We are here to help all students who wish to become better
writers. We will work closely with those who realize that
becoming a better writer requires planning, effort, and
commitment.
The Writing Center is for writers at all levels of experience:
ESL, freshmen, honors students, and graduate students alike. The
Writing Center is not a "remedial center," but a place for all St.
John's University students, regardless of experience or
ability.
It is our responsibility to be honest with students. If
students come to the Writing Center expecting us to just "fix"
their mistakes, or to write their paper for them, we have an
obligation to explain why we do not do these things. Such
"band-aid" approaches only teach students to become dependent on
others. We want students to become self-reliant.
How We Are Different from the Tutoring
Center
Tutorial services are usually content-based. If you're
having trouble understanding metaphysics or microeconomics, you'd
make an appointment at a tutorial center to discuss metaphysics or
microeconomics with that person. The emphasis is on getting to know
the material better--getting a more solid grasp on the content.
The Writing Center doesn't emphasize content in the same way. If
you have a paper due for your microeconomics course and you want
help writing it, you'd come to the Writing Center. But chances are
most of the Writing Center tutors (or as we often call them,
"consultants") probably know nothing about microeconomics--nor do
they have to. The Writing Center consultant's job is to help you
better understand how to write, and revise, that paper. If you
don't know how to start the paper, a visit with a consultant will
help you analyze the assignment, begin brainstorming, and come up
with possible approaches. If you're halfway through a paper
and not sure what to do next, a visit with a consultant might help
you rethink the organization, your sense of audience, your claims,
the way you've assembled evidence, your use of counter-arguments,
how well you've defined your terms--stuff like that. They'll also
help you identify recurring errors, and try to explain them with
the help of a grammar handbook. And, if you're all done with your
paper and you want someone to "look it over for you" at the last
minute--well, the Writing Center might be able to help you a tiny
bit, but probably not all that much. Because if you don't visit the
Writing Center until the day before the paper is due, chances are
1) you either won't be able to make an appointment, since we're
usually booked days in advance; 2) there won't be enough time to
make any significant changes since you waited too long to see us;
and 3) we can't simply go through a paper and correct all of the
errors for you--we have to help you understand what the errors are
all about, why they're there, and how to go about fixing them. In
other words, we can't simply proofread a paper FOR you, but we can
take the time to help proofread a paper WITH you. There's a big
difference, and the latter takes a lot more time than the former.
In other words, to make the Writing Center work for you, you need
to manage your time, and start making an appointment at least
several weeks before the assignment is due.
To Sum It Up
Tutorial services will help you understand the material, the
content, the subject matter. A writing center helps you with your
prose, your organization, your argumentation, your grammar, your
mechanics--but to make it work, you really need to visit us long
before a paper is due, and probably more than once.
Join the "St. John's Writing Center Group" on St. John's Central
to get connected with what's going on here on campus!