Answer to Question #180639 in English for Thabang

Question

Based on "The Happiness Factor" by David Brooks

Cite three specific features and examples of academic language from the passage.

Answer 1

David Brooks has used various features of academic writing in “The Happiness Factor”. In the passage, Brooks has employed summarizing, paraphrasing, and acknowledging the original authors of the information he uses. For example, in the first paragraph, he claims that nearly four more years are lived by Oscar winners in comparison to those that did not win. He acknowledges that this was from research that was conducted by Singh and Redelmeier.

Additionally, in the passage, the author communicates his point using signposting and using clear paragraphs. Each paragraph is labeled to ensure the reader understands it discusses a specific issue. Moreover, signposting is used at the beginning of each paragraph. For example, in the second paragraph, he begins with “nonetheless” while in the third paragraph he begins with “This isn’t just sermonizing” (Brooks, 2011). Also, the whole passage is proofread and edited making it easy for the reader to follow.