Welcome to the COW. Before sending us your assignment, please read the site instructions carefully. We are here to assist you with papers, though we do not proofread and edit. Please ask us for help about a particular aspect of your assignment.
KCC Cow
Center for Online Writing
This Kirkwood web page provides information on gaining online writing help. Through this service, you may send in your draft for occasional help. All you need to do is send an e-mail with an attached file to the address following the procedures and guidelines section.
Procedures and Guidelines:
Guidelines
Our COW staff examines papers for some the criteria listed below, and we make suggestions for revisions accordingly, but other questions are also welcome. The questions in italics are examples of how you might ask for specific kinds of help. Please note: We do not proofread papers. Doing so would make us better editors but would not help you improve your writing. If you want to review grammar rules, make an appointment in the writing center. Try this Purdue link to review grammar skills. Some exercises include practice tests with answer keys.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/index.html
Criteria for effective papers:
| Purpose: | Is the purpose of your paper clear and accomplished? I'm supposed to be describing an event. Have I? |
| Depth: | Have I explored my topic fully enough to satisfy my reader? Where would readers probably want more information, or where might they be confused? Did I explain my subject enough? Should I include more information? |
| Focus: | Have I maintained control of the focus of the paper and not strayed onto other topics? |
| Language: | Have I used correct and appropriate language for my audience? Do any errors interfere with my message? |
| Documentation: | Does the paper follow an established style for documenting outside sources? - I am confused about when to cite a source in my paper. Have I done it right? What do you do when there are two works by the same author? How do you distinguish between them? Could you look over my Works Cited page and tell me if it follows MLA, please? Are my parenthetical notes placed properly? I never know quite where they should go. |
| Other Examples: | I'm having troubles with my introduction. Can you help me? How might I support my argument further? (It sounds weak so far.) I don't like my conclusion. How do you react to it? All my sentences seem to sound the same. Any advice? |
Specific requests from you will yield more helpful responses than simply sending in a paper and expecting a reader to fix it. Letting us know in what area you want feedback will make the whole process much smoother and help guide our responses.