"Collegiate" Writing

College writing standards require students' sentences to be clear and concise, showing capable use of the tools necessary to a mature writing style, such as coordination, subordination, parallelism, and transitional devices.

From the Purdue OWL & Essay Plant:

When writing, it is very important to use language that fits your audience and matches purpose. Inappropriate language uses can damage your credibility, undermine your argument, or alienate your audience. This handout will cover some of the major issues with appropriate language use: levels of language formality, deceitful language and Euphemisms, slang and idiomatic expressions; using group-specific jargon; and biased/stereotypical language.

The following is a short overview of the different aspects of using appropriate language. Review the other sections of this handout for a more complete discussion:

1. Levels of Formality: Write in a style that your audience expects and that fits your purpose is key to successful writing.  Students' papers and essays in college should be written in formal, standard English. They should be free of nonstandard constructions (such as double negatives) and of informal usage (such as "The experiment went O.K."). College Students' sentence structure should be free of major grammatical blunders, such as sentence fragments, subject-verb disagreement, inconsistent verb tenses, unclear pronoun reference, and misplaced modifiers.
2. In-Group Jargon: Jargon refers to specialized language used by groups of like-minded individuals. Only use in-group jargon when you are writing for members of that group. You should never use jargon for a general audience without first explaining it.  College Students' choice of words should be precise and appropriate to students' subject. Students may sometimes find it essential to use technical terms, but students should always avoid unnecessary jargon not to lose marks on their papers.
3. Slang and idiomatic expressions: Avoid using slang or idiomatic expressions in general academic writing.
4. Deceitful language and Euphemisms: Avoid using euphemisms (words that veil the truth, such as "collateral damage" for the unintended destruction of civilians and their property) and other deceitful language.
5. Biased language: Avoid using any biased language including language with a racial, ethnic, group, or gender bias or language that is stereotypical.