Locations and Hours
We are located in the annex across the atrium from the library. Questions or comments? Call us (X4493 on campus, 240-895-4493 off-campus) or e-mail us at scmagruder (at) smcm dot edu.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I schedule an appointment?
You have several options: you can stop by during our walk-in hours, and we'll do our best to assist you; you can use our online scheduler (your login, if you've never used it before, is your school email with your last name as your password); or you can give us a call at x4493. Calling or stopping by is the best option if you can't make any of the posted hours.
What is the meaning of life?
We don't know either. But keep looking. Let us know if you figure it out; we may post your answer. Meanwhile, try typing "What is the meaning of life?" into Wolfram Alpha.
Meet the Tutors:
Danielle Doubt
Major: English
Minor: Women, Gender, and Sexuality
Writing: I am interested in rhetoric, political writing and journalism, as well as creative fiction and creative non-fiction.
Interests: feminist movements, local food movements, running, so really any kind of movement, be it social, political or physical I probably find pretty cool.
Click here to see all of our peer tutors.
Bibliography and Links
Teaching Writing, Across the Curriculum
Gottschalk, Nancy. The Elements of Teaching Writing: A Resource for Instructors in All Disciplines. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2003.
English Language Learners
Ferris, Diane B. Teaching ESL Composition: Purpose, Process, and Practice. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum, November 2004.
Leki, Ilona. Undergraduates in a Second Language: Challenges and Complexities of Academic Literacy Development. New York: Routedge, 2007.
Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL). http://owl.purdue.english.edu
Grammar and Style
Hacker, Diane. The Bedford Handbook. Bedford/St. Martin's; 7th edition
Forgotten the difference between a participle and a gerund, but want your students to know? The Bedford Guide will give you that along with a solid treatment of research writing and insights into developing a personal style within the constraints of academic writing.
Williams, Joseph. Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace.
Why does so much academic writing seem so impenetrable, and how can your students avoid falling into the same traps some of your own professors fell into? Williams offers advice for making prose more clear, coherent, and all-around readable. He models a reader-based, rather than rule-based, strategy for making decisions about writing. And he also suggests that it was OK to start this sentence with “and” and end the first sentence of this paragraph with “into.”
Peer Review and Self-Assessment
Temple University Writing Center. "Questions for Self and Peer Review." http://www.temple.edu/writingctr/handouts/revisingproofreading/reviewquestions.htm.
University of Delaware Writing Center. "Tip Sheet on Peer Review." http://www.english.udel.edu/wc/faculty/tipsheets.
Portfolios
National Coalition for Electronic Portfolio Research. “Bibliography.” Http://ncepr.org/bibliography.html.
Research Writing
Booth, Wayne, Joseph Colomb and Joseph Williams. Craft of Research.
This book guides students through the process of developing a research topic, refining it into a researchable question, and answering that question with a well-warranted, well-supported argument. It has been used successfully in several St. Mary’ courses, including Human Studies Senior Seminar and the English Department’s Methods of Literary Studies.
Responding to Writing
Gottschalk, Nancy. The Elements of Teaching Writing: A Resource for Instructors in All Disciplines.
Sommers, Nancy. “Responding to student writing.” College Composition and Communication (1982) 33.2, 148-156.
University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Writing Matters #2: Responding to Student Writing.” http://mwp01.mwp.hawaii.edu/resources/wm2.htm
Science Writing
Beall, Herbert and John Trimbur. A Short Guide to Writing About Chemistry. HarperCollins College Publishers, 1996
Goghill, Anne M. and Lorrin R. Garson, Eds. The ACS (American Chemical Society) Style Guide: Effective Communication of Scientific Information. 3rd Ed. Oxford University Press: New York, NY, 2006.
Kovac, Jeffrey and Donna W. Sherwood. Writing Across the Chemistry Curriculum: An Instructor’s Handbook.Prentice-Hall: New York, NY, 2001.
Porush, David. A Short Guide to Writing About Science.
