Evidence Analysis Memo 2

In another tutoring session at Tutor.com, I experienced a more meaningful interaction with my tutor through both the commenting function in Microsoft Word and through instant messaging interaction. My tutor JoLyn provided comments and basic proofreading using the commenting function in Microsoft Word. Simultaneously, she engaged in instant messaging and we began a conversation surrounding my paper, where she clarified what I was looking for, what was acceptable for this paper, and what some of the expectations were for the paper. This differed from previous interactions in which the tutor simply read the paper, made comments, and then asked me to review the comments to see if I had any questions. Instead, JoLyn engaged me during her review, during which we had a discussion about citing quotations in MLA. She had initially made a comment on the paper saying the period should go inside the quotation. Through instant messaging, the following conversation took place:

Stacie (Customer)
[00:15:48] I thought the period always went after the citation?

JoLyn R (Tutor)
[00:16:20] hmmm maybe I am telling you a lie. Now that you mention it.

Stacie 
[00:16:29] lol i hate when that happens

JoLyn R 
[00:16:58] Me too. You are right. After the citation in a normal quote, after the quote in a block quote.

Stacie 
[00:17:10] right, the block quote is the one i alwasy forget about

JoLyn R 
[00:18:07] I always have to look up block quotes. They aren't that hard, but they are enough different that I have to double check

Stacie 
[00:18:20] yeah and i feel like thats a rule that's always changing

JoLyn R 
[00:19:12] Some teachers do change that rule for their classes which is doubley confusing

Because JoLyn was interacting with me during the session through instant messaging, I felt comfortable asking the question about punctuation as she made the comment on the paper. Without the instant messaging interacting during review, students might have a tendency to drift to other sites on their computer or work on other homework, resulting in missed opportunities for conversation and learning that are vital in face-to-face tutoring sessions.

Shortly after this conversation, there was a block quote in the paper that was punctuated incorrectly:

Stacie 
[00:20:18] speaking of block quotes...

JoLyn R 
[00:20:55] I'll have to double check, but I don't think you need the quote marks.

Stacie 
[00:21:08] i think you're right

After the session ended, we briefly commented on the trickiness of citing quotes, and JoLyn said, “So you were right about the periods for short quotations, and I was right about quote marks for long.” She also sent me a link to the PurdueOWL in case I had any further questions regarding citations in MLA.

What I particularly noticed about our instant messaging conversation was how it became increasingly informal as we continued our conversation. Punctuation, capitalization, and in some instances correcting errors were abandoned in order to accommodate the speed of the interaction and the conversation. JoLyn began the conversation using complete punctuation and capitalization, and later teetered between formal and informal writing that lacked standard punctuation and capitalization and resembled instant messaging language. When I questioned her comment about punctuating cited quotes, she used the onomatopoeia "hmmm." Even so, JoLyn remained mostly formal, avoiding use of contractions and instant messaging language, including emoticons and internet language like "lol". I find this to be common among the majority of tutoring sessions and believe it may have something to do with their training and/or their attempt to keep a formal, academic relationship with the students being tutored.

Again, the simultaneous nature of her comments on the page and our conversation are what made this tutoring session successful. I left the virtual classroom feeling she had taken an interest in my paper and she was truly invested in making my writing better.

Below is a sample of comments provided on the paper, many of which revolved around grammar and usage. 

A sample of the comments provided on the paper, ranging from verb tense issues to word choice to pronoun confusion.

The most interesting comment in this section was the following: "Some teachers hate talks as a verb about an essay since the essay/author isn't talking to you." This comment draws attention to the challenges of tutoring. Oftentimes, tutors must approach topics like these with caution; it is impossible to universalize what teachers find acceptable when it comes to such specific word choice. But JoLyn's comment is a good one; she draws attention to an area that may present a problem, and articulates the issue some teachers might have with the usage. This wording allows a student to make the change or leave it, depending on their own personal experience with writing or with their teacher. This type of language is especially important in a digital sphere where we lack the availability of face-to-face interaction. JoLyn's wording would not make a student defensive, but instead invites a conversation should the student have more questions regarding the usage.