This brief text teaches students how to write the most common papers assigned in college courses: source-based essays that summarize, analyze, critique, and synthesize. Comprehensive enough to serve as a primary text yet compact enough to serve as a supplement, this guide teaches students how to critically read texts, accurately quote and paraphrase material, clearly summarize, carefully respond to, precisely critique, and creatively synthesize readings. A Brief Guide is a valuable teaching and reference tool that students of many disciplines will find useful for class work and for independent study.