Links to Online Resources
Online Writing Center at Purdue University
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
This webpage lists dozens of grammar and mechanical issues and includes handouts with examples. Most handouts have and exercise at the end with an answer key.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/ This site provides a huge resource of explanations and handouts on introductions, paragraphs, transitions, quotations, MLA and APA citation, business letters, application essays, etc. The site also includes instruction on how to write for specific fields of study such as sociology, political science and philosophy.
Verbs for Referring to Sources
http://writing.utoronto.ca/support/reference-tools/
You can indicate your attitude to the sources you cite by choosing specific verbs to refer to them. Don’t just keep repeating “Smith says.” There is a wide choice of such verbs in English. Use a dictionary to check that you have chosen a verb with the nuance you intend.
Hedging
http://www.uefap.com/writing/feature/hedge.htm
It is often believed that academic writing, particularly scientific writing, is factual, simply to convey facts and information. However it is now recognized that an important feature of academic writing is the concept of cautious language, often called “hedging” or “vague language”. In other words, it is necessary to make decisions about your stance on a particular subject, or the strength of the claims you are making. Different subjects prefer to do this in different ways.
Mr. Johanson’s Daily Grammar
http://www.dailygrammar.com/archive.shtml
This site offers hundreds of user-friendly grammar lessons. For each issue, several lessons are provided and each one focuses on one major usage with five sentences to correct. Answers are listed directly below the lessons.
Grammar Bites
http://www.chompchomp.com/exercises.htm
This site provides a variety of interactive exercises.
Exercises are fun and easy but must be completed online.
Citation Machine
http://citationmachine.net/
This tool allows you to plug in the information and get citations formatted in either APA or MLA style. It may not save time, but it does help with tough and unusual citations. Schools and libraries are using it and linking to it.
MLA Style
https://www.mla.org/MLA-Style
The Modern Language Association will not publish its style guide online, but it does have a useful FAQ page.
APA FAQs
https://apastyle.apa.org/ This page on the APA website takes you to some FAQs about using APA to cite online sources. Although it is not comprehensive, it is regularly updated and a good place to start. Because their rules for electronic sources are still evolving, other sites will tell you to check here for the latest information.
All 4 Major Styles
https://www.macmillanlearning.com/college/us/
This Bedford student support site offers information on using four citation styles: MLA, APA, CMS, and CBE. It also provides online citations for all styles—it lists some of the major types of online sources you might use, with links to examples.
UW Madison Writing Center Site
https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/
Madison has a good Writing Center website with writer’s handbook and documentation information.
APA Citations:
http://liu.cwp.libguides.com/APAstyle
This site offers a colorful explanation of both MLA and APA citations by providing examples of commonly used citations.
Khan Academy Grammar
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/grammar
Grammar is the collection of rules and conventions that makes languages go. This section is about Standard American English, but there’s something here for everyone.