Last June, my family and I were preparing to move to
Idaho from Massachusetts. We had done most everything we needed to
do before leaving: sold the house, packed up the belongings,
transferred the utilities, hired a truck. But, there was one last
thing we had to do before we could leave the state: we had to see
James Taylor in concert. For Massachusetts residents—even those on
the way out—a JT concert is pretty much a required activity. So, a
couple of weeks before we left for good, we went to see Taylor at
Tanglewood, the amphitheatre close to his hometown.
To be honest, I don’t think we
realized how big this activity is. Taylor usually plays at
Tanglewood every summer, and people seem to plan for the event all
year long. Lots of people. We spent a few hours in traffic, winding
along two-lane highways, listening to Taylor CDs and counting cars.
Yet, because this was a James Taylor crowd, everyone seemed to be
pretty good natured—if you have to be stuck in a traffic jam, then
it’s best to be stuck with people who are listening to “You’ve Got
a Friend.” When we did make it into Tanglewood, we were amazed. Not
by the music or scenery, but by the food. We knew you could bring a
picnic dinner with you, but we never imagined picnic dinners like
these. The folks in front of us had three tables set up, with
tablecloths and candles: lobster rolls and wine for appetizers;
prime rib for dinner; a full selection of pastries for dessert. And
they didn’t stand out!
Along with the gastronomic
splendor, there was, of course, the music. If you know Taylor’s
music, then you’ll know the majority of songs he played: “Sweet
Baby James,” “Fire and Rain,” “Steamroller,” “Shower the People.”
And everyone in the audience knows the songs, too—the whole crowd
sings along (in between bites of crab dip and sips of merlot).
Because Tanglewood is very close to where Taylor grew up, some of
the songs he was performing were written just a few miles
away—“Sweet Baby James” even has the line about the turnpike being
covered with snow from Stockbridge to Boston, and we were within
shouting distance of Stockbridge. Everyone cheered when that line
came around. Sitting in the midst of that cheer, feeling the
response to Taylor and his music, we realized why people make so
much of this event, why it is a special occasion.
Taylor recognizes the
experience, too. He even wrote a song about it, “That’s Why I’m
Here.” The song talks about performing the same songs again and
again each summer, and though he doesn’t mention Tanglewood by
name, everyone in Massachusetts knows what he’s talking about:
Fortune and fame’s such a curious
game
Perfect strangers can call you by name
Pay good money to hear fire and rain
Again and again and again
Some are like summer coming back every year
Got your baby got your blanket got your bucket of beer
I break into a grin from ear to ear
And suddenly it’s perfectly clear
That’s why I’m here
The song is dead on. We saw
babies (the newborn kind and the romantic kind), we saw blankets,
we saw buckets of beer. All of us had paid good money to hear “Fire
and Rain,” and many would do so again and again. It’s a ritual.
And, instead of being bothered by the repetition, Taylor doesn’t
mind—he’s grinning. He’s comfortable singing the old songs, seeing
old friends, and continuing a tradition.
So am I. For me, the tradition
is explaining and extolling the virtues of a writing center. It’s
something I’ve done many times, for many different audiences, both
in Massachusetts and here in Idaho. I’ve been singing a familiar
tune for several years, just like Taylor, and I relate to his
lyrics because I don’t see this as a chore, either. Though I make
similar points and talk about the same issues with people, I enjoy
the conversations about writing and about writing centers. The same
goes for most anyone who works in a writing center. We all sing a
very similar song, and do so because it’s clear to us—this is why
we’re here. We are here to promote the benefits of having a group
of readers and responders that writers can turn to and work with.
(In fact, this edition of WW is much like a yearly Taylor
concert—we like to annually highlight the work done by our
consultants. See also
115
and 105.)
One of the main refrains of the
writing center song is that the center is for all writers,
and for writers at any stage of the writing process. Last
semester we worked with students from a range of
disciplines—Nursing, Marketing, Music, Electrical
Engineering—helping writers with everything from the brainstorming
of ideas and the reorganization of paragraphs to the development of
evidence and the use of commas.
Yet, people do not always
expect to hear that we serve so many writers in so many
ways—listeners might instead assume that writing centers are
focused on correcting errors for remedial writers. Such an
assumption is one that writing centers have dealt with for decades.
In 1984, Stephen North addressed the issue:
[F]or the
most part we have always been open to anybody in the university
community, worked
with writers at any time during the composing of a given
piece of writing, and dealt with whole
pieces of discourse, and not exercises on what might be
construed as ‘subskills’ (spelling,
punctuation, etc.) outside of the context of a writer’s
work. (72)
Though North tried to make clear at his university his views of the
writing center, teachers and others at the school believed that the
writing center was a place that concentrated on subskills: a
place to correct errors (or worse, to correct error-prone
students). Also, the students at North’s university had mistaken
assumptions about the center; for one thing, they often believed
that the center was an editing service, and that they could drop
off a paper and come back to pick it up, with all the mistakes
corrected.
North’s situation was not
unique, and his article struck a cord with other directors and
tutors. Many writing centers were battling the same perceptions,
including the one here at Boise State. In fact, four years after North’s
article was published, our writing center put out an edition of
WW that dealt with the “myth-understandings” about the writing
center, including the ideas that the center was only for remedial
writers, that grammar instruction was the primary concern, and that
the Center only worked with English majors. None of these is the
case, yet still today, sixteen years later, I have teachers say to
me that they won’t send anyone to see us because all their students
this term are good writers, or they tell students to come to the
center and have their papers “corrected.”
This is why we sing our song.
Again, the writing center is
for all writers, at any stage of the writing process.
We are, in effect, a group of readers, eager to talk to a writer
about her piece of writing. We emphasize that we are for all
writers because all writers need readers. To say that only
remedial writers need to talk over their writing with a reader is
to imply that writers eventually outgrow the need for a reader’s
response. That’s not the case. In fact, the more experienced the
writer, the more conscious she becomes of how valuable a
consultation can be. Consider the peer reviewers that give feedback
for journal articles, or the editors at publishing houses. Our
writing center consultants serve a similar function. As Jeff Brooks
phrases it, “The primary value of the writing center tutor to the
student is as a living human body who is willing to sit patiently
and help the student spend time with her paper” (220). We offer any
writer the opportunity to hear what a reader has to say, whether
that writer is a freshman working on a personal essay, a senior
working on a research project, a staff member working on an office
report, or a professor drafting an assignment sheet.
Now, granted, some writers will
already have an established group of readers and will feel most
comfortable finding feedback from them. That’s understandable. But,
if a writer does not have that immediate circle of readers, the
Writing Center can provide them. And, even writers who have
established readers might benefit from a different set of eyes. (I
have a group of readers but I still take advantage of the
consultants outside my door, most often for feedback about WW
drafts.) Receiving feedback is a crucial step in the writing
process and that is primarily what the writing center offers.
Does this emphasis on all
writers, coupled with the earlier rejection of a focus on
subskills, mean that the writing center “doesn’t do grammar”? No.
Grammar is important. All writers should have time and opportunity
to talk about how to craft a sentence, so Writing Center
consultants will talk with writers about sentence-level issues.
Again, we do not edit or proofread for students, but we do
work with them. We can talk about how to notice comma
splices and fragments, about how to mix up types of sentences to
provide variety, about how to distinguish between it’s and its. We
do so, however, in regard to a particular piece of writing, and
after we have addressed questions of organization and focus
(revisions of which might well affect the sentences of a piece).
And, we occasionally strive in these pages of Word Works to
talk about grammar issues so that all teachers can contribute to
students’ understanding of how language can be shaped. [Here are a
couple of links to past issues of WW that deal with
punctuation and other sentence-level issues:
WW 81
and WW
109. Plus, look for future discussions.]
To sing the refrain once more,
the Writing Center is for all writers, at any stage
of the writing process. Does this mean we want everyone at Boise
State to
come in? Ideally, yes—but we don’t have that many chairs. We can
only handle so many consultations per semester. Still, we would
like to make sure that all writers at Boise State know about us, and
have access to us. To help with the latter, and in response to
several writers’ wishes, we are expanding our hours this term. Now
we will be open until 8pm
Monday through Thursday evenings. Given the large number of those
at Boise State who work during the day, we hope these evening hours will
allow more writers to stop in.
To fill up those new hours,
though, and to fill up the daytime hours, we need help. Mainly, we
need teachers to tell students about us (consider it a sing-along
with the Writing Center). We can post fliers and pass out
bookmarks, and even dress up like independent clauses, but surveys
at various campuses (including ours) have shown that the best
advertisement for a writing center is a teacher’s positive mention
of it in the classroom. Even better is a classroom mention coupled
with a visit from a consultant
and/or a blurb in a syllabus.* Students need to know that all
writers improve their writing by utilizing readers’ comments, and
that, should they wish, they may take advantage of the collection
of readers in the Boise State Writing Center.
So, if you’re teaching, we hope
you’ll mention us to your students. And, if you’re writing, we hope
you’ll consider stopping in. We’d love to talk with you about what
you’re working on—after all, that’s why we’re here.
Works Cited
Brooks, Jeff. “Minimalist
Tutoring: Making the Student Do All the Work.”
The Allyn and Bacon Guide
to Writing Center Theory
and Practice. Eds. Robert W. Barnett
and Jacob S.Blumner.
Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2001. 219-224.
North, Stephen M. “The Idea of
a Writing Center.” The Allyn and Bacon
Guide to Writing Center Theory and
Practice.
Eds. Robert W. Barnett and Jacob S. Blumner. Boston: Allyn and Bacon,
2001. 63-78.
Taylor, James. “That’s Why I’m
Here.” That’s Why I’m Here. CBS, 1985.
* If you’d like a blurb to
cut and paste into your syllabus, here one I use:
The Writing Center provides
free writing consultations to all students. The Center’s
consultants will assist you with any piece of writing, at any stage
of the writing process. For example, consultants can help you learn
to identify paper topics and generate ideas for them, plan and
organize drafts, and rewrite and edit your papers. The Center’s
purpose is not to correct or proofread final drafts for you, but to
help you learn strategies that good writers use during the process
of writing. You may visit the Center for assistance with any
writing project for this class.
If you'd
like a visit from a consultant, write us (writing@boisestate.edu)
or call us: 426-1298.