Chapter 4 — Academic writing
Lesson map
Lesson 04 published. Map, example, EX010.
flowchart TD
N0["Learning outcomes"]
N1["4.1 Purpose"]
N2["4.2 Evidence"]
N3["4.3 Citing"]
N4["4.4 Structure"]
N5["4.5 Clarity"]
N6["Writing for Bramley"]
N7["Plagiarism and reuse"]
N0 --> N1 --> N2 --> N3 --> N4 --> N5 --> N6 --> N7
N7 --> EX["Worked example"]
EX --> Q["Exercise EX010"]
Logical drawing
flowchart LR
N0["Learning outcomes"]
N1["4.1 Purpose"]
N2["4.2 Evidence"]
N3["4.3 Citing"]
N4["4.4 Structure"]
N5["4.5 Clarity"]
N6["Writing for Bramley"]
N7["Plagiarism and reuse"]
N0 --> N1 --> N2 --> N3 --> N4 --> N5 --> N6 --> N7 --> Q["EX010"]
[Learning outcomes]
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[4.1 Purpose]
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[4.2 Evidence]
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v
[4.3 Citing]
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v
[4.4 Structure]
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v
[4.5 Clarity]
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v
[Writing for Bramley]
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v
[Plagiarism and reuse]
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v
[Worked example] --> [Exercise EX010]
Learning outcomes
You will (1) write clear, evidenced arguments; (2) cite sources accurately; (3) structure a short report.
4.1 Purpose
Academic writing presents an argument supported by evidence. Aisha's first essay argues that small charities should prioritise laptop encryption.
Her argument starts from Bramley's own loss: an unencrypted laptop stolen from a car, tenant records exposed and letters sent to affected tenants. The essay asks whether encryption should come before other controls for a charity with one IT officer. Aisha states her position in the first paragraph, so every later paragraph can be read as support for it, a challenge to it or a limit on it.
4.2 Evidence
She uses Bramley's counts, CIS Controls v8, which lists data protection and secure configuration among its safeguards, and NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, which includes controls for protecting information at rest.
The two kinds of evidence do different jobs in the essay. Bramley's counts show the size of the local problem, 13 of 45 laptops unencrypted at the start, while the frameworks show that encrypting stored data is a recognised safeguard rather than her own preference. Aisha keeps them in separate paragraphs, so a reader can see which claims rest on data and which rest on guidance.
4.3 Citing
Each claim from a source is cited; each claim from data names the data. Unsupported opinions are avoided or clearly marked.
In practice Aisha's essay cites CIS Controls v8 and NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 by author and year, with full entries in the reference list. A claim such as "13 of 45 laptops were unencrypted" is followed by the source and date of the export it came from. Dr Grant checks three citations at random against the original documents, and all three say what the essay claims they say.
4.4 Structure
Introduction with question, evidence, counter-arguments, conclusion. Counter-arguments include cost and performance; she answers them with evidence.
Aisha's essay follows this order: the question in the first paragraph, Bramley's counts and the cited guidance next, then the objections. The cost objection is answered with Gareth's estimate of staff time for the rollout. The performance objection is answered by proposing a small pilot that would reveal any slowdown before a wider rollout, and the conclusion restates the position with its limits. Dr Grant asks her to move one objection, that staff would resist start-up PINs, into the counter-arguments, since only two laptops will need one.
4.5 Clarity
Short sentences, defined terms and no unexplained acronyms.
Dr Grant's comments on her first draft show what clarity means in practice. He asks her to define TPM on first use, to split a 60-word sentence about recovery keys into three sentences, and to replace "the solution" with "full-disk encryption" wherever it appears. After these edits the essay is shorter, and Gareth, who is not an academic reader, understands every paragraph on his first read. She also writes "tenant records" every time instead of switching between "client data", "files" and "records", so readers never wonder whether three different things are meant.
Writing for Bramley
Aisha also learns to write for non-academic readers. Her one-page note for Bramley's managers states the problem, three recommended actions and the cost in staff time, with no citations in the main text and a short source list at the end. The same evidence supports both documents, presented differently.
Dr Grant reviews both and points out that the academic essay must discuss limits, while the management note must state decisions needed. Different purposes require different structures.
Plagiarism and reuse
Aisha quotes sources only with quotation marks and citations, and paraphrases carefully, checking that her wording does not copy the original's structure.
Linking principles to Bramley
Least privilege means staff use standard accounts for daily work and IT uses separate named admin accounts. Defence in depth means encryption, firewall, updates and backups each cover gaps the others leave. Fail-safe defaults mean new laptops arrive locked down and settings are relaxed only with a reason. Aisha writes one Bramley example beside each principle so that the ideas stay concrete and can be checked during the project.
Worked example
Dr Grant marks a sentence: "encryption makes laptops completely secure". Aisha rewrites it: "encryption protects data on a lost or stolen laptop that is powered off or locked", which is accurate.
Synthetic case. Synthetic.
Errors and limits
Overclaiming in writing weakens credibility.
Exercises
- EX010 — Sources. Which two sources support Aisha's argument? Rubric: 3 = CIS Controls v8, SP 800-53r5; 2 = partial; 1 = vague; 0 = none.
- EX011 — Structure. Give the essay structure. Rubric: 3 = intro, evidence, counter-arguments, conclusion; 2 = three; 1 = two; 0 = none.
- EX012 — Rewrite. How was the overclaim corrected? Rubric: 3 = protects data when lost/stolen and off or locked; 2 = partial; 1 = vague; 0 = none.
Synthesis
Precise claims with cited evidence persuade.
Continue studying — chapter 04 of 40
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