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Purdue OWL News
June 8, 2001

Welcome to the Purdue OWL News!

This is an online newsletter about happenings in the Purdue University Writing Lab and the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL). Wešre always glad to hear from you at owlnews@owl.english.purdue.edu!

In this newsletter, we're including some suggestions from our readers in response to last week's OWL Help Nest section, plus a new topic for you to take on.

Grammar Question of the Week

Herešs our grammar question of the week, brought to you by the Online Writing Lab Tutors here at Purdue. You can send mail to the online tutors at this form.

Here's the question:

What is the difference between "affect" and "effect"? I can never remember when to use which and my dictionary doesn't seem to help.

Herešs the answer.

Good question! Here's the rule that will steer you straight 99% of the time:

Their meanings are about the same, BUT "affect" is a verb and "effect" is a noun.

Examples:
The weather will affect our travel plans.
The effect of the weather is uncertain.
The bad criticism of the book did not affect the author at all.
The recession will have a devastating effect on employment opportunities.

Another helpful way to think about it is: "affect" means "to influence"; the noun "effect" means "the result."

Of course, there are exceptions. (This is English, after all!) "Effect" can be (but is rarely) used as a verb which means "to bring about" or "to cause."

For example: Congress effected a tax hike. In other words, they created or brought about a tax hike.

The OWL Help Nest

Last week in the OWL Help Nest, we posted a request for information from some readers about how suggestions for learning English as a Second Language. Here's some of the suggestions that our readers offered.

"English is my second language, and I have a fashion to be a writer. Since writing became my interest over a year ago, I have started buying books for writers (even ordering in the internet), and it helps me a lot to understand the sentence structures, grammar, punctuation, and a lot more about writing skills." (Dan)

"It is always helpful to pick subjects that you are interested in whenever you are learning a new language. This is also helpful if you are required to write about a subject of your choice. Having a pre-existing interest in the subject matter helps to motivate a person to learn more than they initially thought was possible." (Cassandra Clarke)

When we asked some of the staff at the Writing Lab this question, they also advised reading books and watching movies or TV programs in English on subjects that interest you, forming conversation groups to practice speaking and listening to English with your friends or colleagues, and browsing the many English as a Second Language resources available at our OWL at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslstudent.html.

Here's our next request. Send your information and advice to owlnews@owl.english.purdue.edu and we'll include it in next week's issue!

Many of our readers are parents who are either homeschooling their children or looking for additional resources to help their children succeed as writers in school. Since our OWL was originally designed for college students, we don't have a lot of resources for younger students. Do any of you have favorite resources or advice for teaching writing to students at the elementary, middle, and high school levels?

What's Happening On OWL

OWL Eye On... Proofreading Your Own Work

Here at OWL, we get a lot of requests to proofread essays. It is always helpful to have someone else read your writing before you submit it to a boss or turn it in to a teacher. Unfortunately, though, we just don't have the time or resources to proofread essays, so we try to equip writers to be their own best editors.

If you want to improve your ability to edit your own work, check out these handouts on proofreading:

Editing and Proofreading Strategies: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_edit.html

Higher Order and Lower Order Concerns: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_hocloc.html

Proofreading for Commas: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_commaproof.html

Proofreading Strategies: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_proof.html

Proofreading Your Own Paper: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_proof2.html

Steps in Editing Your Paper: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_stepedit.html

Even though the best writers still rely on others to look over their work, these handouts should help you not only improve your own writing, but also make you a better reader.

What's New On OWL

We've revised our handout on using statistics to make it easier to read, and have added new graphs and charts to illustrate its contents. You can view it at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_stats.html

We're pleased to announce that our OWL has won the Writing Tips Award from EditAvenue.com. Thanks to them for recognizing our site!

What's Happening In the Writing Lab

OWL Eye on ... Summer Hours

Maymester has ended, and the Summer session begins next week here at Purdue. Starting Monday, June 11th, the Writing Lab will be open 9:00 am - 4:00 pm Mondays through Thursdays, and 9:00 am - 1:00 pm on Fridays. We will have three tutors on staff to help you with your questions about writing, research, resumes, and any other writing you may be working on. Stop by for the following services:

* 30-minute tutorials
* assistance with writing papers for any class
* help with resumes and application letters
* workshops on writing skills
* free handouts and bookmarks
* ESL materials, including TOEFL test preparation, on tape and computer

To make an appointment or ask a question, call 765.494.3723.

Final Thoughts

Thanks for reading our newsletter, and please email us any suggestions you might have! We really enjoy hearing from our readers. You can mail us at any time at owlnews@owl.english.purdue.edu. You can also email the OWL coordinator, Geoff Stacks, at coordinator@owl.english.purdue.edu and the webmaster, Erin Karper, at webmaster@owl.english.purdue.edu. (Erin and Geoff take turns writing the newsletter.)

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