What goes on in a typical tutorial?
The first question a tutor generally asks a student is “What would you like to work on today?” That is, the tutor asks the student to focus the tutorial. Using whatever materials the student has brought—assignment sheet, draft, outline, notes—the tutor addresses the student’s concerns. Tutors usually work in the interrogative mode: their job is to lead students to be better readers and critics of their own prose. They ask students questions that will lead them to clarify their ideas, paragraphs, and sentences.
