Some Comments From Fall 07 Visitors When Asked, "What Did You Learn Today?"

• What a functional resume is, and its basic structure .
• I learned about semicolons and other punctuation and how to write a conclusion for a short paper.
• I learned a bit about hyphen use. I also improved on my use of commas.
• Mainly I learned about writing a clear theses and making sure that the paper connects as a whole.
• I learned about passive voice and how to spice up my writing.
• I learned to organize my writing into a concise and strong essay.
• Ordering of arguments and expansion of ideas.
• Careful with verb choices.
• I learned how to analyze information and brainstorm.
• How to have stronger transitions, read your paper out loud!
• Make conclusion more interesting.
• Active/ passive voice.
• More about resume formatting and essence of cover letters.
• A firm understanding on how to begin and structure my paper.
• That conclusions can incorporate new ideas as long as they don't end up as cliff hangers.
• Vary sentences, check for tense.
• Essay writing help/revision, basic structure for writing essay.
• I learned I didn't have a thesis.
  
• The writing place is awesome.
• Talking with someone helped me develop my argument.
• How to add more to conclusion.
• I learned how to lead my sentences in paragraphs and not to stray.
• I learned the importance of tying together my intro, paragraphs, and conclusion.
• We dealt with structure, helped with conclusion dem/rep issues.
• How to condense text, strengthen arguments, create a logical flow.
• How to broaden thesis.
• Make sure to tie the thesis back to every paragraph, watch for sentences that seem too long, watch for using too many commas.
• I learned about making the points of my piece connect to one another.
• I need to condense my arguments and generally I was on the right track.
• writing is hard
• To make sure my thesis is referenced in all body paragraphs for both subjects that I am comparing. How to formulate a conclusion.
• Organizational skills as well as thesis statement placement and implementation.
• About how college papers differ from high school ones and also how to integrate quotes.
• An enormous amount about organization and paragraph structure.
• How to write the conclusion and thesis structure.
• Try to vary the sentence structure and try to write more complicated sentences.
• I learned that I made a summary essay and not a analysis.
• When writing an essay I learned that you can have transitional paragraphs! Hooray for no more 5 paragraphs essays!
• Clarity, structuring arguments.
• How to concisely assess the question for my paper.
• I learned to establish a thesis for my paper.
• I realized I should/can trust my judgment more - that literature interpretation is a personal experience - the union of the literature and each individual will have unique reactions.
• Received help with clarity of my argument.
• How to structure my essay how to maintain continuity of thoughts, and how to footnote my references.
• Some organization hints, sentence structure with run on sentences.
• How to expand my essay to look at the broader context. Proofreading and restructuring. Synthesizing papers and thesis, backing up my arguments better.
• Paper organization.
• We worked on the clarity of my thesis - really making it match up with my essay. Also worked on or strengthening the conclusion.
• Don't be afraid to cut out the "flowing" parts of my paragraph. There is enough good information to rely on + connect points together.
• I learned how to organize my essay better and to answer the question.
• Develop thesis and a couple of paragraphs to support it.
• How to make my paper more concise and how to write a short paper and still develop and support ideas.
• I learned to create an outline for my essay.
• How to write a cover letter… first time.
• How to narrow my argument and make sure that what I am talking about is relevant to it.
• Revision necessary.
• Changed some minor mistakes and realized one inappropriate example in my argument.
• I learned how to structure my argument proving what I am saying and re-stating what I'm proving.
• I learnt a lot about proofreading, sentence structure, and about my own style of writing.
• How to organize my paper and elaborate more on some of the points, conclusion
• A conclusion should summarize but also take your paper one step further.
• I learned that I have pretty good ideas and how to be more succinct.
• How to structure my essay better, ideas for the rest of my essay.
• I learned what I needed in order to fully integrate my new evidence into my paper.
• Stating clearly what I am going to do in introduction.
• I learned to specify my thesis even more in my introduction.
• How to make my thoughts more clear.
• I learned an effective way to proofread my paper and about passive sentences which were commonly found in my writing.
• I learned to not make paragraphs incredibly long and also to organize the ideas into separate paragraphs.
• Work on my passive tenses.
• Outlining a paper in the introduction.
• Even after lots of proofreading, brainstorming, networking, there are still major improvements to be made in the argument (syntax isn't everything).
• How to really closely edit, and make my prose read smoothly.
• To try not to use long sentences.
• To be more specific in some phrases and to use a more formal language.
• How to bring my paper home and how to rearrange sentences.
• How to write a history paper.
• To be more specific in proposal.
• I learned that I needed to focus on to make my paper more focused and organized.
• Chicago style.
• Bridging examples with conclusion.
• How to structure analysis effectively.
• I learned to tie my thoughts and ideas back to my thesis.
• That I should use commas, probably read my papers out loud and to gather similar information.
• How to tighten paragraphs and relate them back to the thesis.
• Proofread/end of paragraph "punch."
• How to judge citations, omitting unnecessary words.
• Avoid sweeping statement that is less tightly connected to the rest of the paragraphs.
• Papers without thesis don’t work.
• I learned very helpful comments on the structure and coherence of a fellowship application.
• I learned to distinguish my thesis from my other points and ideas.
• How to write an outline, how to restructure my essay for it to be more effective.
• Beware of trying to tackle too many threads of argument in one paragraph, particularly when the connections between them might be obscured by foggy writing.
• How to write a creative essay.
• It's important to pay attention to the flow of ideas within paragraphs.
• That my tutor is amazing.
• I learned to pay special attention to writing clear, succinct statements in a lab report. A lot about organization and paragraph transmission.
• To pay attention to details.
• Bio lab reports are hard to critique if you have done no labs.
  
• How to rework sentences to make more sense, theme-driven essays.
• What to add to scientific paper.
• To read the paper out loud, and let the reader infer more.
• How to better structure my intro so it's clear and understandable.
• Read first/last sentence of paragraph.
• To not be afraid to ask simple questions.
• Always a good idea to include the ideas the opposition may present to your paper.
  
• That the writing center is helpful.
• Specify things more clearly.
• How each paragraphs should be related to the thesis.
• Reading aloud helps.
• My ideas weren't always as obvious as they seemed.
• I learned about adding my voice into a paper.
  
• Take a step back; don't panic; what is the larger issue?
• It was helpful to read my paper aloud and [the consultant] was really helpful with telling me what things that were wrong.
• I looked up a few concerns related to documentation in Chicago style guide.
• Revised my assignment.
  
• The importance of active vs. passive voice, including more information in introduction. W
• I learned better systems of organization for writing polisci papers and the importance of reading papers out loud.
• We were working on mostly with making sure everything relates back to a thesis and I learned more about how to take each point back to the thesis.
• We worked on the clarity of my argument and how to warn the readers of what's coming.
• Talked about importance of textual evidence, etc.
• I learned about adding my own criticism to that of both the author and others within my paper.
• I learned that the "skeleton" of my essay exists, but the ideas need to be further developed.
• How to write a good thesis and define it throughout your essay without telling a story that has already been told.
• that I still have a lot of work to do.
• The language I was using was too vague and distracted from my points.
  
• The use of questions as transitions.
• How to make ideas flow cohesively through the paper.
• Good evidence is not enough--Need organization.
  
• I'm on the right track with my paper.
• She helped me improve my graphs.
• I asked for some clarification about an essay prompt. I learned about ways I should approach this essay.
• I learned the proper use of a colon. It has long been a mystery and is no more.
  
• I learned what is looked for in lab reports, and what works in literature writing vs. scientific writing. Better transition words, and how to make sure I'm being clear.
• How to identify my awkward sentences, and how to cite appropriately.
• We worked on transitions.
• I understand how to make my text less wordy and more meaningful.
• I learned how to read my work aloud to find errors.
• I also learned hot to conclude my writing.
• I learned that the write place is fantastic, yet again!
• Ways of focusing my paper, I learned how to analyze what a question is asking.
• Cleaning up my statements to make them exact without being repetitive.
• How to structure philosophy essays and learning about thesis
• Learned about preventing repetition and making things more clear.
• To specify my thesis - say exactly how paper will laid out.
• Use of quotations marks and citations (we looked a few things up) which was great.
• Word usage, focus in topic sentences.
• Make sure my thesis is argumentative.
• Be careful to always link evidence back to main point.
• How to construct a thesis after the bulk of your paper is written.
• I worked overall on organization and making my paper stronger by connecting it back clearly to a good thesis.
• I'm on the right track and my paper is in pretty good shape.
• To outline my paper at the end to make sure I am coming back to my center point.
• She helped me split up the paragraphs of my essay.
• [The consultant]helped me with some citation formats and I also learned how to fix grammar mistakes I frequently make.
• The thesis and topic are half the paper because they're sort of the unifying give that ties the paper together.
• It is better to show than tell.
• Center my personal statement on stories.
• How to take a step back from my comps.
• That the thesis doesn't always have to come before the 1st body paragraph.
• I came up with a good thesis topic.
• 1) How to clarify my sentence by restating the "point" out loud/rearranging. 2) How to re-word awkward sentences.
• How to connect paragraphs.
• Really helped me to see where my paper lacked clarity.
  
• Don't put in extra info just to make things longer.
• [The consultant] helped me restructure my argument in a more logical way, making the assignment practically feasible.
• How to strengthen an emotional appeal.
• Be more conscious of transitions and the background knowledge of the audience.
• To be clearer and more specific in my writing.
• It's helpful, especially for professors, for the paper to have a guide of sorts to illuminate the general organization.
• That the research assistants in the library are helpful and that I should reread the article.
• Incorporating details into my personal statement to make it more memorable.
• I learned how to make a thesis that creates a paper that is easy to write structurally; how a good thesis leads to a sensible and effective essay.
• I worked on consolidating my thesis and making both an observation and a "so what."
• Proofreading/reducing redundant words and verbs.
• That my paper needed less work than I thought, which has refreshing to know what I am doing well, not just what needs help.
• That talking out loud helps clarify what's in your head.
• Aim for uniformity in certain aspects of the paper (example: consistently use commas, or parenthesis; don't mix them).
• Reading out loud is helpful. My thesis is ok. My structure was solid, but a few surface details need changing.
• I learned how to be more clear, find mistakes when my paper is read aloud.
• That organization is important, and that I need to keep a professional voice.
• How to appeal to my audience & present myself in a way that would most appeal to them.
• We read through my paper and discussed the flow and readability.
• How to cite sources and put them in a bibliography.
• How to write a decent Anthro paper.
• I have to clarify.
• That I am a better writer than I think. Just kidding. I learned how to edit and make my paper flow.
• My paper makes sense! Also, to not throw in random stuff in the intro. Beware the passive voice.Go through each paragraph to see if the structure is correct.
• That it is helpful to talk to someone about my paper.