<ol>
<li><p>We have thus far discussed the reality that society has an overall negative attitude toward aging, this very often a consequence of depictions in popular culture.
---I'm having doubts about what follows after the comma. Is the location of "this" allowed as per the rules of grammar? (By the way, in the sentence that immediately precedes this one, must the word "as" be there? Or can it just be: "...allowed per the rules grammar"?)</p></li>
<li><p>Sorry if you were made fuddled by this.
--Is the placement of "made" grammatically acceptable? </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Your first one is not quite right grammatically, but it is also bad writing.</p>
<ol>
<li>So far, I have shown that society has a generally negative attitude towards aging. This may often be a consequence of the depiction of aging in popular culture.</li>
</ol>
<p>You don’t make fuddled.</p>
<ol>
<li>Sorry if you are befuddled by this.</li>
</ol>
<p>In academic writing, don’t use “we” or “I.” Just state what you are trying to say. Vary words, so substitute “the elderly” in place of a repeated “aging.” For example:</p>
<p>“Society has an overall negative attitude toward aging, often as a result of depictions of the elderly in popular culture.”</p>
<p>Or, “In conclusion, society has an overall negative attitude toward aging, often as a result of depictions of the elderly in popular culture.”</p>
<p>“We have thus far discussed the reality that society has an overall negative attitude toward aging, this very often a consequence of depictions in popular culture.”</p>
<p>This sentence is missing an “is” between “often” and “a”. But, it would be better to cut the sentence into two at the comma. And, as others have noted, rewriting the whole thing would be even better.</p>
<p>“My own kids grew up with “whole language” and the politically correct distaste for grammar. Luckily, they read enough to have gotten most of it that way.”</p>
<p>Humans learn language from context, so we master the spoken grammar of those people around us with whom we interact, and we master written grammar from the texts we read. Formal grammar instruction is useless unless the student deliberately and consciously pays attention to his/her speech and/or writing.</p>
I guess this depends on the academic discipline. (“We” is very common in science, and “I” is accepted and expected in philosophy when making any claims)</p>
<p>After checking Fowler’s, I did find that “toward” is the more common American usage, but the “s” is always added in Britain. Either one is correct.</p>
<p>My daughter used “toward” in her common app essay, so we had this discussion a while back. She asked all of the English teachers at her school and they all like “towards.” I polled a few of my more literate friends and they also gave the nod to “towards.” Perhaps we’re a bit more British here in New England.</p>
<p>I guess the best thing is to keep it consistent throughout the document.</p>
<p>From the Mayfield Handbook of Technical and Scientific Writing:</p>
<p>toward/towards</p>
<h2>Both forms are acceptable, although toward is generally preferred in the United States. Use one or the other consistently. </h2>
<p>From AllExperts.com:
Expert: Jerry Leone - 9/29/2007</p>
<p>Question
Hello Jerry,</p>
<p>What is the difference between these two words: “toward” and “towards.” Thank you in advance. </p>
<p>Tom,</p>
<p>There really isn’t any difference between them, both are acceptable in English grammar.</p>
<p>However, the American Heritage Dictionary of English Usage claims that “toward” is used more often in American English, while “towards” is used more often in British English. So, if you are an American and the author is from outside of the U.S. and presumably learned a form of British English, that would explain why you and she use different forms of the word. </p>
<p>The difference between the American and British version of “toward(s)” follows a general pattern that I’ve noticed. It seems that when Americans and Brits spell words differently, or use slightly different words to express the same thing, the American version is shorter, leaner, with fewer letters than the more decorative British version.</p>
<p>Gourmetmom is exactly correct in her post 7. Both are correct, but one may sound more familiar to one’s ear. I prefer toward, but that is only my personal preference. Officially, both are correct according to the Random House Dictionary, according to The American Heritage Dictionary, and according to Merriam-Webster.</p>
<p>My editors have this habit of lecturing me whenever I use an adverb (e.g., “thus far”) in the middle of a two-word verb (e.g., “have discussed”). </p>
<p>Therefore, in the OP’s example, I would be made to change the beginning to " Thus far, we have discussued…"</p>
<p>But, the point is moot because rewrites offered by previous posters are better than the original words.</p>