Tuesday: September 10th

October 8-12

       Slow week in the writing center this week, however I did have a tutee on Friday that brought up an incredibly pertinent question that I had not considered to be a problem here at CNU. The student was a Freshman enrolled in English 123, the basic starting class, but was having trouble with her professor. She couldn't seem to write a thesis that her professor was willing to deem "acceptable." The real issue arises when I looked at her past theses and heard her explain her class situation to me: I agreed with her and honestly had trouble understanding why her professor was teaching the way they were.

        This brings to light my weekly question: what to do when our understanding of how to help someone be a better writer directly conflicts with what a professor is telling them to do? This came primarily in the form of how the student's professor was telling her to write a thesis. It was too rigid and uncompromising, forcing me to believe that, since the student was in a 123 class, the professor wanted her to follow instruction - technique and outside learning and ability would be disregarded. This is a unique problem to have at CNU, and I can't remember the last time such oversight was displayed, at least in my experience.

         I don't think I'd ever say that a professor, including the one described to me is wrong, and during our session I even helped explain some of the comments on the student's paper and why it would have been put there (such as the only explanation for something crossed out being "wordy" without an explanation of why that's bad - not usually necessary, but I believe it is in a 123 class). The focus of the session quickly turned from "How do I write a good thesis?" to "How do I write for a particular professor when I know this is good, but it's not what they want?" My answer to this was much the same as it always is: don't "write for a professor" because that won't help you after you've finished their class. It's much better, as I told her, to focus on what the professor is trying to teach you, even if they're explaining it, in your opinion, poorly. At least that way you can focus on your own writing style while incorporating the lessons being imparted onto you - which is precisely how one becomes a better writer in the first place. Know your audience is a good rule of thumb, but never compromise what you already know simply because the class you're in dictates that you should know less at this point.