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Purdue Instructors and Students
Summary:
This page offers links to resources we feel might be especailly helpful for Purdue Instructors and Students.
For access to all OWL resources, we encourage you to visit our Site Map.
General Writing Lab Information
The Writing Lab at Purdue University, West Lafayette Campus
The Writing Lab homepage provides information for the Writing Lab located in Heavilon Hall room 226. Here you'll find business hours, contact information, and a link to the online scheduler. Purdue instructors and students are eligible for services including: one-on-one tutorials, ESL conversation groups, instructor consultations, and writing workshops.
Writing Lab Virtual Tour
As part of broader Protect Purdue efforts to dedensify spaces on campus, this Fall we will not be offering class tours of the Writing Lab. Instead, we've prepared a virtual presentation that outlines our services and offers explanation on the different types of appointments.
ICaP Graduate Instructor Help
Are you a graduate teaching assistant at Purdue struggling to help your students produce academic-caliber writing? The Writing Lab can help. In this video, two experienced Writing Lab tutors who are also teaching assistants describe how the Writing Lab helps grads help their students. More information regarding the Introductory Composition program at Purdue (ICaP) is available on their website.
Student Perspectives about the Writing Lab
One of the best parts of being an undergraduate at Purdue is being part of a community of hard-working Boilermakers who offer each other mutual support. In this peer tutor video, you'll learn about the support undergraduate tutors regularly offer their peers.
Preparing for a Tutorial Session
In this video presentation, a Writing Lab tutor provides new and returning clients with a few pointers that can help ensure tutoring sessions are as productive as possible. For more information about tutoring services, please visit our Student FAQs Page; in addition, we also have a video that offers more information on how to prepare for virtual appointments.
Subject Specific Resources
Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS)
This resource contains materials created for a three-part workshop for Engineering students in a study abroad program including a design notebook, a project charter, and travel writing.
Open Source Development and Documentation (OSDDP)
This is a teaching guide for professional writing instructors who are teaching their students to write usability reports. It includes teaching tips, suggested deliverables and class activities as well as a list of resources. Although this guide is created primarily for English 420 (Business Writing) and English 421 (Technical Writing) instructors at Purdue University who assign usability report as part of the OSDDP initiated at Purdue, you may find many of the tips and resources useful and ready to be adapted to your own classroom context.
Writing Process
This resource contains tips for instructors and student on beginning writing.
This section explains the prewriting (invention) stage of the composing process. It includes processes, strategies, and questions to help you begin to write.
Writer's Block / Writer's Anxiety
This resource contains help for overcoming writer's block and a short series of exercises to help students begin writing.
This resource describes why outlines are useful, what types of outlines exist, suggestions for developing effective outlines, and how outlines can be used as an invention strategy for writing.
The purpose of this resource is to provide some basic instruction and advice regarding the creation of understandable and coherent paragraphs.
This section provides answers to the following research-related questions: Where do I begin? Where should I look for information? What types of sources are available?
This section covers finding sources for your writing in the World Wide Web. It includes information about search engines, Boolean operators, web directories, and the invisible web. It also includes an extensive, annotated links section.
This section includes information on what primary research is, how to get started, ethics involved with primary research and different types of research you can do. It includes details about interviews, surveys, observations, and analysis.
Evaluating Sources of Information
This section provides information on evaluating bibliographic citations, aspects of evaluation, reading evaluation, print vs. Internet sources, and evaluating internet sources.
Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
This resource will help you become more comfortable with the uses of and distinctions among quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. This handout compares and contrasts the three terms, gives some pointers, and includes a short excerpt that you can use to practice these skills.
This resource offers advice on how to avoid plagiarism in your work—there are few intellectual offenses more serious than plagiarism in academic and professional contexts.
Transitions and Transitional Devices
This resource discusses transition strategies and specific transitional devices to help students' essays and sentences flow more effectively.
Rhetoric and Logic
This resource provides tips for creating a thesis statement and examples of different types of thesis statements.
This section discusses the thesis statement and explains argument in writing, which includes using research to support a thesis. This resources also discusses Aristotle's logical proof: ethos, pathos, and logos and the logical fallacies.
Logic in Argumentative Writing
This resource covers logic within writing— logical vocabulary, logical fallacies, and other types of logos-based reasoning.
This presentation is designed for instructors to use with students to introduce a variety of factors that contribute to strong, well-organiz ed writing. This presentation is suitable for the beginning of a composition course or the assignment of a writing project in any class.
Different Kinds of Essay Genres
This section provides detailed information about how to write research papers including discussing research papers as a genre, choosing topics, and finding sources.
This resource covers major topics relating to writing about fiction. This covers prewriting, close reading, thesis development, drafting, and common pitfalls to avoid.
This material provides examples and description about writing papers in literature. It discusses research topics, how to begin to research, how to use information, and formatting.
This section covers the basics of how to write about poetry. Including why it is done, what you should know, and what you can write about.
This resource provides suggestions and examples for writing definitions.
Style and Language
This handout provides information on visual and textual devices for adding emphasis to student writing including textual formatting, punctuation, sentence structure, and the arrangement of words.
This resource explains the concept of concise writing and provides examples of how to ensure clear prose.
Paramedic Method: A Lesson in Writing Concisely
This handout provides steps and exercises to eliminate wordiness at the sentence level.
This resource presents methods for adding sentence variety and complexity to writing that may sound repetitive or boring. Sections are divided into general tips for varying structure, a discussion of sentence types, and specific parts of speech which can aid in sentence variety.
This section covers some of the major issues with appropriate language use: levels of language formality, deceitful language and Euphemisms, slang and idiomatic expressions; using group-specific jargon; and biased/stereotypical language.
This resource will help clarify when and how to use various marks of punctuation. When speaking, we can pause or change the tone of our voices to indicate emphasis. When writing, we must use punctuation to indicate these places of emphasis.
This section provides information on proofreading, finding and fixing common errors.
This resource offers a number of pages about comma use.
Citation
This resource is meant to introduce writers to style guides, explain their function, and it offers examples of guides used most frequently.
This resource provides information about annotated bibliographies.
MLA Formatting and Style Guide
This resource, updated to reflect the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th ed.) and the MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing (2nd ed.), offers examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the Works Cited page. MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities.
This workshop will introduce you to the Modern Language Association (MLA) Style for writing and formatting research papers.
APA Formatting and Style Guide
This resource, revised according to the 5th edition of the APA manual, offers examples for the general format of APA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the reference page. APA (American Psychological Association) is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences.
This workshop provides an overview of APA (American Psychological Association) style and where to find help with different APA resources. It provides an annotated list of links to all of our APA materials and an APA overview.
This handout covers American Sociological Association (ASA) style and includes information about manuscript formatting, in-text citations, and formatting the references page. The bibliographical format described here is taken from the American Sociological Review.
- Navigation
- Purdue OWL
- General Writing
- General Writing Introduction
- Writing Style
- The Writing Process
- The Writing Process Introduction
- Writing Task Resource List: What Do You Need To Write?
- Invention: Starting the Writing Process
- Prewriting (Invention)
- Organization & the CARS Model
- Writer's Block
- Stasis Theory
- Creating a Thesis Statement, Thesis Statement Tips
- Developing an Outline
- Reverse Outlining
- Proofreading
- Time Management: Conquering Long Assignments
- Academic Writing
- Academic Writing Introduction
- The Rhetorical Situation
- Establishing Arguments
- Logic in Argumentative Writing
- Historical Perspectives on Argumentation
- Paragraphs and Paragraphing
- Essay Writing
- Conciseness
- Paramedic Method
- Reverse Paramedic Method
- Adding Emphasis
- Sentence Variety
- Using Appropriate Language
- Active and Passive Voice
- Email Etiquette
- Email Etiquette for Students
- Using Foreign Languages in Academic Writing in English
- Public Speaking and Presentations
- Learning from Lectures
- Common Writing Assignments
- Common Writing Assignments Introduction
- Understanding Writing Assignments
- Argument Papers
- Research Papers
- Research Posters
- Exploratory Papers
- Annotated Bibliographies
- Book Reports
- Definitions
- Essays for Exams
- Book Reviews
- Mechanics
- Mechanics Introduction
- Higher, Lower Order Concerns
- Sentence Clarity
- Parts of Speech Overview
- Sentence Clarity Presentation
- Sentence Fragments
- Transitions and Transitional Devices
- Dangling Modifiers and How To Correct Them
- Parallel Structure
- Two-Part (Phrasal) Verbs (Idioms)
- Capitals: Help with Capitals
- Gerunds, Participles, and Infinitives
- Grammar
- Grammar Introduction
- Spelling: Common Words that Sound Alike
- Numbers: Writing Numbers
- Adjective or Adverb
- How to Use Adjectives and Adverbs
- Appositives
- Articles: A versus An
- How to Use Articles (a/an/the)
- Prepositions
- Pronouns
- Relative Pronouns
- Count and Noncount Nouns
- Subject/Verb Agreement
- Verb Tenses
- Active Verb Tenses
- Irregular Verbs
- That vs. Which
- Punctuation
- Punctuation Introduction
- Punctuation
- Sentence Punctuation Patterns
- Independent and Dependent Clauses
- Conquering the Comma Presentation
- Commas
- Apostrophe Introduction
- Hyphen Use
- Quotation Marks
- Visual Rhetoric
- Visual Rhetoric Introduction
- Visual Rhetoric
- Analyzing Visual Documents
- Using Fonts with Purpose
- Color Theory Presentation
- Designing Effective PowerPoint Presentations
- Data Visualization
- Undergraduate Applications
- Undergraduate Applications Introduction
- Advice from Undergraduate Admissions Officers
- Undergraduate Application Timeline and Additional Resources
- Graduate School Applications
- Graduate School Applications Introduction
- Overview
- Researching Programs
- Statements of Purpose
- Requesting Recommendation Letters
- Writing a Research Statement
- Personal Correspondence
- Community Engaged Writing
- Media File Index
- General Writing FAQs
- Research and Citation
- Research and Citation Resources
- Conducting Research
- Conducting Research Introduction
- Research Overview
- Conducting Primary Research
- Evaluating Sources of Information
- Searching Online
- Internet References
- Archival Research
- Writing a Literature Review
- Using Research
- Using Research Introduction
- Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
- Paraphrase Exercises
- Writing with Statistics
- Strategies for Fair Use
- Citation Style Chart
- Writing Scientific Abstracts Presentation
- Resources for Documenting Sources in the Disciplines
- APA Style (7th Edition)
- APA Style Introduction
- APA Overview and Workshop
- APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th Edition)
- General Format
- In-Text Citations: The Basics
- In-Text Citations: Author/Authors
- Footnotes and Endnotes
- Reference List: Basic Rules
- Reference List: Author/Authors
- Reference List: Articles in Periodicals
- Reference List: Books
- Reference List: Other Print Sources
- Reference List: Electronic Sources
- Reference List: Audiovisual Media
- Reference List: Other Non-Print Sources
- APA Legal References
- Additional Resources
- Numbers and Statistics
- APA Headings and Seriation
- APA PowerPoint Slide Presentation
- APA Sample Paper
- APA Tables and Figures
- APA Classroom Poster
- Changes in the 7th Edition
- General APA FAQs
- MLA Style
- MLA Style Introduction
- MLA Overview and Workshop
- MLA Formatting and Style Guide
- General Format
- MLA Formatting and Style Guide
- MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics
- MLA Formatting Quotations
- MLA Endnotes and Footnotes
- MLA Works Cited Page: Basic Format
- MLA Works Cited Page: Books
- MLA Works Cited Page: Periodicals
- MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources
- MLA Works Cited: Other Common Sources
- MLA Additional Resources
- MLA Abbreviations
- MLA Sample Works Cited Page
- MLA Sample Paper
- MLA Tables, Figures, and Examples
- MLA PowerPoint Presentation
- MLA FAQs
- MLA Classroom Poster
- MLA 8th Edition Changes
- Chicago Style
- CMOS Introduction
- CMOS Overview and Workshop
- CMOS Formatting and Style Guide
- Chicago Manual of Style 17th Edition
- General Format
- Books
- Periodicals
- Web Sources
- Audiovisual Recordings and Other Multimedia
- Interviews, Personal Communication
- Legal, Public and Unpublished Materials
- Bluebook Citation for Legal Materials
- Miscellaneous Sources
- CMOS Author Date Sample Paper
- CMOS NB Sample Paper
- CMOS NB PowerPoint Presentation
- CMOS Author Date PowerPoint Presentation
- CMOS Author Date Classroom Poster
- CMOS NB Classroom Poster
- IEEE Style
- AMA Style
- ASA Style
- APA Style (6th Edition)
- APA Style Introduction
- APA Overview and Workshop
- APA Formatting and Style Guide (6th Edition)
- General Format
- In-Text Citations: The Basics
- In-Text Citations: Author/Authors
- Footnotes and Endnotes
- Reference List: Basic Rules
- Reference List: Author/Authors
- Reference List: Articles in Periodicals
- Reference List: Books
- Reference List: Other Print Sources
- Reference List: Electronic Sources
- Reference List: Other Non-Print Sources
- Additional Resources
- Types of APA Papers
- APA Stylistics: Avoiding Bias
- APA Stylistics: Basics
- APA Headings and Seriation
- APA PowerPoint Slide Presentation
- APA Sample Paper
- APA Tables and Figures 1
- APA Tables and Figures 2
- APA Abbreviations
- Numbers in APA
- Statistics in APA
- APA Classroom Poster
- APA Changes 6th Edition
- General APA FAQs
- Using Citation Generators Responsibly
- Using Paper Checkers Responsibly
- Style Manual Glossary
- Avoiding Plagiarism
- Teacher and Tutor Resources
- Writing Instructors
- Writing Instructors Introduction
- Parents
- Grades 7-12 Instructors and Students
- Non-Purdue Users
- Purdue Instructors and Students
- Adult Basic Education
- Writing Across the Curriculum: An Introduction
- Creative Nonfiction in Writing Courses
- Poetry in Writing Courses
- Teaching Detailed Writing and Procedural Transitions
- Teaching OSDDP: A Guide for Professional Writing Instructors
- Email Etiquette for Professors
- Writing Letters of Recommendation for Students
- Writing Tutors
- Writing Tutors Introduction
- Meeting One-on-One with Students
- Tutoring a Résumé
- Tutoring Cover Letters
- Tutoring Creative Writing Students
- Tutoring Lab Reports
- Tutoring Grammar
- Tutoring Deaf Clients
- Teaching Resources
- Teaching Resources
- Remote Teaching Resources
- Remote Teaching Resource Portal
- Technology in the Writing Classroom
- Adapting Projects to Online Classrooms
- Sharing and Presenting Work in Remote Classrooms
- Teleconferencing in the Writing Classroom
- Cloud-Based Platforms in the Writing Classroom
- Remote Peer Review Strategies
- Writing Prompts for Analyzing Nonfiction
- Nonfiction Analysis Framework
- Writing Prompts for Analyzing Fiction
- Activities for Remote Creative Writing Classrooms
- Discussion Forum Practices for Creative Writing Classes
- Conducting an Interview Presentation
- Writing Process Presentation
- Organizing Your Argument Presentation
- Peer Review Presentation
- Visual Rhetoric Slide Presentation
- Writing a Literary Analysis Presentation
- Effective Persuasion Presentation
- Teaching and Assessing Grammar
- Analytical Research Project Presentation
- OWL Video Offerings for Instructors
- Conducting an Interview Presentation
- Job Acceptance Letter Presentation
- Invention Presentation
- Preventing Plagiarism
- Preventing Plagiarism Introduction
- Contextualizing Plagiarism
- Contextualizing Plagiarism
- Truth or Consequences
- Handout: Truth or Consequences
- The Big Picture
- Authorship and Popular Plagiarism
- Copyright and Plagiarism
- Handout: Copyright and Plagiarism
- Collaborative Authorship
- Handout: Collaborative Authorship
- Defining Our Terms
- Class Plagiarism Policy
- Comparing Policies
- Handout: Comparing Policies
- Avoiding Plagiarism
- Avoiding Plagiarism
- Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting
- Peer Summarizing
- Anonymous Paraphrasing
- Paraphrasing from Media
- Handout: Paraphrasing from Media
- Using In-text Citations
- Handout: Using In-text Citations
- Quoting Others
- Handout: Quoting Others
- Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation in Context
- Handout: Summary, Paraphrase, and Quotation in Context
- Translingual Writing
- Writing in the Engineering Classroom
- Why Include Writing in Engineering Courses?
- Using Bloom’s Taxonomy
- Types of Writing Assignments for Engineering Courses
- Conceptual Writing Prompts
- Explain-a-Problem Writing Prompts
- How Stuff Works Writing Prompts
- Real-World Example Writing Prompts
- Design-a-Problem Writing Prompts
- Open-Ended Design Writing Prompts
- Writing Tips for Students
- Assessment and Feedback of Engineering Writing
- Research Team
- OWL Presentation Mode
- Writing Instructors
- Graduate Writing
- Announcement
- Introduction to Graduate Writing
- Graduate Writing Topics
- Graduate Writing Genres
- Thesis & Dissertation
- Subject-Specific Writing
- Professional, Technical Writing
- Professional, Technical Writing Introduction
- Workplace Writers
- Effective Workplace Writing
- Audience Analysis
- Prioritizing Your Concerns for Effective Business Writing
- Parallel Structure
- Activity and Postmortem Reports
- Tone in Business Writing
- HATS: A Design Procedure for Routine Business Documents
- Basic Business Letters
- Accentuating the Positives
- Memos
- Four Point Action Closing
- Grant Writing
- Donation Request Letters
- Technical Reports & Report Abstracts
- White Papers
- Revision in Business Writing
- Business Writing for Administrative and Clerical Staff
- Writing in Literature
- Writing in Literature Introduction
- Writing About Film
- Literary Terms
- Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism
- Introduction to Literary Theory
- Moral Criticism, Dramatic Construction
- Formalism
- Psychoanalytic Criticism
- Marxist Criticism
- Reader-Response Criticism
- Structuralism and Semiotics
- Postmodern Criticism
- New Historicism, Cultural Studies
- Post-Colonial Criticism
- Feminist Criticism
- Gender Studies and Queer Theory
- Ecocriticism
- Critical Race Theory
- Critical Disability Studies
- Writing About Fiction
- Writing About Literature
- Writing in Literature (Detailed Discussion)
- Professional, Technical Writing