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New Approach to Business Writing
Context
The intended audience for this report is from the academic and business sectors. The academic audience is exclusive and includes members in the English 302 class specifically. Conversely, the business audience is comprehensive. It includes employees in businesses as well as the investors. Other participants in the business category are lecturers and tutors on business courses.
Analysis
One of the major aspects that separate academic writing from business writing is the sentence length. Sentence length can be defined as the number of words that are contained within a legible sentence. The average sentence length for the academic style of writing is 50 words, and this is typically categorized as long. Conversely, business writing is characterized by shorter sentences preferably between 35 and 25 words. Another aspect that can be used to divide these two styles of writing is formatting and point of view. Academic writing typically holds the perceptions and thoughts of other authors as well as that of the narrator. Therefore, most of them contain a personal analysis of the main topic of the paper. Conversely, it is difficult to find emotive sentences in a properly arranged business document. The business audience is seldom interested in understanding the opinion of the writer. As an alternative, they prefer authors to pitch plans or suggest actions that will benefit the organization, and to deliver these statements in the most concise manner. They also adopt an active voice rather than a passive one that may emerge in certain academic publications. Business writing also takes the viewpoint of the sponsoring organization.
The last criterion used to separate academic writing from business writing is sentence structure. Sentence structure refers to the arrangement or packaging of words to deliver a specific thought. The four most common types of sentence structure are simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences. Within the academic writing, most authors make use of compound and complex sentences. However, at the advanced levels such as the doctorate level, compound-complex sentences can be included in the thesis paper or report. Academic writing is mainly composed of a single clause and another subordinate clause or even two. Business writing employs simple sentence structures.
Support
In the academic guide provided by the City University of Seattle, the professors stressed the significance of having a clear purpose and thesis statement. Another key aspect that was stressed in the writing guide is the preference for a wide pool of research material. Business writing demands precision and briefness particularly in the choices of words. Professor Michael Egan notes in A New Approach to Business Writing, “…it is best to update your vocabulary, style, and references.” Lastly, the Purdue Online Writing Portal proposed the consideration of tone to relay different messages in business writing.
Resolution
The analysis of academic and business writing has produced several conclusions. One, academic writing is focused on producing convincing arguments as well as the author’s perspective. Conversely, business writing is focused on content accuracy and succinctness. Having an in-depth understanding of these and other supportive elements is important for students in several ways. The different writing styles can assist a student in developing accurate and relevant documentation for each need.