Advice from McKinze: Know Your Format!

In my recent appointments, I have noticed that many students are unaware of the writing format required by their professors for certain assignments. This is important because the format determines how the entire paper is set up and how the in-text citations and works cited/bibliography is structured.  Most English, Writing, and Humanities courses use MLA format, and most Communication, History, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, and Nursing courses use APA format. There are a few courses at RSU that use Chicago or Turabian style writing, but those are not as common as the MLA and APA utilizes courses. Many students also do not know that the Writing Center offers templates for MLA, APA, and Chicago papers. Those links can be found in the Writing Center section on the RSU page under the Online Resources tab. Here’s a link: http://www.rsu.edu/academics/school-of-liberal-arts/department-of-english-humanities/writing-center/online-resources/. Along with the templates, the Writing Center offers other resources that can be beneficial to a specific format or the writing process in general. There are links to websites that students can use to figure out how to cite sources in specific formats and there are also links that help with proofreading strategies.

While these resources are very helpful, it is most important to understand how a particular professor wants a paper formatted. This is important because knowing the format of the paper determines the structure, citation format, and type of in-text citations, which can greatly affect your grade if not done correctly. If you do not know for sure, ask them! You should always keep an open line of communication with your professors and know that they are there to help you. In the Writing Center, sometimes we do not know what type of formatting a professor so it is difficult for us to help you if we do not know the format. So always ask questions and know that there are many resources that can help you figure out a specific format, and the Writing Center is always here to help. 

Source

-McKinze

What I've Learned as a Writing Consultant: Kali

Hi, all,

This semester at the Writing Center has been filled with a variety of students and assignments. Throughout my sessions with different writers, I have been able to pick up many tips and tricks to make the writing process easier. These are all things that I struggled with before getting this experience in the WC. Now that I have made these changes in my own writing, the whole process is a lot less scary:

First, don’t stress out! Your teacher just gave you a 15 page paper over a topic that you don’t know anything about. It’s okay! You have an abundance of resources to help you research and become an expert on any topic you can think of. Take advantage of the online databases provide by the library, and if you’re not sure how to use them to get the best results, we can help you with that here in the Writing Center.

Second, more often than not, there is a way to cite your source. Many students, myself included, come in afraid to use a source because they are unsure of how to cite it. My first stop is always The Everyday Writer. This book breaks the steps down to make citing your sources an easy process. The OWL at Purdue is a great online source that I use frequently for citation help, as well as many other writing tips. If you don’t find exactly what you’re looking for using these two resources, we have complete MLA and APA manuals in the Writing Center that we will gladly help you use to make the perfect citation.

Third, formatting can be frustrating, but it is probably an easy fix. If you are like me, you have probably had trouble formatting your Works Cited or References page correctly. You press tab to indent the second line of your citation, but instead of moving the single line, it moves the whole thing! This trick has made my life so much easier: highlight your entire citation, right click and go to the paragraph settings, then select the hanging indentation style. Who knew it could be so easy?

These are tips that I have learned along the way to enhance my writing process this semester. If you have any questions about the writing process we would love to help you here in the Writing Center. You can set up an appointment over the phone, via e-mail, or by stopping in Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

-Kali

RSU Writing Center Tip: Help with Resumes and Cover Letters

Technical Communications

Writing for the Professions

Tech Writing

Business Writing

These are the sort of terms we give to writing that is composed for an audience of business-minded folks, people looking to become employed, to hire employees, to manage employees, etc. I'm working on incorporating some of this kind of writing into my Composition courses for two main reasons:

1. It's writing! Those same concepts of writing process, purpose, and audience are just as important to this sort of writing. They translate across boundaries and are valuable in all majors.

2. A great writing exercise to employ (see what I did there?) is the job application materials assignment. It encourages students to think about their future, research potential employers, practice writing for a specific audience, familiarize themselves with the job hunting and hiring processes, generate templates for use during future job searches, and learn about how design can complement document function.

RSU Career Services can help you with your job search and has posted some resources to help you generate documents like resumes and cover letters.

Here's one more resource you could use as you work: the Resumes and Job Application page of the Bedford/St. Martin's Writing that Works textbook, 11th edition. Oh! And, if you have a copy of The Everyday Writer, check out chapter 64 (starts on page 552), "Writing for Business," for more models and advice.

Did you know you can bring job application documents to the Writing Center for help? We can help with any and all college-level writing tasks--including resumes, cover letters, and any other writing required during a job search. Just email writingcenter@rsu.edu for more information!

~Sara

Introduction to APA Style: The Basics

Recently, a student told me she was new to APA Style and felt completely lost. For anyone else who's just starting out with APA Style or who never received a formal introduction to APA Style, I HIGHLY recommend this tutorial from APA itself: just click here to access it! The tutorial is 21 minutes long and very thorough. You can pause it at any time to take notes or page through your APA Style Guide to mark the pages it references.

A second useful feature of the tutorial is that it's searchable. Just choose the Search tab on the right side of the screen once you've started the tutorial. Then, enter the term or phrase you want to find information about.

A final useful feature I'll mention here are the sample papers and reference examples that are included with the tutorial. They are mentioned during certain points of the tutorial, but you can access them at any time you have the tutorial open by clicking the tiny paperclip icon in the bottom right-hand corner of the slides.

Got more questions about APA in-text citations, the reference page, or formatting? Just email us at writingcenter@rsu.edu!

~Sara