WRITING AT UNIVERSITY

The ability to write well-organized, clear, grammatical prose is important to your work in many courses and will improve your chances if you apply to graduate or professional schools. It will also give you an advantage in the workplace. To develop your writing skills, you can take advantage of a number of resources at the university.

Courses. Remember that in any course you take, you can ask your instructor to clarify the guidelines for assignments, and you can ask to discuss written work after it has been returned to you.

The university offers a number of courses in writing expository prose.

ENG 100H (Effective Writing) and ENG 269Y (The Practice of Prose) are listed under "English" in this calendar.

INI 203Y (Clear Discourse) and INI 204Y (The Academic Writing Process) are listed under "Innis College." SMC 100H (Liberal Arts and the Arts of Language) is listed under "St. Michael's College."

Erindale College has a program in Professional Writing offering these courses:

WRI 203H (Expressive Writing), WRI 205H (Writing for Business), WRI 301H (The Genres of Scientific and Technical Writing), WRI 303H (Specialized Prose), WRI 305H (Professional Writing and Computer Communications), WRI 310H (Social and Professional Languages), WRI 315H (Research Perspectives in Professional Writing), and WRI 390H and WRI 391H (Independent Studies). See the Erindale College calendar at http://www.erin.utoronto.ca/academic/calendar or call 905: 828-5418 for more information.

English as a Second Language. If English is not your first language, you may wish for some specialized training. INI 202Y (The Canadian Experience) is a course about Canada for non-native speakers; see "Innis College" in this calendar. The School of Continuing Studies at U. of T. offers non-credit courses on academic writing for students learning English as a second language. Courses start at various times throughout the year. Call 978-2400 for information. Tutors in the college Writing Centres (below) can also help you improve your English skills by focussing on the writing done in any of your courses.

Writing Labs and Centres. The Writing Centres provided free of charge at undergraduate colleges will help you develop the writing skills needed throughout your university studies. Most offer both individual counselling and group workshop sessions. Using your assignments from any subject as examples, trained tutors will help you improve your ability to plan, write, and revise. You are entitled to use the service of the college where you are registered or living in residence, or the department where you are taking a course. Here is a list of facilities, including numbers to call for appointments and further information:

Erindale Academic Skills Centre, South Building, Room 2115B, 905: 828-5444

French Department Writing Labs: New College, Wetmore Hall, Room 64, 978-2438, and Victoria College, Old Vic Room 208, 585-4519

Innis College Writing Centre, Room 322, 978-4871

New College Writing Lab, Wilson Hall, Room 2035, 978-5l57

Philosophy Department Writing Lab, 2l5 Huron Street, 9th Floor, 978-3314

St. Michael's College Writing Centre, Kelly Library, Room 215, 926-1300, ext. 3346

Trinity College Writing Advisory, Larkin Building, Room 214, 978-3530

University College Writing Workshop, Laidlaw Library, Room 214, 978-8090

Victoria College Writing Workshop, Old Vic, Room 208, 585-4478

Woodsworth College Writing Lab, Room 103, 978-2411

Self-help Material: A number of campus libraries stock books about writing. Besides handbooks on grammar and format, you will also find discussions of the ways to write for specific disciplines. Ask at Sigmund Samuel Library about the locations of these books. You can also read "Advice on University Writing", a set of advisory pages available online through UTLINK, the library system. Look under "Campus Information" and then "Academic Information".

We welcome your comments and enquiries. Revised: April 6, 1998

All contents copyright ©, 1998. University of Toronto. All rights reserved.