[Voiceover] Welcome to the Purdue Writing Lab,
where students from many different backgrounds come to work on their writing projects.
The following video has been developed
to walk you through the basic structure of tutoring sessions here at Purdue.
And to give you an idea of what you might encounter
when you sign up for a session.
In our first tutorial, tutor Aylin meets with John
to talk about his rhetorical analysis for an English 106 class.
And Aylin quickly sets out to establish an agenda for the session.
[Aylin] So, umm, as you see, we have only probably like, uh, 25 minutes here for our tutorial. [John] Okay.
You know, like we're gonna be discussing things a little bit now,
and then we're gonna have 25 minutes left 'til the end of our tutorial.
So, in this time frame, first I would like to get some information about your assignment
and if you have an assignment sheet with you, that would help a great deal.
But if you don't maybe you can just summarize it for me.
And then, I'm going to ask you what you would like to work on. Unfortunately, I don't have my assignment sheet,
But I think I can try my best to at least give you a little bit of background info. Okay.
Umm, I'm supposed to write like a rhetorical analysis. [Voiceover] As you can see, the first step of any tutorial is to set an agenda for what is to be accomplished.
This helps the tutor to pace the session effectively,
and gives the student a chance to direct the session to the issues that he or she is most concerned with.
For class assignments, an assignment sheet can be extremely useful for this process
because it helps the tutor to shape the student's writing to best meet the goals of the assignment.
Without the assignment sheet, Aylin depends on John's explanation of the requirements
and goals of the assignment, in order to give her a better idea of how to help John succeed.
[John] Umm, yeah. I actually- umm, this is like one of my second drafts, so my instructor gave me a few things that I should work on.
[Aylin] Okay. [John] For example, she first said that my thesis statement was like probably not specific enough for my paper.
And then also, she wanted to see better transitions and topic sentences between paragraphs.
And then lastly, she was kind of uncertain about how one of my paragraphs supported the thesis statement that I had in my paper.
[Aylin] Okay. Alright, so, umm, we're gonna try working on those.
Umm, it all depends on the time period, umm, so let's start working with the thesis statement first of all,
and then, if time allows we'll be moving on with the other issues. [John] Okay. Umm, so . . .
[Voiceover] Having agreed on an agenda, Aylin has John read his thesis aloud.
In the process, Aylin listens for the parts of the thesis that she might help him to clarify, making note of his thesis on the paper.
[Aylin] So, this is the thesis statement? [John] Yeah, that's what I consider the thesis statement.
[Aylin] Okay. So do you think that this sentence is serving those goals? [John] Umm . . . [Aylin] Does it give the reader a clear sense of what this paper is gonna be about?
[John] Umm, I kind of thought so. I guess I thought of myself, like, as a pretty good writer
so I was kind of in disbelief- not really in disbelief, but kind of confused
as to why my teacher- or instructor- had said these things, but umm, I was hoping maybe we could clear that up.
[Aylin] I see. Well, I'm sure you're a good writer, first of all, but every good writer may become better by some more work.
So, maybe by brainstorming we can improve this thesis statement together.
So, if you were to think about the whole film, what kind of an argument do you think it's making?
[John] Umm, I think it's making an argument that [pauses], that there needs to be more awareness to the general public as to how food is produced.
[Aylin] Okay. Would you like to write that down?
[Voiceover] During the session, both students and tutors write comments on the paper,
though many tutors encourage their students to take the majority of the notes on what changes can be made.
[Aylin] So [pauses, pointing to paper] [John] Uhh, yeah to show the general public like, that- how food is produced.
They need to be aware of how it's produced and how it can effect them, umm, and their health.
[Aylin] Mmmhmm. Okay. So, how is this portrayed? How is this shown to the public, then?
[John] Umm, it is- in the movie, or the documentary, it is portrayed, that umm, like it gives an example . . .
[Voiceover] Aylin continues to ask John questions about the subject of his analysis, asking him to write down his thoughts as they go.
Eventually, Aylin asks John to narrow his thoughts down into one statement.
[Aylin] So, what is the main idea you're trying to convey to your reader, basically?
[John] Umm, the main idea I'm trying to convey is that the general public is . . .
[Voiceover] Here, Aylin writes down the sentence as John says it aloud.
This stage helps John to convert his words into a usable thesis statement, and after a few minutes of talking through it, John feels far more confident in his thesis.
[Aylin] Do you feel a little bit better about this thesis statement right now? [John] Yeah, no, I feel like we've kind of gone over- how you set that up better
because I know, umm, in class we throw around "thesis statement," like those words,
but I don't think I may have necessarily had the best understanding of what actually is, or what it does in the paper, so . . .
[Aylin] Mmmhmm, well I'm glad it helps. [John] Yeah, no, that should be pretty good. [Aylin] Okay. Alright, cool.
[Voiceover] As we can see, the session not only helped John to focus his thesis statement,
but to think about how he might better conceive of thesis statements more broadly.
Throughout the session, Aylin also works with John on his organization and topic sentences,
so that by the end of the session, he feels more confident in his paper as a whole.
[Aylin] So, umm, do you have any other questions that you would like to ask me today? We're running out of time here.
[John] Umm, not really. I think this is good because, I'm really glad we got the thesis kind of straightened out.
So that'll really help me, I think, with setting up the rest of my paper and building on my transitions and stuff, so that's good.
[Aylin] Okay. I'm glad. I'm glad to help you. Alright, so if you have any other questions, please come and visit us again
and make an appointment. We'll be happy to help you.
[Voiceover] This session depicted a successful tutorial, starting with the explanation of the assignment
and moving through the negotiation of the agenda.
We then saw a focused treatment of a specific issue of concern, and other general issues that arose in their meeting.
Finally, the session concluded with a summary of what was worked on, and what was still left to do.
The next video depicts tutor Dan working with Xin on another set of issues.
We're going to skip over the negotiation of the assignment sheet
and focus on how they work to adapt Xin's writing to a specific and unfamiliar genre, the lit review.
[Dan] So you're looking for three pieces of publicly available published material to summarize, um, from popular sources
[Voiceover] From the assignment sheet, Dan learns the basic requirements of the assignment,
and with a few qualifying questions, it becomes clear that Xin is unfamiliar with this genre of writing.
[Dan] Have you ever written, umm- so you haven't written a lit review before? [Xin] No.
[Dan] Have you written, maybe a book review or any summary before? Any research summaries before?
[Xin] Mmm, no. [Dan] Okay.
[Voiceover] Due to this lack of familiarity, Dan focuses the tutorial on a brief explanation of the genre
while checking for comprehension and fielding questions.
This ensures that both tutor and client are on the same page before moving forward.
[Dan continues] Then, you're showing your reader, umm, I've looked at all of these sources. I have a sense of what the literature on this topic is
and so I can tell you what's important to know about it. [Xin] Okay.
[Voiceover] Having established an understanding of the assignment, Dan and Xin begin to explore the specific, paragraph level organization.
Dan points to a successful example paragraph, and prompts Xin to consider revising the organization in another paragraph
to meet the expectations for the genre.
[Dan] I'm getting a sense now of what you've done here. Umm, I really like how you start this paragraph.
[Begins reading] "The most talked about issue surrounding GM food is the human health risks,
"Hern, the author of the book. . ." So, you have a clear topic sentence where you, um, you show where in the conversation this source is.
Umm, and when we look over here, in this paragraph, you have a- a good start to the paragraph
but then, you don't actually mention Holford until almost the end of the paragraph.
And so, here I was clear who the author of the article was- where that article fits into you topic.
It's not clear immediately in this paragraph in the same way, which sources we're talking about, what they have-
what their point of view, and what their research is, about the topic. If that makes sense? [Xin] Yeah.
[Dan] So if this is a literature review, then, in order to keep the focus on what the literature is saying,
you'll probably want to work with this paragraph a little more to make it like this paragraph.
Uh, so what do you think you could do? [Xin] Hmm.
[Voiceover] Notice Dan's technique of raising awareness to an issue of organization,
and relying on Xin to supply the answer.
[Xin] Um, can I construct like a similar pattern, like that one, here? [Dan] Sure! Yeah, so what would that look like?
Umm [pauses, thinking], so, I don't know. I think this should be my topic sentence,
[Begins reading] "I will only be focusing on the human health risks as this is one of the most contributed issues that public will pay more attention to."
[Dan] Right. [Xin] I'm not sure if I should move it around the sentence to first.
[Dan] Yeah, I- I see what you mean. I think that's a good idea. So if you- yeah, we can just move it over here . . .
[Voiceover] Xin's suggestion might not have been what Dan initially had in mind, but Dan continues to prompt Xin to work through her thoughts.
and the result is a more tight and well-organized paragraph that she developed.
Skipping to the wrap-up, Dan summarizes the three main issues worked on, invites Xin back for future sessions,
and asks her if she wants the Writing Lab to send her professor a summary of the session's focus,
in order to demonstrate that she has been working on her writing outside of class.
[Dan continuing speaking] to know that you came? [Xin] Uh, yes, please. [Dan] Okay, great. It's just good to show that you're working on it, right?
Okay. Well, thanks, Xin. I enjoyed working with you. [Xin] Thank you. [Dan] Thanks very much.
[Voiceover] In this session, we identified a few of the common techniques of a successful tutoring session.
Early in the session, Dan used the assignment sheet to make sure Xin's writing was consistent with her teacher's goals.
As the session progressed, Dan helped Xin to revise a weaker paragraph by pointing to the strengths of another, clearer paragraph.
Along the way, Dan put the onus on Xin to suggest possible revisions, based on his feedback, helping her to improve her writing skills.
In our third session, Slaney and Megan are working on an application for an internship.
Megan does not yet have a draft, but has come to the Writing Lab for help brainstorming content and developing a plan.
[Slaney] Okay, so first of all, have you written a resume or a cover letter before? [Megan] I have a resume, but I'm not really very familiar with a cover letter and what should be in it.
[Slaney] Okay. Alright, so, for this session today, because our sessions are half an hour long,
what I suggest we focus on is just brainstorming some ideas around both of those things. [Megan] Okay.
[Slaney] I can give you an idea of what the general format is for both of those documents, and we can talk about specific things
about your profession and your personal experience that you can do to fit that in.
And then I'm gonna recommend that you make a follow-up appointment, or at least one other follow-up appointment
but maybe even two or three, [Megan] Okay. [Slaney] as we start to actually put the documents together
so we can double check your formatting and double check that you're happy with the way that things are evolving.
So, is that something that you have time for. [Megan] Yeah. It's- the application is due in a couple of weeks.
[Slaney] Oh, wonderful! Okay, great. [Megan] Yeah, there's time.
[Slaney] Great. So, if you want, you are more than welcome to set up a series of appointments with me, or anybody else in the Lab would be happy to help you.
You can just bring the same document. We all pass around the notes. [Megan] Okay. [Slaney] So, it's not a problem if I'm not available.
You can just come to any other tutor. [Megan] And they'll all know. [Slaney] Yes.
[Voiceover] After generating some personal information on Megan's experience and goals to populate the writing,
they decide on a couple of highlights.
[Slaney] Um, I think that, probably, one of- the two things we really wanna play up here are your volunteer work and your experience with meal planning and nutrition.
[Voiceover] Next, Slaney recommends that Megan consider using language from the job description
and company's mission statement, in order to tailor Megan's response to the company's needs.
[Slaney] And really, the thing I recommend most as far as putting together the cover letter
is that you make sure you have read the description thoroughly and that you're using some of the language in the description. [Megan] Okay.
[Slaney] So if they say, "we're looking for people who take initiative," you wanna make sure- [Megan] They know that I take initiative. [Slaney] Yeah, yeah.
The other thing is that, I would suggest that you go to the organization's website and look for- often companies have a mission statement.
And that mission statement can also be good language to include in your cover letter.
You know, something like, "I know that, um, X Retirement Home is really dedicted to providing quality care for seniors from ages . . .," you know, whatever. [Megan] Yeah.
[Slaney] You wouldn't actually, just you know, wanna take sentences from it, so much as you would wanna make it clear you have researched their organization. [Megan] Okay.
[Slaney] Right. You wanna make it clear that you are particularly choosing them, [Megan] Right. [Slaney] among all the other opportunities available for you.
[Megan] Okay. [Slaney] So that is how you tailor your cover letter. [Megan] Okay, yeah.
[Voiceover] Even though Megan came to the Writing Lab early in the process, and without an assignment sheet or any writing,
Slaney and Megan produced a successful session, through brainstorming and outlining possible content for her specific audience.
Slaney also suggests an agenda for future sessions after Megan has written a draft.
[Megan] Yeah. [Slaney] Yeah. Exactly. So we really just focused on content this time, and then in future sessions
we're gonna focus a little bit more on structure. [Megan] Okay. [Slaney] So, your next step then is to make another appointment
and then to go visit the OWL and find out about format. [Megan] Yes.
[Slaney] And I will give you all of our notes today. [Megan] Alright. Thanks very much.
[Voiceover] From this session, we can see just how much work can be accomplished
in the early stages of the writing process, even before the first draft is written.
By talking through Megan's experiences, Slaney was able to get a feel for what elements might be the most important to highlight on her application materials.
Slaney also suggested additional materials that might aid Megan in the internship process
and welcomed Megan to bring those materials to another session in order to mine the documents for specific language to strengthen Megan's application.
These techniques, among others, are what make the writing center such a great place to get a head start on your professional documents.
Thank you for watching our video. This video depicts only a few of the ways in which we help students engage with their writing.
Remember that all graduate and undergraduate students attending Purdue University-West Lafayette,
as well as staff and faculty at Purdue, can come to the Writing Lab with any kind of writing and at any stage.
See our website for more information about how to make an appointment and about our other services.
We hope to see you soon.