McKinze's Reflection

My time in the Writing Center has taught me so much about working with others, reflecting in on myself, and about writing in general. Many students have come in asking for help with outlining or even simply understanding the assignment. I have found that one of the most helpful tips has been to analytically read the assignment sheets and try to gain a deep understanding of what the professor is asking the student to do. Along with fully understanding the prompt, the importance of pre-writing and outlining have also been main topics in my appointments this semester.

Personally, I have found creating an outline in the pre-writing phase to be effective, especially when I start typing a paper. If I have the paper set up logically with my main ideas and supporting details, it is much easier to make the paper flow smoothly and the writing process is actually quicker. Visually seeing what the ideas are and how they are connected them makes it easy to spot any issues with transitions and coherency.

Adding these two steps to my own writing process has really helped me organize my papers and has also made writing a much easier and faster process.

To any students who are having trouble thinking of a topic for their papers or getting started on writing their papers, I would strongly recommend utilizing outlines. Trying jotting down some ideas and thinking about what you could do with them in your assignment. By doing this, you can see what could and could not work and you would also be able to gauge your own interest in the topic. This is also a good place to work in evidence from sources, which will help greatly when the actual writing of the paper begins. If you have trouble figuring out how to organize the paper, write down all the main points you want to hit, then plug them into a logical outline.

Adding these two small steps to your writing process will greatly aid in the development of any paper.

-McKinze

The RSU Writing Center can help, even if you haven't started your paper yet!

Hi, all! Welcome back to another semester. A common question this semester that seems to have carried over from last semester is how to brainstorm and prewrite for assignments. Many students, especially freshmen, have never utilized any type of prewriting technique for their essays and this can cause problems in upper level courses when assignments can be more complex. Brainstorming and prewriting are effective and valuable for multiple reasons: they allow the writer to visually see the ideas, make connections between ideas, and organize the ideas in a logical manner. Many different steps to brainstorming and prewriting and multiple techniques can be applied. Some of these steps and techniques can be found in The Everyday Writer on pages 58-74.

The first step is to brainstorm by communicating ideas with others, freewriting, or even using more visual methods like clustering. From this phase, the writer can then narrow the topic and create some sort of tentative thesis that encompasses the idea of the paper. This can always be changed later but many professors require a working thesis statement before any drafts are crafted. The next step is to gather resources to support the topic of the paper, and that information must then be organized. This is usually where some students run into issues; a simple method to organizing main ideas and supporting points for an essay is to make some sort of outline or flow chart. Examples of these can be found on pages 71-73 of The Everyday Writer. After a plan has been made, it’s time to start writing!

The Writing Center also offers assistance for the brainstorming and prewriting steps of the writing process, so please set up an appointment with one of the tutors using http://rsuwc.setmore.com. All you have to do is sign in using your student email and password. We hope to see you soon and have a great semester!

-McKinze Hefner, RSU Writing Consultant

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. 

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-McKinze

McKinze's Reflection on the Semester

One of the best things about my job as a tutor is that I seem to learn something new every session. My writing process has developed tremendously during my time in the Writing Center, and my writing skills have greatly improved. One of the greatest improvements I have personally made this semester would definitely be my use of APA format. As an English major, I typically use MLA format in all my courses, but I have learned that various majors and degrees use different types of writing formats. This semester, we have had many Capstone students request assistance on their assignments, and I have had many students request help with APA format. I had never worked with APA before, so it was something I had to learn in order to better help other students. During appointments earlier in the semester, I actually learned the format along with the students I was assisting and I have not stopped learning about APA.

A few weeks ago, I worked with a student via email who requested assistance with her APA format in her Capstone project. She was extremely frustrated with APA and felt as if she could not get the hang of it. I was able to share my experience of learning APA format with her, and she seemed to relax. I think she needed to know that I was not an expert in APA and that I was just a student like her; I had to learn the format, too. It can be extremely frustrating, and I see so many students who become upset with themselves when they do not fully understand APA guidelines. I try to always remind them that I was in their shoes at one point and that every expert in APA, including their professor, was once a beginner struggling with the same issues.

Remember to check out the Writing Center page on the RSU website for some helpful links and a template for APA format. Here’s another helpful link with some general questions about APA.

Image Credit

-McKinze

Advice from McKinze: Finding Sources, Evaluating Sources, Citing Sources in MLA

No two appointments, students, or class assignments are alike. Each variation brings with it some unique questions and challenges. A reoccurring trend that I have noticed this semester has been students requesting help with finding and citing sources, particularly in MLA format. I had one student come in requesting help on an assignment that required her to use sources outside the classroom. She did not know how to use the RSU databases or how to even begin to look for sources. So we started from the very beginning, and I helped her figure out which database would offer the best sources and how to search for sources within the database. I explained that using the RSU databases is the quickest and most efficient way to find academic sources. After we were able to find some sources she could use and integrate into her paper, we discussed how to cite the sources properly.

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I have encountered many students who do not understand that different sources require different forms of citation. For example, this student believed that citing an article from a database is the same as citing an article from a web page, which is incorrect. After going over some basic MLA citations in The Everyday Writer, she was able to figure out how to cite the source with very little help from me. She also discovered that the MLA formatted citations that accompany many of the database articles and sources are incorrect. It is very important to never trust a citation that is digitally generated without double-checking for accuracy. This specific appointment made me realize that many students may be unaware that their every source must be cited in a particular way, and it is vital to understand exactly what they are working with in order to create an accurate citation. Although it might be the easy way, it is never a good decision to trust a citation that accompanies a source.

For more help, check out pages 420-447 in the RSU Edition of The Everyday Writer 5th edition, or go to this Purdue University Online Writing Lab link and click through the tabs on the left for information on how to cite specific sources.

-McKinze