Skip to Content

What are you looking for?

Suggested Search

Commencement
  • News and Events
  • Public Exchange
  • Info For
    • Current Students
    • Faculty
    • Staff
    • Faculty Directory
    • Staff Directory
  • Alumni
  • Giving
USC.edu
    • The Academy in the Public Square
      Beyond the laboratories, research centers and classrooms, USC Dornsife serves as a dynamic intellectual resource that is woven into the fabric of our communities.
    • Life in L.A.
    • Our Students
    • Our Leadership
    • Dornsife at a Glance
    • Dana and David Dornsife
    • The Future of Scholarship
      • Faculty Awards & Honors
      • News Briefs
    • Research Centers and Institutes
    • Signature Research Initiatives
      • Quantum Information Science
      • The Art + Science of Human Wellbeing
      • Sustainability: Human Factors
      • Faculty-Led Research Initiative
      • Public Exchange
    • Facilities
    • Undergraduate Education
      • Your Dornsife Degree
      • General Education Program
      • Special Programs
      • Undergraduate Research
      • Academic Advising and Support
    • Majors and Minors
    • Academic Scholarships
    • Learning in the World
    • Preparing for Your Future
      • Career Pathways
    • PhD Studies
      • PhD Programs
      • PhD Academy
    • Master’s & Professional Studies
      • Master’s & Professional Programs
    • Undergraduate Admission
    • Graduate Admission
  • Departments, Centers, & Institutes
    • Academic Departments
      • HUMANITIES
      • American Studies and Ethnicity
      • Archaeology
      • Art History
      • Classics
      • Comparative Literature
      • East Asian Languages and Cultures
      • East Asian Studies Center
      • English
      • French and Italian
      • Gender and Sexuality Studies
      • Jewish Studies
      • Latin American and Iberian Cultures
      • Philosophy
      • Religion
      • Slavic Languages and Literatures
      • Writing Program
      • NATURAL SCIENCES
      • Biological Sciences
      • Chemistry
      • Earth Sciences
      • Environmental Studies
      • Mathematics
      • Neuroscience
      • Physics and Astronomy
      • Psychology
      • Quantitative and Computational Biology
      • SOCIAL SCIENCES
      • Anthropology
      • Economics
      • History
      • Linguistics
      • Middle East Studies
      • Political Science and International Relations
      • Sociology
      • Spatial Sciences Institute
    • Centers & Institutes
      • CULTURE & SOCIETY
      • Archaeology Research Center
      • Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life
      • Center for Advanced Genocide Research
      • Center for Ethnographic Media Arts
      • Center for Feminist Research
      • Center for Islamic Thought, Culture and Practice
      • Center for Latinx and Latin American Studies
      • Center for Law and Philosophy
      • Center for Law, History and Culture
      • Center for Religion and Civic Culture
      • Center for the Premodern World
      • Center for Transpacific Studies
      • Conceptual Foundation of Conflict Project
      • Consortium on Gender, Sexuality & Race in Popular Culture
      • East Asian Studies Center
      • Equity Research Institute
      • Francophone Research and Resource Center
      • Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West
      • Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies
      • Institute of Armenian Studies
      • Korean Studies Institute
      • Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities
      • Max Kade Institute for Austrian-German-Swiss Studies
      • Mind and Society Center
      • Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture
      • The West on Fire
      • USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute
      • GLOBAL SYSTEMS
      • Alice, George and Harold Kachigian Center for Active Learning in International Studies
      • Center for Economic and Social Research
      • Center for International Studies
      • Center for the Political Future
      • Center on Science, Technology, and Public Life
      • Spatial Sciences Institute
      • Unruh Institute of Politics
      • USC Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability
      • LANGUAGE & CREATIVITY
      • American Language Institute
      • Center for Languages and Cultures
      • Levan Institute for the Humanities
      • Visual Studies Research Institute
      • Writing Center
      • LIFE SCIENCES
      • Brain and Creativity Institute
      • Bridge Institute
      • Center for Computational Language Sciences
      • Center for Ecological and Evolutionary Dynamics
      • Center for Music, Brain and Society
      • Center for New Technologies in Drug Discovery and Development
      • Center for Peptide and Protein Engineering
      • Center for Self-Report Science
      • Center for the Changing Family
      • Center for Synthetic Living Systems
      • Convergent Science Institute in Cancer
      • Dana and David Dornsife Cognitive Neuroimaging Center
      • New Microbes For New Beneficial Natural Products
      • Psychology Services Center
      • Translational Imaging Center
      • USC Sea Grant
      • PHYSICAL SCIENCES
      • Agilent Center of Excellence in Biomolecular Characterization
      • Center for Applied Mathematical Sciences
      • Center for Quantum Information and Science Technology
      • Center of Excellence in Molecular Characterization
      • Center of Excellence in NanoBiophysics
      • Core Center of Excellence in Nano Imaging
      • Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute
      • Statewide California Earthquake Center
      • The Plastics Problem
      • The Urban Critical Zone
    • Explore All
      Browse all of our departments, programs, centers, and institutes
USC Dornsife Writing Center
  • Home
  • Appointments
  • About Us
  • People
  • Handouts
  • Book a Workshop
  • Student Resources
  • Faculty Resources
  • Employment

Handouts and Video Tutorials

  • Finding the Motivation to Write (video)

    Time Management and the Writing Process (video)

    Analyzing Your Assignment

    Getting Started on a Paper (video)

    Fact/Idea List (Example)

    Fact/Idea List (Blank)

    Points To Make List

  •  

    Thesis Statements 101 (video)

    The Sheridan Baker Thesis Machine

    The “So What?” Factor

    Anticipating Objections

    The Three-Story Thesis

    Thesis Secrets and Pitfalls

     

     

  • Reading Critically (video)

    Hints for Close Reading

    Working with Evidence and Analysis

    Quotation Integration

    Integrating & Documenting Sources

    Scholarly vs. Popular Sources

    Tables, Charts, and Graphs

  • Informal Outlines

    An Alternative to Outlines

    Reverse Outlines

    Overview of Body Paragraphs

    Balancing Evidence and Analysis in a Paragraph

    Topic Sentences

    Connecting Your Paragraphs

    Links and Transitions

  • Introductions

    Openers

    Conclusions

    Titles

  • Understanding Plagiarism (tutorial)

    MLA: Templates for Citing Sources

    Understanding MLA

    Ask an MLA Editor

    APA: Templates for the References List

    APA: Templates for Parenthetical Citations

    Ask an APA Editor

    Chicago: Templates for Citing Sources (Notes)

    Chicago: Templates for Citing Sources (Author Date)

    Understanding Chicago Manual of Style

    See Chicago: Browse the Manual Online

  • Proofreading 101

    Commas

    Comma Splices and Run-On Sentences

    Prepositions

    Articles

    Verb Tenses

    Subject-Verb Agreement

    Sentence Structure

    Essential Sentence Forms

    Word Forms

    Writing Complete Sentences

     

  • Seven Principles of Effective Writing

    Sentence Variety

    Parallel Structure

    Streamlining Passive Sentences

    Avoiding Negative Sentences

  • Formatting a Résumé (video)

    Bullet Points for Your Résumé (video)

    Formatting a Cover Letter (video)

    Action Verbs for Résumés

    Brainstorming Your Cover Letter

    Brainstorming Your Personal Statement

    Brainstorming Your Application Essays

  • Literature Reviews

    Dissertation and Thesis Writing

    Academic C.V.s

    Teaching Statements

    Teaching Statements (with examples)

    Grant Writing and Proposals

    Infographics and Visualizations

    Citation Managers

    Dissertation and Thesis Formatting

    The Novelty Moves (video)

    The Novelty Moves (slides)

    The Novelty Moves (handout)

    How to Read Like a Graduate Student (video)

    How to Read Like a Graduate Student (handout)

    Writing About Theory (slides)

    Writing About Theory (handout)

    Writing Tune-Up (slides)

    Writing Tune-Up (handout)

     

  • Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab)

    Read and Hear Words in Context

    Corpus of Contemporary American English

Contact & Hours

THH 216
213-740-3691
writing@usc.edu

May 27 – Aug  12
M – Th, 10am – 7pm 

 

Image of three students at a table with speech bubbles overhead
  • Academics
    • Majors and Minors
    • Undergraduate Education
    • Master’s & Professional Studies
    • PhD Studies
    • Scholarship Award Non-Discrimination
  • Directories & Maps
    • Our Faculty
    • Our Staff
    • Social Media Directory
    • Campus Maps
  • Access & Support
    • Dornsife Technology Services
    • MyDornsife
    • 365 Web
    • USC Zoom
  • Trojan Family
    • Alumni Relations
    • USC Dornsife Magazine
    • Dornsife Dialogues
    • Commencement
    • Career Pathways
  • Dornsife at a Glance
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy
  • Digital Accessibility
  • Emergency Information
  • Notice of Non-Discrimination

Copyright © 2025 University of Southern California