Guides: Communication Studies Subject Guide: Writing Resources

APA and Chicago Style Guides

APA Citation Style Guide
APA (American Psychological Association) style is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences.

APA Sample Paper

Chicago Manual of Style 17th Edition
The Chicago NB system is often used in the humanities and provides writers with a system for referencing their sources through footnote or endnote citation in their writing and through bibliography pages.

Chicago Manual of Style NB Sample Paper

Technical writing and literary theory and schools of criticism

Writing Report Abstracts
It covers informational and descriptive abstracts and gives pointers for success.
Professional, Technical Writing
These OWL resources will help you conduct research and compose documents for the workplace, such as memoranda and business letters. This section also includes resources for writing report and scientific abstracts.
Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism
Critical Race Theory, or CRT, is a theoretical and interpretive mode that examines the appearance of race and racism across dominant cultural modes of expression.
Feminist Criticism (1960s-present)
Feminist criticism is concerned with "...the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women" (Tyson).
Gender Studies and Queer Theory (1970s-present)
Gender studies and queer theory explore issues of sexuality, power, and marginalized populations.
Psychoanalytic Criticism (1930s-present)
Psychoanalytic criticism builds on Freudian theories of psychology.
Critical Race Theory (1970s-present)
Critical Race Theory, or CRT, is a theoretical and interpretive mode that examines the appearance of race and racism across dominant cultural modes of expression.
Ecocriticism (1960-Present)
Ecocriticism is the study of the relationship between literature and the physical environment.
Critical Disability Studies (1990s to Present)
Disability studies considers disability in political, aesthetic, ethical, and cultural contexts, among others.
New Historicism, Cultural Studies (1980s-present)
This school, influenced by structuralist and post-structuralist theories, seeks to reconnect a work with the time period in which it was produced and identify it with the cultural and political movements of the time.
Structuralism and Semiotics (1920s-present)
The structuralist school emerges from theories of language and linguistics, and it looks for underlying elements in culture and literature that can be connected so that critics can develop general conclusions about the individual works and the systems from which they emerge.

Structuralism, semiotics, and post-structuralism are some of the most complex literary theories to understand.

Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quotiong from Purdue OWL

Sample Essay for Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting from Purdue OWL
This handout compares and contrasts the three terms, gives some pointers, and includes a short excerpt that you can use to practice these skills.

Summarizing

Paraphrasing

Quoting

Must reference the original source
The text is much shorter than the original text. (For example, one may write a single page to summarize a four-page article.)
Must use your own words, usually with a very limited use of quotations.

Must reference the original source
The text produced may be shorter or longer than the original text

Must use your own words

Must reference the original source
The text produced is the exact length of the original text quoted (unless ellipses are used)

Use the original author’s exact words
Put quotation marks around the original author’s exact words
Include the page number of the original source from which you borrowed the author’s original language.

Research Paper

Genre and the Research Paper by Purdue OWL

How to write research papers including discussing research papers as a genre, choosing topics, and finding sources.

Common Writing Assignments from Purdue Writing Lab

Common Writing Assignments

These OWL resources will help you understand and complete specific types of writing assignments, such as annotated bibliographies, book reports, and research papers. This section also includes resources on writing academic proposals for conference presentations, journal articles, and books.

Synthesizing Sources

Synthesizing is showing how the information found in your research, and your own ideas, fit together. It is not summarizing information.

To make an overall point - look for similarities or differences.
Synthesis – is showing where sources agree or disagree.

Make sure you organize your information to see the relationships between your sources. You can use a table. Your annotated bibliography exercise is a great way to organize your information. Remember to write paragraphs with topic sentences.

How can you organize your research? What makes the most sense for your topic?

Chronologically – to organize over time
Thematically – to organize by theme or different types of research.
Methodologically – to organize by type of research performed. In other words, how the research is done. For example, surveys, observations, interviews, and focus groups.
Theoretically – to organize by different theories

Arguments of Rhetorical Models:

Narrative
Description
Process Analysis
Illustration and Exemplification
Cause and Effect
Comparison
Definition
Persuasion
Classification

Psychology Student Resources.. (2023, September). How to Synthesize Written Information from Multiple Sources. https://www.simplypsychology.org/synthesising.html

How to use RefWorks

RefWorks - Bibliographic Manager
How to create your Refworks account.
1. Enter the access code 1890-1506, go to the UNT Refworks login page at refworks.proquest.com/signup/university-of-north-texas (this link is also included in the Databases tab and in the Most Requested section on library.unt.edu)
2. Enter the UNT access code and submit.
3. Next complete the registration, and then you can start using your new account.
4. You can now login with your username and password through https://refworks.proquest.com/ wherever you have an Internet connection.
5. Visit our RefWorks Guide to learn how to make your research more efficient.

Video tutorials: https://guides.library.unt.edu/rwnew/videos

UNT Writing Lab

UNT Writing Lab
At the UNT Writing Lab, we offer free writing tutoring to all currently enrolled UNT students in all disciplines and at all stages of their academic careers--from English composition students to graduate students writing theses and dissertations. We do more than merely proofread; we teach you strategies and techniques to improve your writing for the long term.

Office of Disabilities Access

Interpreting and CART Accommodations
he Office of Disability Access works to provide reasonable access and an inclusive environment to UNT students who identify as d/Deaf, Deaf-Blind, or Hard-of-Hearing. Reasonable accommodations include, but are not limited to the following:

American Sign Language Interpreters
CART Services
Closed Captioning for information presented in an audio or video format
Advanced copies of PowerPoints or Handouts
Reserved seat in the front of the class
Assistive listening devices

University Libraries

Communication Studies Subject Guide

Rhetorical Analysis

How to Write a Research Question

How to Write a Research Question

Close Reading and Critical Reading

Help with Topic Selection

Installing MS Office 365 ProPlus

APA and Chicago Style Guides

Technical writing and literary theory and schools of criticism

Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quotiong from Purdue OWL

Research Paper

Common Writing Assignments from Purdue Writing Lab

Synthesizing Sources

How to use RefWorks

UNT Writing Lab

Office of Disabilities Access

Communication Studies Subject Guide

How to Write a Research Question

APA and Chicago Style Guides

Technical writing and literary theory and schools of criticism

Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quotiong from Purdue OWL

Research Paper

Common Writing Assignments from Purdue Writing Lab

Synthesizing Sources

How to use RefWorks

UNT Writing Lab

Office of Disabilities Access

Additional Links