Professor Steve Mark's
Writing and Literature Resources

Keep checking back for new links and updates.  

E-mail me if you have a recommendation.

Click on any of the links below to go directly to the web site

Learn more about the free tutoring available to you here at HCC at the Academic Support Center's web site.   Online tutoring is also available to HCC students at no charge through E-Tutoring.

Capitol Community College's Guide to Grammar and Writing, developed by the late Professor Charles Darling, is an extensive and helpful resource, with links to handouts about everything from grammar to writing about literature to sentence variety.  The site has its own search engine to help you to find what you need.  

University of Richmond's Writer's Web leads you through the writing process step by step, from getting started to revising papers.

Paradigm On-Line Writing Assistant is an excellent source of information about all stages of the writing process, full of concrete suggestions from an English professor with over thirty years of experience.  Simply click on the appropriate section for the stage of the writing process for which you want advice, using the subheadings to left to help you to navigate the site.  

Overcoming Writer's Block, from Purdue University's On-Line Writing Lab (OWL), offers an overview of common reasons that writers become blocked and specific strategies for combating these blocks.  

Use the techniques in Planning (Invention), also from Purdue's OWL, to help you get started and develop ideas about your topic.

The Writing Center Guide to Introductions, Conclusions and Titles (George Mason University) gives a good overview of what all these parts of a paper should (and shouldn't) do, as well as specific examples of successful and unsuccessful approaches. 

Help with How to Write a Thesis Statement from Indiana University's Writing Tutorial Services.  Learn how to generate a thesis statement for a specific assigned topic, for a more general assignment, and how to evaluate how strong your thesis is.  

Learn how to better revise and proofread without becoming overwhelmed with the Purdue University OWL's Editing and Proofreading Strategies for Revision and Higher Order Concerns (HOCs) and Lower Order Concerns (LOCs).

Learn about the 20 Most Common Errors college writing students make (Click on each error number to get a brief lesson and more information.)

*For links to good sources of information about writing for the media, visit the Horizons On-Line Textbook.

The New York Times still sets the standard for in-depth coverage and analysis of today's most important news stories.   They also now make available on-line a college edition, which features news of interest to college students and allows you to search the news by subject.   (Free registration is required to access this site.)  

The Connecticut Post is our local paper of record, covering Bridgeport and the surrounding area (and located right across the street from school!)  In addition, the Post consistently supports our journalism program by funding a yearly award for journalism students and internships.  

The Hartford Courant does a particularly good job of covering statewide issues, including politics. 

The New Haven Independent, produced in conjunction with the Online Journalism Project, is a completely online, not-for-profit publication covering New Haven.

National Public Radio, carried locally on 91.1 WSHU FM, has won nearly every major award in journalism in the thirty years it's been around.  Morning Edition and All Things Considered, the two primary news shows NPR offers, can both be accessed on-line, where you can listen to a single story or an entire show. 

The Advocate Newspapers offer alternative news and perspectives on local and national stories.  Both the Fairfield County Weekly and the New Haven Advocate, published by New Mass Media, are available on line and often share some content.  

I use MSNBC to check in on breaking news.  

The Utne Reader reprints what they consider to be the best articles from over 2,000 alternative media sources, featuring "provocative writing from diverse perspectives," stories on subjects you probably won't find in the mainstream media.   Every year, they sponsor the "Alternative Press Awards." Some of the articles from the print edition, published bi-monthly, are available on line, as is Utne Web Watch, links to "the best of  the alternative web." 

The Nation, a weekly magazine, still endeavors to live up to its 1865 "founding prospectus," which declares "The Nation will not be the organ of any party, sect, or body. It will, on the contrary, make an earnest effort to bring to the discussion of political and social questions a really critical spirit, and to wage war upon the vices of violence, exaggeration, and misrepresentation by which so much of the political writing of the day is marred."  

The Village Voice is a Pulitzer-prize winning alternative (decidedly left-leaning) weekly newspaper, based, of course, in NewYork.  Their web site features most, if not all, of their printed content.  

This American Life is an hour-long weekly show that's thought-provoking and often funny.  Structured around a theme, the show declares as its mission "to document everyday life in this country...a documentary show for people who normally hate documentaries."  A variety of contributors, both famous and not-so-famous, seek to "use the tools of journalism" to give us insight into their personal lives.   Listen to it on-line or on 91.1 WSHU FM at 4 p.m. on Saturdays.  

On the Media, aired weekly on 91.1 WSHU FM, takes a critical look at how the media handles various stories currently in the news, what journalists are doing well, and what's being overlooked.  You can listen on-line or download an MP3 to play on your Ipod or other MP3 player.

WPKN, 89.5 FM, based in Bridgeport, is a truly independent radio station staffed by volunteers and completely funded by listeners.  The station offers a dizzying variety of programming, including a number of news and public affairs programs, some of which can be heard on-line with a Real Audio player.  

Winner of the prestigious Peabody award, Fresh Air features in-depth interviews with prominent writers, artists, actors, and singers, as well as experts who help to give new insights into the top news stories.  The show is carried locally on 89.9 FM WSUF, from noon to 1 p.m., or you can listen on-line. 

Poets and Writers Magazine is one of the leading resources for creative writers.  The magazine features interviews with authors, tips on improving and publishing your work, creative writing programs and conferences, and markets for  your writing. 

Check the New York Times book review for reviews of new and not-so-new fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, interviews with authors, and audio clips of authors reading from their work.  The "Writers on Writing" series, which appears periodically, appears in the arts section, and has featured essays by John Updike, E.L. Doctorow, Jamaica Kincaid, and others about the craft of writing and literary themes.  

Glimmer Train offers on-line writers' guidelines for the series of contests they run, including very short fiction, short fiction, and poetry contests, as well as information about the magazine. 

Lies, A Hyperfiction Short Story by Rick Pryll shows how one fiction writer uses the Internet to create an epxerimental short story. 

If you want to combine travel or adventure with a chance to develop your craft as a writer, see what's available in the Guide to Writing Conferences.

Learn more about writing essays about literature courtesy of Professor Charles Darling's Guide to Grammar and Writing, hosted by Capital Community College .  His guidelines for writing an evaluative essay may be applied to most literary analyses, and he breaks down how an argument about literature should work.  

George Mason University's Writing Center's "A Practical Guide to Writing About Literature" discusses the conventions and mechanics of writing about literature.

"Writing about Literature: Some Do's and Don't's", also from George Mason U.,  gives some specific and easy-to-follow advice about what a literary analysis paper should and shouldn't do. 

"Reading Poetry"  from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Writing Center, is a great step-by-step guide to working through an analysis of a poem.  

"Using Literary Quotations," from the same site, offers good advice about quoting from a text purposefully to build a strong argument.  

Search the Housatonic Library's Collection

Use Housatonic Library to Search Databases for the Full Text of Articles You Can Read Right Now.  Take advantage of this very useful service, provided FREE OF CHARGE by Housatonic's library.  View the full text of articles on-line and save or print them from your computer.  You will need your library card, so that you can enter the identification number when asked. 

Read "Stuff to Remember When E-mailing or Using the Internet ".  This often humorous essay, author unknown, debunks some of the most common myths transmitted by e-mail and gives concrete suggestions for assessing whether or not information you find on a web page or receive in your e-mail is credible.  How credible do you think the author's sources are?  

Using the Web for Research is highly recommended! It includes step-by-step strategies for searching the Internet and good suggestions for evaluating a web site's accuracy and authority.

Google is my favorite search engine.  Our college librarians also recommend it.

Answers.com, featured in The Wall Street Journal, uses a variety of reference sources, including dictionaries and encyclopedias, to give you a well-organzied page of relevant information about your information request, without needing to click on any additional links.

Dogpile , another search engine, is good for searching a number of different search engines at the same time.

Ask.com allows you ask questions in everyday English.

The Internet Public Library operates from the premise that "the Internet is a mess...There are a lot of interesting, worthwhile, and valuable things out there--and a lot that are a complete waste of time."  This non-profit group of librarians seeks to help us to navigate the Internet and find what we need. 

Note:  Don't forget to check out the news and information sources above.  Most include opinion pieces or topics that can get you thinking and writing.  

See the "Without Sanctuary" exhibit of the New York Historical Society, which displays photographs taken as "souvenirs" from lynchings in the U.S and offers a flash movie with "narrative comments." You can also participate in on-line forums about the exhibit.  Please be aware that both the photographs and the commentary upon them are quite graphic and disturbing.  

Southern Poverty Law Center Home Page This organization aggressively fights the Klu Klux Klan and acts of intolerance, discrimination, and hate through education and litigation. Links to statistics, essays, articles, and other resources.  

This particular "Think Tank" asks "Should the Swastika Make a Comeback?"   A small group of people would like to see it restored as a good luck symbol, despite its Nazi past.   What do you think?

Learn about a Holocaust Survivor who helped to identify his Nazi guard 50 years later.

Salon is an on-line magazine with articles, columns, and essays sure to provoke a response.  Jump into the fray on-line with "Table Talk," where visitors can respond to articles and others' postings.  

Latest New York Times Opinion Pieces. 

Articles on Art and Censorship:  What's "Obscene?"  Who Decides?  When (if ever) should art be censored?

I'm Looking for More On-Line Resources to Spark Thought and Discussion! Please e-mail me links to thought-provoking essays and articles you want me to consider including.

Check out the suggestions I wrote for my Holocaust Literature students in "Taking Good Care of Yourself." 

Stanford University's De Anza Health Office advises you "How to Stay Stressed"  in a satirical guide that actually teaches you how to handle stress. 

Stress Assess, from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, offers you access to three different interactive (and free) tools for evaluating the sources of stress in your life, identifying the symptoms of stress, and strategies for balancing stress in your life.   

Interlude Retreat features simple instructions for meditating (a good stress reliever), inspirational readings, and more.

Spending too much time at your desk lately?  Try some Yoga on the Keyboard.

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Last Updated 6-2-09

©2009 by Steve Mark