Observation 2 of the Writing Center

 

            On my second observation at the writing center the tutor ended up working with two students during this session. The first student came in and had several drafts already written for his paper that wasn't due until later on during that week. He had several question and comments that he had already written down that he wanted to ask her.  The tutor was very intuitive with supplying him with all the information that he needed. She didn't focus much on grammar she mainly focused on the structure of the paper going up against the course syllabus that he provided her with for the class the paper was due for. She let the student know that she was going to read over his paper real quick to get some idea  on what the paper was about and then she will get back to him with any comments, questions or concerns that she had about his paper. After doing so she then asked him question about the topic of his paper.  To my understanding he was doing an essay on a piece of literature that he had written for the class. She had some concerns about one of the things that he mentioned in the paper because, he just simply threw it out there and didn't give his audience any information about the character he was discussing in the book. Her comment to this was to pretend that your audience is stupid. Think of it as if the reader doesn't know anything and don't be afraid to explain to your reader what is going on and who the characters are you are discussing. Don't assume that because you know who you are talking about the reader will too because its not always the case. This was not only informative to the student but it was very informative to me as well. I even learned how to introduce a quote when writing.

 

 

Just before this session ended she told the student that his paper was good and that she felt like there were a couple of areas that he could work on to make it better and stand out more.  She gave him her schedule and told him to come back if needs anymore help on his paper. The student was also informed that if he didn't feel that his paper would be ready on time for submission that he could always ask for an extension from the professor instead of waiting until the day its due and not having it. At the end of the session another student arrived who didn't have the tutor's schedule. When she came and sat down she was introduced to me and made aware that I would be sitting for observance of her session and she was also comfortable with it.  She took out her paper and placed in the center of the desk and the tutor made her aware that she was going to read first and ask questions later. This student seemed to pretty much know exactly what she was talking about in her paper. Her problem was backing up the argument she was making in her paper. She didn't have any quotes to none of the materials she used to support her ideas she was making.

 

 

The tutor asked her why she didn't have any quotes incorporated in her paper from any of the text she read? Her response was because I know what he said and I feel its this way. I believe she did this because she didn't completely understand that using quotes and statements from outside sources would only make your argument stronger, but it will also support your argument in turns of making it more believable. The tutor began to break down to her why including a quote from each of the works she cited was important and by the end of the session she had a full understanding of the mistakes she made on her paper and notes she took to improve her final draft. I took away from this experience knowing how to properly introduce a quote into my paper and why they are important and they are only used to help make an argument stronger.  Not only did I walk away with this, but I also took away from this session is to not hold out information from my readers and not assume.