Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-7-2017
Abstract
This essay examines the division between keeping professional regulations as a Writing Tutor while working with a paper that goes against the tutor’s personal moral code. It suggests two approaches to handling these situations, from leaving the paper exactly as it is to respect personal authorship to following the tutor’s own moral obligation to inform the student of the incendiary ideals written in the essay. It then concludes that the true answer may lie somewhere in between these two proposed solutions. The narrative follows the author’s experience as a peer tutor, explaining the first time she encountered an essay that was inflammatory and biased, then analyzes the author’s inner turmoil of professionalism versus morals during the session. The essay then provides different suggestions on how one may tutor a paper that verges into polarization: focusing on structure instead of content, determining an audience for the paper, and encouraging the student to search for academic sources on credible databases.
Recommended Citation
Forsgren, Harper, "Black and White and Gray All Over" (2017). Tutor's Column. Paper 5.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/wc_tutor/5