Tutor profile: Sylvia A.

What are citations, and why are they necessary?

A citation is a specially formatted piece of information that a writer uses to tell a reader where an idea, phrase, sentence, etc. in the writer's text comes from. Citations can refer to all kinds of different sources, including books, magazines, newspapers, websites, movies, shows, music, art, photographs, plays, speeches, interviews, etc. A citation for a resource includes information such as the resource's creator, title, other contributors, publisher, publication date, location, access date, etc. A writer needs to use a citation any time they quote, paraphrase, or otherwise refer to something that someone else said or wrote. Citations have several purposes: --Citations give credit to individuals for their ideas and/or words. --Citations tell a reader or researcher where to go for more information on a topic. --Citations show that the writer knows how to find exterior sources for information. --Citations help a writer avoid plagiarism, which happens when a writer uses someone else's words or ideas without giving credit to that person.

What's the difference between stress and anxiety?

Stress and anxiety can feel and look similar. Both stress and anxiety are emotional responses that can cause tiredness, trouble sleeping, rapid heart rate, upset stomach, muscle pain and tension, and other unpleasant symptoms. Stress and anxiety can also be managed using some similar strategies. However, there is a difference between the two emotional responses: stress usually has an exterior trigger (such as a test, a breakup, or driving in busy traffic) and usually goes away once the trigger goes away, whereas anxiety can cause symptoms in the absence of any particular stressful situation and often persists even when an exterior trigger isn't present. Treatment techniques can also differ.

What is the climax of a story, and how do you identify it?

The climax is a part of the plot structure of a story. In fact, you could consider it both the most important and most exciting part of the story! Most stories follow a plot structure involving exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. In the climax, the story's conflict comes to a boiling point: it's the most intense part of the story and the turning point in the story. The climax is a moment, often towards the end of a story, that dramatically affects the outcome of the story's central conflict. You can use these steps to identify the climax of a story: --Identify the central conflict in the story. --Identify the outcome of the story's central conflict. --Identify the moment when you (as the reader) find out the outcome of the central conflict. --Look for something that happens before you find out the outcome that has a major impact on what the outcome will be. It's often a moment in the story that makes you as the reader feel some strong emotion, because if you're emotionally invested in the story, this event in the story probably feels like a big deal. Here's a trick to help you identify a story's climax: it's the part of the story that most needs a spoiler alert if you're telling someone else about the story, because otherwise your listener might get mad at you for ruining the story for them!