Online Writing Resources

This section contains interactive grammar lessons in grammar, mechanics and punctuation.

Below that you'll find links to various online resources that may help you with your writing: dictionaries, style guides, and online reference sources.

At the bottom of this page is a box where you can submit any comments or suggestions.

Interactive Grammar Lessons

Below you will find lessons and exercises on various points of grammar and mechanics. Follow the links below to online PowerPoint presentations, Word exercises and self-marking exercises in grammar, punctuation and mechanics. You can download the Word and PowerPoint files to your computer by right-clicking on the appropriate file and then selecting the command "Save Target As..."

The self-marking Interactive Exercises will allow you to practise the lessons whenever you like. No results are recorded anywhere.

PowerPoint Lessons	Word Lessons (for printouts)	Interactive Exercises
Sentence Problems (Avoiding run-ons and fragments)	Clauses, Fragments & Run-Ons	Sentence Structure Quiz
Subject Verb Agreement (verbs can be singular or plural too)	Subject Verb Agreement	Subject-Verb Agreement Quiz
Active and Passive Voices (Deciding when to be forceful and when to be indirect)	Active and Passive Voices
Diction (Frequently Confused Words)	Diction (Frequently Confused Words)	Frequently Confused Words Quiz Wasted Words 1 Wasted Words 2
Pronoun Case (Using "I" or "me", "they" or "them")	Pronoun Case	Pronoun Case Quiz
Pronoun Reference 1 Pronoun Reference 2 (making sure that your pronouns refer to something)	Pronoun Reference
Parallel Structure (writing lists that make sense)	Parallel Structure	Parallel Structure
Adverbs and Adjectives (Using words such as "good" and "well" correctly)	Adverbs and Adjectives	Adverbs and Adjectives Quiz
Capitalization	Capitalization	Capitalization Quiz 1 Capitalization Quiz 2
Abbreviations	Abbreviations
Using Numbers (Some numbers should be written in words; some should be numerals)	Using Numbers	Numbers Quiz
Using Commas	Using Commas	Comma quiz (basic) Comma Quiz (advanced)
Using Semicolons	Using Semicolons
Using Colons
Using Apostrophes (and other issues relating to possessives)	Using Apostrophes	Apostrophe Quiz

Interactive Exercises on Report Writing

PowerPoint Lessons	Word Lessons (for printouts)	Interactive Exercises
Plagiarism (What it is and how to avoid it)
MLA Style (An introduction to using the MLA style for referencing sources)		Reference Citations Works Cited Pages
Proofreading Reports (tips that may add a few marks to your next assignment)	Proofreading Reports

Job Search

PowerPoint Lessons	Word Lessons (for printouts)	Interactive Exercises
	Writing Cover Letters

General Writing References

SNN Newsroom Writing Skills from the SchoolNet News Network. A cyber-school for Canadian writers
Online Technical Writing by David A. McMurrey. An online textbook dealing with issues related to scientific and technical writing
A Research Guide for Students by I. Lee. Includes guides to conducting research, formatting research papers, and citing both traditional and Internet-based sources.

Citing Sources

Dr. Abel Scribe's Guides to Research Style and Documentation are concise (free!) guides to formatting and documenting research papers. The downloadable MLA Web Sheet (PDF file) explains how to format Internet sources.
BibBuilder 1.3 (Free MLA-Style Bibliography Builder) A tool that formats bibliography entries and exports them to Word.
MLA (Modern Language Association) Citations (from the College of New Caledonia Library)
MLA Style Electronic Formats, Dr. Mary Ellen Guffey
APA (American Psychological Association) Citations from the College of New Caledonia Library)
APA Style—Electronic References
APA Style Electronic Formats, Dr. Mary Ellen Guffey.

Grammar and Style Guides

Grammar Girl's Quick & Dirty Tips for Better Writing Easy-to-understand writing tips that can either be read or downloaded as a podcast
York University Style Guide An alphabetical reference to stylistic issues such as capitalization, abbreviation, and punctuation
SNN Newsroom Style Guide from the SchoolNet News Network, a cyber-school for Canadian writers
The University of Victoria's Hypertext Writer's Guide Originally prepared for students in the English Department at the University of Victoria
Guide to Grammar and Style by Jack Lynch. An alphabetical listing of stylistic issues relating to writing
NASA's Grammar, Punctuation, and Capitalization--A Handbook for Technical Writers and Editors by Mary McCaskill.
For a downloadable, Adobe Acrobat version (108 pages) Click here
The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. A classic reference for conscientious writers

Dictionaries

Encyclopedias and Reference Works

Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations: A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Proverbs Traced to Their Sources in Ancient and Modern Literature
The Canadian Encyclopedia Online
Columbia Encyclopedia
Project Gutenberg: There are 18,000 free books in the Project Gutenberg Online Book Catalog.
Simpson’s Contemporary Quotations: The Most Notable Quotations: 1950–1988
The Ultimate Acronym Tool: A data base containing explanations for over 50,000 acronyms. Prepared by the University of Wales Aberystwyth
Wikipedia: A free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.
The World Factbook, 2002

Additions or Comments?

If you have any additional lessons that you'd like to see added, or if you have any suggestions or corrections to offer, please send an email to this address. (The hyperlink to the address has been removed to reduce spam.)

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Red River College, 2055 Notre Dame Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3H 0J9 02 December, 2008