He was in search of a solution that couldn't be discovered in a syllabus. Jason was in denial and dealing with it through anger at the system. That's a good place for us, the tutors, to begin. Aware of the process, I knew that Jason was headed pen-first into the bargaining stage. Bargaining can be a good thing and a great tool in the academic world.
Bargaining can be good because it can get things done.
I have no qualms about suggesting that a student bargain, so I did. I don't know if Jason went home and bargained his way through his paper. Heck, I don't even know if he did it. But my guess is that he did and that he received a pretty good grade on it, too. When he visited the Writing Center, Jason not only accepted the inevitability of the assignment, but also the change that was required of him to structure his writing for college-level success.