Homegrown Handouts
Homegrown Handouts address the most common questions tutees ask in the Writing Center. These handouts were created by our Writing Center staff. If you have a particular topic you would like addressed, please contact us.
For additional online writing resources, visit our External Resources section.
Grammar
- Adjectives [pdf]
- Adverbs [pdf]
- Appositives [pdf]
- Articles [pdf]
- Capitalization [pdf]
- Commonly Misused Words [pdf]
- Commonly Misused Words, Part II [pdf]
- Comparative and Superlative Adjectives [pdf]
- Conjunctive Adverbs [pdf]
- Coordinating Conjunctions (FANBOYS) [pdf]
- Count and Noncount Nouns [pdf]
- Dangling Modifiers [pdf]
- Fewer or Less [pdf]
- Fragments [pdf]
- Gerunds [pdf]
- Glossary of Usage [pdf]
- Independent and Dependent Clauses [pdf]
- Independent Clauses in Compound Sentences [pdf]
- Infinitives [pdf]
- Lay vs. Lie [pdf]
- Modal Verbs [pdf]
- Nouns: The Basics [pdf]
- Nouns: Advanced [pdf]
- Nouns: Expert [pdf]
- "Onto" versus "On To" [pdf]
- Phrasal Verbs [pdf]
- Prepositions: "Of," "At," and "For" [pdf]
- Prepositions of Direction [pdf]
- Prepositions of Time [pdf]
- Prepositions of Time and Place [pdf]
- Pronouns [pdf]
- Raise vs. Rise [pdf]
- Relative Clauses [pdf]
- Subject-Verb Agreement [pdf]
- Subordinating Conjunctions and Subordinate Clauses [pdf]
- Time Frames [pdf]
- Transitive and Intransitive Verbs [pdf]
- Verbs [pdf]
- Verb Tenses: Telling Time [pdf]
- Who, Whom, Whoever, and Whomever [pdf]
Punctuation
- Colons [pdf]
- Commas [pdf]
- Comma Splices and Fused Sentences [pdf]
- Contractions [pdf]
- Dashes [pdf]
- Ellipses [pdf]
- End Punctuation [pdf]
- Parentheses and Brackets [pdf]
- Possessive Apostrophes [pdf]
- Quotation Marks [pdf]
- Semicolons [pdf]
Style
- Academic Language [pdf]
- Cleft Sentences [pdf]
- Concise Writing [pdf]
- Concrete Language [pdf]
- Direct and Indirect Dialogue [pdf]
- Easy-to-Read Academic Papers and Essays [pdf]
- Easy-to-Read Coherent Paragraphs [pdf]
- Easy-to-Read Sentences [pdf]
- Eliminating Wordiness [pdf]
- Embedding Quotations [pdf]
- Embellishing vs. Supporting [pdf]
- Expletives [pdf]
- First-Person Usage in Academic Writing [pdf]
- Hedging, Softening, and Writer's Distance [pdf]
- Nominalization [pdf]
- Old Information before New Information [pdf]
- Parallelism [pdf]
- Paraphrasing [pdf]
- Participle Phrases [pdf]
- Passive Voice [pdf]
- Precise Words [pdf]
- Redundancy [pdf]
- Reporting Verbs [pdf]
- Revising for Clarity: Characters and their Actions [pdf]
- Sentence Openers [pdf]
- Sentence Types and Functions [pdf]
- Sentence Variety and Rhythm [pdf]
- Succinct Writing: Sentence-Level Concision [pdf]
- Synonyms for "Said" [pdf]
- Transition Words [pdf]
The Writing Process
- Argumentation: Premises and Conclusions [pdf]
- Body Paragraphs [pdf]
- Brainstorming [pdf]
- Comparing/Contrasting: Essay Planning [pdf]
- Comparing/Contrasting: Methods of Organization [pdf]
- Conclusions [pdf]
- Editing: Meaningful Word and Punctuation Choices [pdf]
- Essay Planning: How to Develop a Working Thesis Statement [pdf]
- Essay Planning: How to Read a Prompt [pdf]
- Essay Planning: Outlining with a Purpose [pdf]
- Essay Planning: Visual Mapping [pdf]
- Introductions [pdf]
- Outline Template [pdf]
- Peer Review Strategies and Tips [pdf]
- Proofreading [pdf]
- Reverse Outlining [pdf]
- Revising Your Paper [pdf]
- Topic Sentences [pdf]
Other Writing Assignments and Concerns
- Abstracts [pdf]
- Academic Book Reviews [pdf]
- Annotated Bibliographies [pdf]
- AP Style [pdf]
- APA Formatting Guidelines [pdf] (7th Edition)
- APA Formatting Essay Template [pdf] (6th Edition)
- APA Style [pdf] (6th Edition)
- Argumentative Writing and Using Evidence [pdf]
- Avoiding Plagiarism: Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Citing [pdf]
- Business English [pdf]
- Business Proposals [pdf]
- Chicago Style Guidelines [pdf]
- Conclusion Section for Research Papers [pdf]
- Cover Letters [pdf]
- Discussion Section for Research Papers [pdf]
- Email Etiquette [pdf]
- Essay Exam Preparation [pdf]
- Figuring out Fallacies and Fake News [pdf]
- How to Read a Research Paper [pdf]
- Literary Analysis [pdf]
- Literature Reviews [pdf]
- Memos [pdf]
- Methodology Section for Research Papers [pdf]
- MLA Formatting Guidelines [pdf]
- MLA Formatting Essay Template [pdf]
- Online Posts (Do's and Don'ts) [pdf]
- Personal Narrative Essays [pdf]
- Personal Statements [pdf]
- Poetry: The Structural Elements [pdf]
- Reading Comprehension [pdf]
- Research Papers in the Sciences [pdf]
- Research Proposals [pdf]
- Resignation Letters [pdf]
- Resumes from Start to Finish [pdf]
- Rhetorical Analyses [pdf]
- Scriptwriting Format [pdf]
- Short Stories [pdf]
- Social Media in Research [pdf]
- Speech Preparation [pdf]
- Summary and Analysis of Scientific Research Articles [pdf]
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- Approaching Writing with an Antiracist Perspective [pdf]
- Avoiding Biased Language [pdf]
- LGBTQ+ Terminology: Gender and Gender Identity [pdf]
- LGBTQ+ Terminology: Sexual Orientation [pdf]
- Offensive Language about Mental Illness [pdf]
- Offensive Stereotypes in Creative Writing [pdf]
- Writing with Everyone in Mind [pdf]
- Writing with More Inclusivity [pdf]
Citation Guides
- APA Citation Guide [pdf] (7th Edition)
- ASA Citation Guide [pdf]
- Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) Citation Guide [pdf]
- IEEE Citation Guide [pdf]
- MLA Citation Guide [pdf] (8th Edition)
- APA Formatting Guide for Google Docs (video)
- APA Formatting Guide for Word (video)
- MLA Formatting Guide for Google Docs (video)
These handouts are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. You may reproduce them for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout (printed
out for classroom use, for example) and attribute the source: The San José State University
Writing Center.