There are all kinds of writing out there, from creative to analytical. When you think of writing, maybe a New York Times bestseller comes to mind or a revered classic. Here in the Writing Center, we often consult with students on academic exploratory essays. Whether or not the book's genre is American literature or British or Modern or Medieval, the students' writing itself is geared for analysis. After reviewing mostly English papers, it can be easy to overlook other types of writing, namely the scientific kind.
If you've ever taken a course in Biology, Chemistry, or Physics, then you know that there can be a
lot of writing involved. This writing typically comes in the form of the lab report. Within the report, you will likely have multiple sections. First you would include an introduction followed by a section on methods and results. One of the most important sections would be the discussion where you interpret the experiment's results and argue why they are significant. Here, you reflect and interpret and provide evidence. Hmm...does this sound familiar? It is the discussion section which surprisingly looks a lot like a literary analysis.
Can writing be boiled down to a science? I'll argue...not quite. Writing can be fluid, free, and limitless. It does not need to follow a formula to be deemed acceptable. In fact it is often the avant garde writing that grabs our attention as well as acclaim. However, I think that a lot can be learned from both the sciences and the liberal arts. Enrolling in English courses may help you become a better scientist, and vice versa. It all comes down to analysis, whether it's of an experiment or a text.
So, as you get ready for your weekly Chem lab or Physics experiment, embrace the goggles and beakers and microscopes...they just might help you ace your English paper or pen the next great American novel.
~Mary
