IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS ACCESSING OR USING THESE RESOURCES, E-MAIL ME, PHONE ME, OR SEE ME IN CLASS.

CompClass

This semester, for the first time, English Composition students have access to CompClass, a utility integrated with the handbook (Diane Hacker's A Writer's Reference) and a very useful tool for learning and practicing writing skills.  At our first class meeting, you will have received instructions for accessing CompClass.  Here's a review.

> The access code for your personal account at CompClass appears on the 13th tab of the copy of A Writer's Reference that you purchased at the MCCC bookstore.
> Go to http://bedfordstmartins.com/custom/mercer and click on "REGISTER AN ACTIVATION CODE."
> Enter (1) your activation code, (2) your first name and last name, and (3) your Mercer e-mail address.  Your Mercer e-mail address will be your user name.
> You will then create a password.  This enables you to access CompClass in the future and ensures that only you can access your personal pages.  You will also be asked to provide a password hint (it can be anything).  Record both your password and your password hint where you are sure not to lose them.
> Re-enter your e-mail address.

It is essential that you register and become familiar with CompClass.  You will most likely have some required assignments that involve using this program, but its greatest value may be in what you can learn by self-directed study.  Log on, learn your way around, and perhaps do some of the exercises to test your skills.

Other Handbook-Related Links

You will also find exercises, quizzes, and learning tools at the website for A Writer's Reference at http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/writersref6e/Player/Pages/Main.aspx. 

You may use some of the features on this site without registering, or you may get even broader access by entering the same user name and password that you have used for CompClass.

Materials on This Site

The index of the "MCCC Students' Pages" site lists some entries specifically designed for English 101 students, especially for review for skills tests.

Also helpful is the section titled "Grammar Words and Usage," which has several subsections.  The Writers' Guide has some moderately lengthy articles; some are online versions of our Study Guides, but other materials are included as well.  Grammar FAQs contains short answers to frequently asked questions about grammar and usage.  Word and Usage FAQs presents an alphabetical listing of some words that are often confused or misused.  The coverage in these sections is by no means complete, but they do discuss many of the issues that come up in English 101 classes.  (I welcome any suggestions for new entries.)

The "Links for Writers" section contains links to various Internet sites – ranging from huge sites that supply lessons and printable handouts (such as O.W.L., Purdue University's Online Writing Lab) to handbooks and interactive exercises to more advanced sites that discuss style.  Another section, titled simply Links, lists various other sites, some of them totally unrelated to English.  Of particular interest to students, however, are the links here to various reference sources such as online dictionaries, lists of abbreviations and their meanings, and collections of useful facts.  Brief descriptions of the sites' contents accompany each link.  (These pages are in the process of being updated to include some recent discoveries that I have made online; the Internet is too vast to include everything here.)