Tutor profile: Lori M.

When I think I have written something really great, my teacher tears into it like it doesn't make sense. It's always been this way, and I don't know how to improve?

There are three techniques you should try when you're in the draft phase. One is to read the paper backwards. When your mind isn't filling in the sentences for you, you will spot errors more quickly that might be causing some confusion. Another technique is to read your paper aloud. Pause only briefly when you have commas and longer for periods. Doing this will help you eliminate run-ons and help you hear what the paper truly sounds like. Even better--try the third strategy where someone else reads it aloud. When you're reading silently, you have no distance because you wrote it.

Whenever I try to study history, I lose focus. What can I do?

First, it's really good to set up a good environment. I go to a study room at the library and leave all distractions at home. Studying is more entertaining than staring at walls. The best way to approach studying is in chunks. If you're reading a text book, try first looking at the headings. What are the general points? Then go through paragraph by paragraph and make notes on what each main idea is. Tackling the little chunks one by one is a lot easier than the whole text. If you do this effectively, you will have a good list of notes to then read.

How do I think of what to write about in an essay?

First, let's look at the prompt. What is being asked of you? (If for example, the essay requires an argument), What are the key points you want to make? Let's map that out generally, and then we will look at specific supports. We can go back to the text provided then see if we need additional research to support.