PAPER READING CONTRACTS

Written by Mamie Hixon, Randi Gingerich, and Rustian PhelpsPPt by Rustian Phelps, 2011

Our . . . MISSION. Is to maintain records of

our . . . Paper Reading activities, to provide.

USEFUL . . . Feedback . . . to professors, to boldly go where . . . ALL. Paper Readers . . . MUST. GO.

Okay, men . . . and Lieutenant Uhura . . . I want

to . . . TALK. To you . . . about . . . CONTRACTS. The

final frontier.

You must complete each contract

immediately after the paper reading.

I have my own system, Captain; I write everything

down so I will not forget what to say when I do all

my contracts at the end of the day.

You. Must. Complete. Each.

Contract. IMMEDIATELY! After the paper

reading.

Fill in all boxes on the contract; don’t leave any questions

unanswered. If the student’s paper doesn’t yet have a title, write a brief description of the

paper topic, not just an assignment number. Say, “Paper

on the Hidden Dangers of Tribbles,” not “Assignment 2.”

Take time to proofread and edit your commentary.

We are looking for the nuclear

wessels.

That’s “vessels.”

We are looking for the nuclear

wessels.

Be tactful even if you’re writing about an unsuccessful paper reading in which a student was, say, obnoxious or rude. Say, “The student seemed angry and acted as if he did not want to participate in the interactive session,” not “THE STUDENT JUST SAT THERE and looked STUPID.” Say, “This paper reading did not yield positive results” and then explain why; don’t say, “This paper reading was USELESS!”

If the student comments about showing up just to fulfill the paper reading assignment, be sure to notify the instructor in the commentary, but cite the information as something the student said, not as your personal, subjective observation (and maybe assumed opinion) . Say, “Marta informed me that she was not interested in doing anything except fulfilling the Writing Lab paper reading

component of the course,” not “Marta came in just because you told her to get her paper read by a Writing

Lab paper reader.”

For Modern Grammar papers and papers in which technical jargon is

the means of discourse, I’m going to do Grammar Checks only. I won’t attempt to assist the student with responses to prompts of questions

unless I have taken the course.

Avoid confrontations with students. Ms. Hixon will serve as your “bouncer” and “negotiator”; she’ll use policy, precedent, and her best judgment to make a fair and equitable decision that will become the basis for all other decisions in similar situations.

Paper Readers should also avoid abbreviations and

ampersands; a paper reading contract is a

formal document.

Describe what took place during the session with regard to editorial changes the two of you agreed to make in the paper, not what you thought of the student or the

paper. Avoid statements such as these:

Scotty is a great writer. Scotty is a nice person. This paper should get an A. I hope Scotty gets an A.

I like this paper.

Explain what happened during the reading. Is it a grammar check?

Explain that you read for typos and grammatical errors. Is it a final

draft? Explain that you also looked at structure and content. What about formatting? Begin your

commentary by explaining in broad terms what the reading

accomplished.

For example: “Mr. Spock and I read his paper for typos and

grammatical errors while checking the paper’s structure, content, and style.

We began by examining format to make sure that it is consistent with MLA

style.”

Next discuss specific areas of concern. If you find a mistake, explain how to fix it. If you have a question, make that fact clear to the professor. Your commentary should not repeat the content of the checked sections; it should explain the tone of the reading and discuss specific or recurring problems. If you can’t find many mistakes, say that you didn’t find them, not that they weren’t there (saying that errors didn’t exist reflects poorly on the Lab and on the reader if the professor finds errors while grading). In other words, do not write, “The paper had no errors.”

It is okay to address the professor directly using

the second person; don’t write “Bones was not sure whether or not

his professor wanted him to…”

Don’t tattle, but make note of any problems that occurred during the

reading. Mention whether or not the student brought the assignment or

textbook and how you used such resources during the reading.

Be sure to tell the professor if you did not read the entire

paper. Your commentary may or may not include all of

the elements I just described; it should be 6-10

sentences long.

For example: “Nurse Chapel told me that she has trouble with spelling, so I paid close attention to her spelling as we read. She was also unsure about how to cite an electronic journal in MLA style; we looked at examples of MLA Works Cited entries on the Writing Lab web site. I gave her a card with the Writing Lab’s Web address. She was not sure whether or not you want her to include links in her Works Cited entries; I told her that MLA style does not require it but that she should ask you if you want her to include the links. Nurse Chapel also had several comma errors in her paper; specifically, she had trouble identifying introductory elements. I showed her the Commas minilesson on the Lab website. Aside from comma errors, I found few grammatical mistakes in her paper. Nurse Chapel uses informal language in her paper. I explained the importance of maintaining an academic voice in her writing, but she does not want to remove idioms from her paper. The structure of Nurse Chapel’s paper is consistent with the outline on the assignment page she brought. We could not read the conclusion because of time constraints, so I told Nurse Chapel to pay close attention to comma splices when she edits that section.”

Wrap things up by explaining how the reading went. How did the student respond

(or not) during the reading?

Got it, Captain.

Thank you, Mr. Sulu. You’ve helped Mr.

Chekov a lot. Anton was receptive to my

comments, and though he was quiet, he interacted with me during the reading. He came

prepared with specific questions for me, and he answered all the

questions I had about his paper.

Good job, men . . . and Lieutenant Uhura. Remember.

The . . . contract . . . is the place where you C.Y.A. – COVER. Your

. . . azz. A detailed contract benefits not only the . . .

instructor and the student, but also. YOU.