Writing Center

Additional handouts and useful links

MLA Citing from the Gale multivolume reference books
Help with Authors in English 122

Online Writing Lab

Writers may always find writing project assistance from PPCC’s Online Writing Lab (OWL tutor) by sending an email to owl@ppcc.edu or Instant Messaging “ppcctutor” using AIM, MSN, or Yahool, MOST evenings 8-10 p.m. Mountain Time. If you think that you cannot wait for a response from our Online Tutor, you may want to check out one or more of the following useful links.

NOTE TO STUDENTS USING LINKS: A number of the links below will take you to other schools’ writing centers. They have hours and locations posted on some of those sites. Please do not confuse those with our own PPCC hours.

The Paradigm Online Writing Assistant — An incredibly thorough site that leads you through the process of writing and offers tips and suggestions for improvement at almost every turn.

http://www.powa.org/

The Writing Process:

Generating Ideas—If you’re just trying to get started on your paper, click this link for information on some of the various strategies for generating ideas for writing.
Cleveland State University's "Invention, The Child of Necessity: Getting Papers Started"
http://www.csuohio.edu/writingcenter/invent.html

Thesis Development—Ah, the allusive thesis. This site focuses on thesis development in writing Critical Analysis papers, but also provides a wealth of general information through its suggestions for whatever your writing task at hand.
Ten Strategies for Thesis Development for "Stuck" Students
http://eee.uci.edu/faculty/losh/resources/material/thesis.html

Drafting—Now that you’ve generated a substantial bank of ideas, you’re ready to move on and begin to draft your essay. While no formula exists and each writer must ultimately find what works for him/her personally, the link below offers quite a few tips and hints to get you started.
Paradigm Online Writing Assistant
http://www.powa.org/

Revising/Editing—So you have your paper drafted, but you still feel like it could be better. You’re ready to move on to the link below which provides a useful sequence of questions and suggestions to help you edit and revise your own writing. Or course, there’s no substitute for a visit to the writing center.
Paradigm Online Writing Assistant
http://www.powa.org/

Documentation Styles—Depending on the course you’re taking (or professional field in which you’re writing) you’re often required to use a specific documentation style for quoting and citing. The following links provide overviews of three of the more commonly used formats.
MLA Format
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocMLA.html

APA Format
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocAPA.html

Chicago/Turabian Format
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocChicago.html

Help with Proofreading Common Surface Errors: Punctuation, Spelling, & Grammar Basics
http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets.shtml

Help with Subject/Verb Agreement
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslsubverb.html

Help with Paragraph Development, Unity, & Coherence
http://www.wheaton.edu/learnres/writectr/Resources/coherence.html

Help With Critical Analysis—So you’ve been assigned to write about a piece of writing. Follow this link for information on the critical reading process.
http://www.csuohio.edu/writingcenter/critread.html

Analyzing Non-Fiction
http://www.fandm.edu/Departments/WritingCenter/pdfs/WritingAnalysis.pdf

Analyzing Fiction
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/literature.html

Analyzing Poetry
http://learning.mgccc.cc.ms.us/writing/poetry/poetry.html