How to Make a Tutoring Session Work for You

Events in life take some preparation, even something simple like a short trip to the sea wall to rest our eyes on the waters of the gulf. Before catching a wave, I survey the scene, check out the surf, and have my gear with me and in good condition. Before you come to the SWC for a thirty-minute tutorial, a bit of planning can make the time more useful for you than not.

Tip 1: It may sound like a no-brainer, but it is best to arrive early for your appointment, five or ten minutes, since being late may result in a standby taking your appointment time. If you cannot make it to the scheduled appointment, call and let us know so that someone else can use the appointment time.

Tip 2: Bring a copy of your assignment with you so that the tutor will know what your work involves. Relying on your memory - what you think possibly the instructor said – may not be the best method for getting the right advice from a tutor.

Tip 3: Mostly, though, think about what it is that you want to find out. When you come prepared with questions or concerns (and any notes or drafts or brainstorming that you’ve done) the session will go smoothly and be productive.

Tip 4: Your active participation during tutoring time is essential. Express yourself. Talk about your writing, what problems or successes you have had with it so far, what hopes or fears about the writing you have (or what technical/grammatical problems you need to solve). While a tutoring session is not exactly the right time to bare your soul or air opinions about the state of the universe, moods, emotions, and attitudes do have an effect on your writing. If you are upset, let the tutor know, especially if it is a problem that is keeping you from completing the assignment. Often, acknowledging an emotion and talking about it briefly can clear it up, like clouds moving away from the sun, so that the rest of the session can be focused on the work at hand.

Tip 5: If you have begun the paper, bring two typed copies of your draft, double spaced, for notes that you or the tutor may make. Your thoughts, ideas, and questions will keep the dialogue on the main reasons you have come to see a tutor. It is best to phrase your questions by asking “What if I write__________?”(And then come up with a possibility) instead of “What should I write?” The paper is yours, not the tutor’s; and whatever the tutor might suggest is not the answer you need. Discussing your ideas before starting your paper also works very well. Be aware that your own ideas are the ones that will work best for you when you do start writing. Talk with the tutor about your ideas, ways to structure the paper that you have considered, perhaps to see if your ideas are logical and will work to fulfill your assignment.

Tip 6: Finally, don’t forget to enjoy the half hour you have taken to talk about your writing. Keep your mind open to possibilities, and you will find the time well spent, maybe even as much fun as taking a walk along the shoreline to comb for treasure along the beach.

See you next time the breeze is cool, the sun is up, and the waves roll into view! ‘Til then, hang ten, not 10!

Two Sides of a Coin

“You,” said the concerned professor, “do not appear to be enjoying this writing course. Even though you fulfill the requirements for each essay, you do so without going beyond the minimum. That is why your grade, so far, is a C rather than the A or B you usually earn in other courses.”

The young woman hesitated before speaking, knowing her professor was right. She wasn’t enjoying the course and was doing only enough to get by on each assignment. “What can I do, then, to improve?” she finally asked.

“Two sides of a coin…an old expression that is useful when describing the relationship between reading and writing. Most truly good writers do read extensively,” her professor answered. “Those who read in their spare time usually become better writers.”

“College requires extensive reading already,” the student protested. “I don’t see how reading much more than is already required will help me write any better.” She thought of all the classes she was taking and how many assignments she had to cover. Reading any more than she had to read would take time, lots of time, time she didn’t have.

The professor nodded. He had heard much the same thing from other overworked students. He still wanted to convince her, however, that extra reading would help her to become the writer he thought she could be. “The real answer is that reading adds to your knowledge base and literally shows you what good writing is. The key is to find an area of interest, something that you want to know more about, or some kind of fiction that is fun for you to read.” He hoped she would at least consider the idea of reading more than was required for classes.

“Oceans, ecology, global warming…,” the student muttered, thinking of her favorite pastime (surfing) and how crucial to her was the health of the environment. “Sharks, seagulls, pelicans, ridley sea turtles…,” she continued musing.

“It sounds like you’re onto something!” the professor exclaimed.

“Yes! I do want to know more about ecology and the environment. Do you have any ideas of where to find books about how global warming might affect oceans and wildlife?” The student smiled suddenly. “You know, outside reading might be more interesting and useful than I thought.”

“I assure you that it is; and, Roxy, I’m looking forward to reading the papers you will write by the end of the semester.”

After his student left, the professor noted that it was time for lunch. He picked up his science fiction novel and headed to the cafeteria, vaguely recalling that he had not answered all her questions.

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See you next time the breeze is cool, the sun is up, and the waves roll into view! ‘Til then, hang ten, not 10!

The Relationship between Tone and Theme

The theme of a work of fiction can be likened to its message, the meaning of the piece, while tone is the manner in which the message is relayed.

Following are two descriptions of virtually the same occurrence. Note, if you will, the depictions, the language, and the feeling each evokes.

(1) The brown pelican, a solitary sentry on his lonely outpost, watched the gathering storm with sad resignation and nervous dread, knowing the discomfort of wind and cold rain to come. He scarcely dared hope to survive.

(2) The brown pelican, certain of his own worth, saw the storm clouds gather, fiercely delighting in his ability to withstand their force, no matter how strong the wind or cold the rain to come. He knew without doubt that he would live to tell the tale.

Each of the two descriptions above has a lone pelican regarding an anticipated weather event. In comparing the tone of each, totally different attitudes are revealed. And even without much more to the story, two separate themes begin to emerge: (1) fatalism in the bird vs. nature and (2) heroism the in bird vs. nature.

When analyzing written works, it is a good idea to notice the way the message is expressed. Once the reader has picked up on the tone of the author, the theme, the main idea of the work, is often easier to determine. In Pelican 1, the theme might turn out to be the indifference of nature to a bird’s comfort zone. In Pelican 2, the theme could turn out to be the great and thrilling challenge of a bird facing his environment.

Maybe there is even a story somewhere about a brown pelican during two times when a storm was coming in, once a resigned bird and later a strong one or the other way around, depending on the events and the evolving character of the bird.

See you next time the breeze is cool, the sun is up, and the waves roll into view! ‘Til then, hang ten, not 10!

Trust but Verify

Red or green squiggly lines are scattered here and there on your Word document. What does that mean?

It means that the computer program says that you have made a mistake in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, or sentence structure. The red squiggle (spelling error) or green squiggle (grammar or spacing error) may or may not be a true or even reliable indicator of an actual mistake. Computers have not yet reached the level of AI (Artificial Intelligence). The program itself may be in error, not you. English is a complex language, and programmers are not necessarily grammarians with impeccable command of all the rules.

Spell checker, for instance, can and does mislead writers who trust it without question. If a writer replaces a word the computer underlines with a red squiggle and goes with the first word on the given list (after right clicking or using ABC Spelling & Grammar), some odd results may occur, not usually the results the writer intends. If I type in the misspelled word “grummer,” the red and wavy line tells me there’s a problem. The word I meant to type is “grammar,” but the first word on the list of replacements happens to be “grimmer” (which may indicate AI actually is in existence since grammar is often a grimmer problem than many of the other difficulties writers encounter). Even so, usually Spell Checker is right and is very useful for finding and correcting errors. To use it well, however, a writer needs to verify that the replacement word is the right word, not a weird substitution.

Once a correction is made, at times a writer may be tempted to use Correct All, another option. For changing a misspelled name every time it appears in the document, Correct All can be quite useful; but, if the writer makes the wrong choice or the same word is also used as another part of speech in the document, using Correct All can lead to confusion and woe, i.e., real trouble. Spell checker and related options are tools, not wise and careful editors with our greatest good their only goal.

Writers must make their own decisions when polishing their writing. Usually choosing replacement words from the list provided by Spell Checker works, but writers must still employ their own minds and memories – and maybe even a dictionary now and then – to make sure that the corrections they make are correct corrections.

Until an AI surfaces, one that loves both the beach and grammar, one that also knows me well enough to deduce when my typo “sirf” appears that I meant to type “surf,” not “serf,” it would be unwise for me to slavishly follow the first suggestion Spell Checker gives me (“serf”). Rather than be in thrall to a computer program, I have to use my mind and freely choose what makes sense to me with some assurance that it will make sense to others, which I can make happen by double checking definitions and parts of speech.

Computers, wonderful and useful as they are, do not yet know what we mean to say or how we intend to say it, not even close to as well as we do. Computers are good at recognizing patterns, but certain nuances are still beyond their capacity. “Trust but verify” is one way to be certain that the advice computers give is correct. We understand English and the meaning of words, connotations and denotations. Computers operate via programming and use data - bits, 0 and 1 - a system that does not translate into knowing the difference between “grummer” and “grammar” or “serf” and “surf,” not yet anyway.

See you next time the breeze is cool, the sun is up, and the waves roll into view! ‘Til then, hang ten, not 10!