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Sure, writing is important鈥� but what if you鈥檙e having trouble with reading the articles, research studies, book chapters, charts and graphs, or other texts from your classes? We鈥檙e here to help!

Reading isn鈥檛 as easy as just moving your eyes across the words. Here are some ways to help you understand, annotate, and make the most of your reading process.

1. Do some 鈥減re-reading鈥�: What鈥檚 the first thing you do when you get a reading for class? Not gonna lie, I check to see how many pages it is鈥攚e all do this! This isn鈥檛 because we鈥檙e all lazy, it鈥檚 a form of pre-reading, and it can be helpful. Take some time with the text to scan the reading, look at the way it鈥檚 formatted, it鈥檚 headings, it鈥檚 paragraphs, any pictures, and anything else that can give you a sense of what type of reading this is.听
2. Come up with an annotation system that works for you: whether it鈥檚 highlighting key passages, keeping a of what you notice, or using online annotation tools, be aware of what works best for you in comprehending, organizing, and recalling what you鈥檝e read (see the list of reading resources below for more techniques and strategies).听
3. Think backwards from the prompt: If you know you鈥檙e going to be asked to write about a certain reading, read the prompt carefully (and see the section called 鈥淯nderstanding the Prompt鈥� above). Make note of key phrases and concepts in the prompt and look for them as you read. That way, as you come across information in the text that connects with the prompt, you can start building your approach to the assignment.

For more, keep an eye out for our reading strategies handout (coming soon!)

Additional Reading Resources:

Becoming familiar and comfortable with the conventions of academic scholarly research articles takes time. Here, we cover three of the main elements you may encounter as you conduct research, build your essay drafts, and meet the requirements of your college assignments.听

Abstract: Reading and writing abstracts plays a key role in conducting research and presenting research respectively. It is a short paragraph or so appearing at the beginning of research that serves to acquaint the reader with what is covered in the article that follows. More than simply a summary of an article, the abstract acts as a representation for the most important terms, purposes, and results of the research. Learn more about what they are, how to use them, and how to write them here:

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Annotated bibliography: This common step of the research process can be daunting, but it can also be a big help in bridging the gap between all the research you鈥檝e done and writing your first draft. Here are some of our favorite resources to help you with your annotated bibliography:

Literature review: Joining the conversation in any field of study often begins with understanding what research and writing is already being done on your topic. The literature review is your chance to acknowledge, cite, and synthesize existing scholarship relevant to your topic. Here are a few of our favorite resources to get you started:

As always, the Writing Center is here to help you with any writing project, so don鈥檛 hesitate to make an appointment if you have additional questions!

How can you take all those messy notes, annotations, brainstorms, and ideas into the skeleton of an essay? Some writers rely on outlining to organize their ideas before diving into drafting, while others think of an outline as just another boring step they were forced to do in high school. We recommend trying a few different approaches to see what works best for you.听

If you鈥檙e burnt out on outlines, here鈥檚 a scaled-down way to make them useful:

It can be a good idea to think ahead about what each of your paragraphs should contain. If you write out a very basic outline (no need for sections and subsections like I., II., A., B., i., ii., etc鈥�), you can have some 鈥渂uckets鈥� to put all your random notes in while making sure you鈥檙e including all the required information. Here鈥檚 a quick example:

Sample Outline:

Introduction paragraph

-Attention-grabbing opener or 鈥渉ook鈥澨�

-Introduce topic

-Thesis statement

Body paragraph 1 (2, 3, 4鈥�)

-Topic sentence

-My Claim(s)

-Supporting quotes/evidence

-础苍补濒测蝉颈蝉鈥�

Conclusion

-Step back from the topic

-Reinforce your thesis

-Look ahead鈥�

As you go through your brainstorms and notes, add important ideas, quotes, and subtopics to your outline. Then, when you begin drafting, you鈥檒l have something to work with for each section of your paper. This technique doesn鈥檛 mean you should feel confined to the 鈥渇ive-paragraph essay鈥� format, but it can help you break down the larger task of writing an essay into smaller tasks of writing paragraphs.听

Try it! If this approach doesn鈥檛 work for you, check out some of the links below for more details on outlines and how to use them:

Want to grab your reader鈥檚 attention and let them know what鈥檚 in store before they鈥檝e even started reading your essay? Think of a great title!

But what is a great title? Probably not 鈥淓ssay 2,鈥� 鈥淢idterm Paper,鈥� or 鈥淩hetorical Analysis.鈥� Remember, your professor might be reading dozens of Essay 2s this week, not just yours.

For starters, your title should convey the subject matter or topic of your paper鈥� but not only the topic. Avoid titles that are too broad, like 鈥淗omelessness in Los Angeles,鈥�

What makes a title great? You do! Here are a few tips to coming up with a great title:

Yes, your title should include the topic of the paper鈥� but it can also include some hint as to the position, angle, or approach you鈥檙e taking on that topic in your essay.

Keep in mind, it depends on the type of essay you鈥檙e writing. For an academic research paper, 鈥淯nderstanding Motivational Behavior: A Cognitive Approach to Getting Things Done鈥� might work well, while for a creative writing personal memoir, 鈥淗ow I (Finally) Got Myself Off the Couch鈥� might work well, too!听

Try looking up other pieces of writing in the same genre to see what titles grab you, notice why they grab you, and then try out some similar approaches.

Remember, the title is often the first impression your essay makes, so make it count!

For more help with titles, see:

Writing conventions vary from discipline to discipline. Depending on what class you鈥檙e taking, what your major is, and what writing project you鈥檙e working on, you may be asked to craft or position your writing using certain formats, conventions, techniques, terminology, style guides, or templates. Moreover, the language itself that comes into play varies across disciplines.

At the Writing Center, we don鈥檛 believe there is a single standard academic English, and we acknowledge how writing changes depending on the setting, situation, and field. With that in mind, we do provide support in navigating the writing situations and conventions students find themselves in during their studies.

Whether your major is computer science, criminal justice, psychology, or otherwise, we have compiled some resources to help you explore writing in your discipline:听

At the Writing Center, we recognize there is no single standard academic English writing or universal set of grammar rules; there are multiple Englishes and grammars, each with its own conventions. Also, we understand that many disciplines in academia often follow one of several popular writing style and format guides, including APA, MLA, Chicago, ASA, and more.

What does 鈥淎PA format鈥� or 鈥淢LA format鈥� even mean? These style guides provide conventions for formatting your writing, including layout aspects like font, margins, titles, and spacing. They also specify how to incorporate external sources (such as scholarly articles, news articles, videos, books, interviews, and more) into your essay to make it credible, accurate, and free of plagiarism. Here are some resources to get you started:听

IMPORTANT: You do NOT need to memorize APA, MLA, or any other format, because these style guidelines change every few years.听

Fortunately, there are LOTS of resources to help you right here at DH!听

Be sure to start with our Library鈥檚 Citation page to learn why citation is important. The library also offers many online resources (linked below) as well as in-person assistance with formatting your work to a certain style.

And if your assignment prompt requires you to follow one of these style guides, the Writing Center is here to help, too! During an appointment, we are happy to help you walk through the resources for MLA, APA, Chicago, and more during your session.听

Below are some useful links we use all the time to help us answer our style formatting questions. Check them out:

MLA Style:

APA Style:听

Chicago Style:

ASA Style:

Are you in a writing rut? Here are a few ideas to pump up your process:

1. Vary your sentence lengths 鈥� Short sentences can be very effective. But if you have too many short sentences without mixing things up with a longer sentence or two, your writing can sound robotic and clunky. Try switching it up! Use longer sentences to connect related ideas and make them flow, then use a shorter sentence to be direct make an impact. Your reader will thank you.
2. Be specific with your verbs, adjectives, and nouns 鈥� Is it better to say 鈥淚 went to the store to get something鈥� or 鈥淚 ran to the nearest corner store to buy a lottery ticket鈥�? Sometimes you want to be intentionally vague, but usually college writing tasks call for being specific, detailed, descriptive, and engaging. One way to do this is to choose more active verbs (for example: 鈥渞an鈥� instead of 鈥渨ent鈥�), more vivid adjectives (鈥渘earest corner鈥� store instead of just 鈥渟tore鈥�), and specific nouns (鈥渓ottery ticket鈥� instead of 鈥渟omething鈥�). Give it a shot on your next revision!
3. Think hard about repetition 鈥� sometimes, repetition of words or phrases can be a powerful tool. Think about the way key phrases are repeated in famous political speeches like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with 鈥淚 have a dream鈥� or Barack Obama repeating 鈥測es we can.鈥� Or think about the business term 鈥渓ocation, location, location鈥� or the way certain song repeat lyrics in the chorus. Repetition can be great鈥� when it鈥檚 intentional. On the other hand, if your draft repeats words and phrases a lot unintentionally, it might distract or fatigue your reader. A quick way to check how often you鈥檙e using a word or phrase is to search for it (usually by pressing control + f in your writing program). Try out a few synonyms or other descriptive options (see #2 above).听
4. Put more YOU into it! 鈥� no one can be you better than you can be you. Put this magical fact to work in your writing by including your ideas, perspectives, humor, stories, insight, experience, culture, values, and style.

Want more ideas? Make an appointment with us to discuss your writing goals or check out these tips to keep improve your writing: