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Writing Course
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How to Improve Your Writing

 

 

This free online course was developed by: Melissa Fry, an English professor at Gateway Community and Technical College in Northern Kentucky. A supplemental textbook, The Writing Process by John Lannon, can be ordered through www.amazon.com.  This textbook is an excellent resource for writers at any level.

The course, is aimed at high school graduates and/or current undergraduate students who wish to review the skills needed to be successful in college/academic writing. The course can also be useful for anyone wishing to review basic academic writing skills. This course is free of charge and designed to be self-directed. You can get started by clicking on a topic of interest and working through the course at your own pace.

Thank you for your interest and good luck with your future writing endeavors.

 

Content:

  • Session #1 The Writer’s Facts of Life
  • Session #2  Improving Writing
  • Session #3  Characteristics of an Effective Writer
  • Session #4 Improving Grammar
  • Session #5 Grammar Exercises for Review
    • Assignment # 1:      Sentence Fragments

    • Assignment # 2:      Comma Splices and Run-On Sentences

    • Assignment # 3:      Subject- Verb Agreement

    • Assignment # 4:      Sentence Shifts

    • Assignment # 5:      Pronoun Usage

    • Assignment # 6:      Semi Colons and Colons

    • Assignment # 7:      Commas

    • Assignment # 8:      Apostrophes and Quotation Marks

    • Assignment # 9:      Parentheses and Dashes

    • Assignment # 10:    Capitalization and Numbers

  • Session #6     Spelling Mini Lesson     
  • Session #7 Usage Mini Lesson
  • Session #8 The Writing Process/ Writing an Academic and/or College Essay

    • Prewriting

    • Drafting

    • Revising

    • Proofreading

    • Publishing

  • Session #9   Paragraph Organization
  • Session #10 Research and Citing Sources
  • Session #11  Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism
  • Session #12 Interpreting and Evaluating Sources
  • Session #13  MLA Documentation
  • Session #14 Sample Student Informative Research Papers
  • Session #15 Exercises for Improving Language
    • Assignment # 1:      Aim for Clarity

    • Assignment # 2:      Aim for Conciseness

    • Assignment# 3:       Combining Sentences

    • Assignment # 4:      Choosing the Right Words

    • Assignment # 5:      Choosing the Right Tone

  • Session #16 Effective Persuasive Writing/ Six Steps to a Creating an Effective Argument
    • Sample Student Persuasive Research Papers

 

 

 

 

 


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