writing-center-journal-no3

JOHNSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
IN THE POCKETS OF
YESTERDAY’S PANTS:
Theory, practice, theory
A J O U R N A L O F W R I T I N G C E N T E R P R A C T I C U M
W R I T T E N B Y P E E R W R I T I N G T U T O R S
FA L L 2 0 1 1 , N U M B E R 3

Evan Harmon
Peer Writing Tutor, Editor
CRLA I certified
Aaron Limoges
Peer Writing Tutor,
CRLA I certified
Gwen Flipse
administrative assistant,
CRLA II, 2008-current
Kathryn Byrne
Writing Center Director
Ehsan Avazpour
Peer Writing Tutor,
CRLA I certified
Brendan Light
Peer Writing Tutor,
CRLA I certified
Daniel Revard
Peer Writing Tutor,
CRLA I certified
Tess Neely
Peer Writing Tutor,
CRLA I certified
Maria Regidor Carvajal
Peer Writing Tutor,
CRLA I certified
Kate Claus
Peer Writing Tutor,
CRLA I certified
Luke Patrick
Peer Writing Tutor,
CRLA I certified
Erynne Daigneault
Peer Writing Tutor,
CRLA I certified
Morgan Daigneault
Peer Writing Tutor,
CRLA I certified
Betsy Overesch
Peer Writing Tutor,
CRLA I certified
Brandon True
Peer Writing Tutor,
CRLA I certified
Ondrej Pazdirek
Peer Writing Tutor,
CRLA I certified
Judy Knodel
administrative assistant,
1995-current
Contributors
Support
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Editor’s Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Evan Harmon
Personality Type Profiling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Aaron Limoges and Ehsan Avazpour
Learning Styles and Tutoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Daniel Revard
The Effects of Cultural Differences on Writing Style. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Brendan Light
Deaf Writers in the Writing Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Tess Neely
Reflecting on Revising Writing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Kate Claus
Writing Apprehension:The Secret Side of Writing Center Tutors . . . 25
Linguistics and Non-Native Speakers in the Writing Center . . . . . . . 30
Luke Patrick
Supplemental Instruction in Learning Communities:
A Semester of Trials, Successes and Reflections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Morgan Daigneault
Toward a Value System of Writing Centers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Evan Harmon and Erynne Daigneault
So Long, Farewell,Auf Wiedersehen,Adieu:
A Love Letter to the Writing Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Betsy Overesch
Reflecting Pool: On the Art of Staying Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Brandon True
Tragedy Amid Literature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Ondrej Pazdirek
The Feline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Luke Patrick
Another ZPD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Anonymous 2010

Editor’s Note
by Evan Harmon
Editing the journal this year was a new experience for me. Although it was
more difficult and time-consuming than I predicted, it was definitely worth
the effort because I learned a great deal. Being used to the hands-off,
writer-directed approach of peer tutoring, I found it challenging to find the
right balance between the sanctity of the writer’s text and my input as editor.
In peer tutoring situations authorship ultimately rests with the writer, but
introducing an editor muddies the water. Though even an overbearing editor
won’t equal the writer’s ownership of an article, I discovered that editing
results in an authorship that is not quite singular and not quite dualistic
either. The complexity of bidirectional collaboration on an article loses the
simplicity of authorship attribution down a rabbit hole and instead makes
authorship an irreducible unification of collaborators, however dominant one
writer may be. Though the majority of writing is done in relative isolation, I
learned that editing rarely can be. In many cases when I attempted even a
simple edit, I later found that it conflicted with a higher-order logic of the
article or it didn’t mesh with outside research I was previously unaware of.
As such, I found that editing should always occur in conjunction with an
in-depth understanding of the article, at least a tacit familiarity with the
relevant outside research, and most importantly, an open and collaborative
dialogue with the writer.
However minuscule my role as editor was for each article, I felt a great deal of
responsibility to each writer and article because I was consistently impressed by
the effort everyone put into their articles, the many insights they made, and
the quality of the writing itself.There’s a little something for everyone in this
year’s issue. Brendan discusses the connection between the cultural values
ofArabic and Japanese writers and their style of reasoning (both being quite
different fromWestern logical standards). Kate explores her experiences with
revising and just what exactly that entails in a tutoring context. Daniel looks
at how learning styles manifest in tutoring sessions and how familiarity with
research in this area can result in more effective tutoring sessions. Betsy
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shares a meaningful experience she had as a peer tutor and how her time
in the Writing Center would change her forever.Amy considers the common
but often challenging issues in tutoring continuing education writers.Aaron
and Ehsan write about psychological research on personality types and how
that has played a part in their tutoring experiences. Brandon reﬂects on his
long stay at the Writing Center and just how important a peer tutor can
sometimes be. Luke synthesizes his research on linguistics and non-native
speakers as well as showing his poetic talents in his original poem/textual
composition, “The Feline.” Maria discusses her personal experiences with
writing apprehension as well as research on that subject.Morgan summarizes
her time as a tutor in the college’s new Supplemental Instruction initiative
and how the program might best proceed in the future. Ondrej writes about
his fateful trip to the library in which he encountered an unconscious man
and resuscitated him by performing CPR – a day in the life of a JCCC peer
tutor and a metaphor perhaps for students with writer’s block.Tess highlights
the many issues involved in tutoring deaf writers. And ﬁnally, Erynne and I
analyze value systems in the Writing Center and what an ideal Writing
Center value system might look like. But personally, I learned the most by
editing this issue and talking about the various articles and research with my
fellow tutors.There’s a lot to dig into and I hope you learn as much as I did.
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Personality Type Profiling
Ehsan Avazpour and Aaron Limoges
Dr.JackTruschel,author of“Using the Myers-Briggs inTutoring:Understanding
Type,” states,
The Myers-Briggs does not “tell” a person what to do or be and
provide strengths and weaknesses associated with each profile type.
Remember,it is a self-reporting instrument which can be manipulated
and therefore should be used to support the manner in which you
interact with others.
If a tutor is to use personality trait theories to improve his/her methods for
improving information retention in writers, the tutor should first begin with
assessing his/her own personality.Though a complete psychoanalysis may not
be required,psychological theories on personality traits can help both the tutor
and the writer have a more productive tutoring session.
Although we believe that identifying all personality traits in a writer would be
ideal, we recognize that the time tutors have with the writer is very limited.
With this in mind, we concur that the identification of a writer as an introvert
or extrovert is the most important and easiest dimension for us to distinguish.
Knowing if a writer is an introvert or an extrovert opens the door for a myriad
of different approaches that the tutor can then choose according to the
particularities of the session.
Recognizing introversion and extroversion is far from difficult. In fact, many
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people do it naturally on a regular basis. However, to do this objectively, we
must know what specific traits to look for. An introvert is someone who is
generally quiet and reserved; they often prefer to be alone or in small groups.
Some people might believe that introverts are found isolated in dark, damp
rooms, either tearing their hair out or viciously scratching the walls like
Hannibal Lecter. But though they may seem difficult to talk to at times, this is
usually because they are internalizing and processing information. However,
most people tend to be extroverts. And while some might find extroverts
overbearing and manipulative – think Jim Jones (Don’t drink the Kool-Aid in the
Writing Center) – most are outgoing, sociable and nonmurderous.
For a tutor,knowing one’s own personality profile and motivators is invaluable.
This helpful information can be a tutor’s map,telling them where to go in order
to reach their preferred location. For example, if you are at a certain point with
an introverted writer, how do you get him or her to be more comfortable?
Making a writer feel relaxed is a major part of getting him or her to enjoy
writing. When learners are relaxed the creativeness flows freely, ideas come
quickly, and the stress of an assignment can turn to feelings of enjoyment and
accomplishment.Additionally, identifying the writer as an introvert or extrovert
can help both the tutor and writer avoid the dreaded “awkward silence.”
Truschel describes different personality profiles and some motivational theories.
He explains that knowing our own proclivities pertaining to personality can be
beneficial when tutoring.This is important because “[u]sing the Myers-Briggs
can provide us with a method to gain valuable insight into personality, reduce
defensiveness, and enhance our ability to appreciate differences and improve
our ability to work with others, and perhaps ourselves” (Truschel). Equally
important to understanding personality traits is knowing what motivates.Some
are motivated intrinsically, and some are motivated extrinsically. Determining
the motivation of a writer is useful information to have when setting goals for
the assignment that a writer is working on.
Recently I (Avazpour) worked with a very introverted writer who appeared
worried about his assignment and who seemed uncomfortable discussing
his paper with someone he didn’t know. This being very apparent from the
beginning of the session, I tried to relax the writer by asking questions that
I knew he could easily answer, just to get him talking. Once I felt he was
unwound enough to be comfortable with me – a normally loud and talkative
person – I continued to gather information about his assignment. Knowing
that conversing with an extrovert can be stressful for an introvert, I kept
my conversation to a minimum, focusing strictly on the assignment. This
writer was to read an article from his textbook and write a short summary/
response paper. He explained that he was having difficulties finding the
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main points of the article and would like help interpreting the author.
Continuing to focus on the assignment,we read through the article,paragraph
by paragraph, highlighting the main points and categorizing them into three
groups: pathos, logos, and ethos.This would later be helpful to him in order to
summarize the article and meet the assignment goals.We read a paragraph at
a time and described what the author was trying to get across to the reader,but
I could have improved by asking his opinion on each main point and there by
further engaged the writer.This questioning technique could have also given him
ideas and material that he could have incorporated into his response.Assisting
an introverted writer in being more vocal when brainstorming or creating an
outline for a paper could prove to be helpful.The writing would provide them
with many good ideas.With the limited experience we have tutoring, we find
that it is more effective to ask questions that concentrate on the assignment,
rather than ones that are personal in nature.Additionally,many introverts do not
enjoy being asked questions about themselves, even if they directly relate to
the assignment.
The interactions between introverts and extroverts can be quite difficult to
overcome; just look at Michael and Fredo Corleone in the 1972 classic The
Godfather.Michael is clearly an introvert,while Fredo is obviously an extrovert.
Michael disapproves of Fredo’s outgoing behavior in Las Vegas, and this leads
to disagreement. Eventually, in the sequel, The Godfather Part II, Fredo’s
activities result in an attempt on Michael’s life.Michael discovers this and gives
the order to leave Fredo floating downstream.Although experiences like this are
at least somewhat uncommon in the Writing Center, tension on a much lesser
scale still occurs between introverts and extroverts. If we recognize our own
personalities, we can make an effort to adapt to the writer’s needs without
getting “wacked.”Truschel clarifies:
Knowing our own type can assist us with understanding our strengths, what
works for us, how we think through issues and problems, and resolve the
question of why we behave as we do, rather than criticize our own behaviors.
We can use MBTI to better understand people and provide some rationale for
the manner in which they interface with us.
We fully agree with Dr.Truschel in respect to understanding ourselves. If we do
not know ourselves, how are we to know others? We believe that the insight
given to us by understanding our own motivators and personality traits can
be used to understand those around us, thus catering to the writer in a more
effective way and creating a comfortable and relaxed environment where the
writer may willfully and happily retain the knowledge to improve their writing.
In the process,they may also learn the most valuable lesson that we try writing.
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Reference
Truschel, Jack (2008, Sept. 15). Using the Myers-Briggs in Tutoring:
Understanding Type.The Journal of the Association for the Tutoring
Profession, 1(2). Retrieved from
http://www.myatp.org/Synergy_1/Syn_a7.htm
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Learning Styles
and Tutoring
Daniel Revard
Working in a Writing Center exposes peer writing tutors to many different
kinds of writers. The Writing Center at Johnson County Community College
helps writers of varying age, personality, language proficiency, motivation
level, and background.The Writing Center staff is required to adapt to all of
these variables while helping writers in the best way possible. Experienced
tutors know that not all sessions go smoothly; maybe an ESL student becomes
frustrated while trying to understand confusing grammar rules. Or a writer,
in a procrastination-induced panic, might attempt to start and finish an essay
three hours before the deadline. Or perhaps, the tutor and the writer just
don’t seem to click. One approach to help accommodate all kinds of writers
involves understanding how they learn. Several articles and books on learning
styles define different types of learners, show how to identify them by their
behavior, and explain useful tips for tutoring them. The Bedford Guide for
WritingTutors outlines three types of learners:visual,auditory and kinesthetic.
Leigh Ryan and Lisa Zimmerelli suggest specific strategies for the different
learning styles. For example, “Have student writers point to material as you
talk about it” (visual), “Read instructions, notes, or other material aloud”
(auditory), “Write sentences or sections of a paper on self-stick removable
notes” (kinesthetic) (60-61). Other articles identify more specific groups of
learners. In an article published in The Writing Lab Newsletter, Libby Miles,
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et. al. describe seven different “intelligences” that writers possess and how
they affect their preferred learning style. She goes into detail about the
behaviorisms and clues that help tutors identify writers of each dominant
style. This article consolidates writers into neat, separate groups with
instructions on how to handle them.Although this plan looks wonderful on
paper, as always, reality is far more complicated. While tutoring I have
noticed a few things about trying to figure out writers’ learning types.
Kathryn Byrne, director of the Johnson County Community College Writing
Center, requires all tutors to videotape their sessions multiple times during
the semester to give us an idea of how we are tutoring and to help us
improve. My videotaped tutoring sessions revealed my judgment of writers’
learning preferences to be skewed. For example, on one occasion, I tutored
a writer who was seeking help on a speech. During the session I began to
think that the writer was a dominant kinesthetic learner based on his
gestures and the topic of his paper. However, after reviewing the video, I
noticed that he portrayed strong visual learner characteristics, but also
responded well to my explanations and brainstorming suggestions. My
initial conclusion during the session was not complete, but, gratefully, without
realizing it, I had used techniques for tutoring all types of learners – visual,
auditory and kinesthetic. Evaluating writers’ learning preferences is difficult
for at least two reasons. On average, tutors spend about thirty minutes with
writers in a tutoring session. With this short window of time to observe a
person’s body language and responses, how can tutors make a conclusion
about a writer’s learning style? “Instant ‘diagnoses’ are neither possible nor
desirable (what if we ‘diagnose’ incorrectly?),” Miles explains (2). Unless the
tutor personally knows the writer, or they had worked together previously,
determining a definitive learning style is unlikely.Another factor that makes
analyzing writers difficult is that learning styles often overlap. Not surprisingly,
people almost always express strengths in multiple areas. “Although learners
may possess strong preferences, many exhibit preferences for two styles,”
Brown states (2). The fact that writers use a mixture of learning methods
makes pinpointing dominant preferences difficult, but at the same time, it
also takes pressure off the tutor.Since the world overflows with visual,auditory
and kinesthetic stimuli, if people leaned heavily on only one learning style,
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their learning potential would be quite limited in such a multimodal world
as today.Thankfully,people are very adaptive.Writers who come to theWriting
Center seeking help are generally willing to adjust. In order to accept
guidance on writing, writers require a certain amount of ﬂexibility to expand
ideas, learn new concepts, and adopt different viewpoints.Tutors must also
be accommodating simply because their job requires working with a large
variety of people. To effectively help learners of all kinds, tutors should be
familiar with learning styles and have the skills to tutor with different
approaches. Rather than categorizing a writer, the tutor should observe their
behavior and response and adjust tutoring strategies to maximize the
comfort and success of the session. Focusing on writers’ speciﬁc learning
styles is unnecessary because tutors and writers can adapt to each other,
creating a collaborative, working relationship, an environment especially
conducive to learning and one of the main goals of the Writing Center.
Works Cited
Brown, Stacey E.“Write with style:Working with writers’ learning styles.” The
Writing Lab Newsletter 27.8 (2003): 1-3.
Miles, Libby, et. al.“Exploring multiple intelligences in the writing center.” The
Writing Lab Newsletter 26.2 (2001): 1-5.
Ryan, Leigh and Lisa Zimmerelli. The Bedford Guide for Writing Tutors.
Boston: Bedford, 2010. Print.
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The Effects of
Cultural Differences
on Writing Style
Brendan Light
A week before the fall 2010 semester began, the Writing Center tutors got
together and went to a training program at the Diastole house in Kansas City,
Missouri. During the afternoon half of the session, we participated in a
forum – Ask A Tutor – where inexperienced tutors submitted anonymous
questions on notecards.The leaders of the forum read the questions out loud
and then let the experienced tutors respond providing their tutoring
knowledge and experiences. Many of the questions asked revolved around
tutoring sessions with ESL writers. Before that day, I had never really thought
about how I would work with ESL writers. I suddenly became worried.What
if I can’t tutor ESL writers? After having my first few tutoring sessions with
ESL writers, the fear quickly faded. ESL writers are often in the Writing Center
because they are eager and willing to learn English. Also, tutors can learn
quite a lot of information about the writers’ cultures, customs, traditions,
religions, and languages.All of these different aspects of culture are important
for a tutor’s knowledge because it can not only affect how an ESL writes, but
also the tutoring session in general.
In the first article I researched,“Politeness in theWriting Center:AnAnalysis of
NS Tutor and NNS Writer Discourse,” Gail Nash explored how politeness
varies from culture to culture. Actions deemed polite by tutors may be
deemed impolite to writers coming from different cultures. But different
research yields different results. For example, Penelope Brown and Stephen
Levinson’s research proposes a theory based on five basic strategies (qtd. in
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Nash). When their theories were tested in Nash’s Writing Center with
international writers, Nash found that Brown and Levinson’s least offensive
strategy,“off record,” was the most offensive strategy to international writers.
The “off record” communication strategy is characterized by the indirectness
of the speaker and implicit messages. The writers did not appreciate the
indirectness of the tutor and the lack of clarity (Nash). This same reversal
took place when Brown and Levinson’s most offensive strategy, “bald on
record,” was tested. The “bald on record” strategy is characterized by the
bluntness and directness of the speaker. However, foreign writers appreciated
the clarity of the tutor. Based on the research of Nalini Ambady, Eastern
cultures pay more attention to cues based on the personal relationship
and interpersonal relationship as opposed to the words being said (Nash).
Additionally, some cultures determine appropriate social distance differently
than people from the United States. For example, Koreans perceive less
social distance than native U.S. English speakers (Nash) which leads a
Korean student to find“bald on record”statements more acceptable than other
cultures.
I can confirm these findings with my experience in theWriting Center. I often
worked with a Korean writer who used “bald on record” statements when
she communicated with tutors. Our interactions were based on the
relationship between a tutor and a writer. Furthermore, she saw little
distance between us and was comfortable using “bald on record”
communication. However, tutors should not be expected to understand every
aspect of politeness from every culture. But based on these findings two
major points should be remembered when working with ESL and
International writers: focus on clarity when communicating and awareness
that ESL writers may come from a culture that values a different style of
communication (Nash).
The second article I researched, “Influence of Cultural and Linguistic
Backgrounds on the Writing of Arabic and Japanese Writers of English,” by
Bouchra Moujtahid, explored the writing of Arabic and Japanese writers.
Moujtahid ‘s focus was on how Zen Buddhism affects the writing of Japanese
writers. Writers from Arabic nations and Japan have been shown to exhibit
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two distinct language patterns. These two patterns present two common
communication styles in their writing.Arab writing tends to be more emotional
and embellished, whereas Japanese writing tends to be more simple and
understated. Arabic culture values rhetoric and writing that focuses on
exaggeration of words and ideas, as opposed to the Western emphasis on
logic and reasoning. Arabic language is focused on exaggeration and
relaxed realism because the language reflects the hopes of theArab speaker
or writer instead of the reality of the situation. Emphasis is also required in
Arabic culture to prove a strong point (Moujtahid).
This greatly contrasts with the writing of Japanese writers. The logic and
organizational structure of the West is not a valued structure in Japanese
culture. Moujtahid claims Japanese culture values simple observations in
writing because of the influence of Zen Buddhism. The culture recognizes
that the use of verbal language itself has the tendency to misrepresent a
fundamental reality that cannot be fully expressed in words. Japanese writing
therefore tends to eschew the logical and reductive analysis common in the
West in favor of short and simple observations about the subject – “flash
insights” – that are intended to evoke an intuitive understanding from the
reader.When a Japanese writer comes to the U.S. he or she can have difficulty
writing because of this skepticism about the ability of language and logic to
penetrate reality coupled to the common feeling among Japanese writers
that writing point by point logical argument is overly mechanical and boring
(Moujtahid).
In one session with a Chinese student I found this research to be very helpful.
This writer wrote a profile paper for her Composition I course. During the
tutoring session, one of the concerns we focused on was brainstorming and
finding clear topic sentences for each paragraph.Sometimes her topic sentence
was at the bottom of the paragraph after she had made all of her observations
on the topic, an example of the “flash insight” writing attributed to Zen
Buddhism. All of her observations and reasoning came before the topic
sentence. Although she did spend time making sure each of her sentences
within each paragraph clearly connected with her topic sentence for that
paragraph.
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An international writer’s culture influences how he or she writes as well as
how he or she interacts with a tutor. Although a tutor cannot be expected
to be an expert on every culture’s definition of politeness, understanding
that different cultures have different definitions is beneficial for tutors. If
tutors at least understand that, then he or she can experiment during the
tutoring session and figure out which strategy of communication works best
for that writer.And similarly, tutors need not be familiar with the underlying
philosophies of every culture and how that influences their thought processes
and writing to have a positive tutoring session. As the research comparing
Arabic writing to Japanese writing shows, some writers might be operating
from a very different perspective and value system than what is common in
theWest.One doesn’t need to be an expert onArabic culture or Zen Buddhism
to be aware of this and to know that awareness and specificity is beneficial
and to approach tutoring with an open mind.
Works Cited
Moujtahid, Bouchra. “Influence of Cultural and Linguistic Backgrounds on
the Writing of Arabic and Japanese Students of English.” The Writing
Lab Newsletter 21 (1996): 1-6.Web. 9 Nov. 2010.
Nash, Gail. “Politeness in the Writing Center: An Analysis of NS Tutor and
NNS Student Discourse.” The Writing Lab Newsletter 31.4 (2006):
1-6.Web. 9 Nov. 2010.
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Deaf Writers in the
Writing Center
Tess Neely
Working in theWriting Center this year has been an amazing experience for
me. It was fairly spectacular knowing that I was able to help different people
from all walks of life with their writing, even if the writing task was small. I
particularly enjoyed working with the Deaf writers that came in for help. So,
I chose to research Deaf writers compared to non-Deaf writers. I was even
able to videotape one of my sessions with a Deaf writer that I have worked
with several times to further my research.
Most important in understanding Deaf writers is that Standard English is
different from the language that Deaf writers use, which is American Sign
Language, orASL.ASL has drastic differences because it is a visual language,
such as unconventional subject-verb order, no verb tenses, no “to be” verbs,
no possessive markers, no plural markers, nor articles which with no surprise
are the most common issues within the written work of a Deaf writer. Deaf
writers don’t generally have any problems with organization unless they are
beginning writers.
The session that I recorded is a great example of this. I had worked with this
writer before, so I had previous experience with her writing. In this particular
session, her paper was a continuation of one of her other papers that we had
worked on.We sat together, and I moved the curser across the words like a
pointer, so we were, in essence, reading the paper together.We were basically
just looking for the particular errors listed above, especially missing articles.
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Other than those common errors, her paper was organized well. If I noticed
an error, I would spell out the main error using the sign language alphabet,
and she could usually tell immediately what she had missed before I had
even ﬁnished spelling it. When a deaf person is given a correction, usually,
they can identify it. They are so used to their own language that constant
translation of Deaf into English is hard for them and it changes the way they
portray certain ideas – they sometimes try to remain true to the meaning in
their language by keeping the written word in original phrasing. Writing in
English, they can still get the idea across; it just comes across differently.
Many people falsely believe that Deaf means limited comprehension, but it
is not true. I feel that this particular fact is very important. Their writing
differences are similar to ESL writers, not to those with low language or
cognitive ability.And even still, many people immediately assume that Deaf
writers are not very intelligent; they do not realize that the many errors Deaf
writers make are language acquisition differences. Plus, they don’t use all of
the extra words that we do.
I think that understanding how sign language is structured is a major step
in understanding the thought processes of a Deaf writer and key to effectively
communicating with them. Even if a tutor does not know sign language
(I only know the alphabet and a few other common signs), understanding
its particular structure is just as important as recognizing that many foreign
language speakers reverse their adjectives and nouns.
Works Cited
Schmidt, Katherine, Marta Bunse, Kynzie Dalton, Nicole Perry, and
Kayla Rau.“Lessening the Divide: Strategies for Promoting Effective
Communication Between Hearing Consultants and Deaf Student-
Writers.” The Writing Lab Newsletter. 33.5. (Jan. 2009): 6-10. The
Writing Lab Newsletter.The RiCH Company LLC. 17 Feb. 2011.Web.
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Reflecting on
Revising Writing
Kate Claus
When I write, I enjoy the revision process, and I often end up with at least
five or six versions of the same paper before I consider it complete. As a
tutor in the Writing Center at Johnson County Community College (JCCC), I
struggle to define what exactly “revision” means and to help writers not only
revise their work but learn to revise beyond the tutoring session. By reflecting
on my tutoring sessions, I now realize that I have developed skills to help
writers learn to revise their work.
Defining what“revising”means varies from resource to resource.For example,
Dictionary.com defines“revise”as“to alter something already written or printed,
in order to make corrections, improve, or update: to revise a manuscript”
(“Revise”). Just about everything tutors do during a tutoring session could
fall into that definition,from pointing out a comma splice to making suggestions
about generalities in a thesis statement. The textbook, The Norton Field
Guide to Writing with Readings, further refines the role of revising in writing.
The textbook dedicates several chapters to revising and even includes a
separate chapter on the editing and proofreading process. Before editing
and proofreading, writers should revise work in order to improve the focus,
clarity and organization of their work (Bullock 236-246).
In the JCCCWriting Center,we have our hierarchy of concerns to help prioritize
what should be revised first. From top priority to lowest priority, the hierarchy
includes assignment goals, clear focus, organization, paragraphs, sentences,
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words and style. In an ideal tutoring session, tutors would guide writers
through the revision process by first looking at the entire essay and helping
the writer assess the focus, structure and clarity of ideas in the paper.
However, life rarely goes according to plan, and that holds true for my
experience in the Writing Center too. At first, I found it a struggle to both
convey the depth of a good revision as well as impart ways to revise. I also
encountered situations that made it difficult to focus on higher-level revision
issues. In my second videotaped tutoring session, the writer, Ashley*, had
exactly an hour to revise her paper, including the time for the tutoring session.
In this situation, I realized that any major issues with thesis statement, support
of thesis and conclusion would be hard to complete within the timeframe.
Instead,I tailored the tutoring session to areasAshley could easily fix during the
remaining time,such as adding needed commas and replacing some of the“to
be” verbs in her paper. However, I did mention the importance of tying the
conclusion back into the introduction and thesis statement. Reflecting on
this situation, I realized that imparting revision skills sometimes involves the
conversation during the session. Ashley may not have had time to make any
needed major revisions to her current paper, but she may be able to take some
of my suggestions for revision and apply them to the next paper.
Another “less-than-ideal” situation that I encountered happened during the
videotaping of my third reflection. In that tutoring session, Lisa* only cared
about her grammatical mistakes. Instead of focusing on issues higher up on
the revision checklist, we stuck to grammatical issues, specifically subject-verb
agreement, pronouns and articles.Although we didn’t focus on higher level
concerns, I did try to take the conversation to other topics in revision, such
as her supporting paragraphs. For me, this tutoring session illustrates the
balance that I face as a tutor. Lisa did need help with her grammar, which
was her main concern, and while I strive to focus on higher-level revision
issues, sometimes the best thing is to focus on the lower-level issues instead.
On the other hand,sometimes writers are more open to working on larger-scale
issues. Lee* came into the Writing Center for help with a research paper.
When I asked what his main concerns were, he actually went straight to
22

higher-level concerns. Speciﬁcally, he said that he wanted to make sure that
his arguments were clear and that the evidence supported his paper. I read
his paper aloud, and we worked on smaller-hierarchy issues as we read
through the paper.After reading through it, we focused on the higher-level
issues. Overall, his paper was well-articulated. We paid attention to his
introduction because I found that a quote he used to support his argument
was actually confusing and possibly conﬂicted with his thesis statement. I
suggested that he go back to his source material to double check the meaning
and to consider revising that section.
In another recent tutoring session,I worked withAnne* on higher-level revision
concerns, from ensuring the paper met assignment goals to strengthening
her introduction and conclusion.Anne’s paper contained excellent information,
but some of the information seemed out of place or too long. We talked
about how often a paper will contain material that can be rearranged to
clarify a writer’s message and to help strengthen introductions and conclusions.
In this case, she moved a quote from the middle of her paper, where it was
lost, to the conclusion.With bothAnne and Lee, I felt like the tutoring sessions
mirrored the more ideal situation where a tutor helps a writer examine the
clarity, organization, and focus of their ideas.
Over the course of tutoring, I have found several tactics that can help student
writers think about revising beyond the tutoring session. First, I point out
the Hierarchy of Concerns signs that we have in the Writing Center. It’s a
tangible artifact that people can see and touch. I also discuss some of the
other tools we have in the Writing Center, such as the Editor software.
Additionally, I mention strategies that work for me, such as reading the paper
out loud or going sentence by sentence to see if each one makes sense. I
will also stress the importance of a strong thesis statement and how each
paragraph and the conclusion should work to support that thesis.
In summary,for me to get caught editing a paper and avoiding the higher-level
revision conversations is easy,especially when grammatical mistakes overwhelm
a paper or the writer has a tight deadline. To focus on the higher-level
revision elements, I refer to theWriting Center’s Hierarchy of Concerns signs
23

in a tutoring session, I ask the writer about their speciﬁc concerns in the
paper, and I point to the thesis statement and talk through whether the main
points and conclusion all support the thesis. Over the months of tutoring, I
feel more comfortable working with writers on higher-level revision issues.
*All names have been changed.
Works Cited
Bullock, Richard and Maureen Daly Goggin. The Norton Field Guide to Writing
with Readings.2nd ed.NewYork:W.W.Norton & Company,2010.Print.
“Revise.” Dictionary.com. N.p.Web. 12 Nov. 2010.
24

Writing
Apprehension:
The Secret Side
of Writing Center
Tutors
As peer tutors at the Johnson County Community College Writing Center,
we are asked to deal with hundreds of different assignments every semester.No
matter what the assignment is, we should always help those who visit the
Writing Center become better writers; but what happens when we encounter
a specific assignment that we are not particularly good at ourselves? In other
words, what should we do when we find that we have writing apprehension
with the type of writing we’re supposed to be helping others?As I researched
writing apprehension, I came across some interesting sources that looked at
peer tutors’ writing apprehension and ways in which it can affect tutoring
sessions. I came to the realization that, while it is important to understand
why the people I tutor can sometimes be apprehensive, it is also important
to know what types of writing make me apprehensive. By figuring out when
and why I become apprehensive about my own writing and how to overcome
this, I can help other students do the same.
As a student, I have noticed that I have some apprehension writing research
papers.The idea of not only researching, but of using the work of experts in
my own papers is usually a daunting one, and it becomes even more stressful
when I have to use more than two sources. Research papers take hard work.
It is easy to get stuck and hard to continue on when stuck happens. If picking
a topic isn’t the hard part, then finding good, credible sources is. If those
two aren’t a problem, then the task of sitting down and putting all the
sources together in a way that is understandable, informative and creative
25

is. One method that has helped me deal with this seemingly overwhelming
feeling is to think of the research paper as a task that can only be tackled
in small steps: first, pick a good topic; second, do research; third, write an
outline; fourth, write a rough draft; finally, revise that rough draft several
times.This way I don’t get bogged down by thinking about the immensity of
the task in front of me. I never really saw my apprehension towards research
papers as needing more thought; I just figured it was a process we all went
through and that research papers just weren’t my forte. Early in the fall 2010
semester, I sat down at a tutoring session with a writer who made a comment
that bothered me for some time.As we talked about his assignment, he told
me that he thought the assignment was too difficult for a Composition I
class. He added, “That’s not something you would know anything about
though; you’re a writing tutor.” I didn’t quite know how to respond to this.
I thought his statement was unfair because I felt he believed that writing just
came to me easily, naturally, and that I never had to worry about a difficult
assignment.As I explained above,some assignments for me are always difficult
to do, and tutors can have as much trouble with them as the writers they
tutor.This experience with him made me realize that many writers come into
the Writing Center and expect tutors to be perfect writers that never have
trouble writing.After I got over my original hurt, if we can call it that, I also
realized that writing anxiety was a topic from which more knowledge could
come in handy, both as a student and as a peer tutor.
In an article titled “The Effects of Writing Apprehension on the Teaching
Behaviors of Writing Center Tutors,” Patrick Bizzaro and Hope Toler explain
that, “writing apprehension seems to arise among all writers in all fields,
regardless of their abilities and successes as writers, not because they lack
skill … but because of their past experiences as writers” (38). Bizzaro and
Toler set out to determine if the writing apprehension of tutors had any
relationship to the styles they use to tutor (40).They discovered that “there
is a correspondence between dimensions of writing apprehension and specific
teaching behaviors” (Bizzaro and Toler 43). For example, if a tutor doesn’t
believe she can write clearly and doesn’t like to have her writing evaluated,
she is more likely to simply fix a writer’s errors instead of looking for the cause
26

of the errors. She won’t usually wait for the writer to make discoveries about
her own writing (Bizzaro andToler 43).Their research shows that it is important
for tutors to be aware of their own apprehensions so that they can deal with
them and make sure that they are not passed on to the writers they tutor.
I often work with writers who find themselves experiencing writing
apprehension, and I feel it is up to me to help these writers overcome those
feelings. One of the best feelings I get as a peer writing tutor is when I help
my peers get one step closer to overcoming their writing anxieties. I usually
start out by telling the writer that I know it is not easy and by giving them
some suggestions that have helped me overcome my own apprehension. I
usually tell them about how helpful it has been for me to think of research
papers as being a process and to give myself plenty of time to finish my
assignment. Or I might tell the writer how writing just for fun and not for a
grade helps me figure out where and when putting my ideas down on paper
is best. When Nina* came in to the Writing Center saying she needed help
starting a paper, I jumped at the opportunity to help her. She had to write a
research paper for her Introduction to Early Education class, and she needed
help figuring out how to format her paper using APA style. She told me at
the start of our session that she wouldn’t have a problem using the article
she found in one of the databases to write her paper, but she was really
stressed about how to format her paper. She told me she couldn’t start her
paper because she was too anxious about following the rules of APA style.
As I worked with Nina, I saw that she exhibited some characteristics of an
apprehensive writer. McLeod explains that an apprehensive writer may work
hard at the task at hand but may be too anxious to concentrate (428). She
also explains that a writer may try to find excuses for not writing, rather than
sit down and write (McLeod 429). Nina showed both of these traits in our
tutoring session.She mentioned a few times that she wouldn’t have a problem
writing the paper once she learned how it should be formatted; this showed
that she just could not concentrate on writing the paper because she was
apprehensive about the part she didn’t know how to do. She had also
procrastinated and waited until two days before her paper was due to come
into the Writing Center and get some help. I made sure I gave Nina some
27

advice on how to overcome her anxiety, but since she didn’t want help with
the actual paper, only with the format, I concentrated on telling her that I
knew how frustrating usingAPA or MLA for the first time could be. I told her
about the first time I used APA for a psychology research paper and about
how nervous I felt at first. I pointed out that when I looked at the handout
and started writing my essay it became a lot easier. I hoped that by telling
her my own experiences I could help her realize that as she went through the
writing process writing her paper would become easier.After talking a little
more about her topic, going through the APA handout, and going over her
assignment sheet, Nina told me she was ready to get started. She told me
the information I had given her about usingAPA to write her paper was very
helpful. I feel that my previous experience with learning how to use APA on
my own really helped me ease her anxieties about having to learn a new way
of formatting and citing her work. I was happy I could show her through my
own experience. Even though APA formatting may seem hard at first, once
a writer knows what he or she is doing, it becomes a lot easier. I also believe
that knowing our own apprehensions towards writing is very important
when it comes to tutoring (Bishop 38). Knowing I feel apprehension when
writing research papers helps me decide how I want to use that knowledge
of apprehension in my tutoring sessions – either to tell the writer that can
be worked out or by making sure that I don’t transfer my apprehension to
him or her. I know that instead of telling the writer that I hate to write
research papers because they make me anxious, I can give them the tools
they need to overcome their own anxieties and improve their writing.
*Name has been changed.
Works Cited
Bishop, Wendy. “We’re All Basic Writers: Tutors Talking About Writing
Apprehension.” The Writing Center Journal 9.2 (1989): 31-42. Eric.
Web. 8 Nov. 2010.
Bizzaro, Patrick, and Toler, Hope. “The Effects of writing Apprehension on the
Teaching Behaviors of Writing Center Tutors.” The Writing Center
Journal 7.1 (1986): 37-43. Eric.Web. 8 Nov. 2010.
28

McLeod,Susan.“SomeThoughts about Feelings:TheAffective Domain and the
Writing Process.” College Composition and Communication 38.4
(1987): 426-435. JStor.Web. 8 Nov. 2010.
29

Linguistics and
Non-Native
Speakers in the
Writing Center
Luke Patrick
As tutors,the importance of a basic understanding of the linguistic sciences should
not be underestimated. Its usefulness is not limited to only understanding
English better.Every day numerous writers from other countries come in asking
for help with their writing skills.These writers are working incredibly hard toward
gaining a better understanding of English.Because of this,having at least some
understanding of another language is important.If I can truly understand where
a writer is coming from, I can help him or her that much more. Linguistics is a
valuable asset to the Writing Center because it improves the understanding
between tutor and writer due to the frequent evocation of problem-solving
thought processes.
Linguistics is not just a word that rolls nicely off the tongue. It is the science
of language. Language itself is more than what we speak, more than the
rules of grammar and phonemes. It also consists of how we think. In 2005,
George Lakoff, professor of cognitive science and linguistics at UC Berkley,
gave a fascinating lecture on how language is used in politics. While not
dealing with second language acquisition, Lakoff’s lecture focused on how
words shape our thinking as well as our brain. He explained that when we
hear or read words or phrases we make automatic connections to other
words, phrases, ideas or objects. So, a simple phrase like “You are now
breathing manually” will make an audience instantaneously focus on their
own lungs. Lakoff also mentioned that the word in German for “guilt” and
“debt” are the same.The direct association between these two words involves
30

a moral balance to German speakers. Lakoff’s lecture demonstrates how the
words we use frame our thought, and how we make connections.
In her book, Decoding ESL,AmyTucker explains that the sense of time in the
Chinese language is rather different than in the English language. In English,
if the scene happened in the past,every verb must be past tense.Yet,in Chinese,
the writer would simply start off their statement with an explanation of the
time frame and go from there with the understanding that everything is past
tense. Tucker uses a rather apt observation from Charles Thompson who
states that “... the English speaker’s version of time is ‘an ever-rolling stream’
with the Chinese speaker’s sense of time as a series of discontinuous units
occurring in succession ….” This is important to keep in mind when tutoring
Chinese writers.They tend to have difficulty dealing with verb tenses, and as
such, need extra focus on them.
Yet, no clear-cut rules arise when tutoring someone who is studying English
as a second language. So, while lines like “Korean students have trouble
with articles” may be useful in some cases, the claim has only limited use on
the whole. To be a supportive tutor, helping writers understand grammatical
concepts, takes proper framing of the mind.This framing is especially true if
the tutor in question is a non-native speaker who is unsure of some of the
grammar rules and terminology when helping ESL. If a sentence or phrase
does not look or sound right, I think of the correct phrasing, compare the
two, and then decide what the difference is. Remember, tutors can explain
grammar issues in their own words, without using terminology the writer
might not know. So, do not be afraid to explain something differently, using
simpler terms, or a useful metaphor. For instance, if the introduction on a
writer’s paper is abrupt and jarring, the tutor should say something like,
“Think of the introduction like a pool.You don’t want to throw your reader in
head first.Ease them into the water,one leg at a time.”All a proper explanation
needs is a useful frame of mind and sometimes a different angle if the first
framing does not work.This linguistic framing is a valuable asset in theWriting
Center. It allows a tutor to connect with writers and ultimately help them
learn.
31

Works Cited
Lakoff, George. “Moral Politics.” Youtube.com. 17 Oct. 2005. Web. 13 May
2011.
Tucker, Amy. Decoding ESL: International Students in the American College
Classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook Publishers Inc., 1995,
Print.
32

Supplemental
Instruction in
Learning
Communities:
A Semester of
Trials, Successes
and Reﬂections
Morgan Daigneault
In the fall of 2009, I was honored with the opportunity to become a tutor in
the Johnson County Community CollegeWriting Center. For three semesters
I worked in theWriting Center, assisting a wide variety of students on a walk-in
basis. However, beginning in spring 2011, English Instructor Beth Gulley and
Reading instructor Dianne Rottinghaus launched a Learning Community
(LCOM) course, which combined ENGL 102 (Writing Strategies) and RDG
125 (Fundamentals of Reading).After they had discussed possible applicants
with Kathryn Byrne, JCCC’s Writing Center director, I was invited to become
an SI tutor.At the core of the LCOM strategy lays the concept of Supplemental
Instruction (SI), which aims to increase academic performance and retention
in “high-risk” classes. At JCCC, both ENGL 102 and RDG 125 historically
have higher attrition rates and lower performance levels, which made them
good candidates for the SI approach. Other colleges deﬁne SI implementation
differently;some colleges use SI for gateway classes to upper division coursework;
some use it for upper-level coursework with low persistence and success
rates. Some SI programs use SI tutors as “model students” in class, while
others do not. An SI model student attends every class and mimics good
student behavior by raising his or her hand when students become confused
during lecture, bringing necessary materials (books, pens, paper) to class,
storing handouts and notes appropriately, and keeping track of all due and
graded work. The purpose of the SI tutor in class is to show students “how
33

school is done.”
SI tutors also provide regularly scheduled,peer-facilitated study sessions outside
of class. SI tutors lead study sessions as a way to engage students in the
material introduced in class before too much time has passed and to reinforce
understanding of concepts while helping students learn the value of study
groups. I was the first SI tutor hired for the burgeoning Learning Communities
program and these were the basic job duties. Additionally, I worked closely
with the two course instructors. At the end of this first semester, I have
discovered significant differences between SI and Writing Center tutoring
while encountering both success and frustration along the way.
Before the semester began, I was anxious. Neither I nor the teachers I worked
with had any prior experience in dealing specifically with SI, but thankfully
Kathryn Byrne was able to provide guidance throughout the process. Kathryn
used to be an SI tutor herself, so she was a good resource for questions and
concerns. She provided us with literature about SI tutoring as well as
research articles so we could familiarize ourselves with the world of SI.After
our initial meetings, we made tentative plans, set our expectations, and dove
right into the semester. One of the first changes for me was interacting with
the same students every weekday.Arendale states,“the SI leader’s attendance
at each class meeting is considered essential to SI effectiveness” (1994).
Based on my time with SI, I found this to be true, and one of the key
differences between SI tutoring and Writing Center tutoring. In the Writing
Center, the assistance tutors provide often relies on the writer’s perception
of what was covered in class and the assignment guidelines. Often these
ideas of what occurred in class and what the assignment actually entails are
distorted to some degree. SI tutors, on the other hand, engage in the
classroom experience along with the very students they are assisting, which
allows them to bring a fuller understanding of the concepts and assignments
to the tutoring table. Due to my participation in the classroom, I definitely felt
more involved with the students and better able to assist them in study
sessions because of my awareness of assignments and upcoming exams.
As an SI tutor, I am also in the unique position to communicate directly with
34

the instructors to discuss student progress or any other issues that may arise.
In theWriting Center,interaction occurs only with the writer seeking assistance.
When a writer states they don’t understand a concept or assignment, they
will often claim that the instructor did not adequately discuss the assignment
guidelines or concepts to be studied.As tutors, this can impair our ability to
help students and ensure that the assignment is heading in the right
direction. On the other hand, in SI, if some sort of communication breakdown
occurs or if the students are simply having a hard time with an
assignment/concept, such concerns can be discussed directly with the
instructor(s). In this way, an SI acts as a liaison between student and teacher.
“… [A]s the SI leader seeks the instructor’s counsel in dealing with student
concerns, the instructor gains the kinds of information necessary to make
instructional changes, or to add new dimensions to the course,” state Blanc,
DeBuhr, and Martin (1983). Being able to discuss issues with the instructors
and seek clariﬁcation on concepts proved to be a very useful complement to
my tutoring. I feel that the instructors also beneﬁted from these exchanges
and enjoyed being“in the loop”about what was working and what wasn’t. SI
not only improves the tutor-student relationship, it can also improve
students’ relationships with their peers. Many courses provide a classroom
experience focused largely on individual student learning, and the Writing
Center tutors focus on individual interaction with students rather than group
collaboration. Some classes do have more of an interactive element, such
as group discussion or cooperative projects, but SI in particular has shown
potential to increase the level of student engagement with their peers, even
outside of the classroom and without supervision. A North Carolina State
University study found “substantial evidence that a community college can
offer supplemental instruction to enable … students to independently interact
with each other in their studies and coursework outside the classroom”
(Maxwell, 1998).The evidence was gathered by collecting opinions expressed
by students and subsequent surveys of study habits. The students I worked
with were at an introductory level as far as study habits, so I felt part of my
duty was to show them how to work together and help each other out. I
often encouraged them to study together outside of our scheduled sessions,
though I am unaware that this ever occurred except for at the very end of
35

the semester. As with all new endeavors, sometimes the road to success
becomes fraught with bumps and detours. My first semester as an SI tutor
was no exception. I maintained a blog to keep track of assignments,
happenings, and concerns. Occasionally, I would use the blog as an outlet for
my own frustrated thoughts: Did my daily presence have any impact? Why
were the students not turning in their assignments? Was I helping at all, with
anything? One of the biggest issues, by far, was attendance.At the beginning
of the semester, the students were informed of the unique attendance policy
associated with the LCOM section: if a student is absent six times, an
instructor can drop them from the class and from all classes in which they
are currently enrolled. Out of the original five students enrolled in the class,
two were dropped for attendance.The remaining three completed the course
but were each absent well above the “maximum” outlined in the syllabi and
were tardy nearly every day.This was perhaps the most frustrating aspect of
my experience as an SI tutor as I often wondered how I could have a
positive impact if the students were not around enough to benefit from the
presence of an SI. Since the class size was so small, even one student’s
absence would make the classroom feel empty. On one occasion, no students
showed up to class at all, and after twenty minutes of waiting, we decided
to leave and try again the next day. These instances really affected my and
the instructors’ morale, as we wondered how we could motivate the
students to show up to class.
Outside of attendance, I had to learn from and adapt to other situations.
Conducting study sessions in a group format was new to me as I was used
to the one-on-one tutoring experience of the Writing Center. However, I
found the transition fairly easy as I managed to establish and maintain a
good rapport with the students early on. My original approach was to ask
the students what they wanted to focus on, and the answer was almost
inevitably “homework.” Both instructors would regularly assign out-of-class
work to be done on various software and website platforms, such as Glencoe
and Advancer, and these software programs were often what the students
chose to do. I eventually came to feel that in doing this I was not helping the
students learn concepts or develop their writing skills, but rather was acting
36

more as a “standby” to assist them when they had trouble with a single
question on their homework. I brought up my concern with the instructors,
and we agreed that prior to an SI session I would discuss with them any
material or assignments they would like me to work on with the students.
Instead of letting the students simply do their homework, which they could
work on in their own time, I would be more active in keeping the session
focused on whatever topic was previously agreed upon by the instructors.
After implementing this change in strategy, I immediately noticed that the
sessions felt more productive and meaningful to me and the students. A
particularly memorable study session resulting from this change involved
starting a rough draft for an upcoming paragraph essay.The students had not
yet started their drafts, so I led them in a brainstorming session. I showed
them different ways to get their ideas down on paper and narrow down the
options to their topic of choice. Overall, the session was a success, and the
students left with focus and good attitudes. Beginning an assignment can be
the hardest part of the writing process for students, and I was happy to teach
them a skill they could carry on to future assignments.
At the end of the semester, I was pleased to learn that, according to a
comparison of test results, the students had made marked improvements in
their reading skills.At the beginning of the semester, the students were read-
ing at the fourth and ﬁfth grade level, and by the end of the semester, each
student had made a leap of three or four grade levels. This news made me
feel very proud; at last, some concrete evidence that their experience with
the LCOM and SI had helped after all! The students’ writing skills had also
improved over the semester as they had learned to recognize some of their
common errors with grammar and punctuation.The students even managed
to coordinate meeting times outside of class and scheduled SI sessions to
complete a collaborative Grammar Handbook at the end of the semester.
The handbook was their ﬁnal project for the writing component of the LCOM
section, for which they received an “A.” In addition to improved skill level,
the students also frequently spoke favorably of the class structure and SI
sessions and seemed to have developed a sense of camaraderie due to the
smaller class size and the time spent together.Though the act of tutoring can
37

feel very personal in nature – after all, students are looking to us for help,
and we are doing our best to share our knowledge – I feel more invested in
the students as an SI than I felt previously as a tutor in the Writing Center,
perhaps a natural consequence of helping the students outside of class and
experiencing the class along with them; I am there every day in class, I am
doing all of the same assignments, and I am taking all of the same tests.
This position is unique in that I get to not only be seen as someone who is
able to help, but to also be seen as a peer and, to some extent, as a friend.
I grew to care very much about the students in the class and wanted to see
them succeed, and in some ways I felt responsible for helping them to make
progress and disappointed when reality did not meet my optimistic
expectations. That being said, one of the most important lessons I learned
from my ﬁrst semester of SI is that tutoring can’t be taken too personally.
Though helping students is certainly a part of my function as an SI, there
are times when one must step back and not take personal issue with lack of
attendance or poor performance.A part of this job is learning how to make
students realize that they are ultimately in charge of their own success and
that SI is only one of many steps paving their path to success. In the end, I
can help point students in the right direction, but they each get to decide
which way they would like to go.
My ﬁrst semester of SI provided valuable learning experiences for me as a
tutor, and I will use my observations and lessons learned to provide an even
more productive and helpful experience to students in the coming semesters.
Classes will now meet only a few times a week for longer periods, rather than
much shorter periods every single day, a change which I feel can have only
a positive impact on attendance. Through feedback received from the
instructors, I now know that my presence in the classroom does have an
impact on student behavior, and I will continue to remain engaged enough
to encourage questions and discussion without doing the students’ work for
them. I also have a better grasp of how to maintain control over the group
study sessions and will continue to collaborate with the instructors to
remain focused and improve my methods. Additionally, I resolve to do a
better job keeping my blog updated so that I can keep track of my own
38

thoughts, student progress and class activities. Despite the occasional stumble I
encountered along the way, the differences between tutoring in the Writing Center
and tutoring as an SI are more clear to me, and I look toward the next semester with
renewed, informed optimism.
Works Cited
Arendale, D. R. (1994). Understanding the supplemental instruction model.
New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 1994: 11–21. DOI:
10.1002/tl.37219946004
Blanc, R. A., DeBuhr, L. E., & Martin, D. C. (1983). Breaking the attrition cycle:
the effects of supplemental instruction on undergraduate performance and
attrition. The Journal of Higher Education, 1983: 80-90. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/ 1981646
Maxwell, W. E. (1998). Supplemental instruction, learning communities, and
students studying together. Community College Review, 1998: 26,
1-18. DOI:10.1177/009155219802600201
39

Toward a Value System
of Writing Centers
Evan Harmon
Erynne Daigneault
Just what is it that we try to accomplish in theWriting Center?What exactly do
we value? What should we value? In many ways it is difficult to answer these
fundamental questions. Yet, it is crucial we answer them well because poorly
constructed value systems can harm both the Writing Center in addition to
anyone who walks through its door. So why is this basic question of value a
difficult one to answer? One reason is that the Writing Center is a relatively
new entity compared to the university from which it arose,and it can sometimes
take decades before anything approaching a foundational philosophy can
develop. An additional complication is that the very nature of the Writing
Center is at odds with the historical and pervasive values of the university.The
traditional university has ideals of self-reliance, autonomy, discipline, individual
achievement and consistent objectivity (Trachsel). In addition to that, the
university expects these attributes to already be present in students. The
classroom has evolved to become an environment in which these attributes are
presupposed and any deficiency in them must be learned outside the classroom.
Instead of the university meeting the needs of students, these traditional
40

qualities are the prereqs, the price of admission.
The Writing Center, on the other hand, being a student service, presupposes
deficiency, and so it tends to operate according to values of collaboration,
nurturance, sensitivity, subjectivity and supportiveness (Trachsel).The university
as an institution has had a millennium to develop and perpetuate its value
system, but the Writing Center, and similar domains where student support is
the focus, has had much less time to develop a value system and therefore
is still undergoing significant fluctuations. Further, it must develop its
fundamentally distinct value system from within and as a part of the university
that encompasses it. The development of a Writing Center value system is
particularly difficult because of this codependent and hierarchical relationship
with the university.Though it may be possible to independently push forward a
change of value from either the domain of the university or the domain of
the Writing Center, pushing too far and too independently tends to result in a
backlash from the other domain which makes the relationship oppositional
instead of cooperative. Further, for either domain to operate as an island
and with a value system that is not compatible with the other is not only
unpreferable, but results in a fundamentally incomplete value system that
suffers both from theoretical deficiencies and from a lack of reinforcement and
application – a when-in-Rome philosophy that ignores the fact that students
must operate in the domain of both the Writing Center and the university as a
whole. Both domains should actively strive to take positive steps in bettering
their respective domain’s value system,but meaningful progress is only achieved
when the length and direction of a stride is taken with the realization that you
can get farther by using both legs instead of just one. Both the Writing Center
and the university must realize that their fate is mutual,that any value system of
the Writing Center must be a value system in light of the university and vice
versa. The difference between these two domains, insofar as it relates to
developing a value system of theWriting Center,might best be understood with
a feminist perspective.The philosophy of feminism claims that history has been
dominated by traditionally masculine values of power, individuality, objectivity
and an overemphasis on reason at the expense of traditionally feminine values
of nurturance,relatedness,subjectivity and emotion.The relative youth of the rise
of feminist values out of the long history of masculine values corresponds to the
41

recent rise of democratized student bodies and student-focused institutions
out of the historically elitist and product-focused university and illustrates the
difficulty that both feminism and theWriting Center must face and the patience
required before a satisfactory reconciliation can be achieved. But we must not
simply understand the mechanics of this situation through mere distinction and
analysis and then dust off our hands. Rather, we must continue on and use our
analysis of the varying parts of academia to build an understanding of how the
parts work together and how they might work together best. Professor Mary
Trachsel writes, “It would be unfortunate indeed if the so-called feminization
of teaching simply reinforced a dichotomy that aligns a feminine ethos with
teaching and a masculine ethos with scholarship. Such a system holds little
hope for those of us who are struggling to discover a unified academic self”(42).
The error of our male-dominated history was not its masculine values, but its
oppression of feminine values. To idealize one over the other is to caricature
humanity as well as the self to the detriment of both.There is no wholly feminine
female and there is no wholly masculine male,and neither the university nor the
Writing Center should choose one over the other or place either at the center
of its value system. Unfortunately, the present nature of the value system in
higher education is the oppositional duality illustrated above in which each
value system is being pushed out into the other domain as an attempt at a
singular, all-encompassing and universal value system. This has resulted in
some domains, like the Writing Center, teaching, and other student-focused
organizations, having a value system more in line with a feminine ethos and
other domains like scholarship and research having a value system more in line
with a masculine ethos with no real unification in any particular domain.
The manner in which value systems are put forth in academia results in an
essentially either/or answer on a domain-by-domain basis.In this environment,
Trachsel’s “unified academic self” remains perpetually out of reach. One is still
free to operate according to either a feminine or a masculine value system, but
when one operates according to only one value system, he or she loses a
dimension of one’s self,and he or she does not operate as well in domains that
operate on the opposing value system.Alternatively, one can choose to operate
according to a particular value system on a domain-by-domain basis, but then
he or she must suffer the schizophrenia of continually switching between
42

incompatible value systems which can never result in a unified self. Or one can
embrace both value systems as a unified self regardless of the liabilities one
must suffer in non-unified domains.However,doing so is only possible in a sort
of Nietzschen defiance of the social contexts in which the self attempts to
express itself. This is an amputated self in whom subjective qualities remain
internal and unable to express themselves in an environment that can give them
meaning. A truly unified self is not just the unification of subjectively-held
values, but the expression of those unified values in a conducive environment.
Searching for a unified academic self in the university is like the plight of a
young child of divorced, immature, vitriolic parents that is forced to operate
according to one set of rules and values in one household, only to have to
quickly and painfully transition to another incompatible and oppositional set of
rules and values in the other. One can learn to function in such a situation, but
he or she is forced to do so with the limitations of either a monolithic self, a
fragmented self, or an isolated self. Solving this problematic situation
(as universities are attempting) by universalizing either feminine values (the
Writing Center) or masculine values (the traditional university) as the
encompassing value system of all domains makes functioning easier by
removing the discord inherent in a segregated self, but this can only be
accomplished through forced amputation which results in a unified self
because nothing is left to unify if one only exists as an expression of one value
system. This is the monolithic self. Solving the problem by switching value
systems on and off depending on a given domain’s prevailing value system as
one travels through different domains,results in value schizophrenia.This is the
fragmented self.And finally, independently unifying the self irrespective of the
value systems in which one dwells rips the self from its inherently social
domicile, limiting its potential to the self alone or to the similarly repressed
pastiche community of those that march to the beat of a different drummer.
This is the isolated self.Apparently, we are stuck – and we are – until the value
system on which we operate changes to allow for the possibility of a fully
unified and fully expressed self.But a unified self in theWriting Center requires
not just a unified Writing Center, but a university that is unified with the
Writing Center. So, any change in the value system in the Writing Center must
always be considered in light of the university in which it exists. Further, the
43

44
Writing Center must not operate according to only a feminine or masculine
value system, but instead operate as a unified environment that allows for the
expression of a fully unified self. Yet the value system of the Writing Center
should not be understood as a particular idealized balance between masculine
and feminine values, though this is often seen as the solution to this kind of
conflict.A caricature of the self results when an idealized balance is formulated
and sought after as the standard – balance for balance’s sake.And the same
problem exists at the institutional level. Rather, a reconciliation between these
opposing value systems should be sought only in terms of what will or will not
make the Writing Center (or an individual) better. No acts of altruism are
required if one understands how and why both an individual and an institution
function better and with a higher potential when unified. This unification in
the self and the Writing Center does not require a perfect balance between
opposing value systems.The standard for an ideal disposition of the two value
systems should be based on a given disposition’s effects in a given context;the
ideal disposition of value systems in an individual should be based on how well
that particular disposition functions for that individual in a given context; and
the ideal disposition in an institution like the Writing Center should be based
on how well a given disposition functions for that institution in a given context.
When the fully unified expression of feminine and masculine values is sought
as an altruistic moral project instead of as a desired quality it implicitly degrades
the respective benefits of feminine and masculine values because female/male
traits are then treated as if they need to be tolerated for purposes of social
equality instead of desired for their inherent benefits. As long as this moral
perspective on feminine and masculine values is maintained, a true unification
of the self and of an institution is impossible. One need not complicate the
value system of the Writing Center with moral projects. To put forth the
prescription of equal feminine and masculine values as a moral project is not
only harmful, it is entirely unnecessary, even for achieving social equality, if it is
understood that an institution that functions in the best way possible is one that
is fully unified. It is through this understanding in combination with the simple
desire for an effective Writing Center that organically defines a Writing Center
value system as one that creates an ever-evolving and pragmatically-focused
environment that remains encouraging and conducive to the possibility of a

fully expressed and unified self within an analogously unified university.
Afterword:
We do not conceive of the self as a whole that is subsequently diminished in
certain scenarios. Rather, the self emerges out of and as part of a social
environment which in turn can place boundaries on the potential of the
individual’s flourishing.That is, no idealized whole or essence of self exists that
is to be defined or sought after. The standard is in the positive or negative
interaction of the self and one’s social environment which is why we do not use
the language of half or whole, etc.And similarly, we do not think the standard
for an institution should be idealized toward a particular balance of equal value
systems so again there is no whole for there to be a half of. It was misleading
of us to use the word balance in our prescription for a Writing Center value
system because though it is conceptually possible for two differing things to
balance each other out, the straight-forward interpretation of balance tends to
invoke equality of the items being balanced as well, so we changed the word
balance to disposition when we made the prescription.Whenever an issue of
formulating a value system is brought up, moral implications arise – some will
flourish under certain systems and others won’t. Value system prescriptions
beget moral consideration (think Marx as in how he claims that the value
system of a society is of the empowered class extended to all other classes).But
regardless,our prescription does not rely on moral pleas,only on understanding
of what makes a good value system for an institution and an individual.That is,
we can be egoists and still create the best possibleWriting Center for everyone.
Monolithic is just meant in the normal sense – one-dimensional. That is, one
value system nullifies the other.
Works Cited
Trachsel, M. “Nurturant Ethics and Academic Ideals: Convergence in the
Writing Center.” Writing Center Journal 16.1 (1995): 24-45. Google
Scholar.Web. n.d.
45

So Long, Farewell,
Auf Wiedersehen,
Adieu:A Love
Letter to the
Writing Center
Betsy Overesch
Once upon a time, a college sophomore was desperate for employment.After
(what could have been but was not) decades of searching, she meandered
through websites until she came to the job listings page at her school.At the
top were two words: Writing Tutor. She applied, got the job, worked for two
years, and, as all stories go, lived happily ever after ... except that something
rather remarkable had occurred.This girl had changed.
When I ﬁrst began working at the Writing Center, I made the assumption that
this job would not have any grand impact on my life.I knew that I would change
as I grew older and gained knowledge, would form different opinions about
the world as I became more aware of my own axiology. After all, part of a
college education is to discover who I am and what stance I am willing to take.
Now, regretfully having to depart from this post, I may only attempt to explain
what tutoring in LIB 308 has done for me.
I am ashamed to admit to the person I was before I came to work at theWriting
Center.My nineteen-year-old self was narrow-minded,uninformed,and did not
want to take the time to understand life from another’s perspective. I had yet
to see or welcome diversity into my sphere of existence;in accordance,I seldom
used empathy for others. I did see beyond my own way of life.What good was
it to try to feel for someone with whom I had nothing in common? My world
was made up of people who looked and believed as I did; people I could easily
understand.I thought,as so many college students do,that I knew all I needed
46

to know and I was comfortable in the reality I had created for myself. So, when
I began tutoring,I was certain that my job would be straightforward and I would
carry on in the manner I always had.Along came tutoring sessions, and what I
had knitted together began, thread by thread, to unravel.
The fifth paper that I heard was authored by a Muslim woman in a Composition
I class.She was older,in her thirties,soft spoken,and very different from the four
prior student writers I had helped.Apparently,she was as nervous as I was,and
I silently prayed that this session went well. She began to read her paper,
hesitating a bit before starting. She described the gas station her husband
owned,and how he worked late one night.She had come to see him,and then
a group of young men entered the store.They had guns,and when her husband
went to call for the police – she stopped and looked up at me. I ached for her,
knew that pain, knew what losing someone was like, but knew I could not
speak. I shook my head, afraid to open my mouth because I did not want to
break down a week into the job.Then she patted my hand.“You understand,”
she whispered, "why I cannot keep reading."
That moment was the mental equivalent of the dam breaking. I sat for several
minutes afterward,silent,thinking about what she had said.“You understand.”
You understand. I had connected to a complete stranger, name forgotten, in a
manner that I thought only my closest relationships capable of. Here was this
woman,older than me,of different race,of different religious views,but in that
moment we were not individuals with divergent life paths. We were humans
with the same emotions, the same experience, and for the first time in my life I
understood how closed-minded I had been. I understood I had to change, had
changed, would never be the same, and that if not for the Writing Center, my
outlook would have remained stagnant.
In the last edition of this journal, the article I wrote described laughter and its
use as a means of connecting tutors and tutees. I stated that “laughter is such
an abrupt shattering of the invisible boundary between the student and me,
one action that lets me reach out to them in a very emotional way.”This session
had nothing to do with jokes about misplaced modifiers, connecting with
others through humor and smiles,or delighting in amusing phrases tucked into
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otherwise dull research papers. The laughter would come later in my tutoring
career;in this moment,however,the same effect was present.Two women were
looking at each other,thoughts aligned,all barriers dissolved by the pain of what
it is to grieve. I understood her. I did not feel uncomfortable around a person I
would have normally been desperate to move past. Thirty seconds and two
words had me struggling for air underneath the weight of the written word
and my own blindness to others.Laughter did not break my boundaries but the
realization that for one moment, she and I were more alike than different.
The number of students I have worked with is unknown, and the ones I have
actually helped I am even less certain about. During my time at the Writing
Center,I have read about shoplifting arrests,abortions,people stumbling across
lifeless bodies, sex changes, marriages, childbirth, and U.F.O.s. I have laughed
with people,reassured those who said they could not write,handed Kleenex to
others. I have high-ﬁved, congratulated, hugged, celebrated, and I have been
frustrated, angry, overwhelmed. Nevertheless, even on the worst days, even on
the days when I wonder if what we are doing has a point, I understand that I
am lucky,blessed,fortunate beyond belief to have been part of this community,
to have had this job become a part of me and create a human being that
allows herself to engage with anyone because she knows all of us, in the end,
come down to the same core components.I have learned that tutoring is much
more than helping ﬁx comma splices and writing thesis statements. Aiding
students with their writing is about understanding the power of three pages of
white printer paper, and how twenty minutes with a complete stranger can
make life take on new meaning.I am indebted to this job:so long,farewell,auf
wiedersehen, thank you.
48

Reﬂecting Pool:
on the Art of
Staying Power
Brandon True
For many students, especially those who are members of a community college,
a job like a writing tutor is a profession that never really seems permanent.Very
few Peer Writing Tutors have made this job into a career like I have. I’ve got
staying power; or, at the very least, I refuse to leave. Now that I can count my
time here in years, rather than semesters like some of my peers, I’ve had a
chance to see that the faces of students – are like ocean waves.An individual
surges in, stays for just a moment and then retreats, dragging whatever grains
of knowledge we could give,back into the sea of countless faces,semester after
semester he or she waves in and then goes. However, if we’re lucky some tides
carry students back in – some for just a few more visits, others for years and
years. I am not the only one with staying power.
OneTuesday night,I received a phone call from a student who I had worked with
almost as long as I have been at the Writing Center. She is a nontraditional
student who I have worked with many times (enjoyably I might add). The
student writer seems distraught while she tells me that she is going to ask for
an unusual way of tutoring; she wonders if she could leave her paper with me
so I could look over it then sit down with her again on Friday to discuss it? I tell
her that this is not usually the way our Writing Center works, but she is
insistent (a rare trait for her gentle nature) and says she will be in later tonight.
So I prepare myself,thinking I will suggest we go over her paper in sections over
a few days rather than do drop-off service, something the Writing Center has
49

always railed against.
Later that night just as she had promised (consistency – also her nature), my
student writer does come by the center. She sits down beside me at the tutor
table.She comes bearing a 20-page report/argument paper in which her teacher
has asked students to find a health-related cause and debate the points on why
it was worth being researched. I was ready to offer my suggestions but first
gave her a chance to explain why she needed this done so urgently. She
instead explained the assignment to me, so of course, my next question, a
question that any tutor asks when a student seeks a quick tutoring session:
“Well … when is this paper due?”Knowing her,I was not surprised to hear her
say the paper was not due for weeks to come (An over-achiever?Yes, as is her
nature). So, I ask her why she is burning to get this done. Her voice quiets. She
takes a serious tone – a tone that tries to masks gravity with forced ease.“Well
I know that the paper isn’t due for a couple of weeks, but the due date is a bit
soon for me.”I wait while she gathers herself.“I went to the doctors and he told
me that I am diagnosed with breast cancer.”
First, before I explain my reaction, let me just say that I have never been good
with emotions. Mine seem to flow like raging water – a riptide, unpredictable
and damn hard for me to control when having one or more of them.What I
have learned about myself is that if I remain calm, there’s a chance I’ll float
to the surface. But in that exact moment, I felt an odd, tidal pull of adrenaline;
maybe it kept my heart from stopping dead in its tracks. I sensed a slight loss
of color as blood drained from my face … Man overboard. Here’s what
happened next: I pause, choke a bit, and am only able to muster enough sense
to say “I’m sorry.” I still kick myself for falling out on that one. I kick myself for
being afraid to cry.She,being a very sympathetic woman,sees me flailing about
in my whirlpool of emotion and quickly recovers me by saying that the cancer
is in its early stage. “They seem to have caught it in time.” She brightens up
again,smiling;luckily,her mood crests and washes over me.But I,still distracted
and confused,I try to understand the aftermath of news like that.I cannot help
but wonder what her life has been like for the last few days. I collect myself
and we discuss the assignment.
50

Just as the tide rushes in,it must rush back out;she must leave early for a class.
The end of the semester is nearing, so time with every student (and every
teacher) is limited. I take the stack of papers and let her know that I will look
through her essay over the next few days. She checkouts out at the front desk
and I stay seated at the tutor table,a still empty and calm place,like a reflecting
pool.Writing this now, looking back at that moment, I can’t really recall what
I was thinking with any real accuracy. But, I have had time to float on the
surface of it and am left with a sense of honor. It’s an amazing feeling to know
that someone came in as a student, and over time by working together, a
mutual trust formed which slowly became friendship. I, not being good with
emotions remember,am always shocked when I can truly call someone a friend.
Adamantly, it’s a small list; I even made me wait outside the breakwater for
years. So when a trust forms, it most definitely is a cause for celebration (my
mother’s words, not mine).
As a consequence of all this interaction, the line between tutor and student
calls me to examination. The line itself is much thinner than say the teacher/
student border, even while a sense of authority still lingers. From the get-go,
tutors are instructed that we are peers not teachers: we don’t give grades; we
don’t give homework and we don’t get tenure.Still,we assess and give feedback
on another student’s writing, which in essences touches on one part of the job
of a teacher. So, I feel that certain constraints are broken by talking to a fellow
writer about his or her paper.I think,I hope,student writers see us as peers,able
to sympathize with their hectic lives, because we do. That sense of authority,
perhaps, manifests as just a side effect of them trusting that we are coming to
the table (literally) with the knowledge and skills they do not yet have.
Nevertheless,once some student writers find a tutor that they feel comfortable
with, one that helps them yield better writing results, they start requesting the
tutor by name. Students can come back regularly with revised or different
papers and the tutor becomes familiar with the writer’s style and common
mistakes. From that understanding, students and tutors form a sort of bond
that eradicates shyness and discomfort. The student writer can begin to
approach a wider variety of topics through their writing,while still seeking help
from the tutor without fear of ridicule.With time,the writer begins to correct his
51

or her own mistakes with alacrity while reading through the essay and is able
to articulate topics never before discussed:“Is it my verb tense?”“How about
my structure?”“Do you think major claim strong enough?”The student writer
comes back to theWriting Center because she feels herself growing as a writer,
and without even knowing it,a sort of friendship has formed.Thus,the revision
process lives through student-tutor interaction, revision for writing, revision for
defining who our friends are. Maybe the friendship is not a conventional one,
but one strong enough for a student in crisis to ask for help outside of a tutor’s
occupational obligation. Knowing this makes my job very satisfying – far from
the days of retail when I was landlocked on a sandy dune of boredom.
Later that Friday, my student came back in and we reviewed her paper in front
of a video camera as part of my professionalization.Videotaping a session and
then reflecting on it has helped me to be a better tutor.This videotape caused
me to reflect that I have known my current student writer for two years; she
came into theWriting Center at the start of her Composition journey (and that
can be a tumultuous ride in itself). However, she has grown immensely as a
writer.All this is evidenced by the fact that most of the markings we have made
on her paper are now only suggestions. She has broken free from the chains of
grammar and has learned the importance of style.As a tutor,getting to help the
writer with style is far more challenging but proves more gratifying, because at
the end, I feel as though I helped the writer find his or her own voice.
Even more amazing, this paper she has brought for us to work on is going to
be embedded within an anthology of her other papers that she has written
throughout her academic journey here at JCCC to comprise a book.The pages are
bound now together by a single spiral and under an ornate design on the cover
reads “A New Door and Fresh Air,” a title which shows the pride and gratitude
she has for the chance to further her knowledge. She hopes the book will be a
legacy of inspiration for her own children – and maybe with a little tender love
and care,the second generational wave,her grandchildren.In the first few pages,
she wrote a prologue to give the reader a sense of how she felt writing these
papers. Near the end, she had crafted a small passage about a tutor at the
Writing Center who helped her through her educational excursion.How wonderful
to know I have staying power …in the life of at least one student writer.
52

Tragedy Amid
Literature
Ondrej Pazdirek
I have never had the slightest intention to follow in my parent’s footsteps.
They would come home from the hospital and recount the daily numbers
during dinner – survivors on the left hand, those who did not make it on the
right.Their occupation became especially annoying during family vacations.
Whether it was a victim of a car wreck, a heart attack, or alcohol poisoning,
there always seemed to be someone in desperate need of saving.The Hippocratic
Oath bound my parents (despite my father’s frequent complaints) to provide
at least temporary help in case of an absence of a trained medical professional.
These dramatic events left a gloomy stain on our retreats. I soon started
ignoring their work-related conversations altogether. Until the summer of
2010, I had successfully avoided all medical traumas.
I had spent those two summer months before my 20th birthday working as
a peer tutor at the Johnson County Community College Writing Center. July
14th was a slow evening shift. On such nights, we tutors would customarily
discuss literature and movies, or read in silence, waiting for a student’s request
for assistance. It was sort of an unspoken rule there to carry a book to work.
That day I brought China Miéville’s The City & the City which bored me.
Instead,I found myself in a mood for one of the Harry Potter books.The college
library happened to be in the same building, so I decided to disappear for a
couple minutes.
The library was living up to its reputation as one of the quietest places on
53

campus.Two librarians at the checkout desk greeted me with only their eyes.
As I walked toward the fiction section, I paid little attention to a man lying
on the floor in the middle of two aisles. Seeing only his blue jeans and big
brown shoes, I believed he was a repairman. With a copy of Harry Potter in
hand, I strolled back to the checkout when one of the librarians ran into me,
frantic.
“There is a man lying on the floor,” she said and hurried away.
A heavy man with a bushy gray beard lay stiffly on his back amid rows of
books. He wore a stained white shirt and blue washed-out overalls. He was
alone.
A moment of silence passed. Unsure of what to do, I gradually returned to
the checkout. After all, I thought, I have already been away from my job
longer than intended.At the desk, the librarian from our previous encounter
was now trying to reach 9-1-1. The other one, apathetic to the happening,
leisurely signed off on my book.
I left the library but took only a couple steps before curiosity forced me to
come back. Meanwhile, spectators surrounded the body. The man’s face
slowly turned from bluish to dark purple.They stood in shock, staring at him.
I felt rather indifferent, having seen this before.
“Do you think he is breathing?” said one.
“I think he’s dead.” None of the bystanders dared to touch the man. Seconds
went by.
What a beautiful, surreal death, I thought, distant.And for a brief moment,
I wished his simple life would end there, poetically, amid peaceful books.
All the repulsive memories of our family summers in Italy and Croatia suddenly
flooded my mind; memories of old drowning men, overdosed teenage girls,
drunk drivers choking on their own blood.The family tradition carried on. But
so did the sense to help.
I grabbed the man’s wrist. No pulse.
Now I wished I listened to some of my parent’s advice. How was it? Push
54

twenty times, breathe once, and again? I crossed my hands and searched the
man’s giant chest for the most probable location of his heart. Right before
I pressed, I lingered in a small prayer: “This better work, because I am not
breathing in you.” I then leaned on my hands and pushed. Twenty times,
pause, and again.
My world ceased to exist for what couldn't have been more than 90 seconds,
but seemed much longer. Just when I started questioning my actions, the
man caught a breath, a single gurgling attempt to live. I massaged his chest
a couple more times before I was able to locate a weak and inconsistent
pulse, only to lose it a few moments later.
Two nurses visiting the library that night rushed onto the scene. Trusting in
them, I stepped back.The man continued to battle for survival.
The older nurse approached the man with beginner’s insecurity. Shaking,
tears in her eyes, she started to perform mouth-to-mouth breathing.The only
effect was that the air forced into the man’s lungs came out of his once-more
unresponsive body, giving the confusing impression that the man was
breathing on his own. The younger nurse watched. I pondered whether to
mention the uselessness of breathing oxygen into someone without a beating
heart. Before I made up my mind, one of the college’s police officers spoke
my thoughts. It took four more minutes before the paramedics arrived.They
hooked the man up to monitors and kept him breathing artificially from then on.
Soon, more police officers added to the uproar and began questioning the
participants. Not wanting to deal with the police, having played the small
part that I did, I walked away in the midst of the post-trauma chaos. My
mood for Harry Potter vanished. I left the book on a shelf and returned to the
safe calm of the Writing Center.
55

The Feline
Luke Patrick
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary, over many
a curious and quaint essay of synthesis yore, while I typed, hardly caring,
there came a tapping, a rapping at the center door.Then I rose, and walked
hither, “‘Tis some student at the center door.”
I went forth with great weariness and indignation. For it was late, we were
closed, and greatly I wanted to make haste to mine domicile.“Sir,” said I,“Or
madam, I was quietly typing, writing, and did not hear you gently knocking.
“Your forgiveness I implore,theWriting Center has ceased operation,you must
return tomorrow more.”Thusly I returned to my seat, so continued my works,
and so did the sound repeat.“‘Tis the caretaker,” I muttered,“nothing more.”
Thrice there came the tapping, the rapping at the center door.At this I took
pause, and whispered back,“We are closed, I deplore.”At this I threw open
the center door, into the gloom peering, nothing hearing, fearing what might
be in store.
Yet the anteroom was empty, merely this and nothing more.
Shaken, I retreated, returned to my seat once more. Attempting to write,
over the keyboard did I pour. Yet I could not focus, fearing a knock on the
center door. Whom could be out at such an hour? My countenance dour,
hither and yon I strode, and at my mind did the gloom erode; so oppressive
the silence, how consuming the darkness, that the feeble light could not
56

throw them back.
Once again did there come that damned rapping at the center door. With
great trepidation and excruciating suspense, I unsealed the auxiliary portal,
that unused door.To my dismay did an obsidian feline stalk through the center
door.A creature of the night itself intruded upon my sanctuary.
My heart brimming with purest terror did I stammer, “From whence have
you came, oh hated beast?“ Eyes aﬂame, the sinuous creature perched
itself upon the bust of Asator. “What be you, feral wretch?”
Quoth the feline, “Underscore.”
Such a riposte left me aghast, what sort of thing might give acknowledgment,
and go by Underscore? Yet surely it must not last. On the morrow the ebony
creature will return, to never again cause me such sorrow. “Very well
Underscore. Leave me be and return nevermore.” Ultimately such discourse
had little import, nonsensical, and I returned to my work, to go cite my
source.
Yet the feline remained, remained within the center door, to stare with
unblinking eyes, above the center ﬂoor. His presence constantly distracting,
my eye attracting, to his murky self above the bust of Asator.
Surely must this cursed creature be, to utter but one such word. I could
merely hazard a guess upon which former master taught it such, or if the
blame should be directed towards some snide ploy by devious fates,or perhaps,
I dread to say, that the beast was wrought by powers far more nefarious,
hailing from places most sinister. I could only whisper,“From whence have you
came?”
It only replied, “Underscore.”
Abruptly my patience worn, with frayed nerves torn, I stood and bellowed,
“Out! Out I say! Get thee from this place; leave me in peace. Make your
exit and never again show your hateful face.” Yet the creature remained,
infuriatingly placid, resting upon the bust of Asator.
57

With haste I made to clutch at the foul beast, to grapple with its fluid shape,
so ultimately to cast it from my place of work and be free from the thing’s
dreadful clasp. It evaded mostly swiftly, dodged mostly deftly, to remain free
of my grasp. It took but a moment to find a perch, far from reach. There it
remained to stare back, languid, listless, without speech. And it was there
that those smoldering ember eyes regarded, appraised me as the wretch it
undoubtedly perceived.
This brought forth such a fury I had never known. That anger tore a bestial
howl from my lips I scarcely thought myself able to utter. “Leave me be! I
wish freedom from you and your vile hatefulness! Leave! Leave to never
again return!” Yet all I received in kind was an apathetic look, devoid of
human warmth, that shook my very core.
That last utterance was the final note for my overburdened mind.With those
words I dashed, fleeing through the Center’s door, my heart brimming with
rancor. As fast as my feet would carry me, I made haste from that place, all
the while never looking back.
Yes friends, it has been many a year since I have removed myself from that
foul thing. I vowed never again to set foot upon that diabolical floor. Kept
that vow I have, but my mind still echoes with the sound of “Underscore.” I
know with every fiber of my being that that demon kin still resides upon the
bust of Asator. Effectively barring, so that I return nevermore.
Only this, and nothing more.
58

Another ZPD
Anonymous 2010
This guy’s walking down the street when he falls in a hole.The walls are so
steep he can’t get out, even though he tries several times before giving up.
A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up,“Hey! Can you help me out?” the
doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on.
Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up, “Father, I’m down in this
hole, can you help me out?” The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down
in the hole and moves on.
Then a teacher walks by. Our guy calls out, “Hey teach! I’m down in this
hole and I can’t ﬁgure my way out. The teacher, with all his training and
knowledge, throws down a syllabus full of scheduled assignments. As the
paper ﬂoats down, our guy can hear the teacher say before moving on,
“Practice makes perfect!”
Then a tutor walks by. “Hey Vygotsky. It’s me. Can you help me out?” And
the tutor jumps down in the hole. Our guy says,“Are you stupid? Now we’re
both down here.” The tutor says, “Yeah, but I’ve been here before and I
know the way out.”
59

60
Associations
International Writing Center Association
http://writingcenters.org/
Midwest Writing Center Association
http://pages.usiouxfalls.edu/mwca/
National Association on Peer Tutoring in Writing
http://www.ncptw.org/
CRLA (College Reading and Learning Association)
http://www.crla.net/
Helpful Links
Grammar Bytes
http://www.chompchomp.com/exercises.htm
ONELook.com (dictionary resource)
http://www.onelook.com/
Journals and References
Kairos: a multimedia journal
http://kairos.technorhetoric.net/
College Composition and Communication (JCCC link)
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublication?journalCode=collcompcomm&
CompPile (resource for Peer Writing Tutors)
http://compfaqs.org/WritingCenters/WritingCenters
Writing Center Journal
http://casebuilder.rhet.ualr.edu/wcrp/wcjournal/search.cfm
Praxis:A Writing Center Journal
http://projects.uwc.utexas.edu/praxis/
Writing Lab Newsletter
http://www.writinglabnewsletter.org/
BLOGS
Friends of the Writing Center Journal
http://writingcenterjournal.blogspot.com/
IWCA Discussion Forum
http://www.writingcenters.org/board/index.php
Peer Centered
http://www.peercentered.org/

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