Overview of the Academic Essay

Academic writing takes many forms—from summary to research paper to critical essay—and varies depending on the content, purpose, audience, and cultural context, both within the United States and across the globe. While the American academic community is becoming increasingly open to diverse genres and approaches, it consistently values demonstration of critical thinking, creative investigation, and compelling ideas. Understanding some of American academic writing’s typical expectations can help you make intentional choices in writing papers at RISD and meet readers’—especially faculty’s—expectations. 

Focus on an Argument 
Most American academic papers explore a debatable issue, with the author taking a stance on that issue; we call this stance a thesis or argument. Most of the paper is spent providing evidence to make each point of that argument as convincing as possible. Writers sometimes present the opposing viewpoint as well to demonstrate a deeper understanding of the issue and/or discredit that opposition. 

Share Your Sources
Part of the believability and trustworthiness of an argument comes from the author’s research and source material. In academic writing, it’s necessary to include citations that tell readers where all information and ideas come from (other than the author’s original thoughts) and a works cited page or bibliography that lists all cited sources in one place at the end of the paper. This requirement is part of RISD’s academic code of conduct and all Western academic discourse. 

Structure the Paper
While formats of the academic paper may vary according to discipline and assignment, most often your paper should contain the following parts: 

 – an introduction, which provides an entry point to the topic, states your thesis, and lists the topics of support that will follow

 – supporting paragraphs that break the thesis down into smaller ideas (expressed in topic sentences, the first sentence of each paragraph) and provide evidence and analysis to explain those ideas 

 – a conclusion that summarizes the main points of the argument and points to the larger significance of the author’s thesis