English Composition 1 Online

R. Rambo, Instructor
Illinois Valley Community College
Office: A-313
Phone: 815-224-0338
E-mail: Randy_Rambo@ivcc.edu

Writing Resources

The resources linked below were designed by the instructor for students in the course and should be especially useful as you are working on writing assignments. For additional online resources, see Other Writing Web Sites and Online Research Resources.

Guidelines for All Essays
  1. The Proper Format for Essays
  2. Inserting Headers into Essays
  3. Expectations for All Essays
  4. IVCC's Grading Standards for Student Essays
  5. Evaluation and Grading Criteria for Essays
  6. Saving Files in Rich Text Format
  7. Getting Started on Essays
  8. Understanding Editing Marks on Essays
Sample Essays and Checklists
  1. Sample Student Essay on Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant"
  2. Sample Student Essay on Mansfield's "Miss Brill"
  3. Revision Checklist
  4. Checklist: Organization and the Support and Development of Ideas
  5. Checklist: Style and Mechanics
  6. Checklist: Using Online Sources
Thesis, Organization, the Support and Development of Ideas
  1. Organizing and Developing Persuasive Paragraphs
  2. Bad Paragraph / Good Paragraph: Effectively Developing a Persuasive Paragraph
  3. Example of a Persuasive Paragraph
  4. Organizing and Developing a Persuasive Essay
  5. Developing Effective Arguments with Claims, Evidence, and Warrants
  6. Creating an Outline for an Essay
  7. Introductions
  8. The Thesis Statement
  9. Checklist: Organization and the Support and Development of Ideas
Punctuation, Grammar, Word Choice
  1. Understanding Editing Marks on Essays
  2. Identifying and Eliminating Common Errors in Writing
  3. Commas
  4. Semicolons
  5. Integrating Quotations into Sentences
  6. Using Quotations Properly
  7. Checklist: Style and Mechanics
Style
  1. "Words, Words, Words"
  2. Using Specific and Concrete Diction
  3. Formal Writing Voice
  4. Sentences: Simple, Compound, and Complex
  5. Revising Sentences for Conciseness
  6. Integrating Quotations into Sentences
  7. Transitional Words and Phrases
  8. Checklist: Style and Mechanics
Writing with Sources
  1. Online Research Resources
  2. Using Sources Effectively
  3. Citing Sources
  4. Citing and Documenting Online Sources
  5. Documenting Sources from Online Subscription Databases
  6. Sample Works Cited Page for Online Sources
  7. Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
  8. Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism
  9. Checklist: Using Online Sources
  10. Paragraph with Sources on Hemingway's "Cat in the Rain"
  11. Works Cited Page for Stories and Sources
  12. Using ProQuest and FirstSearch

This page was last updated on May 26, 2006.
Copyright Randy Rambo, 2005