The Mesa Community College Writing Center provides free one-on-one writing tutoring support for any class or discipline at Mesa Community College. Our tutoring services are available on a drop-in basis (no appointment is needed!). While writing tutors cannot edit or proofread students' papers, they will help students develop the skills and strategies they need to meet their writing goals.
Writing Center tutoring is available in person and online during our hours of operation.
Connect with a Writing Tutor
In person at Southern & Dobson
Monday - Thursday:
9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Friday:
9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Virtually
Virtual Writing Tutoring Center
Monday - Thursday:
9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Friday:
9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Asynchronously
Submit a paper to MCC Writing Feedback and get feedback in 1-3 business days
Writing Center Services
The Writing Center can help currently enrolled MCC students with any stage of the writing process:
- Brainstorming
- Organizing ideas
- Meeting MLA/APA style guidelines
- Meeting assignment requirements
- Finding and citing sources
- And more!
The Writing Center is also able to assist students with writing scholarship essays!
Can't meet with a writing tutor during our hours of operation? Submit your writing assignment and your assignment instructions to our asynchronous writing feedback service. A tutor will review your submitted assignment and instructions and provide feedback in 1-3 business days. You will need to self-enroll in the MCC Writing Feedback Canvas course to use this service; self-enrolling in the Canvas course is free and will not affect your grades. For help with the asynchronous writing feedback service, email nicole.bradley@mesacc.edu.
Handouts
Below are helpful writing, reading, and English language skills resources.
Writing
- Ambiguities: Identifying and Correcting
- Analysis Essays
- Anatomy of an Essay: Visualizing the Essay’s Structure
- Annotated Bibliographies
- Common Knowledge and the Public Domain
- Conducting Research
- Designing the College Essay
- Detail
- Email Etiquette
- Evaluating Sources
- False Prohibitions
- Integrating Quotations: Quick Guide
- Integrating Quotations: Some Techniques
- Paragraphs and Paragraph Types
- Paraphrasing: Quick Guide
- Paraphrasing (In-Depth)
- The Perfect “Quote Sandwich”: An Activity!
- Persuasion vs. Argument
- Plagiarism: What Is It? What's the Harm?
- Position Papers
- Proofreading Essay Papers
- Quoting Rules
- Reasons to Quote (Rather than Paraphrase)
- Rhetorical Appeals
- Scholarship Essays
- Summarizing
- Summarizing an Article: A Quick Guide
- Summary vs. Analysis
- Synthesizing Sources
- Synthesizing Sources: A Brief Demo
- Thesis Statements
- Understanding the Writing Assignment
- Valid Prohibitions
- Writing Essays for the MCCCD Foundation General Scholarship Application
English Language Learning
- Confusing Words: A-D
- Confusing Words: E-H
- Confusing Words: I & L
- Confusing Words: M - O
- Confusing Words: P-Q
- Confusing Words: S
- Confusing Words: T-V
- Confusing Words: Wh-Y
- English Vocabulary Study Tips
- Rules for the Use of Articles in English
- Terms and Skills Used in College English Courses Pt. I: Rhetorical Knowledge
- Terms and Skills Used in College English Courses Pt. II: Critical Thinking
- Understanding Unfamiliar Vocabulary While You Read
Grammar
- Apostrophes
- Articles
- Brief Guide: Commas in Adjective Series
- Commas in Adjective Series
- Commas with Introductory Elements
- Compound, Complex, and Compound-Complex Sentences
- Dangling Modifiers
- The Dash and the Hyphen
- Disruptive and Orphaned Commas
- Essential and Non-Essential Elements
- Essential Grammar for Specific Writing Tasks: Cause and Effect
- Essential Grammar for Specific Writing Tasks: Comparison/ Contrast
- Fragments vs. Sentences
- The Fused Participle
- Helping Verbs
- Indefinite Pronouns
- Perfect Tenses
- Phrases & Clauses
- Semicolon and the Colon
- Subject Verb Agreement
Reading
Student Success Strategies
Helpful Links
For help with…
- MLA, visit Purdue OWL's MLA Formatting and Style Guide
- APA, visit Purdue OWL's APA Formatting and Style Guide
- using Purdue OWL, see this Purdue OWL walkthrough video
- common grammar topics, read Grammarly's blog on different grammar rules
- using Grammarly, see Grammarly's Tips & Tutorials
- guided grammar practice, try Khan Academy's free grammar course or try CUNY's interactive grammar tutorials
- the writing process, try CUNY's interactive writing tutorials
- vocabulary, try Vocabulary.com's vocabulary-building game
- TOEFL preparation, try Magoosh's TOEFL Prep & Practice app (trial version is free!) or read Magoosh's TOEFL blog pages