Writing Resources

Resources on Campus

Clarkson Library — books, articles, research and citation guides, and more

Clarkson Writing Center — one-on-one help with any aspect of your writing for any Clarkson course

Getting Started, Brainstorming, Drafting, and Editing

Writing Anxiety — ways to alleviate writing anxiety, from the Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Strategies for Essay Writing — from understanding the assignment to reading the assigned materials to outlining, writing, and revising your essay, provided by the Harvard University first year writing program

Thesis Statements — characteristics of a strong thesis; questions to ask yourself; and development from a weak thesis to a strong thesis, from the UNC Chapel Hill Writing Center

Grammar and Style

Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) — information on organization, grammar, and citation styles

Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips — helpful grammar and style advice

Great Works: Exemplary Papers by Former UNIV 190 Students

Here are sample essays by former UNIV 190 students who won the Carl Michel Award, given yearly to one first-year Clarkson student whose essays are deemed exemplary by a committee of judges.

Normative Ethics and The Things They Carried by Peter-John King

The Perils of the Familiar: An Analysis of Soldier Homecomings by Matthew Darling

Effective Memorials: A Delicate Art by Grayden Shand

From Utopia to Dystopia: The Emergence of Pessimism in the Utopian Genre by Katrina Lane