Writing/Reading

There is no educational skill more fundamental than reading.

While it is well understood that people learn in many modes besides reading, printed materials are still the heart and soul of education. From research to textbooks to on-line materials, the printed word is the primary vehicle of education. The sites listed here provide practice in comprehension, vocabulary, and analytical reading. There are also special sections devoted to reading and studying textbooks and to reading Websites critically. Finally we provide a link to our list of free e-texts and literature on-line.

English Usage Clinics

Naming Words (Nouns & Pronouns) Clinic

"Developed by Assoc. Prof. Rick Rawnsley"

 

These clinics will cover the nature of nouns and pronouns, their purpose
and necessity for creating ideas, and mechanical features specific to
nouns and pronouns. Some of these features include singular and
plural spelling conventions, noun and pronoun case, spelling possessive
nouns (with a digression on the apostrophe and contractions), and
types and uses of pronouns.

Action & State of Being Words (Verbs) Clinic

"Developed by Assoc. Prof. Rick Rawnsley"

 

These clinics will cover the nature of verbs, their purpose and
necessity for creating ideas, and mechanical features specific to
verbs including action verbs versus linking verbs, helping verbs,
spelling conventions, verb parts, verb tense, verb number,
helping verbs, and active and passive voice.

Joining Words (Run-On Sentence) Clinic

"Developed by Assoc. Prof. Rick Rawnsley"

 

Part One will cover the nature of clauses versus sentences and
how coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions are
effectively used to create compound, complex, and compound-complex
sentences.

 

 

Part Two will cover the effective use of conjunctive adverbs and
other transitional words and phrases as well as relative pronouns
and the nature and effective of grammatically essential and nonessential
material.

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MLA and APA Citation and Documentation Clinic

"Developed by Assoc. Prof. Rick Rawnsley"

These clinics will cover the nature of research and the necessity to
clearly cite and document sources. They will focus on both MLA and
APA documentation styles for various types of sources including books,
periodicals, and on-line sources. Both sessions will cover the changes
instituted by both MLA and APA in their new handbooks. Students should
bring their handbooks.

 

Part One covers the fundamentals of citing and documenting the different
types of books using the indexes and templates in our
English handbook, Rules for Writers.
Part Two covers periodicals and electronic sources.
Part 2 assumes the participant will be familiar with the
fundamentals presented in Part 1.