1. Who should I go to for help – my teacher or the Writing Center?
You should always seek help first from your teacher. She/he has the best understanding of what the assignment is and how you should go about it. However, if you are trying to work in the evening, when teachers are sometimes unavailable, a Writing Center tutor might be able to offer valuable guidance.
2. When should I go to the Writing Center?
Please come to the Writing Center as early in the writing assignment as possible. Coming in the night before the assignment is due will not give you or your tutor enough time to work thoughtfully. Coming days or even weeks in advance of the due date will result in the greatest benefit to you.
3. Will I get a better grade on my paper?
Writing center tutors can only make suggestions about areas that need improvement. They cannot improve your paper for you. The grade you receive on a paper will come from the work that you do.
4. How long will a tutor work with me?
The average session lasts between 15 and 30 minutes.
5. What will I have to do, if I go to the Writing Center?
What You Can Expect
Writing Center Tutors CAN:
- help you come up with ways to approach an assignment
- ask questions leading you to articulate your ideas
- help you organize ideas into a working outline
- help you think through organizational strategies, introductions, conclusions, development of ideas, and examples
- work on problems of documentation
- help you learn effective strategies for proofreading
- help you to identify grammatical error patterns
Writing Center Tutors CANNOT:
- provide answers
- write the paper for you
- proofread the paper for you
- identify every error you have made
- forecast your grade or lead you to expect a high grade
- evaluate your teacher’s assignment or the grade you received on your paper