the OWL

This service has been prepared especially for students in the Concordia Accelerate Program and online courses at Concordia. Using the OWL is easy—just do the following:

1. Send an e-mail message to: [email protected] with the following information:
   • your name,
   • the title of the course and the instructor’s name,
   • a description of the paper assignment,
   • and a description of the things you’d like the OWL consultant to look at in the paper.
2. Attach the paper to the e-mail message.

A consultant in the Writing Center will read your paper and make suggestions about how to improve the work. The consultant will look at clarity of the main ideas, support and development, organization, and other major concerns first. At the level of sentences and grammar, tutors pinpoint the most important or most frequent patterns of error. If you would like help with a specific grammar problem in the paper, be sure to mention it in the e-mail message. You can expect lots of summary and evaluative comments, particularly about specific questions or concerns you raise, but remember that we don’t proofread a paper for you. Our goal is to help you become a better writer.

You will receive a response to your paper, via e-mail, within 48 hours. Please note that papers sent Friday or through the weekend may not receive responses until Tuesday, depending on staff availability.

As you can imagine, a responsive reader is valuable to any writer, not just those having problems. Professional writers always have discerning people read their work before publication.

We hope to hear from you soon!