You’ve just been assigned your very first university paper. Are you unsure of how to start? Do you feel stressed about failing, or are you worried that you’ll have to pull all-nighters to get the work done? And what even is APA style? If you feel uncertain, stuck, or overwhelmed, be encouraged, because this book has the tools you need to get that assignment done. TL;DR’s quick, concise chapters will help you identify your audience, create an outline, get a handle on grammar and sentence structure, correctly quote a source, and write a strong conclusion. If you want to know what and how professors expect you to write – and why – this is the book for you.

TL;DR (too long; didn’t read): This book will show you how to write better papers, and it’s short, so you should read it!

TL;DR is a clear, accessible, and short guide to what students need to know about writing for university.

A Note for Students

A Note for Instructors

Preface

Introduction

1 Stuff You Should Know before You Start

Literacy

Language

Audience

Genre

2 Reading and Writing about Other Texts

Academic Reading

Summary

Attribution

Paraphrasing and Quotation

Response

Stance

Plagiarism

Citations

3 Writing “The Paper”

What “The Paper” Is

Structure

Topic

Sources

Thesis Statements

Introductions

Paragraphs

Conclusions

Flow

Making Changes

4 Other Stuff You Should Know

Feedback

Vocabulary

Grammar

Sentences

Further Reading

Instructor Appendix