ometimes the differences in the writing assignments from various professors confuse even the best students. As one student commented,

Within my major, my professors want us to analyze our data and relate it to class discussions. Yet in another class last semester, the instructor wanted only the research information and no opinion added in our term papers.

Unless you understand why these differences exist, academic writing may seem like a bluff, based on big words and difficult language, by someone trying to sound like an expert. Academic writing, however, is not just a matter of bluffing. Go to each of these reasons to understand why writing assignments differ:

• The Level of a Course
• The Writing Conventions of a Discipline
• The Use of Specialized Terms

You may not hear RLC 110-111 terms like "multiple perspectives" and "dominant ideologies" from an instructor in another department. However, connections between RLC 110-111 and writing assignments in other departments do exist. The critical thinking taught in RLC 110-111 often is expected by professors in other classes.

• Identifying Multiple Perspectives
• Examining the Influence of Ideologies
• Historical Analysis
• Cultural Analysis