Resources

Welcome to our INRW and ENGL student resource hub! The following handouts provide general guidelines to support various aspects of the writing process. If there is a specific topic you would like us to cover, please reach out to Veronica Luna, Academic Program Specialist (vluna81@alamo.edu). 

*Students, while we hope you find these handouts helpful, your instructor's guidelines and preferences should always be followed.

Writing Process & Essay Planning

• Understand the Assignment
• Audience and Purpose
• General Writing Process  
• Thesis Statement
• Paragraphs
• MLA Format
  

Clarity & Style

• Passive and Active Voice
• Transitions
• Wordiness
• Idioms

Grammar & Punctuation

• Redundant Acronyms
  
• Apostrophes
• Comma Splices
• Sentence Fragments
• Homonyms (Misspelled and Misused Words)
• Irregular Verbs
• MLA Format
• Modifiers
• Parts of Speech

Reading Strategies

• Strategies 01: Mumble, Read, and Listen
  
• Strategies 02: Skimming and Key Words
  
• Strategies 03: Marginal Notes and Mapping
  
• Strategies 04: Inductive/Deductive Reading and Annotating a Text
  
• Strategies 05: Reading/Rereading and Rumination
  
• Strategies 06: Reflection Points and Talking Through a Text
  
• Strategies 07: Hearing or Visualizing a Text
  
• Strategies 08: Start at the End and Summarize
  
• Strategies 09: Reading on a Walk and Moving When You Read
  
• Strategies 10: Confidence & Focus
  
• Strategies 11: A Special Place, A Journal, and Reading Rewards
  

Reading Improvement

• SQ3R: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review
• Reading Incentives

MLA 9th Edition - Formatting

****The following guidelines are based on the MLA Handbook Ninth Edition. Students are advised to adhere to their instructor's specific requirements. 

• MLA Format

Fig. 1: The top of the first page of an MLA formatted page.

• Page Margins
  • Margins are one inch at the top and bottom and on both sides of the text. 
• Running Head and Page Numbers
  • Pages are numbered consecutively in the upper right-hand corner, half an inch from the top and flush with the right margin. Type your surname (last name), followed by a space, before the page number. 
• Title
  • One inch from the top of the first page and flush with the left margin
  • Include your name, instructor’s name, course name and number, and date on separate double-spaced lines.
  • Center the title of your essay using title capitalization. 
• Text Formatting
  • Double-space the entire essay, including the Works Cited page.
  • Indent the first line of a paragraph half an inch from the left margin.
  • Indent block quotations half an inch as well.
  • Leave one space after a period or other concluding punctuation mark.
  • Use a readable typeface, e.g. Times New Roman, and font size between 11 and 13 points throughout your essay.
• Works Cited Page (last page)
  • Center the heading, Works Cited, an inch from the top of the page.
  • List entries in alphabetical order. 
  • Begin each citation flush with the left margin. Subsequent lines should begin half an inch from the left margin (hanging indent).
  • Double-space the entire Works Cited page including the heading and each entry.

Fig. 2: The top of the first page of a works-cited list.