What Makes Great Writing

Kenneth A Guaman

Professor Elizabeth Von Uhl 

Engl 21007: Writing for Engineering 

March 20, 2023,

Does it bother you that you are assigned or put into a group project to do a report or an essay by your professor? Creating them is a complex task as there are many things to consider when writing, such as the audience, tone, research, grammar, detail, and language. Arguing whether one piece of writing is better than another is not the goal of this paper, rather than breaking the essay down and the author’s intent in mind. Gathering a few examples of lab reports such as researching making new metals, manipulating them, finding ways to make them last longer, and understanding metals at a nano level scale sounds daunting; these authors present their findings and theories in a medium peer-review journal/articles meaning that some of their tones in them are considered professional, and the use of language complex, the papers by S.C. Pradhan et al. and J.C. Qiao et al. when compared to the report of Aref Yadollahi et al. are complex and distinguish as they use photos and go into details in their work by using math and theories to help explain their research to their readers who are intellectuals; at the same time, Aref Yadollahi does the same by providing photos, views, and ideas in their writing; it helps readers such as intellectuals who would understand it but also the general public who would also be able to understand their research as it applies to them and how it shows that this lab report was able to balance itself to severe two different audience. 

To further our understanding of what makes good writing, especially in APA (American Psychological Association) format, we can analyze and compare papers such as Qiao, Jichao, et al., with his peers not on the subject of the paper but the way the paper the authors write it and presents it to the reader. When writing a story or a lab report, you need to know who is your target audience; are they scientists? Mathematicians? Pet Lovers? Or the general public? Qiao Jichao tended his lab report to be read by scientists and mathematicians as he is also one. The other lab reports are from S.C. Pradhan, a scientist, mathematician, and aerospace engineer who writes their information to those in their field of work; however, Aref Yadollahi, who is also a scientist, mathematician, and mechanical engineer who you would think writes his lab report intended those in his field. Still, he also writes it in a way that people in his area and the general public would understand, but how can you or anyone determine who their audience is? Using language in writing helps us convey our thoughts and feelings on paper for people to read, but it also tells us who the author intended audience is. Taking an example from their lab report, (J.C. Qiao, 2019) found that “Due to the rapid quenching of supercooled metallic liquids, amorphous alloys possess a disordered atomic structure” we can see that he uses complex language that if an average person were to read, they wouldn’t know the definition, let alone how to pronounce it, therefore that if people were to read this, they needed to understand these words already. S.C. Pradhan’s lab report states, “Both atomistic and hybrid atomistic–continuum mechanics are computationally expensive and unsuitable for analyzing large-scale systems.” where there is a complex language you and I won’t understand. In Aref Yadollahi’s lab report, “Thermal history (i.e., melt pool temperature, thermal gradient, cooling rate, cyclic reheating) in AM process affects the microstructural details, such as grain size, morphology, and texture; defect type, size, and spatial distribution; residual stress, etc.,” where here he uses examples but not definitions to what is thermal history as someone in his field would know. It is important to remember this when writing, knowing your audience and when/where to use either complex or simple language.

However, knowing your audience and the use of language is not only to keep in mind when writing but also grammar and detail. The paper of S.C. Pradhan et al. goes into depth about Their subject on nanostructures, their necessity, and the use of theories and mathematics. Taking a look at their report, “Conducting experiments with nanoscale size specimens is found to be difficult and expensive. Therefore, development of appropriate mathematical models for nanostructures is an important issue concerning application of nanostructures.” he goes into a bit of detail about their research. Still, not too much information would confuse their readers by bombarding them with information, but it is enough information about their research. Compared to J.C. Qiao’s lab report, they would go in-depth into their study that “However, the recent research results demonstrate that the atomic structure of amorphous alloys contains local structural heterogeneities, which can be characterized by either local static and/or dynamic properties” they are very detailed in their work which he demonstrated well. Looking over Aref Yadollahi’s lab report, we can see that “A major concern for metallic AM parts in the application is their performance under cyclic loading/Contrary to failures that occur under static loading, failure by fatigue is mostly a local phenomenon driven by impurities and microstructural heterogeneity – traits descriptive of metallic parts fabricated using current AM technology” which they go into detail in their research to uses in different fields. The grammar of the lab reports on J.C. Qiao, S.C. Pradhan, and Aref Yadollahi have similar grammar, with an abstract, introduction, main body paragraphs, and conclusions. By looking at their reports, you can see that they are easily broken into different parts so that readers can look back at their work to either find a particular interest or evidence to use for readers to do their papers.

We have gone through many things about what makes good writing, but what about using tone and research in writing? In Aref Yadollahi et al., report we can see that When looking at the introduction of his essay, the first thing we read is about AM that it is “additive manufacturing (AM) is defined as the “process of joining materials to make objects from three-dimensional (3D) model data, usually layer upon layer, as opposed to subtractive; manufacturing methodologies” ” and by reading this it tells us that their tone isn’t happy to go lucky but professional as they give you this explanation but also the extent the research they had to do to tell you what AM is correct. As for the comparison to the previous lab reports, such as J.C. Qiao, we can see that ”In principle, local structural heterogeneities could be linked to density and chemical fluctuations in an amorphous alloy for the minimization of its free energy locally” where there is an extensive researched had been done behind this and that also the use of tone had been professional by the use of words as the principle. It could be linked to shows that they are serious. As for S.C. Pradhan’s use of tone and research using a particular sentence, “Similar to CNTs, nanoplates possess superior mechanical properties. But in contrast to/analysis of two-dimensional nanoplates/models used in Refs. only classical plate theory has been considered for modeling the nanoplates.” where words like “contrast, analysis, model, and theory” are professional as well, but also in “ The x, y coordinates of the axes are taken along the length and width of the plate. z coordinate is taken along the thickness of the plate. The following stress resultants are used in the present formulation” when explaining the research of their topic, their tones are less professional and a little laid back.

Of course, no one is a perfect writer; sometimes, someone will lean more toward grammar and forget the use of complex or straightforward language, but others will lean more toward detail instead and forget about tone, or writers would favor research in their writing rather than using the correct tone such as writing a lab report but it sounds happy and exciting. By reading and looking through the lab reports of Aref Yadollahi, S.C. Pradhan, and Qiao Jichao, we can see similarities between them in their field, and the use of tone, grammar, language, detail, research, and audience has helped us understand what is good writing; and when and how we can use them.

References

Qiao, J. C. (2019, July 1). Structural heterogeneities and mechanical behavior of amorphous alloys. Shibboleth authentication request. Retrieved March 12, 2023, from https://www-sciencedirect-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/science/article/pii/S0079642519300428

Yadollahi, A. (2017, January 1). Additive manufacturing of fatigue resistant materials: Challenges and opportunities. Shibboleth authentication request. Retrieved March 12, 2023, from https://www-sciencedirect-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/science/article/pii/S0142112317300014Pradhan, S. C. (2009, July 3). Nonlocal elasticity theory for vibration of nanoplates. Shibboleth authentication request. Retrieved March 12, 2023, from https://www-sciencedirect-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/science/article/pii/S0022460X09002326