Experiences in the Writing Center
When I started to work at the Writing Center, I had about eleven years of experience in tutoring English as a foreign language to non-native English speakers in Germany. The experience I had gained from that proved to be very helpful.
Before you can address the problems in writing, like any other problem, it is very important to get to know the writer. If you can build a bridge between the two individuals, who should work together in a tutoring session, it is a lot easier to discuss problems and find solutions. As some of the problems might have personal reasons or it might be difficult for the writer to discuss the reason for some obstacles in writing well, a more personal basis supports any work in that way.
Looking back at the sessions I tutored in this quarter, I would like to focus on the problems of one student. The student brought three papers to the center, and his papers showed problems in constructing complete and correct sentences, as well as defining paragraphs, and some of his sentences sounded awkward. These problems occurred in all his papers.
After a brief introduction and some questioning about the content of each paper, it became obvious that the writer was able to tell me exactly what he wanted to talk about and in what order paper should appear. Yet, he had the problem of bringing his thoughts onto his paper.
We started to discuss some sentences of his first paragraph, where he concentrated almost only on the content of what he wanted to say, but never on the way HOW he could express his thoughts clearly to a reader. To him the fragmented sentences, put together piece after piece, containing a lot of information, made completely sense, because he KNEW what he w...
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...hod to make writers aware, that an essential part of their sentence is missing, is to use symbols that refer to the parts of the sentence. So far, I have had quite some good results in explaining it that way:
The writer has to pay attention!
The sentence ends with an exclamation mark -- put together with the symbols square, upward triangle, and ellipse (). The three symbols put together on top of each other resemble an exclamation mark (). If these three parts are separated again, they have the following meaning:
= square = 's' like in SUBJECT
= "V" with top = 'v' like in VERB
= "O" = 'o' like in OBJECT.
If the writer draws these symbols around the corresponding parts in the sentences, then it becomes visually clear which part is missing. A lot of people learn easier this way and find a way to memorize the essential parts of any sentence easier.
In “The First Part Last” there are many, many symbols spread all throughout the book. All of them symbolize him either growing up or not being mature. Symbols are a main part of this book and you have to look deeper than the pages to find them. Here are four of the major symbols in the book.
Thomas Osborne opens the narrative with a description of himself up very late at night trying to write a paper. Sadly, he’s been at it for four days, and unfortunately he seems to have writer’s block. Osborne’s personal experience with a first draft that he deems “failed” due to the writer’s block. Also, his realization of his personal writing style and how he uses it to his advantage versus conforming to a more normal style of writing occurs later in the selection. Looking through the lens of a reflective analysis perspective, it’s easy for me to find similarities to Osborne through my writing style, personal experiences, and through analysis I better understood
German philosopher Immanuel Kant popularized the philosophy of deontology, which is described as actions that are based on obligation rather than personal gain or happiness (Rich & Butts, 2014). While developing his theory, Kant deemed two qualities that are essential for an action to be deemed an ethical. First, he believed it was never acceptable to sacrifice freedom of others to achieve a desired goal. In other words, he believed in equal respect for all humans. Each human has a right for freedom and justice, and if an action takes away the freedom of another, it is no longer ethical or morally correct. Secondly, he held that good will is most important, and that what is good is not determined by the outcome of the situation but by the action made (Johnson, 2008). In short, he simply meant that the consequences of a situation do not matter, only the intention of an action. Kant also declared that for an act to be considered morally correct, the act must be driven by duty alone. By extension, there could be no other motivation such as lo...
The first symbol we see appears at the end of Chapter one. It is a
These letters are formatted to help set up information so the reader has some knowledge before jumping right into the novel. The first letter uses the technique of “framing.” This is a way that writers use to frame a major theme in the novel. This technique eases the reader into the novel and gives a subplot giving the main story more texture. This framing technique helps the story become more compelling because Walton will eventually see the monster. This technique is again used at the ending of this novel but most evident in the first four letters.
Woolf utilizes a rhetorical question in order to develop her call to action, which is that women should overcome their fears and express themselves. In the last paragraph, she states, “But this freedom is only a beginning; the room is your own, but it is still bare. It was to be furnished; it has to be decorated; it has to be shared. How are you going to furnish it, how are you going to decorate it? With whom are you going to share it, and upon what terms?” The author is building upon the metaphor of life being like a room; it should not be bare, for a bare room...
For the entirety of my undergraduate career I had the distinct ability to successfully write research papers, critical essays and journal entries. On the whole I feel that my writing was successful due to the fact that I received excellent grades as well as glowing comments of support from my professors. Please understand that I am not boasting about my grade point average, class rank or even attempting to claim that I am a good writer. However, I do feel confident in my abilities to write papers that speak directly to the question at hand while simultaneously addressing, although not necessarily adhering to, the professor’s point of interest. I must credit much of my success as an undergraduate to Mr. M of the High School English Department. My outlook on academic writing was drastically altered during the fall of 1997 with the help of Mr. M and a writing course entitled College Prep II.
I am sitting in my bed, thinking about my process of writing as I am trying to go through it. It seems the more I think about it, the less I understand it. When I am writing, I don’t think. Which I know, sounds bad. But, I spend every single moment of every single day over thinking, over analyzing, and over assuming every aspect of my life. When I’m writing, I’m free from that for just a little bit. Until of course, my hands stop typing or the pencil (no pens- never pens) stops moving, then I’m right back on the carousel that is my brain. Heidi Estrem says, “...writers use writing to generate knowledge that they didn’t have before.” (Writing is a Knowledge-Making Activity 18). I believe my ability to write without an exact destination
Writing can be a very difficult process for those who do not know how to go about constructing
Mostly on every story, a person, place, or even an object can be described or represented more than what it actually really is. It’s just trying explain more than what the author is trying to get across the story, but it also makes you think twice about what it’s trying to say to show through the main idea. There is all sorts of symbols like the multiply sign is used to show that they double the number of what they’re trying to solve. Colors may also be used to show symbolism like they can make you label certain things and it symbolizes the object you labeled with the color.
Writing deficiencies, I have plenty. My biggest problem is figuring out how to write what I am thinking. I have never been proficient at this task. It looks good to me when I read it, but when I turn the paper over to someone else; they do not find the point I was trying to convey. Typically, I have to verbally express the meaning of the paper to them. This is the area in which I would like to excel in this class.
Before I came to English 101 I was more of a raw writer than most people. Although I would write my papers filled with great content, I would also have many problems with my grammer and organization. Throughout my time in this class I have developed and trained multiple areas of my writing. Some of the areas that I have improved the most have been grammer, organization, and MLA format. These areas have lead to an evolution in my writing that has given me a new level of understanding in English. Which has provided me with the skills that will endow me to achieve success in english 102.
Immanuel Kant’s ethical theory is referred to as deontology, which is where one acts according to one’s principle. He believes that the will has ethical priority over the body and soul. The only way a will is a good will is to the extent that the person acts from a sense of duty and functions with reason. By determining what is good, Kant uses categorical imperative in order to help in ethical deliberation.
Dr. Shook’s critiques directed me to revise for the lack of transitional phrases between main ideas within my essay, as well as my tendency to compose run-on sentences. Accordingly, I inserted transitions that connected the major points that my essay touched upon. In order to do so, I used phrases such as “furthermore” in order to create a better flow without compromising the important ideas that were essential in regards to properly communicating the context to my audience. By commencing the process of revising my first essay, I developed the understanding that one of my shortcomings as a writer at the beginning of the semester included compiling numerous ideas into one sentence, consequently making it too “heavy.” By taking corrective action, I separated sentences that surpassed three lines into two entities. I found that Informal Assignment 10: Writing with Clear Style, assisted in improving my understanding of how my style of writing assists in communicating to my audience. Initially, I failed to realize that clear communication is of the utmost importance in regards to becoming an astute college writer. I entered English 101 focusing on incorporating words with over three syllables to intelligently convey my argument instead of focusing on how clearly my argument will be received by my
...ry requirements by the Hotel Association of America. Discuss three main legal and statutory requirements.