Writing Center Resources

 

Writing Center Resources

We encourage students with questions about any aspect of writing to drop by the Writing Center in the library. Our consultants reference the following resources to assist students in becoming better writers. Be sure to also check out our blog for advice from our consultants.

The Writing Process

• Prewriting and Outlining

Genres of Writing

• Logic and Argumentation
• The Argument: Types of Evidence
• Scientific Abstract
• Writing in the Sciences
• Research Paper in the Sciences
• Lab Report in the Sciences
• Scientific Writing Advice from Wheaton Professors

Style, Mechanics, and Grammar

• Paragraph Unity, Coherence, and Development
• The Topic Sentence
• Style, Diction, Tone, and Voice
• Transitions
• Active and Passive Voice
• The Comma
• Semicolons, Colons, and Dashes

Online Writing Resources

• Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL): This is the largest free online resource for writers. OWL has a very good search engine and offers direct answers to questions on general writing, research and citation, grammar, and writing in English as a second language. The site also offers a citation style chart that compares the rules and usages of MLA, APA, and Chicago styles.
• Citation Machine: Citation Machine automatically creates citations in MLA, APA, Chicago, and Turabian styles.
• Assignment Calculator: Provided by the University of Michigan, this tool manages the writing process for a speech, lab report, or research paper. Enter the start date and due date of an assignment, and the assignment calculator will break down your work into eight steps to help you stay on track.
• The Elements of Style: This classic reference book provides an overview of writing principals and rules of proper usage.
• Research Help: Find your subject librarian at the Wheaton College Library for research help, from formulating a research question to finding relevant sources.
• Speechnotes: Speechnotes is a free speech-to-text web app that can help you get words on the page if you find it easier to speak than to write.
• Corpus of Contemporary American English: This tool allows you to search for a word and find its frequency of use in various genres, from academic writing to fiction.
• Manchester Academic Phrasebank: Giving lists of phrases to use in reader-friendly academic prose, this website is especially helpful to students whose second language is English.

Style Guides

• MLA
  • The MLA Style Center: The official Modern Language Association site offers a variety of helpful resources including works cited templates and sample papers in MLA style.
  • Honolulu Community College MLA Research Guide: This college's site provides a condensed explanation of MLA style with examples of in-text citations, works cited entries, and templates for a works cited page, all drawn from the MLA Style Center.
  • Purdue University's Online Writing Lab: Reflecting the latest edition of the MLA Handbook, this resource offers explanation with examples for the general format of MLA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the works cited page.
• APA
  • APA Style: The official American Psychological Association site addresses frequently asked questions about issues ranging from grammar and punctuation to citations for specific types of references. The site also offers a free tutorial for learning the basics of APA style.
  • Purdue University's Online Writing Lab: This resource, compiled according to the latest edition of the APA manual, offers examples with explanation of APA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the reference page.
  • University of North Carolina Library Citing Information: This university library's website outlines the rules of APA citation for online and print sources, supplemented with straightforward examples, and provides a sample APA reference page.
• Chicago
  • The Chicago Manual of Style Online: The official site for Chicago style explains the two different varieties of Chicago style source citations, notes and bibliography versus author-date, and provides sample citations from common sources for both varieties.
  • Purdue University's Online Writing Lab: Following the latest edition of The Chicago Manual of Style, this resource contains information on document formatting and citation for the notes and bibliography variety of Chicago style.
  • University of North Carolina Library Citing Information: This university library's website outlines the rules of the notes and bibliography variety of Chicago citation for print and online sources, with examples, and includes a sample Chicago bibliography page.