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On this page, you will find a range of writing and communication aids, some of which are created by faculty and peer tutors. Others are materials from writing/communication programmes at other colleges that we have found especially helpful. You will find many of these handouts in hard copy in the Writing & Communication Hub. You can also ask peer tutors for recommendations when you come for a tutoring session.
The Writing & Communication Hub also has a library of books available for borrowing. They can be checked out from the Programme Manager. There are multiple copies of academic writing guides like They Say, I Say and The Craft of Research, creative writing handbooks, and books by authors who have visited NUS.
A note on the materials: The Faculty-generated materials are the result of many years’ experience of teaching and assessing written assignments. When a Faculty member finds that he/she is writing similar comments on different student papers, he/she often decides to create a handout on it to broadcast the message more widely. The Student-generated materials are composed by Peer Writing Tutors working with specialist Faculty. They respond to specific disciplinary writing challenges that students face in their assignments. These materials do not claim to represent an official college position on writing style and convention; they are not necessarily underpinned by any particular pedagogical creed; and they do not all speak with one voice on the same issue. Nevertheless, they speak from a breadth of experience, and we are sure that you will pick up several useful tips if you take some time to browse!
A Brief Guide to the Elements of the Academic Essay (Gordon Harvey, Harvard University)
Argument Revision: Creating a Reverse Outline (Karin Gosselink – Faculty)
Body Paragraph Analysis (Yale University)
Building Paragraphs from Close Reading (Karin Gosselink – Faculty)
Conclusion Analysis (Yale University)
How Can I Create a Strong Thesis? (University of Michigan)
How to Write a Comparative Analysis (Harvard University)
Introduction Analysis (Yale University)
Model Papers from the Disciplines (Yale University)
Opinion Writing: The 800 word essay (Trisha Craig and Tom Benner)
Proofreading Strategies (Carissa Foo – Faculty)
Some Matters of Style: Some Suggestions for Writing in PPT and Philosophy (Matthew Walker – Faculty)
Some Thoughts on Writing a Short Evaluative Philosophy Essay (Matthew Walker – Faculty)
Techniques for Writing Better Essays (Bryan Van Norden – Faculty)
Thesis Statements (University of North Carolina)
What to Look Out for in Academic Writing (NUS Centre for English Language Communication)
Crafting MST Thesis Statements (Tristan Koh – Peer Tutor)
LH1 Sample Sejarah Melayu Close Reading (Ila Tyagi – Faculty)
PPT1 Model Paper 1 (Malcolm Keating – Faculty)
PPT1 Model Paper 2 (Malcolm Keating – Faculty)
PPT1 Model Paper 3 (Malcolm Keating – Faculty)
Sample Essay 1 for Philosophy & Political Thought 1 (Bryan Van Norden – Faculty)
Sample Paper for Philosophy & Political Thought 1 (Neil Mehta)
Some Matters of Style: Some Suggestions for Writing in PPT and Philosophy (Matthew Walker – Faculty)
Some Thoughts on Writing an Evaluative PPT Essay (Matthew Walker – Faculty)
Some Thoughts on Writing a Short Evaluative Philosophy Essay (Matthew Walker – Faculty)
50 Questions to Ask your Character (Morgane (Dasha) Ropion – Peer Tutor)
Brainstorming for Character Creation (Morgane (Dasha) Ropion – Peer Tutor)
Character Development (Morgane (Dasha) Ropion – Peer Tutor)
Creative Writing Tips (Asian American Writers’ Workshop)
Opinion Writing: The 800 word essay (Trisha Craig and Tom Benner)
Plot – Pacing Your Story (Morgane (Dasha) Ropion – Peer Tutor)
World Building for Fictional Realities (Morgane (Dasha) Ropion – Peer Tutor)
Grammar & Style: Actions & Characters (Karin Gosselink – Faculty)
Grammar & Style: Cohesion & Coherence (Karin Gosselink – Faculty)
Grammar & Style: Concision (Karin Gosselink – Faculty)
Grammar & Style: Emphasis (Karin Gosselink – Faculty)
Nominalizations Are Zombie Nouns (The New York Times)
Passive Voice (Brandeis University)
Proofreading Strategies (Carissa Foo – Faculty)
Punctuation and Grammar (Bryan Van Norden – Faculty)
Putting Sources in Conversation: Verbs and Clauses (Yale University)
Stitching: Signal Words (Yale University)
The Seven Deadly Sins of Writing (Hamilton College)
Use of the Apostrophe (Steven Green – Faculty)
Essential Grammar Rules (NUS Centre for English Language Communication)
Writing Cover Letters
Elements of a Scientific Research Proposal (Isabella Fiorentino – Faculty)
How to Use Active Voice in the Sciences (University of Toronto)
Passive Voice in Scientific Writing (Duke University)
Science Writing: A Checklist for Writing a Scientific Research Abstract (Jolene Lum, Peer Tutor)
Scientific Jargon (Duke University)
Science Writing: Experimental Discussion and Evaluations Section (Jolene Lum – Peer Tutor)
Science Writing: Tips for Writing a Methods Section (Jolene Lum – Peer Tutor)
Science Writing: Writing about Data, Graphs, and Charts (Jolene Lum – Peer Tutor)
Scientific Lab Report Writing 101 (Jolene Lum – Peer Tutor)
Writing a Research Statement (Zhu Fangchen – Peer Tutor)
Writing Original Research Papers in the Sciences (Isabella Fiorentino- Faculty)