Writing to Get a Job

In Munschauer's article--specifically the section titled "The Importance of Knowing What the job is All About"--he discusses active versus passive roles. I had never thought that learning was a passive act but when put in the workplace it definitely is. Instead of being able to conduct job duties immediately with a moderate amount of instruction, everything has to be told to the individual. And there is an attitude of wait. "Wait" till someone tells me what to do, instead of just doing it. This individual cannot contribute to the success of the company since they are using resources that could be directed elsewhere.

In the next section titled "Letters of Application" he discusses what the requirements are, one of those is "succinct." This made me question why there are length requirements in academics. If schools are preparing students for the workplace and the workplace wants succinct writing why do academics require length requirements for papers. Doesn't this teach students to fluff and create length? The editing on page 283 demonstrates the typical fluff found in academic writing. Shouldn't the emphasis be put on content and quality of argument than the word count?

Another section titled "Don't Delegate the Job of Letter Writing" is a little antiquated but still has a valid point. Tailor the letter or resume to the employer. A general resume isn't going to show the necessary skills that an employer is looking for in a specialized job. "Think about their needs" when composing correspondence for an employer. This allows for planning and it can include the specific skills that qualify the individual for the position or show the abilities of the employee.

Draft of Website Content

Home

Welcome to the Writing Center!
The Writing Center is a place that fosters learning. The Writing Center in the past has been a crucial part of the English Department. The Writing Center is embarking on a new goal that includes helping all students no matter the level or discipline. Tutors are available for all students of all disciplines.

Location
Daniel Hall 305 and 304

Hours
Mon 8-8pm, Tues-Fri 8-5pm

About Us
We provide a second audience and assist with additional instruction.
We are for everyone. We are not a remedial service.
We help with the finished product and we assist in brain storming, topics selection, theses arrangement, etc.

Appointments
Appointments give the students the opportunity to reserve a time during busy times of the semesters or reserve a certain tutor.

Students can either call or stop in and schedule an appointment.

Services
The Writing provides a number of services that include-
Tutoring
Peer review
Grammar practice
Brainstorming help
Aid for Eng 103 teachers
Informing Eng 103 classes of services
Speak Tests
Library of references

*** The Writing Center does not proofread documents. ***


Meet the Tutors

Amanda Gold
MAPC
Hometown- Largo, FL

Anthony De Clue
MA Lit
Hometown-

Ashley Crider
MAPC
Hometown- Columbia, SC

Beth Wilkerson
MAPC
Hometown- Laurens, SC

Derek Williams
MA Lit
Hometown- everywhere

Dustin Wilson
MAPC
Hometown- Ketchikan, AK

Erin Dalton
MAPC
Hometown-Guilford, CT

Glen Southergill
MAPC
Hometown- Glastonbury, CT

Heather Witmer
MAPC
Hometown- Watsonville, CA

Lisa Vandenbossche
MA Lit
Hometown- Harrison Twp., MI

Lydia Ferguson
MA Lit
Hometown- Upland, IN

Maggie McGill
MA Lit
Hometown- Kingstree, SC

Natalie Mahaffey
MA Lit
Hometown- Florence, SC

Steve Leech
MA Lit
Hometown- Stockport, England

Resources


Contact Us
Phone:
(864)656-3280

Website Outline

1. Home
   Welcome
   Location
   Hours
   About us
   
2. Appointments
   Call
   Walk-in
   
3. Services
   Tutoring
   No proofreading
   Peer review
   Brainstorming
   
4. Meet the tutors
   Pics of director, asst director and 14 tutors
   Bios of director, asst director and 14 tutors
   
5. Resources
   Library
   Writing guides
   Business communication
   MLA style guide
   
6. Online sources
   Purdue Owl
   Grammar Girl
   
7. Contact us

Visual and Verbal

The connection between the visual and verbal is crucial. Visuals without context can be meaningless. Charts, graphs and pictures unlabeled do not add anything to a document. They have to be put into context by adding the verbal description. The visual must be accompanied by the verbal. Kostelnick said, "By establishing correlations between the visual and the verbal, these approaches provide a theoretical background for understanding the rhetoric of design" (56). The verbal aspect to a visual changes the meaning of the visual and aids comprehension.

Visual aspects of a document can also include enlarging text, italicizing, underlining, etc. Enlarging text or making it bold can draw necessary attention to the text. But not all changes to text are necessary. It is important to interpret what the changes to do the intended message. "A cursory analysis of the context, then, tells us that visual heightening is not an appropriate rhetorical strategy here" (59). The changes can draw unnecessary attention to an aspect of the message that the author did not intend to highlight and take the attention from the point of the text.

Another aspect of the visual part of the document is style or supra-textual structuring. "Supra-textual cues create visual coherence among units of a document and, occasionally, among documents in a series" (61). Supra-textual structuring can be lines, page numbers, titles, etc. This signals the reader that new sections are coming, or that changes are occurring in the structure and direction of the document. In my project I am using supra-textual elements extensively. The guidebook has many sections and I signal each new segment with a heading and a line to signal to the reader that a new subject is going to be discussed.

Guidebook Draft

Table of Contents

Welcome 1
Academic Integrity Statement 2
Goal and Purpose 4
Hours and Appointments 6
Services 8
Tutor Duties and Conduct 10
Speak Test Assessments 12
Talking Points 17
Supportive Materials 18

Welcome

Welcome to the Writing Center! The Writing Center is a place that fosters learning. The Writing Center in the past has been a crucial part of the English Department. The Writing Center is embarking on a new goal that includes helping all students no matter the level or discipline.

Academic Integrity

Clemson University’s Academic Integrity Policy

Any breach of the principles outlined in the Academic Integrity Statement is considered an act of academic dishonesty.

Academic dishonesty is further defined as: 1. Giving, receiving, or using unauthorized aid on any academic work; 2. Plagiarism, which includes the intentional or unintentional copying of language, structure, or ideas of another and attributing the work to one's own efforts; 3. Attempts to copy, edit, or delete computer files that belong to another person or use of Computer Center account numbers that belong to another person without the permission of the file owner, account owner or file number owner;

All academic work submitted for grading contains an implicit pledge and may contain, at the request of an instructor, an explicit pledge by the student that no unauthorized aid has been given or received.

It is the responsibility of every member of the Clemson University community to enforce the Academic Integrity Policy.

http://www.clemson.edu/ugs/academic_integrity/index.html

The Writing Center’s Contribution to Academic Integrity

The Writing Center has a responsibility to uphold and maintain a level of academic integrity during tutoring sessions. Tutors should remain ethical in their tutoring sessions.

Writing Center tutors should not write on the students papers. This is to ensure that the student is making all the changes and improvements to their work and not depending on the tutor for changes and ideas.

Tutors should also avoid typing on the students’ computers. All freshmen are required to have a laptop computer and many will bring them in to the tutoring sessions. Academic integrity is hard to maintain with the rise of technology and the university requests that the tutors refrain from doing any work on the computers for another students.

Writing Center tutors should also be on the lookout for plagiarism. Please identify the errors with the students and take the opportunity to educate the student in the rules for citation. It is not plagiarism till the paper is turned in to the professor; this provides the Writing Center the opportunity to prevent plagiarism.

The Writing Center’s Purpose and Goal


Purpose:
- Provide a service that is helpful to the students
- Support the English 103 teachers
- Help students recognize their weaknesses in writing and teach them the necessary principles and techniques
- Provide feedback to all students including graduate students



Goals:
Clemson University is taking steps to become a top research university. That goal includes making the Writing Center reflect and aid to the research nature of the University. Tutors should strive to support this goal by provide excellent tutoring sessions for all students.




Writing Center Hours and Appointments



Tutors Hours
Tutors are required to work at least 15 hours each week and attend a staff meeting once a week. In the beginning on each semester please provide the Writing Center with your class schedule and hours you are available to work.


A Few Suggestions
- Please keep in mind that you should not be tutoring more than three hours at a time. Although it may seem easy in the beginning of each semester once the work load picks up you’ll be seeing students back to back and after three hours it is hard to tutor efficiently.
- Please allow for a couple hours in between the times you have to work.
- Allow time to get lunch or dinner before class times. This should be approximately an hour long.


Writing Center Hours
The Writing Center is open 8am-5pm four days a week and one day a week the center will be open late 8am-8pm. The late day is will be scheduled after all the tutors submit their schedules.

Appointments
Appointments give the students the opportunity to reserve a time during busy times of the semesters or reserve a certain tutor.

Students can either call or stop in and schedule an appointment. Appointments should be thirty minutes but the session can go on longer if necessary but only if there are no other students waiting.

Students who have made appointments are the priority. If a student walks in for a session please check the appointment book to see if there are in students coming in. Politely let the student know that if the appointment comes in the session will have to end.

Writing Center Services



Tutor Duties


- Please try to be on time and make all staff aware of any schedule changes.

- If you are sick please contact the assistant director and make plans to make up your time. Please try to get 15 hours each week.

- As a tutor you are responsible to maintain a professional attitude during the tutoring sessions. Tutors should try to build relationships with the students who come in. It is easier to help a student if you have seen them multiple times.

- If you run into a tough tutoring situation please ask other tutors for assistance or ask the assistant director for help.

- Tutors are required to attend a training meeting in the Studio once a week. This allows tutors to talk about the experiences they have had and raise any issues that need to be resolved.

- Tutors will be asked to speak in various classes in the beginning of each semester about the Writing Center. Please volunteer for at least one class. The speeches should only be a few minutes long and the Talking Points are located on page ?? for reference.

- Tutors will need to answer phone calls. Students will be calling to schedule appointments.

Speak Test Assessments







Talking Points



The Writing Center

Daniel 305

Hours: Mon 8am-8pm
Tues- Fri 8am-5pm

Ph: (864)656-3280

- We accept walk-ins and appointments
- Appointments can be made by phone or in person
- We provide a second audience and assist with additional instruction.
- We are for everyone. We are not a remedial service.
- We strongly recommend avoiding procrastination on assignments because more than one tutorial session is often needed.
- We help with the finished product and we assist in brain storming, topics selection, theses arrangement, etc.
- We will not grade or suggest a grade on assignments.
- We will make recommendations and provide an audience, but the instructor is the final authority.


Please note-

We are not a proofreading service.
We are not a computer lab.

Supportive Materials



- Please make use of the books located on the bookshelf. (Please do not let the student take them from the room).

- Many universities have online writing centers. Purdue has excellent resources for handouts, etc. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

- Grammar Girl is a source that some English 103 teachers like to use- http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/

- Here is a list of university writing centers that could be helpful-
http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/index.html
http://www.owl.neu.edu/
http://www.tc.edu/centers/writingcenter/

Writing Strategies

People have different learning styles. Adding a visual aspect to a piece of writing can aid in comprehension. I am a visual learner and appreciate visuals in a book, article, etc. Technical communicators should strive for clarity, and way to achieve that is to add a visual aspect. This also relates to audience adaptation. Realizing that not all audience members will comprehend the message right away will help in creating a message that appeals to all types of people in the audience--visual learners or not.

The article by Ewing states that the communicator should adapt his or her message to the hostile audience the same way they would to an uncertain listener. "Follow the same approach if the reader disagrees with you at the outset . . . [it] suggests to an uncertain or hostile audience that you possess objectivity" (236). This may seem odd but both groups are not predisposed to the topic or message and therefore a higher level of persuasion is necessary. Both groups need to be convinced that the message you are conveying is the correct method or plan.

In Kolin's article Proposals, he states that the conclusion should "select the most important benefits and emphasize them again" (251). This is the last thought with which your reader leaves. Ewing's article mentions something similar, "put the recommendation, facts, or arguments you most want the reader to remember first or last" (236). Each piece of writing will create a first and last impression. The introduction needs to grab the reader's attention and the conclusion needs to be the aspect of the piece that the reader will walk away with.