2014 Scary Story Contest

The Writing Center held a two sentence scary short story contest for Halloween this year. Students posted their stories on the center's facebook page. The winner's story was terrifying and entertaining! Congrats Emily!

Emily's story:

Our priest, in memory of Mary who disappeared earlier this week, dedicated today's service to her. He passed around the blood of Christ, which held a bitter taste, and we drank while he said with a smile, "And may Mary be with us all" to which we replied, "Amen."

WC Hall of Fame!

The Writing Center is always buzzing with students working hard to make the grade.  Writing consultants come and go each semester, devoting time and energy to the betterment of the college community.  Some move on to new jobs and challenges, and eventually...graduation!  While Cedar Crest College students show their spirit and dedication to the college in various ways, The Writing Center is proud of the commitment our writing consultants have to fellow students.  A "Hall of Fame" has been created to showcase the writing consultants who have graduated, and we wish them the best on their new chapter in life!

Why Do You Need the Writing Center?

The Writing Center is a great place that is nestled within the Academic Services wing in Curtis Hall, room 103.  Writing consultants are ready and willing to help students with their essays and other assignments, there are comfy armchairs, and coffee and teas to drink.
                                                    
             Okay, maybe our coffee isn't as pretty as the picture above, but it does have caffeine. 

Many students do not take advantage of this incredible service.  Why do YOU need to visit the writing center?

1.  Perhaps you have always written well, and you have decent grades.  You may not think you need help with your writing.  Even the best writers need editors to review their work and help them to become stronger.  The consultants are ready and willing to help you find the strengths and weaknesses you have in your academic writing so you can go from decent grades to excellent grades.

2.  Freshmen may have done well in high school, and many are prepared to tackle a college level essay, but sometimes the expectations of college level academic work can be overwhelming.  Writing consultants can help you hone your writing skills so you can excel in your first year essays.

3.  Many students come to Cedar Crest later in their life as SAGE students.  This can be difficult when it has been years since you last took a class, and the expectations may have changed since that time.  The writing consultants can bring you up to speed and get you ready to find success in your writing assignments.  The Writing Center realizes the complex schedules you may keep, and offer a variety of times to schedule appointments.

4.  Even the strongest writer can become predictable, or have a writing crutch that may stand out to a professor.  This can impact your grade.  It never hurts to have someone else look over your papers to pick up on the little things that are easily missed.

5.  The semester can get crazy when you have multiple papers due and midterms or finals looming over you.  This leads to a lack of sleep, feeling overwhelmed, and making simple mistakes you would not normally make.  Writing consultants can help you when you are overwhelmed by catching mistakes.  If you come to us early on, we can even help you with your brainstorming, and how best to organize your work.

6.  Cedar Crest is proud of its diversity, but for students who come to us from other countries, the transition can be difficult.  Whether English is your second language or not, the writing styles and expectations may differ.  There are so many other stresses that come from acclimating to another culture, let us help you with the writing.

The Writing Center is here to cater to all Cedar Crest College students, and it can help you reach your writing potential.  As the new semester begins, please come see us, sign up to make appointments, and join our Facebook page.  We can't wait to get to know you!

When do you need The Writing Center

When do you need The Writing Center?  NOW!
There is a trend at The Writing Center.  Appointments tend to be few and far between early on in the semester, but as midterms and finals approach, the writing consultants find themselves booked.  Students panic, and papers do not get the time and attention they really need.

                                                                                                            While this has gone on for quite some time, in the end, it is the students that suffer.  

The semester has just started, and you may think it is too early to make an appointment.  After all, the essay you saw in your syllabus isn't due until the end of the semester, but this is where you are wrong.

If you find yourself procrastinating, and skimming by with a C, or happy with a B, you may find a visit to The Writing center earlier in the semester could help you attain a higher grade.  You may also find that the assignment is not as ominous as you believe.


Writing consultants are not here to just look over your papers and fix your grammatical errors.  There is a great place online called Smart Thinking, and they can do that for you.  Writing consultants are here to help you brainstorm, to show you how to make a strong thesis, to help you find your strengths and utilize them, while seeking your weaknesses to help you defeat them.  You can become more confident in your writing by working with a consultant, and these lessons will stick with you throughout your educational career.

Summer Reading!

The last blog post addressed the challenge of summer writing, but for those rainy days when you need to be inspired, or lose yourself in another world, perhaps you should pick up a book to read.  Summer provides students with the chance to read books for pleasure.  While you may have thoroughly enjoyed your book on human resource management, algebra, biology, and Shakespeare, it is nice to choose your own book.

The used bookstore, Another Story at 524 N 18th St in Allentown, is a great place to start.  While ereaders can be great for people on the go, and traveling, sometimes it is best to just hold a book.  There is nothing that compares to the smell of a book when you open its pages to explore the world in a new way.  For a new book, there is the feeling of the binding as it begins to crease for the first time with your touch, and a used book can hold the wrinkles and folds of well-loved pages for years to come.  


From the classic masterpieces that fill literature courses, bringing an understanding to the centuries past and the lives lived during those times, to the current novels filling bookstore shelves that provide a different facet of the same revered stories, there is much to choose from.  Here are a few story ideas to help you pick some summer reading to enjoy.

Cedar Crest gives the group of incoming freshman a book to read before the school year starts, but this book would be a great read for everyone.  The title of the book is Do It Anyway: The New Generation of Activists, by Courtney E. Martin.  If this is a book you would like more information on, I am providing the Amazon link.   
Do It Anyway

For some great classics, check out this list of 25 American classic books:  25 American classics

Still stuck, check this list out for more inspiration:  100 Novels Everyone Should Read
 

Challenge Yourself This Summer!

Summer has set in, and for those who are not taking summer courses, the homework and papers piled up are a thing of the past...until fall semester begins.  The last thing you may want to think about is writing.  The weather is nice, the beach sounds like a great option for the summer.  Some of you may be taking summer classes and plan to continue the academic work with only a small break.  While the idea of spending your free time writing could seem a bit daunting, it can be fun.

Creative writing is a great outlet for many people.  It can be as simple as writing in a daily journal, tackling a daily prompt, writing poetry, or as complex as tackling a novel.  Rainy summer days, with a fresh story in mind, can challenge you to do something you never imagined.  There are many sites online that give out daily writing prompts and this can help you if you get stuck on what to write about.  

While the academic writing can burn you out, you may be surprised by how much creative writing can inspire you.  It is not for everyone, but some people may not realize a novelist lives inside of them until they put their ideas down and run with them. 

Here are some great blogs to help you get in the mood to write:

Check out "The Write Practice," which is a great blog/site created by Joe Bunting and contributed to by other aspiring authors.
http://thewritepractice.com/

Another great site is "Goins, Writer," written by Jeff Goins.  He answers lot of questions and helps people on the path to great writing and publication.
http://goinswriter.com/about-me/

Larry Brooks, bestselling author, and writing blog writer, provides a plethora of information in his blog, "Story Fix."
http://storyfix.com/about

These are just a few of the thousands of blogs out there that can help to teach and inspire you.  So when the pool is closed, the rain pours, the heat becomes too much, or you want to try something different, take a plunge into your heart and create a story.  You may surprise yourself.

, Appositives,

Commas are one of the most difficult grammar concepts to grasp, and one of the most common comma confusions is regarding appositives. "What in the world are appositives?" you may ask. Well, in simple terms an appositive is a noun or noun phrase which renames or redefines a noun right next to it. Let me give you some examples.

Noun: Blue   Appositive: Green

1) My brother Liam lives in California.

See how Liam only renames brother? It doesn't really add extra information about brother.

2) Violet, my purple cat, is the strangest cat in the neighborhood.

Again, Violet only renames cat without adding outside information. 

Did you notice the two commas around the appositive in the second example, and none around the appositive in first example? Sometimes the noun is too general without the appositive, and the meaning of the sentence changes without it.

If I took out Liam in the first example, I will be left with:

1) My brother lives in California.

Which brother? Liam, Jacob, John, Bobby, or Tommy? The sentence is now too general to give the message it gives with the appositive. Therefore, it needs no commas; all the information is essential.

In the second example, taking out the appositive will leave:

2) Violet is the strangest cat in the neighborhood.

This sentence remains specific to the one cat, Violet, even though the reader no longer knows that it is my cat. It gives the same message with and without the appositive. In this case, you need commas on either side of the appositive. 

Lets do a few more examples.

1) The vacation house, a large contemporary villa, was near the beach.

A large contemporary villa just renames the noun house. Again, because the sentence works without the appositive, you must place commas on either side of it.

2) My college begins its new semester in August, the most sweltering month of the year.

In this example, August is being redefined as the most sweltering month of the year. Had the appositive been in the middle of the sentence, it would have needed two commas. However, as it is at the end, the period takes the place of the second comma.

3) The first president of the U.S., George Washington was a general during the Revolutionary War. 

4) The author of The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien was a legendary linguist.

In number three and four, the appositive comes at the beginning of the sentence. Therefore, the same rule applies as example two except the first comma is dropped instead of the second one.

Although appositives may seem like a difficult concept in the beginning, being aware of what they are can help you notice them in your reading. As you become more familiar with appositives, start to incorporate them in your writing. With steady progress, you will soon be a pro!

WHY Must We Take WRI?

“I came to college for a degree in biology …so WHY do I have to take Writing 100?”

Well…why not? I mean, don’t you have anything else to do with your time?

Of course you do. But, as much as you don’t want to hear it, Writing 100 is not just a piece of the liberal arts curriculum necessary for graduation. Writing is a skill that will give you an edge in every aspect of your life—not just to make an intriguing twitter post.

Writing is an essential tool that allows you to learn many crucial skills. It enhances your ability to organize and process information, to be clear and concise, and to fine tune your work.

Yes, you might be able to learn these skills in the lab or in the music studio. But in our increasingly digital universe, faster and more concise communication is necessary: It could make the difference between a job and unemployment.

Don't let writing stand between you and your dream job!

Okay, so that might sound a little far-fetched, but is it really? Would you really want something as simple as writing skills to get in the way of your dream job?

So the next time you complain about trudging through the rain or snow to a dank Blaney basement room, remember that you are learning skills that you can use in real-time, for what matters to you. Whether it’s a cover letter, lab report, marketing pitch, documentary log, or personal statement, writing is equivalent to success.

Don’t let writing get in your way. Stay in Writing 100, learn what you can, and get ready to focus on what’s important to you.

For some more information, check out this list of “What Makes Writing So Important?” from Marquette University: http://www.marquette.edu/wac/WhatMakesWritingSoImportant.shtml. 

The Problem with Prewriting

The Problem with Prewriting

  How many times have you heard about the writing process, seen diagrams, listened to professors as they explain the writing stages?  The steps to writing have been drilled into us, but there is a serious problem with the prewriting process; people skip it and start out with the writing stage. 

Prewriting is a crucial element in the development of good writing.  When you are assigned an essay, you should always take time to think about it, plan it, research it, plan some more, and outline your main ideas.  

One of the best ways you can break through the ominous writer's block, which can inhibit the flow of words on your screen, is to brainstorm.

                                

                 You can make a list of random ideas, a flow chart, a diagram, a jumble of sentences with possible connections.  Brainstorming can be twenty minutes of freewriting, it can be the exploration of a topic from various perspectives, it can be a list, pictures, or anything that helps you to get your creative juices flowing.  Once you have some great concepts or ideas, try to connect them, make sense of them, and explore how they can work together.   

                 After you have your topic and some great ideas, you can begin an outline.  From your introduction to your main ideas and conclusion, you should organize your ideas in a way that makes sense and flows.  This will help you to develop your thesis and to create a strong essay that keeps the reader on track.  

                 While there are many other things that should be considered in the development of a great paper, prewriting should come first.