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ENGL 339 Blog 3: Inside the Tutoring Session

     The purpose of “Nuts and Bolts of Mad Scientist’s Guide to Composition” is to brush up on the “nuts and bolts” of English prose. The first section covers dismembered parts of speech, specifically how nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and coordinating conjunctions are used to form sentences. The next section explains that using they/them/their is not only acceptable but a more gender neutral/inclusive alternative when assigning pronouns in a sentence. The chapter also touches on incomplete clauses, danger words, fixing sentence fragments, and punctuation. Ch. 2: Inside the Tutoring Session provides an overview of the structure of a tutoring session and what typically happens during one. While the session’s flow depends on the student’s progress with their paper, there are some key elements that are consistent across every session. It usually starts with establishing rapport with the writer and asking questions about their paper that will help guide your approach. From there, the focus shifts to editing or brainstorming. The writer shares their current progress, and you ask questions to support them moving forward.

     These two readings both provide ways to improve communication and writing skills. "Nuts and Bolts of Mad Scientist's Guide to Composition" emphasizes things like grammar, sentence structure, and inclusive language, offering a practical approach to producing clear and effective writing. “Inside the Tutoring Session” discusses how a tutor can support a writer by fostering a productive environment by asking questions and guiding them based on their needs. Both readings emphasize that clear communication and thoughtful feedback on both your own work and others are key to the writing process. 

    "Nuts and Bolts of Mad Scientist's Guide to Composition" briefly discusses inclusive language. I’m wondering if there are any other examples of language use that have evolved to be more inclusive? 

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