Frequently Asked Questions for ShepOwl
What Is ShepOwl?
How do I submit my paper to ShepOwl?
What exactly do I do to send my paper?
How soon will I get my paper back?
What kind of feedback should I expect?
Why can't you just fix simple problems that you happen to find?
You took a day and a half to send my paper back, and didn't even read it! Why?
Is there anything else I need to do?
What is ShepOwl?
ShepOwl is Shepherd University's Online Writing Lab (OWL). It is operated entirely through email, and can be accessed by sending your paper to scwcweb@shepherd.edu.
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How do I submit my paper to ShepOwl?
Submit your paper by emailing it to scwcweb@shepherd.edu in one of two formats: in a Microsoft Word document (.doc) or inline as part of the email. If you want a particular tutor to be the one to review your paper, simply say so in the email. In order to help your tutor, please provide basic information such as your name, your level (i.e., freshman, sophomore, etc.), your class (i.e. English 204 or Survey of American Literature), your professor, and the due date.
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What exactly do I do to send my paper?
If you are typing your paper in any version of Microsoft Word, for either Windows or Mac OS, simply save your paper and attach it to your email. If you write your paper using any other word processing software, use your cursor to select the entire paper, and copy and paste it into your email. Due to technical restrictions, we are unable to accept papers in any other format and will have to send them back.
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How soon will I get my paper back?
We try to promise a turnaround of two days at most. This isn't always possible, especially around miterms and finals as our tutors are students as well, so keep that in mind. Send your paper as early as possible, even if it's incomplete. As long as our tutors have enough content to get a feel for your writing and the direction that you are headed, we will be able to give you feedback.
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What kind of feedback should I expect?
Tutors will mainly comment on your delivery, paragraph structure, sentence structure, and the strength of your thesis. While a tutor may point out some typos and grammatical errors, we are not a proofreading service, and it is not a tutor's job to comb your paper for misspellings and comma splices. What is more likely to happen is that your tutor will leave a comment that alerts you to the types of problems you have with advice to fix it.
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Why can't you just fix simple problems that you happen to find?
Tutors aren't trained and paid to proofread. Effective proofreading is one of the skills that you are supposed to learn in your English classes. Tutors will tell you the kind of mistakes that you make, and try to give you advice to correct these problems in the future.
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You took a day and a half to send my paper back, and didn't even read it! Why?
The most likely reason is
that you sent your paper in an incorrect format. Due to technical restrictions, we are only able to accept papers in Microsoft Word (.doc) format, or papers that are copied and pasted into the actual email. If your tutor doesn't have time to look at your paper for a day or so, it will probably go unnoticed until they do. This can ultimately result in wasted time before your paper gets reviewed by a tutor.
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Is there anything else I need to do?
Your tutor will appreciate it if you include your name, the name of your class, your professor's name, the assignment's due date and requirements, and anything else you want your tutor to keep in mind when going over your paper.
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