Faculty & Writing at NPU: An Explanation from the Writing Coordinator -C. Martin "I need to make a confession," said the professor. . . As a very last resort, I finally tried something you guys have recommended for a couple of years but I never thought made much sense - I made the whole class write on a particular question for 10 minutes. And, you know, it worked; after those 10 minutes, they had thought of something to talk about." Download the entire document.

African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) -T. Hatcher While walking around on the North Park University campus, you will hear multiple dialects. One of the most common is African American Vernacular English (AAVE), otherwise known as Ebonics. Many people might think this is a rather loose way of speaking but, on the contrary, this dialect has rules and regularities just as Standard American English does. Throughout this paper I will examine the grammar of a few statements that reflect the way the dialect is used. Download the entire document.

Conferencing in the Writing Center -C. Martin Faculty members sometimes refer students to the Writing Center on an individual basis; they may just recommend that the student come for a conference, or they may require a student to confer on a paper and then rewrite it. . . Download the entire document.

Suggestions for Dealing w/ Writing Assignments -C. Martin Students write up-or down-to the standards we set. Good writing takes time, and most students think they don't have enough time--so they'll try for shortcuts if they think they can get away with them. Download the entire document.

Formal & Informal Composition -C. Martin What kinds of writing assignments, other than formal essays, can serve your pedagogical purposes? This is a quick look at the structures of in-class composition. Download the entire document.

English Grammar and Linguistics -C. Martin English has certainly changed as a language since the mid-19th-century, and Latin grammar isn't always appropriate for English, which has affinities with Latin but is basically a Germanic language. The fact that conscientious teachers keep flagging some of the same grammatical "errors" suggests that at least some of them are simply a normal usage appropriate to English (notoriously, split infinitives). Download the entire document.

Grammar Slippages -C. Martin Six of the most frequent grammar/mechanics/spelling writing slippages in first-year college papers. A good paper should have no more than one of these kinds of errors per page, so don't neglect to proofread for them. If you have more than one per page, they become distracting, like a cloud of gnats, and your paper may convey the impression that you didn't care enough about it to proofread it - and if you don't care enough about it to respect it, why should your readers? Download the entire document.