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.
At the Writing Center, we aim to foster healthy writing habits
applicable across a variety of disciplines. In order for you to get
the most out of your session, we are unable to just “fix” your
mistakes or simply “write” your paper. Such “band aid” approaches
only encourage you to be dependent on others. Our ultimate goal is
to help you become self-reliant in the writing process. Therefore,
your Writing Center appointment will be an honest and
straightforward conversation about you and how you can improve your
writing.
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 does not 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. The 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. Try to avoid coming in last-minute
or the day your paper is due because:
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.
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.
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!