1. Writing Success 101 Dr. Katherine Schmidt WOU Writing Center

2. Recognize Your Task factopinion observation response summaryanalysis

3. Assignment Examples Deciphering Your Professor’s Directions Biology 101 Document the processes of your lab experiment in a one-page report. Political Science 101 Consider Merkley’s andWyden’s work as senators. Who has effected more change and why? Psychology 101 Examine how your past shapes your present: (a) analyze your childhood, and (b) explain how it has shaped you into the adult you are today. English 101 Analyze Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.

4. Approaching Writing Assignments Before you leave the classroom: written directions versus verbal directions how will the professor grade the paper (i.e., what is most important to her)? When you’re on your own: define/clarify key termskey terms who is your audience? what kind of research is required to complete the assignment? and who can help? what kind of format should be used?

5. Discipline-Specific Formats What is a discipline? Training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior, especially training that produces moral or mental improvement. A branch of knowledge or teaching. Style Guides: AP APA AAA CBE Chicago/Turabian MLA

6. Academic Writing: Top Tips The five-paragraph essay is no longer an option. Avoid table talk: Point of View Contractions Word Choice Exclamation Marks Do not use it, this, or these at the start of a sentence. Watch your homophones — there, their, and they’re. Watch your but use — however is an excellent replacement. Do not use the terms Miss, Mr., Mrs., Ms. Do not ever cite Wikipedia as a source in your paper.

7. www.wou.edu/writingcenter