THE INFORMER PAGE 4

MARCH 10, 1992

The Writing Centre: Getting Thoughts onto Paper

Instructor Rosemary Coupe shows student Ingrid Brakop material
on documentation for essay writing, kept on file at the Writing
Centre.

When you enter the Humanities office from the 4th
floor corridor of H Building, look to your right. What
youre likely to see are many students working industri-
ously on essays, research papers and almost any type of
writing project you can think of. You'll also probably see
one or more of the Writing Centre’s many instructors
helping students put their thoughts on paper or key
their writing into computers.

Since its beginning in 1986, the Writing Centre has
welcomed more and more students each year. The
instructors say that’s because the centre provides
valuable help in developing writing skills. Students say
the place gets busy because they like being there.

“I’m always in here,” said Academic student Ingrid
Brakop. “The Writing Centre’s really useful because you
get individual attention from the instructors. They are
very helpful. It’s nice and quiet here, and it’s pretty
relaxing too.”

Ingrid was looking on while instructor Rosemary
Coupe searched through the centre’s resource cabinet
for information on how to cite reference sources. The file
cabinet holds help sheets on everything from writing
literary criticism to how to use semi-colons. It is also
beginning to contain ESL materials, which the instruc-
tors are working hard to compile.

The Writing Centre’s many instructors come from
the ABE, ESL, Communications and English depart-
ments. The centre has changed location four times; the
instructors have changed often, too.

A wide range of students visit the centre. Some
already have good writing skills and are well motivated,
Rosemary said. They want to polish their writing, talk
out their ideas or “just get into the writing mode.” Some

of these students keep returning to the centre
because they know if they stumble into writer’s
block, the instructors will encourage them to get
back on track.

Mature students often come in with lots of
ideas they gather from life experiences. They might
be competent writers, but feel uncertain about
their instructors’ expectations. Often, all the
mature students need to learn are documentation
methods.

Then there are the students who lack adequate
writing skills, whose first visit to the centre comes
when they are working on a research paper. They
arrive with a “huge pile” of information and want
to get control over it, Rosemary said. “They don’t
know how to shape their ideas. Very often they feel
overwhelmed.”

And sometimes a decision to visit the Writing
Centre starts when an instructor attaches a card to an
unsatisfactory essay, urging the student to take advan-
tage of the centre’s services. Such students might need a
lot of help, but the Writing Centre prefers to guide
rather than commandeer their writing.

“Obviously there’s an ethical issue,” Rosemary said.
“We don’t guarantee that a student who comes in will
get an A grade. We make it clear we are not a proof-
reading service.”

She says the centre prefers that a student bring in

continued on next page

Aiming for an “A” grade: Student Ingrid Brakop keys in an essay
at the Writing Centre while instructor Rosemary Coupe scrutinizes
her work.