Writing Center
The Writing Center/ARC is currently offering both IN-PERSON tutoring (in the Student Center building on the Brockton Campus and in Room C126 on the Canton Campus) and REMOTE tutoring (Zoom, email, and phone).
In addition, students can also email a paper draft or general question to writingcenter@massasoit.mass.edu and receive tutor feedback within 24 business hours. In your email, include Massasoit student V#, Professor and course name, assignment information, specific assistance requested, and a copy of the writing in Microsoft Word or Google Docs format.
Writing Center Offerings
The ARC Writing Center offers free writing, reading, and language acquisition support for current students and faculty. We help students with a wide range of writing projects, from essays to lab reports to honors projects across all disciplines. Here are a few common reasons students work with us.
- Assignment Analysis & Brainstorming
Starting a writing project is often a daunting task. Writing Center tutors can help students understand an assignment, discuss the approach to a project, or work together to help students develop their papers topics, thesis statements, ideas and outlines. - Drafting & Revision
Writing tutors can support students through the drafting and revision processes. We work together to clarify ideas and examine essay structure for ways to strengthen arguments. In the revision phase, we coach students through basic issues with grammar and syntax. Rather than proofreading or editing, writing tutors help students identify patterns of error, learn to proofread their own work, and find great grammar and mechanics resources that will equip them to be strong independent writers. - Language Acquisition Support
We have tutors who help English Language Learners. We also support some foreign language courses at Massasoit, including: Spanish, French, and Portuguese.
- Speaking & Presenting
Tutors in the Writing Center can help students prepare for assignments that require speaking and presenting. We are happy to give you a private space to practice, or give you feedback on your speech, no matter where you are in the speech-writing or presenting process. We can also give you feedback on your writing and communication as you prepare digital presentations, brochures, or other kinds of non-essay related writing. - Workshops
The Writing Center offers workshops throughout the semester on a variety of topics. - Reading Comprehension
Writing Center tutors can support students with reading comprehension no matter the level. We are happy to work with students across the disciplines on challenging reading assignments. - Study Skills
Tutors in the Writing Center are happy to give currently enrolled students feedback on transfer essays and application essays.
Writing Center Faculty & Student Resources
Writing Center Syllabus Statement
The Writing Center is located at SC165 on the lower level of the Student Center in
the Brockton Academic Resource Center (ARC). During the Summer of 2022, writing support
is available Monday-Thursday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm and from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
Make an appointment online through GradesFirst, in person at the Academic Resource
Center front desk, or via telephone at 508-588-9100 x1801.
Syllabus and Course Calendar Submission
Submitting your syllabus and course calendar to the Writing Center can help students
and tutors answer questions that frequently arise during Writing Center consultations.
Having your course calendar also helps us to plan workshops and other programming
that’s more specifically tailored to the needs of your students.
Submit your syllabus & Course Calendar
Writing Assignment Submission
Submitting your writing assignments to the writing center can often clarify questions that arise during a writing consultation. You can visit this page and submit assignments as often as you’d like!
Submit Your Writing Assignment
In-Class Workshop Request
The Massasoit Writing Center offers customized, interactive in-class workshops. Our
goal is to help instructors across the curriculum teach or incorporate writing into
their course. Frequently requested workshops include tutor-assisted peer review, MLA
& APA citation, and planning and writing long research assignments. The Writing Center
will work with you to develop a workshop that meets the time and content requirements
you have in order to support your goals, and to help your students succeed. While
we will try to meet all requests, we can only do so when we have plenty of advance
notice, and the staff to cover both the Writing Center and your workshop. Please submit
your request at least 2 weeks in advance of your proposed workshop date. Instructors
must be present in the classroom for the duration of the workshop.
Submit Your in-class Workshop Request
Writing Center Handouts
The Writing Center offers handouts on many aspects of the writing and revising processes.
You and your students can access these resources by clicking on the Student Resources
tab on the left hand menu.
- Communication Skills
- Drafting the Paper
- Exploring and Planning
- Grammar
- Managing the Information
- Revising
- Writing in the Disciplines
Writing Center FAQs
The ARC Writing Center supports writers and writing instruction at Massasoit. We invite currently enrolled students to visit us for consultation at any phase of the writing process. We also invite Massasoit instructors to use the Writing Center as a resource for feedback on writing assignment and rubric design as well as their own writing. We welcome English Language Learners in the Writing Center!
Writing Center tutors work with writers at Massasoit on writing projects. Since writing projects often span different disciplines and media, we’re happy to work with students on improving their writing and communication. Our goal is to cultivate confident writers by empowering them to produce better writing. We aim to support writers at any skill level and during any part of the writing process.
The Writing Center also offers tutoring for several modern languages including French, Spanish and Portuguese.
Appointments at the Writing Center are about 30 minutes long. We offer limited drop-in tutoring that’s available on a first-come first serve basis throughout the day. Depending on how busy the writing center is, a drop-in appointment may last from 15 to 30 minutes. At our peak hours, drop-in appointments are much more limited. For these reasons, we highly suggest that Massasoit students make an appointment in advance.
Students with an essay draft that is at least 10 pages long at the time of the appointment
may schedule an appointment for 1 hour. In order to make this appointment, you will
need to visit the Writing Center Coordinator in office SC165A.
You can make and cancel an appointment online through Navigate. You can also make and cancel one in person at the Brockton ARC reception desk, or by calling 508-588-9100 x1801.
Writing Center tutors can work with a group of students at the same time. However, group appointments are best if you are working on a group assignment, or working on assignment analysis and planning, or a specific writing question. If students have their own individual essays, they will need to make individual appointments.
If you would like to reserve the Writing Center group room to collaborate with your
classmates on a project, you can schedule an appointment through the Brockton ARC
reception desk.
Appointments are considered missed if a student is more than 10 minutes late for their appointment, or if they do not show up for an appointment. If you miss two appointments in a row, you will not be able to schedule an appointment without speaking to the Writing Center Coordinator.
Proofreading is the final stage of the revision process. Proofreading focuses on finding errors in your paper like misspellings and mistakes in your punctuation, and is usually the very last thing you do before turning your paper in to your professor. The Writing Center is happy to provide tips and strategies to help you learn to revise and proofread your writing. Since our goal is to help writers produce better writing, we can’t do your writing or polishing for you. We are not a proofreading service because we want to make sure that you thoroughly understand why every change is made to your paper.
Of course! While we are not a proofreading service, we’re happy to help students with questions about grammar. Since our appointments are limited to 30 minutes and English grammar is a very broad concept, we recommend that students come prepared with specific grammar questions and examples of their own writing where they’ve made those specific mistakes. Once a writing consultation begins, tutors may point out other areas of the assignment that may need attention during the revision process.