ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The Academic Writer's Toolkit is, in the final analysis, a book about expository writing, the most common kind of writing in academic settings. It helps you become a better writer. The book presents some narratives to teach elements of academic writing, but also to avoid the dry-as-dust style often found in textbooks and other academic books. The state of literary criticism among them is even more dismal: It is self-obsessed, self-contained, and self-referential, hiding behind terminologies that only a small group of initiated readers are able to grasp. The book deals with such topics as making our writing more readable, developing a personal style, and using aids such as diagrams and charts to make our material easier to understand. And it presents genres documents that academics are often called upon to write, including memos, letters, reports, research articles, and books.
