The Writing Center
Table of Contents:
Who We Are
We are upper-division writing students and faculty who have been especially trained to work with you on your writing and to help you become a better writer. We are genuinely interested in what you have to say, and we are known to be attentive, supportive, and helpful.
What We Do
We discuss your writing with you. After all, we think that's what writers need most--readers who are interested in their writing and who want to respond to it. Thus, we hope you will visit us often--with anything from your biology paper to the poem you wrote last night. While we do not claim that we will always be able to respond to the content of a discipline-specific paper, we can certainly be of help with other aspects of it. Give us a try! You are also welcome to come see us if you're working on a scholarship application letter, a
BLA portfolio, or a story of your own. Bring us your questions, concerns, or a request for feedback.
When you come in for your appointment, one of our consultants will sit down with you, and together you will decide what to focus on. If you know what kind of feedback you want, or what aspects of your writing you would like to discuss, please don't be shy in letting your tutor know. Here are some things (the list is by no means complete) that you might want to discuss:
- your audience and how you have addressed it;
- what you are trying to do and how well you've done it (if you are not sure what you're trying to do, we can talk about that);
- clarity and possible places of confusion;
- areas in need of more detail or areas in need of cutting;
- whether or not your piece fulfills the assignment (bring the assignment handout with you if you are worried about this particular problem);
- your sources and documentation style;
- grammar and punctuation;
If you can't think of a specific question but just want someone to read your paper over, that's okay too. No two tutoring sessions are alike, so remember not to worry too much about what's going to happen. Most writers walk out of our writing center having a much better idea about what they are trying to do in their writing than they did when they walked in--but similarities between any two tutoring sessions end there!
What We Don't Do
- We do not write, revise, or "fix" papers. We do not proofread (instead, we work
with you on editing your papers if you so wish).
- We do not spend unlimited time with one student.
- We do not work on every aspect of a paper in one sitting.
- We do not estimate grades.
Our Schedule
We are generally open for writing tutoring during the regular
Learning Center hours. Since our schedule changes slightly from week to week due to tutor availability, making an appointment ahead of time will ensure that a tutor will be here to help you.
Online tutoring is also available.
Scheduling an Appointment
Nothing can be easier! Just stop by the Learning Center and ask any of our friendly staff (we all wear name tags) how to make an appointment with a writing tutor. Or you can sign up yourself--the sign-up board is on the wall facing you as you come in. You can also call 465-6348 to make an appointment. Just remember our few simple rules:
- If you need more than half an hour, please consult with one of us first before signing up. Usually it's no problem, but we might have to limit your time during busy weeks.
- If you are 10 minutes late, your session goes to the wait-listed student.
- If you are a repeated no-show, we might need to have a discussion with you before we let you sign up again. The best thing to do is to let us know what is preventing you from showing up, so that together we can work out a better schedule.
- If you must cancel an appointment, please do so as soon as you can (calling is fine) out of consideration for other students.
WARNING: During busy times, such as midterm or finals weeks, you might not be able to get an appointment unless you sign up at least several days in advance. Plan ahead! If you're too late, you may still get in using our wait-listing system. Put your name next to the session(s) you want, grab a good book, and hang out at the Writing Center to see if someone doesn't make it to his or her scheduled appointment. Unfortunately "no-shows" are a fairly common occurence (don't be one).
What To Bring
- Bring the latest draft of the paper you want to discuss. Bring earlier drafts if you'd like us to look at the changes you've made.
- Bring the assignment handout from your instructor to help us understand the requirements for your assignment better.
- Bring questions you have for us, or be ready to let us know what kind of feedback you are hoping to get.
And most of all, remember:
There isn't much we can do for you if your paper is due in an hour!
To get the most out of your appointment, please make it well ahead of your deadline.
Hope to see you soon!
We also offer writing tutoring online. This basically means that you email you paper to us and we email our feedback to you. If you choose to use this service, please review the following rules first:
- Provide us with enough information about the assignment! We can't ask you, so we need to know what you're trying to accomplish in your paper.
- Ask us several
specific questions on which we can focus in our response.
- It is best to come see us in person if you need editing help. If you request help with editing online, we will do our best to point out some general patterns of errors, but
by no means can you consider your paper proofread! In fact, we generally do not proofread even in person--instead, we will work
with you on editing skills.
- We have a two-day, not immediate, turnaround.
- If you are required by your instructor to visit the Writing Center, please check with him or her first before opting to fulfill the requirement using online tutoring.
We'll see you in cyberspace!
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Schedule
What People Have Said About Us:
"[My tutor] went out of her way to focus on the things she liked about the paper and how to organize and develop them. It was her positive, non-judgemental attitude that brought me to the realization that I could indeed create a decent paper. I came away from that session literally bursting with ideas and anxious to start another draft."
"It's usually hard to share writing with strangers, but both [tutors I worked with] were very easygoing and helpful."
"[My tutor] was very patient with me and listened to me. We went over everything together; she didn't just take my paper and say 'this is good or this is bad'. My paper meant as much to her as it did to me, and that was comforting. She really made me feel like it was Ok to make mistakes."
"I discovered that the staff in Learning Center is friendly and willing to read writing samples without judgement."
Writing Links:
http://people.whitman.edu/~hashimiy/advice.htm--Some Advice to Beginning Writers (funny and useful).
http://www.mla.org--Official MLA page that offers MLA Documentation Style Guidelines.
http://webster.commnet.edu/apa/apa_index.htm--A Guide For Writing Research Papers based on APA style.
http://webster.commnet.edu/HP/pages/darling/grammar.htm--A Guide to Grammar and Writing.
http://dept.kent.edu/english/writingcent/writngcenter.htm--Tutor-produced Mini-Lessons cover almost any topic you might need for perfecting your grammar and style elements in a paper. These handouts can be downloaded in MS Word (.doc) format for easy printing.
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