StudyPlans Home

Reading

Writing

Composition

Parallelism: http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/grammar/parallelism.html

Rules for Comma Usage: http://ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas.htm

Sentence structure: http://owlet.letu.edu/grammarlinks/sentence/sentence3.html

COMMON ERRORS IN ENGLISH: PROFESSOR PAUL BRIANS' SITE : http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html

Works Cited
Here at Sullivan County Community College, we are using the Modern Language Association (MLA) format for crediting sources within your paper.
Information about how to do this can be found in your textbook and at the following sites:
Bowling Green State University Writing Lab:
http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/writing-lab/mla_format.html
Nuts and Bolts of College Writing: http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/mla.html#basic
The Writing Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: http://www.rpi.edu/web/writingcenter/mla.html

Plagiarism
Plagiarism: http://www.web-miner.com/plagiarism
A nice set of annotated links to articles, resources for both teachers and students, plagiarism-checker sites, and term-papers-for-sale sites ("included to provide insight into the number, types and mode of operation of some of the sites easily accessible to students").

For more information, go to: http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/plagiarism.html

Planning the research paper
Assignment Calculator: http://www.lib.umn.edu/help/calculator/
A wonderful teaching tool from the University of Minnesota librarians. Input the date due and the date you'll start working on the paper, and the subject area of the assignment, and they'll map out a day by day plan for searching the catalog, the appropriate databases, and the web, using the AskUs service at the library, visiting the writing lab, writing the paper, and citing sources.

Parts of Required Research Paper
Thesis Statement
Take the quiz at Thesis Statement Review: http://www.wwnorton.com/we/ch1/thesis.htm and email it to me. You may retake it and send me your best score.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: http://www.rpi.edu/web/writingcenter/thesis.html
A Writer's Reference: http://www.dianahacker.com/writersref/flash/rs_menu.asp
This is the link to the book Diana Hacker book used in class. Choose MLA, then Thesis Statements for MLA papers. Take this quiz and email it to me.

I. Introductory Paragraph
A. Thesis Statement
B. 3-4 sentences stating main points
Nuts and Bolts - Beginning: http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/beginning.html

II. Definition:
Nuts and Bolts - Methods: http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/arguments.htm#methods

III. Body
A. Paragraphs
B. Topic Sentences
C. Parts of Speech
1. Adjectives
2. Synonyms
Hacker Handbook Software: http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/hacker/exercises/
ROGET'S Thesaurus Search Form: http://humanities.uchicago.edu/forms_unrest/ROGET.html
Practice Exercises Index: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/interact/index.html
D. Linking Paragraphs
Nuts and Bolts - Middle: http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/middle.htm

IV. Conclusion
For more information, go to: http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/ending.html

Things to Do
Develop a Thesis Statement

Create an Outline or Graphic Organizer
Graphic Organizers: http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/actbank/sorganiz.htm

Research
Search Page for RedLightGreen:
http://www.redlightgreen.com/ucwprod/servlet/ucw.servlets.UCWController?USERID=anonymous&PASSWORD=------&ACTION=logon&SRCHPATH=3
A shorter URL for RedLightGreen Search Interface: http://snurl.com/2ijy
"RedLightGreen helps you locate the most important books and other research materials in your area of interest, and find out whether what you need is available at your favorite library. Sign in, and you can format and send citations any way you want: MLA, APA, Chicago, Turabian. Just click - and it's done."

Define terms and/or ideas

Write draft
Paragraph Punch: http://www.paragraphpunch.com/ and click on start writing now. This is an online tutorial for writing paragraphs.

Revise for clarity
Ideas and Content Rubric: http://grant.d20.co.edu/grant/6traits/ideas_content.html
Organization Rubric: http://grant.d20.co.edu/grant/6traits/organization.html
Word Choice Rubric: http://grant.d20.co.edu/grant/6traits/word_choice.html
Sentence Fluency Rubric: http://grant.d20.co.edu/grant/6traits/fluency.html

Proofread for grammar, punctuation, etc
BBC Schools - Writing Non-fiction Texts: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english/writingnonfict/index.shtml
Editing Checklist: http://grant.d20.co.edu/grant/6traits/checklist.html
Voice Rubric: http://grant.d20.co.edu/grant/6traits/voice.html
Writing Conventions Rubric: http://grant.d20.co.edu/grant/6traits/conventions.html

Appearance of finished paper
For more information, go to: http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/mechanics.html

Other sources to help you
Methods of Developing Arguments: http://nutsandbolts.washcoll.edu/

 

StudyPlans.com is supported by generous people who find useful information on the site. Thank you!

This site began in March 1998 and was created by Janet Luch. 
Email to studyplans@yahoo.com.