Spring 2011 NewsPrezi Available

The WVU Writing Center Spring 2011 NewsPrezi is available online. Check it out at: http://prezi.com/qsjijfh-k7aj/spring-2011-newsprezi/

How to Handle Instructor Feedback

Receiving feedback on our writing is often incredibly intimidating, especially when it comes from our instructors and professors. How can we make the most out of their feedback? And the more pressing concern, what do we do if we do not receive a grade we expected?

First, look over your instructor's comments, even if you received a great grade. Think about what improvements you can make for the next paper. Your instructors are experts, especially in your major, and the comments they make will likely apply to other coursework and will improve your writing in the long-term.

But it is tempting when we receive negative feedback to be angry, and to believe that the instructor "hates us." Take a day to calm down, and then speak to your instructor. You'll see that they're not hoping you'll fail but are actually invested in your success as a writer. Most instructors are willing to clarify their comments and help you integrate them into your writing. It is very important to speak to your instructor with respect and professionalism and to be sure to never accuse them of anything other than trying to help you.

If you feel uncomfortable speaking to your instructor, the tutors here at the Writing Center can do their best to work through your instructor's feedback with you. However, none of us can know exactly what your instructor was thinking, and we can't tell you what kind of grade your paper will get. Our goal is the same as your instructor's: to help you improve as a writer, but if you really feel confused by the feedback you received, we can't take the place of speaking to your instructor one-on-one.

Remember, instructors and tutors care about your writing and want to help you become a stronger writer. Never take negative feedback as a personal slight; instead, see it as our way of building you up toward success.

Mid-course Corrections: Visiting the Writing Center at Midterms

It’s that time again—midterms. Maybe you had a few last week, or maybe this week is your “cram” time, but however you slice it, this is a stressful point in the semester.

One way to start alleviating that stress is to plan ahead and get your writing assignments done so you can focus on other important school items, like the tests and presentations at hand.

The WVU Writing Center can help you get a head start on any writing assignment you have, for any class. The tutors at the center range in major, class rank and expertise, so there is a good fit for everyone. You can bring in your papers at any point in the writing process—from simply brainstorming about a topic to putting the final touches on a 10-page piece.

Time management is an essential part of success in college and, really, in life. When you start to see that the next several weeks are crammed full of assignments and papers, take that time to structure your writing time. You probably aren’t going to sit down and write a 5-page paper all in one marathon typing session. Instead, you can make a few weekly checkpoints to stay on track, and on top, of your busy schedule. If you want to make sure you’re on track and staying focused, incorporate the center into those checkpoints to help ensure success.

Midterms and dead week are two of the busiest times for the center, so your best bet is to make an appointment to ensure you get to work with a tutor. You can make an appointment by stopping by G02 Colson Hall or by calling 304-293-5788. Good luck during this crazy time!

Group Work: Surviving and Thriving

"Plays well with other children.”

Did that show up on your first grade report card? If not, would it show up now? The ability to work well with peers isn’t just a crucial skill in elementary school, or even in college. Almost every profession requires that one have the ability to work successfully with a team. One way that college professors try to prepare students for the world of work is by assigning group projects. I am currently in the process of working on two group projects at once. Because I have little experience in this department, I decided to ask my learned friend, roommate, and classmate (oddly enough, we’re in a group together, too) for advice on how to successfully navigate The Group Project. Here are her tips, together with a few of mine.

• Understand the purpose of group work - learning to work with others.
• Meet early with the group to discuss expectations.
• Exchange contact information with all group members.
• Clearly and evenly divide the workload according to each person’s strengths, weaknesses, and preferences.
• Know that it is difficult to perfectly divide group project responsibilities and that someone will most likely end up doing a little more work than the others. Do not, however, use this as justification for not fairly sharing the workload.
• Be prepared to calmly resolve conflicts within the group if necessary.
• Consider organizing information electronically so that each member has access to project data at all times.
• Make sure that someone is responsible for taking attendance at all group meetings.
• Establish group progress dates.
• Be prepared to compromise.
• Set a group goal for what grade you want to get.
• Find out if you will be receiving an individual grade along with a group grade.
• Consider writing a group contract.

Upcoming Writing Center Workshops!

Join us for our Spring 2011 workshops.

February 15, Proposals and Conference Presentations. 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm in Colson 130

March 29, Writing a Research Proposal for Psych 202. 5:30 - 6:30 pm in G02 Colson

April 11, Where my Blog's at: Designing and Maintaining a Relevant Blog. 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm in G02 Colson

Call (304) 293-5788 to register or for more information.

Not Your Grandma's Outlining: One Tutor's Writing Process

We all have moments when we start to write an academic essay and simply don’t know what to say. Or maybe we know what we want to say, but after hours of writing, the essay takes a turn in a completely different direction.

After freewriting, researching, and drafting, sometimes we realize that there are more important topics to address than our original topic idea. If this happens, we need to re-work other parts of the essay to compliment new ideas, but that's not the end of the world. However, it can be frustrating, especially when working on an academic essay that is required to be on a particular topic.

As simple as it may seem, I almost always use outlining to sketch out my ideas and to stay on track.

Traditional outlines--you know, the ones with the roman numerals and the precise indentations--are often too confining for writers who are still in the preliminary stages of drafting. There are a couple strategies that I find much more effective: one that works similarly to clustering* or webbing and one that I will term “quotation outlining.”

When you cluster, you start with an idea and list multiple points that connect to that idea. Let’s say you start with “social networking” as a potential topic. Clustered ideas may include “online privacy,” “Facebook,” or “cyberbullying.” Then, you take these new threads and think of other related ideas. Take “cyberbullying” as an example. You may jot down factual information newspaper articles you have read, specific language from recent legislation that has passed, or ideas for how to more globally address the issue.

Once you hash out these ideas, clustering allows you to visually see the knowledge you already had. Because it relies mainly on what is already known, it is most effective in the beginning stages of topic brainstorming.

Quotation outlining is more helpful once you have a clearer idea for a topic, have done a bit of research, but are still unsure what angle to take. (And actually, quotation outlining can be helpful even if you do have a clear plan; it allows your evidence to all be in the same place!) Working with the texts that you plan to use for your essay, compile all relevant quotations. If you’re not sure yet what will be relevant, type out the quotations that seem most interesting. Then, organize those quotations by theme. What themes surface? Do some of the quotations overlap? Do you have more quotations about, say, digital copyright laws than you do about digital design?

Once you have organized evidence, you can make a clearer choice about what argument to make. Then, the themes of the quotation can help guide your essay.

While there are multiple types of outlining, and brainstorming more generally, these are two that I have found helpful. For the last few years, I have always done some form of quotation outlining for any major essay that I have to write. It allows me to see all my research in one space, and it allows me to discover different themes that I may have missed before.


*The University of Richmond’s Writing Center website has a helpful article that gives more information on clustering/webbing.

Writing Center Slideshow!

View more presentations from wvuwritingcenter.

Sinbad Lives!; or, Who's Afraid of Wikipedia

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: “Never, ever, use Wikipedia for a college essay.” Such advice is, no doubt, meant to be helpful, to remind students of the website's inherent flaws and to emphasize its lack of “scholarly” material. And, to be sure, these are valid complaints leveled at a site that allows users to add and delete encyclopedic content, resulting in changes that aren’t always “true” or intellectually responsible.

Nonetheless, we should question the notion that professors and researchers in the university (and beyond) have blocked Wikipedia from their own browsers. In fact, it’s possible that those same instructors who forbid students from citing Wikipedia in academic papers are themselves using the site. How, then, can we move beyond the often hypocritical prescriptions of instructors who live in fear of Wikipedia's influence?

The answer lies in an investigation of the ways that Wikipedia can be and is used by conscientious students, professors, and researchers alike. James Purdy, in “Wikipedia is Good for You!?” (despite the noncommittal punctuation of the title) sets out to describe the many ways that Wikipedia stands to make us better researchers no matter what our educational level. Purdy outlines three primary ways that Wikipedia can be used for good: as a source for ideas, as a link to other texts, and as a resource for generating additional search terms (209).

Further, the process of incorporating information into a Wikipedia entry, for Purdy, “parallels what you do for research-based writing assignments” with its emphasis on reviewing what others have posted before making a “new” post (214). Thus instructors could, according to Purdy, use the site to teach responsible research methods and to discuss the often complex and confusing academic research process.

“But wait,” says the white-haired professor in the tweed jacket. “Wikipedia is full of inaccuracies."

Purdy points out, though, that “misinformation isn’t limited to Wikipedia,” citing the work of Jim Giles who claims that Wikipedia is nearly as accurate as Britannica, a far more respected encyclopedia source (207). The point is not that Wikipedia should be used in the same manner as scholarly publications, it is rather to illustrate the chinks in the armor of the latter. Put differently, the academic attacks on Wikipedia might be distracting us from the fact that even universally accepted resources have flaws.

It is worth stressing that Wikipedia isn’t an acceptable source for citation in academic work. But, students and professionals should feel free to begin by browsing Wikipedia entries which can lead to more credible information and tangential entries that can expand their horizons. The result may in fact be better researched claims and more enlightened thought.

At the very least, we might follow Purdy’s overarching advice: if “you are going to use Wikipedia as a source for writing assignments regardless of cautions against it,…it is more helpful to address ways to use it effectively than to ignore it" (205).

James Purdy’s essay can be accessed through the following link: http://writingspaces.org/sites/default/files/purdy--wikipedia-is-good-for-you.pdf

Jim Giles’s essay can be found (with university access) through the following link: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v438/n7070/full/438900a.html

Everyone Poops: The Value of Shitty First Drafts

Taro Gomi's book Everyone Poops tries to take what might be a scary experience for some children and show them that pooping is totally normal.

It might seem a strange comparison, but in Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, Anne Lamott shares an aim similar to that of Gomi. Writing can be a scary process, but as Lamott explains to her readers, all good writers produce "shitty first drafts." This process is not only normal, but a good way to begin any writing project.

In Writing Without Teachers, writing theorist Peter Elbow explains that some writers are nervous about the idea of freewriting because it runs counter to all the hard work they have done to become better, more careful writers. According to Elbow, writers worry that that this process will infect their writing and ruin future writing projects.

Elbow sees this concern tied to a larger feeling of helplessness in the face of new writing projects. For this reason, he sees freewriting, or freeing the expectations of a first draft, as a way to get beyond some of the anxiety that writing can produce and begin the process. In response to the skeptics he states:

Yes, it produces garbage, but that's all right ... It might [infect future writing] if you did nothing but freewriting - if you gave up all efforts at care, discrimination, and precision. But no one asks you to give up careful writing. It turns out, in fact, that these brief exercises in not caring help you care better afterward.

To prove this idea that "shitty first drafts" can develop into something writers can be excited about, it would be great to provide an example of a paper that has grown from a "shitty first draft" into something worth submitting, but for the sake of time let's try to isolate some smaller, yet still important, part of writing that can benefit from this process.

To do this I will use an example thesis to show how embracing the process of writing can help writers: first, to generate ideas and questions and, eventually, to refine those ideas into something that helps focus future writing.

Let's imagine that I have been given an assignment to write an argumentative paper about a famous speech. My mind goes blank as I struggle to think of a speech, any speech, I actually know anything about. The recent holiday has inspired me to choose Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech and write about that.

As is often the case for writers on a deadline, maybe I don't know that much about the speech. I might also feel like there is nothing new to say about my topic. It's important for all you writers out there to remember that feeling like this is okay. As you tackle your own writing assignments, just remember that how you approach the assignment will impact how it turns out. Stay optimistic and open-minded, and as you continue with the assignment, hopefully you will find some way to take ownership of the project and make it unique. For this example, I'll get a basic idea down and see if I can find something that makes the speech unique and interesting to me as a writer: something worth getting excited about.

Thesis Draft One (My "Shitty First Draft"):

The speech "I Have a Dream" was very important to the people of the time.

This is certainly true, but not exactly exciting. It is also hard to imagine anyone really disagreeing with me. The important thing is that I have my first thought down, and now I can continue to play around with it.

When you find yourself at this stage of the writing process, ask yourself questions and try to answer them. Maybe you know the answers, or maybe your questions point you to places where you need to do further research.

In the example above, I can look at "very important" and ask myself how it was very important. Push yourself to be more specific. For example, I also mention "people" and "time," and so I might ask myself who are the people involved, who is the speech given by, when and where was it given? I don't have to answer all of these questions immediately, but I should keep them in mind as I try my next version of the thesis.

Thesis Draft Two (Continuing the Freewriting Process):

With his "I Have a Dream" speech, Martin Luther King Jr. moved people to action.

What do you think? It seems like this thesis is moving in the right direction. By freewriting this draft, and by keeping those questions in mind, I now have indicated that Martin Luther King Jr. is the person who gave the speech. I have also started to address how it was very important: it moved people to action. What are some questions I still might ask myself about this thesis?

Well, first I still have some of the original questions floating around (e.g. who are the people?), but I also might ask myself what "action" was taken and what was the result? What did King move them to do exactly? Again, during the drafting process give yourself space and time to play with the drafts without stressing about answering all your questions. If you think it is helpful, especially with longer papers, jot your questions down and take a break. Then come back and freewrite again. Write anything that comes to mind and allow the questions to guide you without dictating where your writing goes.

Thesis Draft Three (The Final Freewrite):

With his "I Have a Dream" speech, Martin Luther King Jr. united Americans to confront racism.

By this draft, I have addressed a couple of my questions: the people were Americans, the action taken was to confront racism. One thing I will want to keep an eye on as I write my next draft is the part where I say "united Americans" because this could give the sense that all Americans were united against racism following the speech. That would be nice, but is obviously not true.

After you have done some freewriting, asked and answered as many questions as you can, and have begun to gather scholarly sources, it is then time to really draw on your research. For the sake of space, I'm only going to provide one more thesis example. The example will have a little bit of research behind it, but I hope at this point you recognize that, even though it is the last one provided, it is just another draft in the process. As you gather research, you will find that it is more difficult to contain your thoughts in a single sentence, as demonstrated below.

Thesis Draft Four (The "Final for Now"):

Many people remember Martin Luther King Jr. for his "I Have a Dream" speech, and what they remember from the speech is probably his famous line about his children being judged not "by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." As a result, it is likely best remembered as a speech about uniting Americans, across color lines, to confront the issue of racism. What is often forgotten is that "The Great March on Washington" was actually called the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Recognizing this, it becomes easier to understand economic metaphors in the speech, but it also highlights King's increasing interest in economic injustice toward the end of his life. His final speech, "I've Been to The Mountaintop," was given as he attempted to support Memphis sanitation workers who were on strike. By looking at his final speech, and the events that led to the speech, it becomes easier to see how King recognized economic and racial injustice as interconnected.

So what do you think? I know there is a pretty big jump between the last two drafts, but remember that this is the first draft that I did not freewrite. I spent time reworking lines and looking at my research.

One thing I did was to look at other speeches by King to see what I could find. Ultimately, a credible timeline helped me to put his life and work in perspective. The timeline states that before his final speech, King announced a march on Washington for an "Economic Bill of Rights" that would, among other things, guarantee employment to anyone capable of working. Given the current economic crisis, this seemed like an important part of his life to discuss. Also, because I couldn't remember hearing about it in any history class when I was growing up, it seemed like it might be new for other people. The timeline, the relevance to current situations, and the potential newness encouraged me to do further research. All this made the idea of writing this paper exciting.

My research helped me to understand King's interest in economic freedom, and that helped me to notice and to understand certain lines in both of the speeches I mentioned in my still-developing thesis paragraph.

I first thought of his "I Have a Dream" speech, and I thought about it in terms of civil, not economic, rights. To be safe I could double-check my claim with an instructor, but you can also see that I have phrased the lines carefully so that I don't overstate my claim.

Ultimately, the research made me want to write about his final speech. It is worth noting that, depending on how much time I allowed myself to write before the due date and how much research I did on the other speech, this kind of change might not be possible.

The final thing to keep in mind is that, while my argument isn't the most controversial thing in the world, my thesis is starting to take shape in a way where it is actually possible to imagine someone disagreeing with me. My confidence that this is "new" information for many in my imagined audience, and the fact that it might be a contentious claim, allows me to move forward more confidently with my paper.

As writers, it can sometimes be frustrating to look at "good" work, but this is because "good" writing eventually hides the process. A blog post about process is no exception. Our hope is both that the content and writing of our blogs can always be of a certain, high-quality level. Hopefully, you find it encouraging that even for this work, after I used freewriting for the first draft, there were:

10 drafts before it was posted, 2 people who gave me feedback during the process, and there was 1 person who proofread my work.

Additionally, there were 9 outside sources consulted about the speech and process-based writing.

If you are interested in checking out either of the speeches, you can go to American Rhetoric's database of the top one hundred speeches to read, watch, or listen to them.

Happy Holidays!

The Writing Center is closed for the Fall semester (which also means our blog posts will be on hold), but we'll be back in January! See you all soon!