The Tutoring Book - California State University, Sacramento

panda’s lifespan is or why it relates to the stress placed on this bridge you’re talking about, but there’s no
verb in this sentence. Also, maybe you can explain how they relate. Isn’t your paper about tree houses?”
These kinds of mistakes seem obvious to an outsider such as you, oh clear-sighted explorer. To someone
deep in the jungle of their own thoughts and ideas, clarity might be the last thing on their mind.
Keep in mind that you and the graduate student you are tutoring are both students. You are their
peer as much as you are to any untamed undergrad. They might have been doing this school thing a little
longer than you, but there very well might be things about grammar or writing that you can teach them.
And sometimes, they just need to be told that they’re doing okay. The savannah can be an desolate place
at times.
Advanced Writers
While you can usually spot graduate students by their distinct coloring (and because the front desk marks
them down as a graduate student), advanced undergrad writers at first seem identical to a regular tutee. In
fact, you may wonder what an advanced, accomplished writer might be doing in the Writing Center at all.
There are a few reasons you might encounter an advanced writer in the Writing Center. Some
students are getting credit for going to tutoring every week. Or maybe they got a bad grade on a paper and
are wondering if they’re a poor writer. Maybe they got a bad grade on a paper and want to complain
loudly to someone. Maybe they thought the Writing Center was the watering hole or the place to get
quick grammar touch ups. Maybe, even though they get good grades on essays, they realize they are not
perfect writers and want to further improve.
Not all these advanced writers are the same. Some are aggressive, demanding you recognize their
ability and cater to their desires. Others more humbly take your guidance. There may be some that don’t
realize they are advanced writers and need to be told so. In most of these cases, you can tutor the
advanced writer like you would any other student, but if you’re feeling very brave today (maybe you just
sent a graduate student off with an award-winning essay on jungle survival techniques) you can help
make the advanced writer into a superstar. Sure, you could “non-directively” correct their grammar and
point them toward the grade they knew they were going to get anyway, but are you really satisfied with
mediocrity? Tell me, brave safari hunter, are you? Keep reading if you dare.
If your advanced writer is following all the rules, it might be time to show them how to break
them. They’ve travelled the essay trail many times, but now they can wander off the beaten path, so show
them how to wield that machete! Instead of focusing on fixing up the sentences they have, show the
advanced writer how to develop a stronger, more interesting thesis. Lend them your lantern so they can
explore the cave of rearranging their entire essay structure. Show them to the edge of the putting-yourthesis-somewhere-else
swamp. Show them how to eat the fruit of the em dash tree. Can they balance on
the rope bridge of holding two conflicting ideas at once?
The fear here is that they might get lost in the cave. They might fall off the bridge, into the river
of a poor grade and over the waterfall of feeling-like-a-bad-writer. If this happens, you might feel like
turning in your cool-looking safari/tutoring hat (you don’t have a tutoring hat?), but you can’t blame
yourself for this. The advanced writer can spend their whole life on the easy-essay trail; it is your job,
perhaps even your solemn duty, to show them the harder way. They might not be able to instantly master
the techniques you show them, but if and when they do, they will be carrying a big stick in the writing
jungle. The advanced writer knows how to get a decent grade; they’re not depending on your for that.
They are at the Writing Center to improve their writing, and that’s what you’re helping them do.
If your advanced writer is a regularly scheduled student, you might take some time to research
some advanced writing techniques that will help them. Remember to ask what the writer wants to work
on. Listen closely to the sounds of the jungle. Maybe their syntax is fine, but they feel insecure about their
conclusions. Working on what the student writer feels they need help with will make both of you feel
good.
But what do you do if the writer you’re tutoring actually is more advanced than you? First, ask
them why they’re at the Writing Center and what they hope to accomplish. If they present you with a
problem you have never encountered before, don’t hesitate to ask your fellow tutors or turn to other
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