Materials to Improve Writing

Films on Demand (23:25 min)
This program shows how effective written communication is possible for anyone, Methods for improvement include gauging the needs of the reader, keeping prose short and simple, emphasizing benefits, avoiding jargon and overblown language, employing a confident yet respectful tone, and more.

Films on Demand: 12:00
This three-section program tells how to identify and cite reliable online and offline sources of information, carve textbook chapters into manageable chunks, and outline and revise papers—all elements that are essential to getting the job done well.

Films on Demand (26 min)
Can a noun have a number? What do demonstrative pronouns demonstrate? And is an article really an adjective? After a concise explanation of grammar and SEAE—Standard Edited American English—this program explains the ins and outs of common, proper, compound, and demonstrative nouns; personal, possessive, and demonstrative pronouns; and adjectives, including the tiny article. Singular and plural subjects are also covered.

Films on Demand (17:41 min)
In this program, Mama Napoli, a crossing guard, and other savvy English authorities open a dialogue on punctuation and then skip to the end—of the sentence, that is. The use of the period in commands, in declarative sentences, and with abbreviations; the question mark in interrogative sentences and to show disbelief or sarcasm; and the exclamation point for emphasis are all discussed in detail.

Films on Demand (36 min)
Part one of this program completes the study of the building blocks of grammar with a thorough explanation of adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections—wow! Then, part two covers the basic rules of syntax, featuring subjects and predicates; appositive and verb phrases; direct and indirect objects; linking verbs; predicate nominatives, nouns of direct address, and appositives; dependent and independent clauses; and compound and complex sentences. Also, the egregious sentence fragment is introduced.