What Does The Tutoring Partnership Offer?

Saint Mary's University Writing Center welcomes undergraduate and graduate writers of all levels of ability to use the Writing Center when they need a qualified reader who can look at writing projects with an impartial eye and talk with writers about ways to further develop their work.

Writing Center tutors are trained to ask questions and make suggestions about writing from all disciplines and at any stage of the writing process-from brainstorming to drafts in progress to final editing. The tutoring partnership offers insight into and feedback on:

Getting started
Planning and organizing
Developing an argument
Source citation/documentation
Editing
Application essays, resumes, business                                                                letters

Getting Started
The scene that every writer dreads: staring at a screen where the only thing black is the stationary cursor, and the minutes on the clock are ticking closer to the assignment due date. Facing a blank page without a clear plan for writing can feel overwhelming. Either an assignment may be difficult to understand, or writers may not have a good idea of how they want to pursue the writing project. Writing Center tutors will go over the assignment with writers, ask questions, listen, and make suggestions to help generate ideas. Together the writer and tutor will talk about different approaches to the writing project so that the writer can decide on a plan for writing. Prewriting, or the invention stage, is a crucial part of the writing process.

Planning and Organizing
Often feel like your brilliant ideas resemble a complicated maze? Writing Center tutors can work with you to produce an outline that structures your ideas into a focused, well-developed piece of writing. Tutors also can work with you to organize an already produced initial draft and provide insight into ideas for further development of supporting points. Tutors may not have expertise in the subject you're writing about, but they can often spot confusing points and areas that could be further explained and can suggest strategies for introducing and concluding your writing piece. 

Developing an Argument
What, exactly, does the assignment ask you to do? Argue a point? Apply a theory? Deliberate a topic's positions? In determining a writing plan, you can talk with a tutor about how to shape the central idea of the writing project and how to use supporting points that back up the central idea. The tutor and writer will discuss how each paragraph supports the central idea of the paper as well as talk about issues of good writing as they relate to the writing project. In the tutoring partnership, issues of creativity in addition to quality of writing style and flow will also be addressed.

Source Citation and Documentation
Integrating sources into your written text may seem like a daunting task, but Writing Center tutors have experience in referencing sources of quotes, facts, and other information into a writing project. Tutors can suggest transitions and other techniques that ensure a smooth integration of sources into the writing project. If you are unsure of citing the references you're using, tutors can answer questions on MLA and APA documentation, point you to handbooks and handouts that provide you with documentation information, or help you research handbooks and style manuals for information you can't find. 

Editing
Perhaps your writing assignment is due in less than two hours, and you know you have problems spotting misplaced commas. What to do? Come to the Writing Center where a tutor will explain ways to develop your editing skills. It could mean learning some simple proofreading techniques or understanding a few uncomplicated grammar rules. It could mean using the handbooks and other writing resources the Writing Center has available. While Writing Center tutors will not proofread your paper, they will talk over punctuation difficulties, grammar concerns, and issues related to sentence structure, which are important to the writing project because academic writing generally requires the use of relatively error-free Standard English. 

Application Essays, Resumes, Letters, and other Writing Projects
Need to find a job? Write a letter of inquiry to a potential employer? Develop or upgrade your resume? Writers are increasingly seeking out Writing Center tutors to collaborate with them on resume development and gain insight and feedback on educational or employment application projects.