Visit Student-Specific Resources
Click here for our resource guide masterlist, which we’re continually updating! These guides are also available by clicking on the “Student Resources & Handouts” sub-tab below this header using the drop-down menu on the home page. These pages provide activities, worksheets, and handouts that supplement blog posts.
Writing & Communication Blog Posts
Developing a Research Question
Selecting your research question and creating a clear goal and structure for your writing can be challenging – whether you are doing it for the first time or if you’ve done it many times before. It can be especially difficult when your research question starts to...
Integrating Direct Quotations into Your Writing
If you’ve ever had a professor ask you to “use quotes” or quote other texts in your writing before, you know that it’s no easy task. It can feel awkward sometimes to determine what parts of the text are worth quoting, as well as how to directly quote in your writing without sounding too formulaic or repetitive. Keep reading for some strategies on effectively using direct quotations in your next writing project!
Nurturing a Growth Mindset to Overcome Writing Challenges and Develop Confidence in College Level Writing
Facing emotional and social barriers during the writing process is all too common. Remember, you’re not alone. This post overviews barriers to writing challenges, how to adopt a growth mindset, and where to find UCI resources.
An Introduction to Paraphrasing, Summarizing, and Quoting
An Introduction to Paraphrasing, Summarizing, and Quoting Whenever we’re assigned an essay or writing project that asks us to reference others’ ideas, it can be difficult to determine when to use our own words, the author’s words, or an overview of the text...
Summarizing
Interested in learning more about how to summarize effectively in your writing? Then check out our guide and summarize like never before!
Quoting Directly
Check out this handy resource on writing direct quotes and how you can effectively integrate them into your writing!
Paraphrasing
Not sure what paraphrasing is or how to do it? Use this handy resource to become a paraphrasing master!
Sentence Structures
Sentences convey ideas and how they are related. They may have multiple ideas and relationships, so different structures help to separate a sentence’s information. Descriptions Examples Word order is a language’s mostly fixed sequence for ideas and relationships,...
Word Choice & Word Form
Word choice and word form indicate a writer’s familiarity and their intended reader’s familiarity in a context by following systematic rules and idiosyncratic rules. Descriptions Examples Fixed phrases are word combinations that appear together in high frequency in...
Other Rhetorical Choices
Rhetorical choices give writing an effect that can help readers better understand the writer’s context or purpose. Descriptions Examples Formality tells the reader if the writing is situated in a casual context, professional context, or anything in between. Some...