Everything is relative (yes, I realize that statement is self-contradictory).
As far as I am concerned, pretty good and pretty bad are the same distance from a nice, central, decent paper. Each and every paper is different, and therefore, has its own particular difficulties.
A "pretty bad" paper, for example, would be riddled with organizational problems, comma splices, tangential ideas, and lack of coherency. In this case, it is best to address the biggest problems. Organization and purpose are probably the best things to work on in such a case. This can, however, be problematic. Just try telling students that their papers lack meaning. A student can spend hours working on an essay, and the wrong kind of criticism could make the tutoring session somewhat dangerous. A "pretty bad" paper is like a dilapidated home purchased for renovation. There is a lot of work to do, but its fairly easy to get started.
"Pretty good" papers are like a brand new car which develops a "clunk, clunk" sound. Everything seems to be in order, but there are a few minute problems. It is difficult to know where to start with a well written paper. It can even be frustrating. The grammatical errors in good papers may be hard to spot, but they're even harder to explain. Such papers make me want to grab Claire and utter in nonsensical English, "make it do right!" because I am not sure how to go about explaining the problem.
What makes pretty good papers and pretty bad papers mostly equal though, is the fact that I am not trying to just fix grammar. I am really trying to help writers understand how to make their writing better. Whether that be understanding run-on-sentences, faulty parallelism, or sequential order. Helping the writer understand is the goal. All those errors and hard-to-explain grammar principals are the means.
I always try to put myself in the place of the student. I try to imagine coming into the Writing Center for the first time (I really do have to imagine; I've never been in here to have a paper looked at). It must be nerve-wracking. Especially if students feel self-conscious about their writing abilities. The social interaction between tutor and tutee cannot be left out of the equation. It is this interaction which can produce a healthy learning environment. It can also create a terrible well of misunderstanding. Grammar isn't the hardest part of tutoring. It's the social aspect.
Every student who comes in has a different attitude about the tutoring process. Every tutor has slightly different ideas about how to tutor. Every paper has its strengths and its weaknesses. A pretty bad paper may make for an easy tutoring session because its author has a good attitude about the tutoring process. A pretty good paper may make for a terrible session because the author is disengaged and hostile. The roles could, however, be entirely reversed. Every session is situational.
A "pretty bad" paper, for example, would be riddled with organizational problems, comma splices, tangential ideas, and lack of coherency. In this case, it is best to address the biggest problems. Organization and purpose are probably the best things to work on in such a case. This can, however, be problematic. Just try telling students that their papers lack meaning. A student can spend hours working on an essay, and the wrong kind of criticism could make the tutoring session somewhat dangerous. A "pretty bad" paper is like a dilapidated home purchased for renovation. There is a lot of work to do, but its fairly easy to get started.
"Pretty good" papers are like a brand new car which develops a "clunk, clunk" sound. Everything seems to be in order, but there are a few minute problems. It is difficult to know where to start with a well written paper. It can even be frustrating. The grammatical errors in good papers may be hard to spot, but they're even harder to explain. Such papers make me want to grab Claire and utter in nonsensical English, "make it do right!" because I am not sure how to go about explaining the problem.
What makes pretty good papers and pretty bad papers mostly equal though, is the fact that I am not trying to just fix grammar. I am really trying to help writers understand how to make their writing better. Whether that be understanding run-on-sentences, faulty parallelism, or sequential order. Helping the writer understand is the goal. All those errors and hard-to-explain grammar principals are the means.
I always try to put myself in the place of the student. I try to imagine coming into the Writing Center for the first time (I really do have to imagine; I've never been in here to have a paper looked at). It must be nerve-wracking. Especially if students feel self-conscious about their writing abilities. The social interaction between tutor and tutee cannot be left out of the equation. It is this interaction which can produce a healthy learning environment. It can also create a terrible well of misunderstanding. Grammar isn't the hardest part of tutoring. It's the social aspect.
Every student who comes in has a different attitude about the tutoring process. Every tutor has slightly different ideas about how to tutor. Every paper has its strengths and its weaknesses. A pretty bad paper may make for an easy tutoring session because its author has a good attitude about the tutoring process. A pretty good paper may make for a terrible session because the author is disengaged and hostile. The roles could, however, be entirely reversed. Every session is situational.
posted by Kyle Rollins at 11:24 AM
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