H.