English 100 Students
The English 100 Tutorial Program offers students a chance to meet one-on-one with an experienced instructor outside their own class setting.
The goal of the Tutorial Program is to provide a sounding board for English 100 writers at all levels of expertise and at any point in the writing process for both writing and multimodal projects. When you leave a Tutorial session, we want you to leave with a plan, ready to sit down and tackle that blank page or those tricky revisions.
How do I make an appointment?
To make an appointment with one of the Tutorial co-directors, use the Starfish App on your MyWisc Account.
- Log into MyWisc
- Search for the Starfish App
- Add to home for easy access
- Launch the app
Please click this link for more information on using Starfish to schedule appointments.
At present, we offer three types of appointments: (1) in person in the Helen C. White building, (2) synchronous video chat, and (3) asynchronous written feedback. If you cannot find a time on our schedule that works, please email us and we will try our best to work with you. We are very eager to work with English 100 students! <100tutorial[at]english.wisc.edu>
What should I know when I schedule an appointment?
This may be the first time you have discussed your writing in a one-on-one setting. Many students find Tutorial sessions helpful, scheduling ongoing appointments throughout the semester. We are happy to meet with students for one 30-minute session per week. Students can schedule appointments up to three weeks in advance.
We offer support for both writing and multimodal projects:
- Planning and drafting: understanding assignment prompts and grading rubrics, brainstorming main ideas, generating topics and thesis statements, planning design elements, etc.
- Revising: working on organization or “flow,” refining arguments, sentence-level polishing
- Reviewing and responding to instructor comments
- Developing questions or comments to share with your E100 instructor
Our goal is to serve as a second set of eyes for your English 100 writing assignments at all stages of your writing process (from brainstorming to rough drafts).
How should I prepare for my appointment? What should I do during my Tutorial session?
You should bring your draft (a GoogleDoc works great!), assignment description, relevant writing (brainstorming, outline, handouts), and questions. You should also bring a method of note-taking as we read your draft (pen and paper, electronic note taking system, etc).
Tutorial sessions are led by your writing questions. Depending on your draft stage and questions, we may ask you to read your writing out loud. Other times, we may brainstorm together, we may coach you on independent revision strategies, or we may even ask you to do a few minutes of free writing. We can typically get through about five pages of writing per session. If your draft is longer, we will likely focus on sections of your paper as they are connected to your revision questions.
Who will meet with me?
English 100 Tutorial sessions are led by Co-Directors Francesca Bua and Helen Smith, both who have experience as English 100 Instructors and Writing Center Tutors.
Francesca Bua is a PhD Candidate in the Literary Studies program in English, which means she has taken all of her coursework and is currently working on her dissertation. Her research interests include early modern tragedy and women’s writing in the early modern period, and her non-research interests include reality TV, her cutie-patootie dogs, and travel! She has varied experience teaching in the English department, which includes teaching English 100 and tutoring for the Writing Center. Francesca loves to work with students on their writing at any and all stages of their writing process, and is looking forward to meeting with English 100 students about their ideas!
Nora Harris (she/her) is a PhD candidate in the Composition & Rhetoric program of the English Department. Her research explores Feminist care theory and emotion in the teaching of writing. Nora has worked as an instructor for E100, English 201, and the Writing Center, and as Assistant Director of the English 201 program. When she is not nerding out about writing, she can be found making friends with neighbors’ dogs, baking sweet treats to share with friends, or ranting about her favorite shows — from period dramas, to science fiction, to reality tv. She also loves spending time around Madison’s lakes and music scene. Nora can’t wait to get to know this year’s E100 students and talk with them about their writing challenges and goals!
You can make an appointment with either of the co-directors through the Starfish app (see above). You can also reach the English 100 Tutorial by email: 100tutorial[at]english.wisc.edu