My Thanks to Wamiq Jawaid

Dear Wamiq Jawaid:

To begin, I would like to thank you for taking the time to come to our grad class; I know you must be busy. I appreciate your time spent teaching us about the online resources provided by Norton. Not only were they well presented, but I immediately saw the usefulness of using the online resources. Your presentation was clear and easy to understand, which allows me to quickly find the necessary materials for use in all of my writing. The tools were relevant and user friendly, and will definitely be utilized over my graduate career and in my professional career.

The clarity and simply presented information in The Norton Field Guide to Writing allows me to gain the knowledge to better my writing and the way I display my ideas. The information on organizing and planning a paper is definitely the most helpful, as that is typically my greatest difficulty in my prewriting process. With the multiple methods for making lists and outlines, the text provides flexibility and range in allowing the student write in a method that he or she is most comfortable with. This helps when teaching so that students do not feel as though they are boxed into a specific style of prewriting. Personally, this aspect has allowed me to expand this flexibility into other areas of teaching and learning.

The online resources from Norton are a great benefit for a student on the go, including the downloadable phone app. These tools are quick and easy to access, as well as readily available on demand. As someone who uses technology on a daily basis, having these resources is important to me as a student and writer. As a teacher, I can easily look up information about writing, for example, when searching a method for my English to Speakers of Other Languages students.

And as as student who may one day teach college writing, A Guide to Teaching The Norton Guides to Writing is a great addition to my collection. These books, along with The Little Seagull Handbook, are each unique texts that I can use now and in my future as a writer. The size of The Little Seagull Handbook appeals to me the most, as well as the ability to quickly search for the necessary information. The experience with having to scan multiple pages to search for one thing can be a frustrating process, but like the Field Guide to Writing, the Seagull Handbook is easy to use and easy to navigate.

As I develop as a writer and a teacher, I will surely use these tools to my advantage. Thank, you once again for the books and taking the time to come and present them.

Sincerely,

Mark Jamison

Student of MA Language and Literacy