Handouts and Hyperlinks
Sometimes, you just need a quick reference guide. The following documents and links serve that purpose—for a variety of topics. Save them, print them, share them—we’ve put them together to help you whenever and wherever you are.
If you’d like to recommend additional handout topics, please email us at [email protected].
The following handouts should be used only as general guidelines; please use your professor or departmental guidelines when they conflict with those used on these references.
Academic Writing
Use these guides to build up your writing:
- Analyzing Your Assignment [PDF]
- Analysis vs. Synthesis [PDF]
- Annotating a Text [PDF]
- Audience Analysis [PDF]
- Evaluating Sources: The CRAAP Test [PDF]
- Guide to Writing In-Class Essay Exams [PDF]
- Guidelines for an Annotated Bibliography [PDF]
- How to Organize an Academic Paper [PDF]
- How to Write an Analysis [PDF]
- How to Write a Literature Review [PDF]
- How to Write a Rhetorical Analysis [PDF]
- How to Write a Summary [PDF]
- How to Write a Synthesis [PDF]
- How to Write a Thesis Statement [PDF]
- Key Strategies for Effective Revision [PDF]
- Tips for Writing College Papers [PDF]
Grammar and Usage
Grammar can be confusing; use these handouts as a guide:
- Colons, Semicolons, and Dashes [PDF]
- Combining Clauses [PDF]
- Commas [PDF]
- Formatting Microsoft Word Documents [PDF]
- Signal Verbs and Phrases [PDF]
- Transitions [PDF]
Helpful Links
These additional links can help with other writing and style questions you may have:
- The Draft, the PFW Writing Center Blog
- Ask a Librarian and Schedule an Appointment with a PFW Librarian
- Purdue’s OWL (Online Writing Lab)
- Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
- MLA Style
- APA Style.org
- International Writing Centers Association
- East Central Writing Centers Association
- Judging Sources: Is Your Journal Scholarly? [Library PDF]
- Judging Sources: Is Your Book Scholarly? [Library PDF]
Sources and Citations
The Writing Center recommends using the Purdue Online Writing Lab or the style organization's website for the most up-to-date information on citations and formatting. If you need assistance with Purdue OWL, please visit the Writing Center during our business hours. Please note, though we are a Purdue University campus, we have no control or impact on the content of the Purdue OWL. It’s run entirely through the Purdue West Lafayette campus, with a separate staff.