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Writing Resources

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Center for Reading and Writing

Peter P. Mercer Learning Commons | Room 420 (4th floor)

p: 201-684-7557 | Summer: 201-684-7561

The Writing Prompt

Tips to understand an essay question and to respond directly to an instructor’s writing prompt can be found at Troy University’s Online Writing Center: https://www.troy.edu/_assets/center-student-success/_documents/learning-center/special-kinds-of-writing/answering-essay-questions.pdf

More tips to understand an essay question and to respond directly to an instructor’s writing prompt can be found at the Harvard College Writing Center: https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/how-read-assignment

Pre-Writing & Drafting

Tips and steps to plan a draft and to prewrite can be found at Troy University’s Online Writing Center: https://www.troy.edu/_assets/center-student-success/_documents/learning-center/the-writing-proccess/writing-the-essay.pdf

More tips to plan a draft and to prewrite can be found at Troy University’s Online Writing Center: https://www.troy.edu/_assets/center-student-success/_documents/learning-center/the-writing-proccess/writing-an-essay.pdf

Developing an Argument & Thesis

Guides on developing an argument and thesis statement can be found at the Online Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill:

Harvard faculty express their viewpoints on writing an argument: https://www.harvardwrites.com/writing-an-argument

Harvard faculty express their viewpoints on using evidence and analysis: https://www.harvardwrites.com/evidence-analysis

Strategies to read a text and to draft the essay can be found at The Harvard College Writing Center:

Summary, Paraphrase, & Direct Quoting

Purdue OWL clarifies the distinctions in using summary, paraphrase, and direct quotations to present evidence: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/using_research/quoting_paraphrasing_and_summarizing/index.html

Conclusions

Tips on drafting conclusions can be found at Troy University’s Online Writing Center: https://www.troy.edu/_assets/center-student-success/_documents/learning-center/the-writing-proccess/writing-conclusions.pdf

More tips on drafting conclusions can be found at the Harvard College Writing Center:  https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/ending-essay-conclusions

Eliminating Wordiness

A video and a guide to eliminate wordiness can be found at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill:

Revision

Steps to revise a draft:

An overview of revision strategies can be found at the University of North Carolina at ChapelHill: https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/revising-drafts/

Another overview of revision strategies can be found at Troy University’s Online Writing Center: https://www.troy.edu/_assets/center-student-success/_documents/learning-center/the-writing-proccess/proofread-and-revise.pdf

Proofreading & Editing

An overview of proofreading and editing strategies can be found at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/

Another overview of proofreading and editing strategies can be found at Troy University’s Online Writing Center: https://www.troy.edu/_assets/center-student-success/_documents/learning-center/the-writing-proccess/proofread-and-edit.pdf

Documentation & Style Guides

MLA, APA, and Chicago Formatting and Style Guides can be found at owl.purdue.edu   Click on “Purdue OWL” and “Search the OWL” for “MLA, “APA,” or “Chicago Style.”