The workshops that we currently offer are:
Like Staples
® for Your Essay
Organization.
This workshop is designed to present an
overview of how to organize a thesis-driven essay. Focus is on
thesis statements, topic sentences, elements of a paragraph,
transitions, and conclusions. The activities allow students to
practice paragraph organization and transition writing.
MLA or APA Documentation.
These workshops will help the students grasp
that these styles are not boring and dry, but reflective of a
larger schema in which any discourse places its writers. Also,
these workshops show students how to avoid plagiarism by
introducing them to either the MLA or APA Documentation style.
Tutors will discuss parenthetical documentation and punctuation,
citing sources, and incorporating research (through quoting,
paraphrasing, and summarizing). The activities in these workshops
will acquaint students with techniques for incorporating research
and creating a Works Cited or Reference page in the appropriate
style.
Phone a Friend: Peer Review.
In this workshop, WAs will discuss the
difference between revising and editing, global and local concerns,
and writer and reader roles in peer revision. WAs will also present
steps for reviewing peers' essays. For the remainder of the
class period, WAs will circulate among the peer groups to answer
questions and/or help facilitate discussion.
NOTE: Ideally, this workshop will be conducted
using student drafts, but if the class does not come prepared
with drafts, the peer review sample essay (included in the
workshop materials) should be used.
Writing About Literature.
The focus of this workshop is to provide
students with an understanding of Literature through a
question-and-answer format which will encourage students to expand
their own views of what constitutes the literary form. WAs will
also discuss the difference between primary and secondary sources
to help students grasp how writing about Literature is persuasive
and analytical. Through the activities, students will practice
writing thesis statements and finding evidence in a text to support
a claim.
The Last Straw: Editing Workshop.
This workshop is designed to be conducted
interactively, either with student drafts or using the editing
sample essay (included in the workshop materials). WA
's will address identifying when to edit
and common editing issues, including wordiness, vague language,
active and passive voice, jargon, clichés , and common grammar
and punctuation errors. The Editing Checklist Worksheet provides a
guide for students to use while editing.
Technical Writing.
This workshop addresses organization and
appropriate language for technical writing. WAs will discuss
patterns for organizing paragraphs and strategies for determining
which pattern would be most appropriate for a given context. WAs
will also discuss writing style, diction, and jargon.
Conducting Research.
WAs will discuss different types of sources,
provide a method for evaluating those sources, and give a brief
introduction to searching for sources using the James E. Walker
Library. The activities will allow students to evaluate print and
online sources, and introduce students to the library website.
NOTE: This workshop is designed for a computer
or master classroom; however, we do have a version for classrooms
with limited technology. Please let us know what type of
classroom you will be using when scheduling this workshop.
To schedule one of these workshops or to
discuss a specialized version of a current workshop, please contact
Caty Chapman at
cbchapma@mtsu.edu or
494-8930.