Session Expectations

After you have been paired with a tutor, he or she will record information about your year in school, class, professor's name and writing assignment. You will then meet with a tutor in a quiet area, and he or she will ask that the paper be read aloud. The pencil will be placed in your hand to give you control over the session. Together, you will discuss the paper's strengths and weaknesses and devise a plan for improving the paper.

Below is a copy of the hierarchy of concerns. The items at the top of the hierarchy will be given the most attention by the tutor. If the items at the top of the hierarchy are solid, more attention will be given to particulars such as sentence structure and grammar.  

Hierarchy of Concerns

1. Purpose - Thesis - Ideas
   Organization - Structure - Outline
   Evidence - Examples - Details
    
2. Paragraphs - Introduction/Conclusion
   Coherence - Unity
   Style - Audience - Voice
   Internal Paragraph Structure
    
3. Sentences (length, variety, clarity, structure)
   Grammar - mechanics - word choice