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Introduction

As a college student, you will do a lot of writing, and your writing will be varied. You will write essays about your personal beliefs. You will take stances on important issues and write more than a few research papers. There are many other possibilities, too. Examples include lab reports, marketing analyses, speeches, memos, feasibility studies, advertising scripts, and white papers. In addition to essays, you will also write essay exams and maybe even write a poem or two.

Feel overwhelmed? We would, too.

However, uniting most writing assignments are sets of learning objectives, thinking strategies, and writing strategies. Familiarizing yourself with these will help you tackle even the most challenging assignment. Click on the tabs below to learn more.

LEARNING
THINKING
WRITING

As you move from course to course, you will notice that each course has certain learning objectives. Some of these may feel simple, like “remembering” and “understanding.” Others, like “analyzing” and “evaluating,” feel more complex. But each objective is a building block for an activity called critical thinking.

TAKE NOTE: When beginning an assignment, look for hints regarding the learning objective that is central to the assignment.

Some of the critical thinking building blocks are actually complex processes: thinking strategies you can apply to your assignments.

Thinking Strategies

Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
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Usually, the basic writing form you will follow is the classic essay structure, which you have read about in Chapter Two. This does not mean, however, that you will only be writing opinion pieces. Papers involve many writing patterns, related to the thinking strategies above.

Writing Patterns

General-to-Specific
Specific-to-General
Problem-Cause-solution
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Summaries and Abstracts
Critiques

Key Takeaways

The scope and diversity of college writing can seem overwhelming, but the thinking strategies and writing patterns outlined above will help.
The concepts outlined above will be explored in more detail ahead.

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Online Guide to Writing and Research Thinking Strategies and Writing Patterns

EXPLORE MORE OF UMGC

EXPLORE MORE OF UMGC

Introduction

Key Takeaways

Table of Contents: Online Guide to Writing

Appendix A: Books to Help Improve Your Writing

Appendix B: Collaborative Writing and Peer Reviewing

Appendix C: Developing an Improvement Plan

Appendix D: Writing Plan and Project Schedule

91ֱ��

Online Guide to Writing and Research Thinking Strategies and Writing Patterns

EXPLORE MORE OF UMGC

EXPLORE MORE OF UMGC

Introduction

Key Takeaways

Table of Contents: Online Guide to Writing

Chapter 1: College Writing

Chapter 2: The Writing Process

Chapter 3: Thinking Strategies

Chapter 4: The Research Process

Chapter 5: 91ֱ�� Integrity

Chapter 6: Using Library Resources

Chapter 7: Assessing Your Writing

Chapter 8: Other Frequently Assigned Papers

Appendices

Appendix A: Books to Help Improve Your Writing

Appendix B: Collaborative Writing and Peer Reviewing

Appendix C: Developing an Improvement Plan

Appendix D: Writing Plan and Project Schedule