How you say things matters

You might have noticed by now in your higher education career, that there are a variety of registers academics tend to use when communicating in different ways. Professors might write in one tone when giving feedback, and another when giving a lecture. If you've ever read a journal article written by one of your professors, you might have noticed a striking difference in how they write in that context.

It's important to learn how specific genres of writing for a variety of media call for different ways of expressing your argument, or position on a certain topic.

How do you describe what you study in this course to your friends and family?

Do you delve into the specifics of your last assigned reading? Do you give them a brief description of some of the main areas of interest? Do you ask them what they know about it first to assess where the common ground is?

I think we’ve all had the situation where we start talking about a passion of ours, only to realize the other people in the conversation aren’t following, and then we have to change subjects, or back up and talk at the level of understanding the group as a whole is at.

How would you describe what you’re studying to some one online?

Would you shout it from the rooftops, or would you look for groups or online communities with that shared interest and see how they are talking about these things in a less formal setting than scholarly communication (books, journal articles, lectures, etc)

If someone posted a meme pertaining to what you study, would you share it?

If you would, why would you share it? Do you think a lot of people would interact with it? Would you need to contextualize anything for a wider audience would understand the posting?