Subject Guide: Writing Resources
Writing Center (English Department)
Drop-in and e-mail tutoring is available to students of English 2100, 2150, 2800, 2850, and upper level English courses.
Research Paper Planning and Writing
Helpful guides to planning and writing a research paper.
Grammar and Usage Guides
Tools that will help you with questions of grammar, punctuation, and correct use of the English language, with some general guides to improving writing skills.
Citation Style Guides
Find the correct format for documenting your research using MLA, APA, and other accepted styles for print, other media, and Internet resources.
Online Writing Labs (OWLs)
Web-based centers that provide writing resources and assistance.
ESL Resources
Resources for writing and language learning for ESL students.
Plagiarism: Help in Recognizing and Avoiding It
Learn how to avoid this serious (and punishable) academic offense.
Writing Center
(Baruch College, English Department)
A drop-in writing center provides individualized tutoring, by English Department faculty, for students in English 2100, 2150, 2800, 2850, and upper level English courses. It is located in the Newman Vertical Campus, in the 6-343 area on the 6th floor (enter at room 6-240). See the English Department's Activities page for current hours. Phone: (646) 312-4012.
E-mail tutoring is also available . Students should send their essays or drafts, their full name, the name of their instructor, the course numbers, and the section numbers to e-tutoring@baruch.cuny.edu. This information is needed for Writing Center records, and to notify instructors. Replies take 1-3 days on average. Instructors wanting further information should contact Professor Jordan Scott at e-tutoring@baruch.cuny.edu.
RESEARCH PAPER
PLANNING AND WRITINGWeb Resources
*Critical Reading: A Guide Designed for first-year college students, Critical Reading: A Guide contains sections on the written analysis of poetry, of fiction, and of prose in fiction, and on the writing of analytical essays. John Lye, a professor in the Departments of English and Communication Studies at Brock University (Canada), prepared this and the following guide.
*The Problem of Meaning in Literature The Problem of Meaning discusses the meaning of literature from the point of view of the author, the text, and the reader. Though not exhaustive, this and the critical reading guide above form a useful framework to help beginning students think critically about the literature they are reading. Professor Lye links these pages to his "Course and Source Page," which has a good selection of links to other Internet resources on writing, literature, and related topics..
*OWL (Online Writing Lab, Purdue University) This award-winning site offers a variety of handouts, workshops, presentations, and resources related to writing. Under "Internet Resources" you will find a wide range of links to other OWLs and writing resources on the Web. "A cyberextension of the Purdue University Writing Lab."
Guides to Critical Thinking & Argument Useful links related to critical thinking and developing the argument in a critical essay (part of the Voice of the Shuttle General Humanities Resources Page).
Paradigm Online Writing Assistant A useful and award-winning site, "Paradigm is an interactive, menu-driven, online writer's guide and handbook...intended to be useful for all writers, from inexperienced to advanced." Menu topics include "Discovering What to Write;" organizing, revising, and editing your writing; writing particular types of essays; and documenting sources. The site's author is Chuck Gifford, Associate Professor of English, Boise State University.
*Guide to Writing a Basic Essay This award-winning site explains the basics of writing a clear, well-organized essay. There are very good links to other writing sites. Created by Kathy Livingston.
Getting an A on an English Paper A good introduction to the elements that make up a successful English paper. The site is in development but still useful. Prepared by Jack Lynch at Rutgers.
How to Write an Essay Designed for students writing a paper on literature, this site provides good advice on every stage of the process for any kind of research paper. Remember that the library references here do not have the Newman Library in mind. Consult a reference librarian at Baruch about specific library resources and research. Produced by the English Department at the University of Birmingham, UK.
Writing/Style/Grammar Here you will find good links to a variety of helpful sites devoted to writing and grammar, as well as to online style guides, including both MLA and APA styles. Click on "Writing/Style/Grammar" at the bottom of the main menu. Part of the general reference collection of Infomine at the University of California, Riverside.
Guide to Grammar and Writing This Web site presents the principles of grammar and style divided into the sentence and paragraph levels, and it presents the basic principles of composition at the "essay level." The site is futher enriched by a good index, interactive quizzes, online answers to English usage and grammar questions, a list of useful writing guides, links to other online resources, and quotations by writers on writing. Prepared by Professor Charles Darling, Capital Community College.
Study Guides and Strategies In addition to basic writing skills and particular types of essays, this useful site also covers learning techniques, studying, reading, classroom participation, and testing. The site is available in approximately 15 languages at this time. It was created and is maintained by Joe Landsberger at the University of St. Thomas.
A+ : Research and Writing for High School and College Students A+ provides a step-by-step guide to researching and writing a paper; helpful instructions on finding information on the Web and in the library; and links to online resources on research and writing, including "handouts" from online writing labs (OWLS) arranged by topic. A part of the Internet Public Library site.
Hints for Writers: An On-Line Fiction Tutorial A useful site for students engaged in creative writing. Prepared by Greg Garrett, a professor at Baylor University and a published fiction writer (primarily of short stories).
Newman Library Resources
Note: Many additional titles can be found in CUNY+ by using the following keyword search: &=report writing.
Barnet, Sylvan. A Short Guide to Writing about Literature. 7th ed. New York: HarperCollins College Publishers, 1996. BARUCH STACKS, 5th floor: PE 1479 .C7 B3 1996.
Griffith, Kelley. Writing Essays About Literature: a guide and style sheet. 4th ed. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1994. BARUCH STACKS, 5th floor: PN 83 .G72 1994.
Meyer, Michael. The Little, Brown Guide to Writing Research Papers. 3rd ed. New York: HarperCollins College Publishers, 1994. BARUCH STACKS, 5th floor: LB 2369 .M42 1994.
Meyer, Michael. Thinking and Writing about Literature. Boston: Bedford Books of St. Martin's Press, 1995. BARUCH RESERVE, 2nd floor: PE 1479 .C7 M49 1995.
Roberts, Edgar V. Writing About Literature. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1999. BARUCH STACKS: PE 1479 .C7 R59 1999.
Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 6th ed., rev. by John Grossman and Alice Bennett. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. BARUCH STACKS, 5th floor: LB 2369 .T8 1996; also REFERENCE, 2nd floor: Ref. LB 2369 .T8 1996 and at the reference desk.
Winkler, Anthony C. Writing the Research Paper: a handbook with both the MLA and APA documentation styles. 5th ed. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1999. BARUCH STACKS, 5th floor: 69 .W56 1999.
GRAMMAR AND USAGE GUIDES
Web Resources
*OWL (Online Writing Lab, Purdue University) This award-winning site offers a variety of handouts, workshops, presentations, and resources related to writing. Under "Internet Resources" you will find a wide range of links to other OWLs and writing resources on the Web. "A cyberextension of the Purdue University Writing Lab."
Guide to Grammar and Writing This Web site presents the principles of grammar and style divided into the sentence and paragraph levels, and it presents the basic principles of composition at the "essay level." The site is futher enriched by a good index, interactive quizzes, online answers to English usage and grammar questions, a list of useful writing guides, links to other online resources, and quotations by writers on writing. Prepared by Professor Charles Darling, Capital Community College.
Guide to Grammar and Style Basic rules of good grammar, clearly presented, with many cross-reference links wherever explanation or elaboration is required. Prepared by Jack Lynch at Rutgers.
Writing/Style/Grammar Here you will find good links to a variety of helpful sites devoted to grammar and writing, as well as to online style guides, including both MLA and APA styles. Click on "Writing/Style/Grammar" at the bottom of the main menu. Part of the general reference collection of Infomine at the University of California, Riverside.
English Usage, Style, and Composition Several contemporary and classic usage guides are made available here by Bartleby.com.
Style and Grammar Guides This is a useful set of links of miscellaneous writing, style, and grammar links from Voice of the Shuttle.
Newman Library Resources
*Baker, Sheridan Warner. The Practical Stylist with Readings and Handbook. 8th ed. New York: Longman, 1998. BARUCH STACKS: PE 1408 .B287 1998. One of the most highly respected guides to good writing.
*Fowler, H. W. A Dictionary of Modern English Usage. 2d ed., rev. by Sir Ernest Gowers. New York, Oxford University Press, 1965. REFERENCE 2nd floor: Ref. PE 1628 .F65 1965a. A classic reference work, preferred by many users to its more modern, "liberal" revision by R.W. Burchfield (see next entry).
_______. Fowler, H. W. The New Fowler's Modern English Usage. Rev. 3rd ed. Ed. by R.W. Burchfield. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. REFERENCE 2nd floor: Ref. PE 1628 .F65 2000. A controversial revision of the Fowler classic. Definitely updated, but often seen as a rewrite, retaining little of Fowler but his name, and regarded by some as an inferior work, certainly less enlightening and entertaining. A more positive view is that it is simply less prescriptive and idiosyncratic.
*Garner, Bryan A. A Dictionary of Modern American Usage. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. REFERENCE 2nd floor: Ref. PE 2827 .G37 1998. A very good guide to modern American English usage.
*Strunk, William. The Elements of Style. 4th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000. REFERENCE 2nd floor: Ref. PE 1408 .S772 2000. An older (1918) edition of this classic work is available on the Internet (click here).
Williams, Joseph M. Style: Toward Clarity and Grace. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990. BARUCH STACKS: PE 1421 .W546 1990.
CITATION STYLE GUIDES
Web Resources
Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format A good, basic "handout" from the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University. A guide to APA style is also available.
Citing the Sites: MLA-Style Guidelines and Models for Documenting Internet Sources This is a very useful style sheet. It is appended to an article discussing some problems involved in applying the principles of MLA style to Internet resources, "Beyond the MLA Handbook: Documenting Electronic Sources on the Internet" by Andrew Harnack and Gene Kleppinger of Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY.
MLA Style. The official Web site of the Modern Language Association (MLA) contains a relatively brief page of frequently asked questions on MLA style, including how to document sources from the Web, with examples. More detailed discussions and more examples will be found in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers and the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, both available in the Newman Library (see resources list below). There is also greater detail in the MLA-based resources listed above and in others linked from the following two sites.
Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism: Documentation Guidelines. A very well-presented guide to citing sources using current APA, MLA, Turabian, and Chicago styles, with valuable discussions of plagiarism and how to avoid it. A Duke University Libraries site.
Online! Citation Styles. Online! provides citation styles for the total range of online information: Web site, e-mail message, Web discussion forum posting, listserv message, newsgroup message, real-time communication, Telnet, FTP, and gopher sites. Detailed descriptions and examples of each are given for MLA, APA, Chicago, and CBE. The guide is helpful in defining distinctions between citing the whole site versus citing one page or part of a site, and citing personal versus professional sites. The various types of Web publications are clearly explained. Made available by the publisher Bedford/St. Martin's.
Writing/Style/Grammar This site provides many good links to online style guides, including both MLA and APA styles, as well as links to a variety of other helpful sites devoted to grammar and writing. Click on "Writing/Style/Grammar" at the bottom of the Infomine general reference menu. Infomine is located at the University of California, Riverside.
Newman Library Resources
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2003. REFERENCE, 2ND Floor: Ref. LB 2369 .G53 2003 and at the reference desk; also BARUCH STACKS, 4th floor: LB 2369 .G53 2003. A useful guide to matters of style and format for students preparing typescripts. The MLA style is generally preferred by instructors of English and certain other disciplines in the humanities.
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. 2nd ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1998. REFERENCE, 2nd floor: Ref. PN 147 .G444 1998; also at the reference desk. The more formal MLA manual, used by writers submitting copy for publication.
Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. 6th ed., rev. by John Grossman and Alice Bennett. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. REFERENCE, 2nd floor: Ref. LB 2369 .T8 1996 and at the reference desk; also BARUCH STACKS, 5th floor: LB 2369 .T8 1996. A widely used and respected guide applicable to many undergraduate disciplines. Useful in preparing a paper, although your instructor may prefer that you use the MLA style of documentation.
The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. REFERENCE, 2nd floor: Ref. Z 253 .U69 2003. One of the most authoritative style handbooks; useful for more complex questions of format, organization, documentation, and copyediting.
Walker, Janice R., and Todd Taylor. The Columbia Guide to Online Style. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998. REFERENCE, 2nd floor: Ref. PN 171 .F56 W35 1998.
Online Writing Labs (OWLs)
Web Resources
CUNY WriteSite "The WriteSite is an Online Writing Lab, or OWL—a collection of writing resources and a way of interacting with other CUNY writers through the Internet."
*OWL (Online Writing Lab, Purdue University) This award-winning site offers a variety of handouts, workshops, presentations, and resources related to writing. Under "Internet Resources" you will find a wide range of links to other OWLs and writing resources on the Web. The staff will try to answer questions not answered by the site, and online tutoring, within clearly stated guidelines, is available. A virtual tour offers an excellent orientation to the site. "A cyberextension of the Purdue University Writing Lab."
ESL RESOURCES
*ESL Resources for Students and Teachers This Web site provides a very good collection of resources and links designed to meet the needs of ESL students (and teachers). Part of the highly-regarded Online Writing Lab (OWL) site at Purdue University.
English as 2nd Language This site can be a good starting point for questions involving ESL. Under "Essentials," you will find resources grouped by learning level; the top 1000 words in English; vocabulary study pages; and grammar reference pages. Be sure to check out the site's "ESL/EFL Sites" link and other links under "Subjects" on the main page. These will lead you to many other useful sites on the Web. Part of About.com.
English as a Second Language A helpful site, self-described as "a starting point for ESL learners who want to learn English through the Web." It features many links to "good and free" learning materials on the Web.
The ESL Center A very good set of links to ESL exercises online: grammar, TOEFL, reading, listening, pronunciation, dictionaries, newspapers, schools.
ToLearnEnglish.com Another recognized site offering free learning materials and links. The site design is somewhat cluttered and "busy," but many useful resources can be found here. The site is available in both Engish and French versions.
The ESLoop "ESLoop is a collection of sites relevant to English Language Teaching and Learning on the World-Wide Web. Each site is linked to the next, so that no matter where you start, you will eventually make your way around all the sites and end up back at the beginning.... ESLoop was begun in 1996 as a way to offer teachers and students of English a way to browse the internet for resources specific to English language teaching and learning.... The ESLoop was intended to give you a more linear way of browsing, to help with demonstrations, and to form a fun association of those with ESL pages on the web." A list of member sites allows direct access to any of the many sites that form the ring.
PLAGIARISM:
HELP IN RECOGNIZING AND AVOIDING IT"Plagiarism means using another's work without giving credit. You must put others' words in quotation marks and cite your source(s) and must give citations when using others' ideas, even if those ideas are paraphrased in your own words."
-- From the Avoiding Plagiarism Web site at the University of California, Davis.Baruch College Statement on Academic Honesty "Important information for students about the consequences of cheating and plagiarism" from Baruch College Student Development & Counseling.
How To Use The Library To Write Better Papers And To Avoid Plagiarism This basic guide to writing papers is available on the Newman Library Web site. In addition to a section on "How to Avoid Plagiarism," the guide contains information on organizing your research, writing a good term paper, and proper documentation (or citing your sources) using the MLA format. From the library home page under "Help," select "Tutorials and Guides," then choose "How to Use the Library to Write Better Papers and Avoid Plagiarism."
Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism: Documentation Guidelines A very well-presented guide to citing sources using current APA, MLA, Turabian, and Chicago styles, with valuable discussions of plagiarism and how to avoid it. A Duke University Libraries site.
Plagiarism: What It is and How to Recognize and Avoid It This site provides the basic facts about plagiarism and provides examples that should help you recognize and avoid it. Part of the Writing Tutorial Services page at Indiana University.
Avoiding Plagiarism A good introduction, including guidelines and examples. Produced at the University of California, Davis.
Plagiarism: A MUST Read A helpful overview, including a discussion of acceptable ways to incorporate the ideas of other writers into your own work (click on "Quotations") and a useful introduction to citing sources (click on "Citing: The MLA Way"). Produced for students at Northern Illinois University.
Plagiarism A very comprehensive, well-organized, and up-to-date gateway to Web resources on plagiarism, divided into sections of interest to both students and instructors, along with links to articles, discussions of copyright and intellectual freedom, detection tools, plagiarism case studies, and ehtics resources for specific disciplines, such as business, journalism, sociology, anthropology, and history. Compiled by Sharon Stoerger at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.