I don't know how to help my friend.

In My Humble Opinion
1

As some of ya’ll may know, I’m in grad school. I’m finishing up this semester (God willing) and I’ve had a blast, but unfortunately I can’t say the same thing for one of my fellow grad students.

We work in the same lab. Our advisor is an overall nice person, but when she’s in a bad mood, she can be really nasty. And she has a ridiculous lack of tact. I suppose it’s good that she doesn’t beat around the bush with her criticisms, but saying “you suck” isn’t good either.

Our comps have 3 parts: a fifty-minute presentation on our research, comprehensive literature review paper, and an oral examination. These things are supposed to be done all in one semester, but for some reason, I am the only grad student in recent history to actually do this. Everyone else has managed to stretch the process over a year. It pissed me off at first but now I figure the extra time hurts more than it helps.

My friend L. is in this situation. She was supposed to have done her orals last spring, but she still hasn’t turned in her paper to the committee. She gave me her paper to proofread before handing it over to our overly-critical advisor, and I spent about thirty minutes marking it up. There were a LOT of issues with the paper. Grammar errors. Inappropriate word usage. Sections lacking content. I crossed out words and made suggestions in the margins, and then I met with her afterwards to make sure she understood my comments. Overall, I thought the paper wasn’t that good. The topic she’d chosen was interesting, but her treatment of it was very basic. That’s ignoring the fact that it was poorly written. I didn’t say this to her, but I let her know that the paper needed lots of work. I thought my recommendations would be enough to “fix” it. Especially since she spent an extra two weeks with the paper before handing it over to our advisor.

Boy, was I wrong. Our advisor tore her a new one and not only told her that her writing was horrible, but took potshots at her speech. L. did her Master’s in North Carolina, and our advisor remarked that she may have gotten away with her language down South, but she can’t “up here” (in NJ, the bastion of articulate people :rolleyes:). L. is from Philadelphia and she has an accent, but I don’t think she’s a horrible speaker. To make things worse, our advisor told L she wasn’t going to let her graduate until she improved her communication skills. She said this harshly and meanly, and L. walked out of the room about to cry.

I feel awful because I feel like I could have prevented this by proofreading her paper better. Now I’m worried that L. will have low self-esteem over this. I don’t know how to help her. Our advisor suggested she take a freshman English course, but I don’t think that’s going to do anything but embarass her (she teaches freshman biology). She has a Master’s and she’s in her fourth year of a Ph.D program; I doubt a single course could make her a better writer. But I don’t want her to feel helpless about it either. I can’t help but feel that since she’s made it this far without superb writing skills, she doesn’t need to stress over it now. I’d feel differently if she wanted to be a scientist, but she wants to teach.

Does anyone have any recommendations? Would an English course help my friend?

2

Well, I’m puzzled. If the paper was so poorly written that you knew superficial editing wouldn’t cut it, and you knew this advisor was very critical, why did you give it back to her without telling her? I wouldn’t have finished the proofreading if I knew it would set her up that way. I also don’t understand why you think that a teacher doesn’t need to know how to write - the defects you described are fatal, and indicate real communication problems, not just poor style.

It’s possible that enrolling in a composition course at a local two-year college (do they have those in NJ?) would be less embarrassing, as would enrolling in a technical writing course instead of a Freshman course. But one good course with one good composition teacher would do a world of good. It would be worthwhile for her to approach the advisor when she’s in a better mood and ask for a course recommendation; L. should emphasize that she doesn’t want to waste her time with an inadequate course when what she needs is top-notch instruction. It’s sad to think that one adequate class back in freshman year might have prevented all of this.

This is a large peeve of mine: most colleges that offer graduate degrees have very poor freshman instruction. In the English departments, many of those professors are NOT composition experts, and they themselves often write very poorly. They write for other literature professors, and they teach academic writing as if proper citation is all there is to it.

3

I thought my recommendations would be good enough, though. My friend thinks I’m a genius when it comes to the English language, but I’m far from it. Apparently my advisor saw problems with the paper that I completely missed or underestimated.

I also admit that I have a hard time criticizing people. She was watching me as I went over her paper, and she winced every time I made a correction. I know she had put a lot of work into the paper, so I didn’t want to hurt her feelings by being too critical. I actually thought I had been TOO nitpicky. But now I know that’s not the case, and I feel like I let her down.

I guess I don’t see them as that fatal, seeing as how she’s teaching now and has in the past. I know all professionals should have good communication skills, but it’s also true that the writing load is a lot different between researcher and instructor. I think her lack of writing skills would be a more serious problem if she wanted to be a researcher…but you’re right that it may be a problem as an instructor as well.

She attended a small college for undergrad. I don’t know how reputable it’s English department is, though. I suspect that if you wait till college to learn how to write well, you’re going to have problems. English professors at most schools are not going to have the time or desire to work one-on-one with poor writers.

I worry that our advisor has ruined her against seeking help. She tried to blame her communication problems on the fact that she was educated in the South (offensive statement, IMHO) and then said, in front of an audience, she needed remedial help. My friend is sad but also very much on the defense. She doesn’t think she needs help–she just thinks the advisor is out to get her. That’s what unconstructive criticism does to you.

4

Does your school have a writing center you could refer her to for an unbiased opinion? The college I attended had a great one where you could drop in and meet with a tutor (appointments were helpful but not necessary) The center was run by one of the English professors (who in this case was a published author) ant the tutors all took courses in writing and the teaching of writing and held a B average in English.

If your school does not have one - maybe suggest this to the English department?

5

You seem like a thoughtful person, and I think you are beating yourself up over something that is/was out of your control. Your friend asked you for your thoughts, you did what you could under the circumstances, and that’s that. At the risk of sounding harsh, you are not her advisor or counselor. I understand you want to help, but please don’t think you let her down just because her writing isn’t up to snuff. You would have ended up writing her entire paper for her, which doesn’t do anyone any favors.

Sorry, I don’t have a practical solution. I just find it interesting that your advisor let this go on for 4 years without seeing or commenting on your friend’s previous work.

Just don’t take it out on yourself.

6

I’d have to say that it sounds as if this were handled with a supreme lack of tact. Nonetheless, if your friends writing skills are really this atrocious, something does have to be done if she wants to pursue a career in teaching or research. I don’t see any reason your friend should feel embarrassed by taking a freshman comp. course, but if she is, does your institution offer either creative writing or technical writing courses? If she makes a serious effort to improve her writing, the feedback she’d get from instructurs in these courses would prove invaluable, I’m certain.

I’m sorry, but this line bugs me quite a bit. I’m a researcher, not an instructor, but I can’t imagine there not being instances where an instructor does not need to know how to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.

7

My school run a writing workshop occassionally. I don’t know if she’s aware of it, but maybe if she seems open to help, I’ll steer her towards it.

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

8

Two things:

  1. THere HAS to be some sort of writting tutor somewhere on your campus L could see for unbiased one-on-one look-see for her paper (FYI - when proofing my husbands stories, I NEVER do it when he’s around, much less looking over my shoulder - we’d both get ansy).

  2. Someone needs to talk w/the prof’s supervisor about her mouth. I would’ve thought that someone old enough and smart enough to be in that possition in the first place would know “you get more flies with honey than you do vinegar,”* but what do I know?

Patty

  • Quoting Dad.