The School for New Learning and The University Center for Writing Based Learning are offering an upcoming Writing Bootcamp to help you get your assignments finished!
- Do you have an incomplete grade? A final project that is dragging on?
Finish your missing assignments, ILP or AP through Writing Boot Camp. Attend the upcoming faculty-led session on July 25th. This program is designed for SNL students who currently have an incomplete grade on their transcript or students working on writing assignments. Sessions are set up to increase the likelihood students will complete necessary courses to obtain a bachelor’s degree. Sessions offer a supportive academic environment, writing assistance, and help with library services so that students can get assignments completed.
Session Date: Wednesday, July 25, 5:30pm-9:00pm
Session Location: Loop Campus, Daley Building 14 E. Jackson Blvd., Room 1325 Chicago, IL
REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED!
To Register: Email your name, DePaul ID# and the incomplete course title(s) you wish to work on to snlevents@depaul.edu at least 3 days prior to your desired sessions (messages to this email are reviewed by DePaul / SNL college faculty and staff only)
Items to Bring to Session(s): Please bring a flash drive, your copy of the incomplete contract, all prior assignment preparation, including research material, assignment instructions, and assignment writing format (APA/MLA). Please let your faculty mentor know you plan to attend.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
SNL Writing Showcase Winner, Kristine Shultz, discusses her writing process
SNL student Kristine Shultz, was one of this year's winners of the annual SNL Writing Showcase. SNL Writing invited her to guest blog about some of her “aha moments,” struggles, and tips and tricks for writing at SNL below.
As could be expected, I refined my process of writing as I progressed through my classes at DePaul. For my purposes, I separate writing methods and products into two categories: Narrative and Academic. In either method I use the technology available to my best advantage. Search, language options, and cut/paste functions are my best friends and I use them liberally. In stark contrast to the technology available at the stroke of a key or click of a mouse, it never fails to amaze me that the structural rules I learned writing fourth grade themes form the solid basis for all my writing.
When writing a narrative piece I find myself working in a free form style, jotting notes on scraps of paper for future development, creating outlines to be revised and filled in. Because narrative writing draws almost exclusively from my imagination and memory, I find that I hop from one thought to another and back again. I can often compose a piece from start to finish in one sitting but have embraced the value of re-reading it the next day with a fresh eye. The process of gathering the bits of my narrative has a dream like quality. The process of knitting these pieces together into smooth coherence requires careful editing, ordering and transitions. My process for writing academic papers incorporates all the elements of narrative writing with the very important addition of using a spreadsheet.
Early in my experience at DePaul, my academic writing skills took a huge leap in Applied Research. I read about and employed an extremely valuable method using excel spreadsheets to record concepts and quotes as I read journal articles. I recorded all pertinent information: title, author, page number, etc. and created citations for each source. As I moved through my outline, I replaced the tedious and time consuming method of paging through hard copies of articles for highlights or margin notes by electronically searching my file for a concept or key word. At this point, my academic writing was far more easily done, my citations were more accurately documented and creating my source page was reduced to a minute’s long process of copying, pasting and sorting alphabetically. I cannot recommend this method enthusiastically enough.
If I am limited to offering only one suggestion to undergrads regarding writing, it is to avoid turning in assignments at 2:00 a.m. no matter how confident you are in your final product. The few hours between your completion and when you awaken the following day all too often reveal errors in grammar, obvious duplications or worse. Like many undergrads, I learned this lesson the hard way.
When I attended my first information session in Naperville to learn about the DePaul School for New Learning, I vividly recall the session leader declaring “This is a writing intensive program”. I also recall my reaction. I steeled myself and thought “…well, if that’s what it takes I’ll take my best swing”. Although I was intimidated, I saw it as a challenge to be faced with strength and tenacity. I dare say I met this challenge and emerged the victor.
To read Kristine's winning showcase entry, please visit: http://www.snl.depaul.edu/writing/SchultzEnd.pdf.
As could be expected, I refined my process of writing as I progressed through my classes at DePaul. For my purposes, I separate writing methods and products into two categories: Narrative and Academic. In either method I use the technology available to my best advantage. Search, language options, and cut/paste functions are my best friends and I use them liberally. In stark contrast to the technology available at the stroke of a key or click of a mouse, it never fails to amaze me that the structural rules I learned writing fourth grade themes form the solid basis for all my writing.
When writing a narrative piece I find myself working in a free form style, jotting notes on scraps of paper for future development, creating outlines to be revised and filled in. Because narrative writing draws almost exclusively from my imagination and memory, I find that I hop from one thought to another and back again. I can often compose a piece from start to finish in one sitting but have embraced the value of re-reading it the next day with a fresh eye. The process of gathering the bits of my narrative has a dream like quality. The process of knitting these pieces together into smooth coherence requires careful editing, ordering and transitions. My process for writing academic papers incorporates all the elements of narrative writing with the very important addition of using a spreadsheet.
Early in my experience at DePaul, my academic writing skills took a huge leap in Applied Research. I read about and employed an extremely valuable method using excel spreadsheets to record concepts and quotes as I read journal articles. I recorded all pertinent information: title, author, page number, etc. and created citations for each source. As I moved through my outline, I replaced the tedious and time consuming method of paging through hard copies of articles for highlights or margin notes by electronically searching my file for a concept or key word. At this point, my academic writing was far more easily done, my citations were more accurately documented and creating my source page was reduced to a minute’s long process of copying, pasting and sorting alphabetically. I cannot recommend this method enthusiastically enough.
If I am limited to offering only one suggestion to undergrads regarding writing, it is to avoid turning in assignments at 2:00 a.m. no matter how confident you are in your final product. The few hours between your completion and when you awaken the following day all too often reveal errors in grammar, obvious duplications or worse. Like many undergrads, I learned this lesson the hard way.
When I attended my first information session in Naperville to learn about the DePaul School for New Learning, I vividly recall the session leader declaring “This is a writing intensive program”. I also recall my reaction. I steeled myself and thought “…well, if that’s what it takes I’ll take my best swing”. Although I was intimidated, I saw it as a challenge to be faced with strength and tenacity. I dare say I met this challenge and emerged the victor.
To read Kristine's winning showcase entry, please visit: http://www.snl.depaul.edu/writing/SchultzEnd.pdf.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Developing your writing voice
In her final New York Times Draft piece, “The Voice of the Storyteller,” Constance Hale explores the choices writers make to distinguish their writing as uniquely their own, also called developing a personal writing voice or style.
Hale writes, “Voice… refers to the ineffable way words work on the page. It tips us off to the identity of the writer. Reflecting a combination of diction, sentence patterns and tone, voice is the quality that helps a writer connect with a reader, and it turns the writer into a narrator.”
Hale lists many examples of writers that have cultivated unique voices, like the writing of Junot Diaz which “mixes Spanglish, literary theory, Caribbean history and no small amount of profanity in his fiction” or E.B. White, who has a more understated and “effortless” voice.
How can you develop your own signature writing voice? One tip is to write about what you know. When you are writing on a familiar topic, whether it be your area of academic or professional expertise, or even a movie review, you are more likely to write in your own words. Without the need for research or fact-checking, you can fully devote your energy to writing with style -- your style.
To read Hale's article in its entirety, please visit: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/draft/.
Hale writes, “Voice… refers to the ineffable way words work on the page. It tips us off to the identity of the writer. Reflecting a combination of diction, sentence patterns and tone, voice is the quality that helps a writer connect with a reader, and it turns the writer into a narrator.”
Hale lists many examples of writers that have cultivated unique voices, like the writing of Junot Diaz which “mixes Spanglish, literary theory, Caribbean history and no small amount of profanity in his fiction” or E.B. White, who has a more understated and “effortless” voice.
How can you develop your own signature writing voice? One tip is to write about what you know. When you are writing on a familiar topic, whether it be your area of academic or professional expertise, or even a movie review, you are more likely to write in your own words. Without the need for research or fact-checking, you can fully devote your energy to writing with style -- your style.
To read Hale's article in its entirety, please visit: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/draft/.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Summer Schedule for DePaul's UCWbL
Are you taking summer courses and in need of writing support? If so, the Writing Centers at the Loop and Lincoln Park campuses are open during Summer session I and II. For Summer Session I, the Writing Center is open from 10am - 5pm from Monday through Thursday, and from 10am - 3pm every Friday.
Extended Project Support is also available during the 2012 summer sessions. To begin EPS, a student can schedule an appointment to meet with a tutor, and then work with that tutor to set up recurring appointments. For general queries, please contact wcenter@depaul.edu.
Extended Project Support is also available during the 2012 summer sessions. To begin EPS, a student can schedule an appointment to meet with a tutor, and then work with that tutor to set up recurring appointments. For general queries, please contact wcenter@depaul.edu.
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