the writing center

Transcript

[TITLE]
IU Southeast Writing Center Sample Consultation [Jana Morgan Herman] In a consultation, generally what will happen is the consultant will ask you the kinds of things that you need help with. It is not uncommon for people to misunderstand the assignment. [Daniel Gruner] Most of us are juniors or seniors, so we've had a lot of experience in decoding these things. [Rebecca Yeager] So if you bring in that assignment, we are able at The Writing Center to help you pinpoint what kind of things the professor is looking for. Whether they want you to share your opinion or just state an objective claim, we're able to look at that assignment and help you make sense of it. [Travis] Hi, I've never been to The Writing Center before, and I was hoping you might be able to help me with my paper. [Jana] Ok, did you bring your assignment with you? [Travis] Yeah, it's right here on top. [Jana] Ok, when is your assignment due? [Travis] Next Thursday. [Jana] Great, a lot of times students don't bring in their papers until the last minute, and we can't help them as much, so I'm glad you brought it in early. Let me read your assignment, and then we'll talk about what you need help with. [Travis] Sounds good. [Rebecca] We really do try at The Writing Center to let the student determine the course of our conference together, and so I ask them what they want to look for from this conference and then how we can help them get the most out of our time together.

[Daniel] Sometimes it takes 25 or 30 minutes, but it is a very good thing to do with other people, and it really is a community effort I feel like. [Jana] It says here that your professor wants you to write a paper on environmental problems in the local area. Is that true? [Travis] That's true. [Jana] Ok, now how would you like me to help you? [Travis] Well, I'm having trouble getting the main idea of my paper down in the first paragraph so the reader understands what it's about. [Jana] So you need help with a thesis statement? [Travis] Yes. [Jana] Ok, let me read the first part of your paper and see if I can find the thesis statement, and then we'll talk about it. [Travis] Ok. [Rebecca] We want to talk with them. We don't want them necessarily just to come in and drop off their paper and ask us to go through with a red pen and correct all of their errors. We want this to be a conversation and not a one way editing service. [Jana] Ok. Well, it seems like I found your thesis statement here, the last sentence of the first paragraph. Now what we'll need to do is go through and make sure that all the other paragraphs support your thesis statement, ok? Can we read through the paper together and make sure that that's so? [Travis] Yeah, that's fine. That's perfect. [Jana] In this paragraph, it seems like you wander away from your thesis statement a little bit. If I were you, I think I would try to tighten that more so that it's very clear that it directly supports your thesis statement. Do you see what I'm saying? [Travis] Yeah, ok. [Jana] So if you go through this and think about the way that you've worded this sentence, you can go to a computer and work on it, and then after you finish that, you can bring it back over here. We'll check it, and then we'll decide if there's anything else I can help you with, like grammar or other issues, maybe a closing statement. [Travis] Ok, that'll work because I have about an hour before my next class. [Jana] That's great. Ok, thank you. [Travis] Thank you. [Jana] After you meet for between 10 and 30 minutes, then you can go off and work on your paper and work on the suggestions and then bring your paper back at another time. [TITLE] Indiana University Southeast Writing Center located in KNOBVIEW 208