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Online Resources for Writing

CGCC Resources | General Writing Sites | The Writing Process | Academic Writing | Plagiarism | Documentation | Evaluating Online Resources | ESL Resources | Online Dictionaries and Thesauri | Miscellaneous Writing Sites | Online Resources for Tutors

CGCC Resources

General Writing Sites

The Writing Process

Brainstorming

  • Thesis Statement Basics
    From the Sierra College Writing Center, this site progresses from discussing the purpose of a thesis statement to its fine-tuning so that it indicates a paper's organization and direction. Examples of faculty thesis statements are provided, immediately followed by reworked examples.
  • Thesis Statements
    This site pinpoints the elements of a thesis statement and provides a list of sub-questions to answer the question "How do I know if my thesis is strong?"

    Revising and Editing
  • Revising and Editing
    This site includes information about why revising is important as well as steps for revising a writing project. The site also includes a discussion about the potential obstacles for effective revision.

Academic Writing

Gender Fair Language

  • Unbiased Language
    From the University of Toronto, this article on the use of unbiased language in academic writing provides a good, if somewhat general, overview of academic language.
  • Gender-Neutral Language
    This article about the use of gender-neutral language in academic writing notes that it is relatively easy to eliminate sexist language.

Plagiarism

From the CGCC Student Handbook" Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, the use of paraphrase or direct quotation, of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgment. It also includes the unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials. Information gathered from the internet and not properly identified is also considered plagiarism."
CGCC 2008-2009 Catalog

The consequences of plagiarism at CGCC can be found on p. 89 of the Student Handbook.

  • "Plagiarism: Its Nature and Consequences"
    Why is citation necessary? This article answers that question.Sophisticated writing is marked by its ability to situate claims within the larger, societal and/or academic conversation on the topic. When communicating verbally, we often refer to the origin of the ideas that we are speaking about.Why then does it seem so strange to do it in print?
  • Purdue University Online Writing Lab's "Avoiding Plagiarism"
    When referring to sources in a text, citation is necessary even if the words are not taken verbatim from the original source. All information must be cited unless it is "common knowledge." This website is useful because it gives some methods to use when deciding just what requires an in-text citation and what can go unacknowledged in your work.
  • "Plagiarism Prevention for Students
    From Turnitin.com. Select "tips" in the "for students" section. This site is helpful because it has a few tips that seem very obvious that aren't always mentioned in discussion about plagiarism.

Documentation

Evaluating Online Resources

  • Reference Shelf: Evaluating Online Resources
    This article gives a brief overview of ways to analyze information found on the Internet. As developed by Elizabeth Kirk of the Milton S. Eisenhower Library, Hopkins University, students need to apply six criteria to all information they find on the Internet:

1. Authorship (who wrote it)
2. Publishing body (differences in "edu," "org," "gov," and "com")
3. Point of view or bias (author's goal)
4. Referral to and/or knowledge of the literature (links to other sources)
5. Accuracy or verifiability of details
6. Currency

  • Evaluating and Citing Online Resources
    This is excellent, user-friendly article not only discusses evaluation criteria of Internet information, but also provides clear examples of MLA Works Cited page references and in-text citation of electronic resources.

ESL Resources

  • Dave's ESL Cafe
    Practice, activities, forums and help for English-language learners.
  • The Tower of English
    Contains many links to interactive activities for practicing English.
  • John's ESL Community
    A good resource for tutorials, practice and activities in all language skills.
  • Ingles Mundial
    For Spanish speakers learning English. This site has different levels of language practice: beginning, intermediate and advanced.
  • Activities for ESL Students
    From a project fromThe Internet TESL Journal, provides grammar points, quizzes, and bilingual support in 37 different languages.

Online Dictionaries and Thesauri


Miscellaneous Writing Sites

  • The slot.com
    All you ever wanted to know about copy-editing. Check out "Sharp Points" for some useful tips about writing.

Online Resources for Tutors

  • A Manual for Writing Center Tutors
    From Montreat College, this site presents a thorough overview of tutoring students in writing in 14 chapters. Especially useful are the chapters regarding the many different kinds of students tutors may encounter in the Writing Center.
  • Training for Tough Tutorials
    This video-based training system from the University of Richmond is geared towards training peer tutors, but it also presents some common tutoring scenarios and potential solutions.
  • The Dangling Modifier
    This newsletter is written by and for peer tutors and is supported by the National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing.
  • Praxis: A Writing Center Journal
    From the Undergraduate Writing Center at the University of Texas at Austin, this journal contains articles about training, tutoring, and other issues related to writing center theory.
  • The Writing Lab Newsletter
    A long-standing text in the field, this newsletter promotes "the exchange of voices and ideas in one-to-one teaching of writing." It includes many thoughtful articles related to writing center theory and practice.
  • Writing Center Journal
    An official publication of the International Writing Centers Association, this journal publishes articles about writing center dynamics and administration.