Sound Writing is the University of Puget Sound’s writing handbook. It is available at no cost online and is written for Puget Sound students, by Puget Sound students, so it is specifically tailored to the writing skills and challenges faced by students here. It includes advice on crucial writing structures like introductions and transitions, easy-to-understand discussion of tricky grammar, and specific tips for writing in different disciplines. It also addresses research, speaking, managing time, and writing in genres like cover letters and emails. Finally, the “Writing With Awareness” chapter explores the oppressive history of academic English and offers strategies for writing with sensitivity to the nuances of English, particularly in relation to people’s identities. Sound Writing is a living document, with new sections and updates added regularly. It can be a useful teaching tool in the classroom, as well as a resource to recommend to students.
Here are some specific ideas and resources for using the Sound Writing handbook in your teaching:
Links to interviews with Puget Sound faculty about their own writing processes, advice to student writers, and more:
- Puget Sound faculty on their favorite thing about working with student writers
- Geoffrey Block, Music
- Bill Breitenbach, History
- Gwynne Kuhner Brown, Music
- Kristopher Imbrigotta, German
- Chris Kendall, Politics and Government
- Kriszta Kotsis, Art and Art History
- Amy Spivey, Physics
A sample Puget Sound student paper, with commentary and links to Sound Writing
Ideas for using Sound Writing in the Classroom
- Ideas for using Sound Writing to teach sentence-level issues
- Ideas for using Sound Writing to teach writing, researching, and citing
- Ideas for using Sound Writing to teach writing in the context of linguistic diversity
- Contact the CWL to ask a writing advisor to give a workshop or presentation about Sound Writing in your class
Resources related to Writing With Awareness:
- Writing Across Borders, a series of three videos from Oregon State University, featuring interviews with international students
- Resources from the September 23 Wednesday at 4 session, "He/She/Ze/They: Navigating Pronouns in the Classroom and in Student Writing"
- Johnson and VanBrackle (2012), "Linguistic Discrimination in Writing Assessment: How Raters React to African American 'Errors,' ESL Errors, and Standard English Errors on a State-Mandated Writing Exam"
- Matsuda and Cox (2011), "Reading an ESL Writer's Text"
If you have requests for corrections, revisions, and additions to Sound Writing, please use this form. General comments can also be sent by email to soundwriting@pugetsound.edu.