Proper grammar is a loaded topic. On the one hand, ideas of what constitutes proper grammar are often elitist, classist, and racist. On the other, wielding grammar fluently will help you into certain conversations and will help readers understand you, and the proper usage of Standard Written English is a learning goal for this course. In your writing for this course, you should be careful to avoid fragments, run-ons, and passively-voiced phrases, all common errors that will obscure your meaning and make it seem as though you haven’t edited your work.
If I provide specific grammar correction in your papers, that either means that your point is in clear or that someone in the future setting might judge you differently for the way that you worded it. It’s more for your information than for grading/punitive purposes, unless your paper is incomprehensible.
Below is a list of reading and writing resources that students always find helpful as a supplement to our coursework. If you find others, let me know!
Reading Techniques
Close Reading Handout from class
Claims/Thesis Statements
Thesis/Claim Handout from class
Purdue OWL: Developing Strong Thesis Statements
UNC Writing Center: Thesis Statements; Argument (from class)
Washington University: Developing Your Thesis
Paragraphs
Purdue OWL on paragraphs
Five minute paragraph self-test
Peer Review
Peer Review Handout from class
MLA Citation
MLA Handout (from class)
Purdue OWL: MLA Formatting and Style Guide; In-Text Citations
Research Questions
Developing a Research Question
Formulating your Research Question
Secondary Sources
Excerpt from Writing with Sources (Gordon Harvey’s Guide)
Pre-Writing
Brainstorming
“Guidelines for Composing”
Dialectical Notebooks
Reference Books
American Heritage Dictionary
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Roget’s Thesaurus
