Writing Consultants in the Graduate Writing Center work with students at all stages of the writing process. They work with students to develop a better understanding of
- an assignment (deconstructing a prompt)
- a critical reading
- addressing an audience
- style and argumentation
- idea/topic development
- clarity, style, logic, and the "flow" of ideas
- brainstorming and other idea-generation techniques
- document or project planning, outlining, and drafting
- revision strategies
- proofreading methods
- specific writing projects and their management
- discipline-specific appropriateness of an argument or point of view for specific audiences (e.g., discourse-savvy audiences vs. the "general reader")
- reference documentation and evaluation of sources
- principles of English grammar, syntax, word choice, and punctuation appropriate for academic discourse
- drafting a resume, abstract, proposal, statement of purpose, scholarship or graduate school application
- citation issues (APA, MLA, and Chicago styles)
Consultants in the GWC cannot provide assistance on
- editing or proofreading your text for you, though we're happy to work with you
- writing for which the student is not the author (for example, a P.I.'s publication or another student's work)
- writing that is part of an in-class or take-home examination either for a course or a degree requirement
- more than a few pages of text per consultation, i.e., complete chapters, theses, or other multi-page documents