Rhetorical Analysis of Academic Communities Research Paper

Finance as the sphere of knowledge is important and interesting not only for economists, businessmen, and managers but also for many persons who focus on their daily financial activities within the community. Thus, it is important to concentrate on the comparative rhetorical analysis of peer-reviewed journals referred to the field of finance as the part of the discourse. Comparing the individual articles published in the journals as examples of the discourse in the field of finance, it is possible to note that such a reputable source as The Journal of Finance is characterized by the authoritative tone and specialized language to discuss the theoretical aspects of the field, when The Journal of Wealth Management and The Journal of Portfolio Management aim to inform and instruct practitioners in the field of investment; The Undergraduate Economic Review and The Social Science Research Network use more clear language and address the wide audience which represents the academic and professional community.

The Journal of Finance is one of the most prestigious journals in the field of finance and economics. The journal presents the articles written by the experts in the field, and the purpose is to discuss the most current tendencies and changes in the sphere. The journal is published and supported by the American Finance Association, and it is discussed as the main example of the professional discourse in the field. The articles in the journal are written by the experts in the field of finance for the audience which has the significant knowledge in the sphere, and this fact is supported by the active use of the specialized language in the journal’s articles. The classical design of the journal divided into large volumes contributes to supporting the image of the most reputable academic source in the field of finance because the text plays the key role in the journal in comparison with the graphics and visuals.

The aspects of the language and tone used in the journal can be effectively discussed with references to the article “The Capital Structure Puzzle” written by Stewart Myers, the President of the American Finance Association, in 1984. The language of this article can be discussed as specialized because Myers actively uses many terms and financial concepts without defining them. The tone of the article supports the opinion that the article is written for the persons having the proper knowledge in the field. Thus, Myers introduces the problem of the capital structure puzzle and dividends directly, as the issue which is widely discussed in the community of experts and known for the audience. The explanation of the question aspects is detailed, and the ‘informality’ of the tone is actively supported with the use of such pronouns as ‘I’, ‘we’, and ‘you’ and with presenting a lot of professional stories and anecdotes (Myers 575-576). Thus, the article is written for the experts in the field, and its content is related to the important issues in the sphere of finance in 1984.

The Journal of Wealth Management is published to reflect the interests of practitioners in the field of finance and to inform investors about the changes in the sphere and about the effective strategies to follow. As a result, the interests of the wide community of investors are addressed, and the audience of the journal can be identified easily. The representatives of the investment industry refer to the journal to find a kind of advice on wealth management aspects. The creator of the journal is the reputable publisher in the field of finance, and the main focus is on publishing articles which reflect the personal points of the specialists in the field of finance and investment.

This approach is reflected in the article “Bubble Expectations” written by Kenneth Fisher and Meir Statman in 2002. The authors provide their own point of view regarding the bubble analysis and investors’ chances to predict and overcome bubbles. The language of the authors is easy to understand for the representatives of the field of investment. Thus, the article is written for investors, and the authors’ arguments are supported with a range of tables and graphs to illustrate the discussion (Fisher and Statman 17). As a result, the findings presented in the article can be discussed as easily applied to practice. The design serves to make the information accessible with the help of dividing the space into columns.

It is important to focus on one more reputable source for presenting the theories and practical strategies in the field which is The Journal of Portfolio Management. The purpose of the journal is to inform the professionals in the field of finance about the recent market trends and changes in the sphere of investment and to instruct how to cope with the challenges of risk management. The journal is published by the Institutional Investor Journals, and the audience is the experts and practitioners in the field of finance who share the views on the latest trends. The tone of the articles is rather informal, but the language includes many terms. The volume usually contains the minimal amount of visuals not related to the articles’ content.

The article “The Financial Crisis: Lessons Learned?” by Gary Gorton is a good example of the journal’s specific language and tone. The used language is easy to understand, but there are a lot of facts in the editorial comment which are expected to be known to the reader. Although the informal tone of the article points at the opportunities for the practical use of the information, the presented discussion is rather theoretical in its nature. Gorton uses the informal language and typical terms to discuss the roots of the financial crises and associated lessons (Gorton 3). Thus, the article is written in the understandable language to present the opinion clearly.

The Undergraduate Economic Review is a peer-reviewed journal in which the results of the academic and undergraduate research in the field of economics and finance are published. Thus, the purpose of the journal is to inform about the trends in the economic research while aiming to address the needs of the academic community. The main audience of the journal includes scholars, students, and novices in the academic and professional discourse related to the field of finance. The journal is published by Illinois Wesleyan University, and the tone of the journal is scholar and rather formal to present the traditional researches in the field. Little attention is paid to graphics and the journal’s design.

The article “Reassessment of the Weather Effect: Stock Prices and Wall Street Weather” written by Mitra Akhtari and published in The Undergraduate Economic Review is the research on the weather effect related to equity prices. The language of the article can be understood by any person interested in investor psychology. The content can be interesting for the wide audience (Akhtari 3). The formality of the article’s tone is supported with the scholar language, traditional structure of the research paper, and many tables to present the results.

The Social Science Research Network presents the variety of articles related to different fields, including finance and investment. As a result, the main purpose of the source is to inform about the recent researches in different fields, and the audience is rather wide. The focus is on working papers, and the authors demonstrate the variety of individual opinions and visions. That is why, the articles are interesting for the scholar community and practitioners.

While discussing Pablo Fernandez’s article “Company Valuation Methods” as an example related to the discourse, it is important to note that the language of the article is rather professional, and it is based on the active use of terms. The tone is formal, and the author focuses on explaining company valuation methods and errors in valuations in detail (Fernandez 20). Thus, the article can be interesting for the students and professionals in the field of finance.

The audience participating in the discourse in the field of finance and investments can be discussed as rather diverse, but the discourse community is influenced by certain professional, academic, and intellectual norms along with political and ideological ones. Although the discussed peer-reviewed journals influence the same community of the shared discourse in the field of finance and investments, the structure, language, audience, tone, and purpose of the articles in these journals are different.

Works Cited

Akhtari, Mitra. “Reassessment of the Weather Effect: Stock Prices and Wall Street Weather”. The Undergraduate Economic Review 7.1 (2011): 1-25. Print.

Fernandez, Pablo. “Company Valuation Methods”. The Social Science Research Network 11.1 (2013): 1-20. Print.

Fisher, Kenneth, and Meir Statman. “Bubble Expectations”. The Journal of Wealth Management 5.2 (2002): 17-22. Print.

Gorton, Gary. “The Financial Crisis: Lessons Learned?” The Journal of Portfolio Management 40.3 (2014): 3-4. Print.

Myers, Stewart. “The Capital Structure Puzzle”. The Journal of Finance 39.3 (1984): 575-592. Print.