WRIT Center Virtual Student Handbook

There are thousands of websites about writing. We've picked some of the best and most useful for you here.  Some of these links are to a particular page for one particular topic, and others are to comprehensive sites such as the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL), one of the first and still one of the best college writing sites. Links are annotated so you know what you're looking at.

College Success Tips

• Becoming a Master Student -- this printable sheet of college basics is by retired Delta Professor of English Larry Levy. 

Reading Strategies

• Textbook Reading Strategies

Types of Writing and Assignments

• Arguing a Position -- from the Norton Field Guide to Writing, one of the top college writing handbooks.
• Creating a Thesis Statement -- from the Purdue OWL
• Developing an Outline  -- ditto
• Reporting Information -- Norton Field Guide again
• Writing the Basic Business Letter -- OWL
• Writing a Literacy Narrative -- Norton Field Guide

Resources for Analyzing Literature

• Analyzing a Text -- Norton Field Guide
• Analyzing Fiction Checklist
• Analyzing Poetry Checklist

Grammar and Spelling

• Grammar Girl Podcasts
• Active and Passive Voice -- this one and the rest in the category are from the OWL
• Commas: Quick Rules
• Numbers
• Parallel Structure
• Punctuation
• Quotation Marks
• Sentence Fragments
• Spelling
• Subject-Verb Agreement

Using Sources

• Avoiding Plagiarism -- OWL
• Difference Between Magazines and Journals
• Distinguishing Scholarly Journals from Other Periodicals
• Peer Reviewed and Refereed Articles
• Questions for Evaluating Websites
• Research and Documentation Online

Citation Styles

• MLA Style 2009 Update Overview -- OWL
• 2009 MLA Style Guide -- OWL
• APA Guide for Printed Sources -- The Delta Library's handy handout for 2009 APA style
• APA Guide for Electronic Sources -- ditto

Good Sites for Information

• Argument Essay Topics
• NewsLink.org -- links to media (newspapers, radio, and TV) from around the world 
• Finding Data on the Internet
• Infomine: Scholarly Internet Resource Collections -- from the University of California--Riverside
• Librarian’s Internet Index -- Drexel University Library

Free Electronic and Open Source Composition Handbooks

• CollegeWriting,info -- a web-text edited by Richard Jewell, a composition instructor in the University of Minnesota system for over twenty years
• Journalism 2.0  -- "A digital literacy guide for the information age;" PDF from "an initiative of J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism, at American University’s School of Communication."
• Rhetoric and Composition Wikibook
• The Process of Research Writing
• Writing Electronic Text: Tips and Guidelines for Writers