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Revision Strategies for Writing

How to proceed:1. Completearoughdraft.

2. ProofreadformechanicalerrorsusingtheEssential Proofreading Checklist.

3. Putyouressayasideforafewhoursordaysbeforestartingthefinalrevisionprocess.

4. Whenyouareready,printoutyourtextandworkatadeskwithadictionaryandgrammarguide.

[Step 1] The Big Picture: Looking at the essay as a whole

1. WorkthroughthequestionsinStep 1,highlightinganyproblemareasandmakingbriefnotesofwhatyouwouldliketochangeoraddonthehardcopyofyouressay.

2. AttheendofStep 1,gobacktothehighlightedissuesandnotesyoumadeandintegratetherequiredchanges.

3. ProduceacleanprintedcopyandmoveontoStep 2.

c Orient yourself with an Overview

Beginwithanoverview ofthemainelementsoftheessay.Togetasenseofhowtheessaywillcomeacrosstoyouraudience,youmaywishto:

c Readitaloud.

c Asksomeonetoreaditaloudtoyou.

c Asksomeonetoreadittohim/herselfandgiveyoufeedback.

Doesanythingseemstrangeoroutofplace?Aretheresections,paragraphs,orideasthatdonotfitormakesensewhenreadalongwithothers?

c Prioritize Purpose

Writingwithpurposeisanimportantaspectofallgoodwriting.Whenyoumakethepurposeofyouressayaprioritythroughouttheplanning,drafting,andeditingprocesses,youwillavoidmanyofthepitfallsthatunderminestudentandprofessionalwriting.Ifthepurposeofyouracademicessayistopersuade,youmustbesureaboutwhatyouaretryingtopersuadeyouraudiencetobelieve.

Thefirststepinmakingsurethatyourwritinghaspurposeistoexamineyour thesis statement. Thethesisshouldtellthereaderofyouressaywhatpointyouaretryingtomake.Itshouldbeexpressedinaclearandprecisestatement,anditshouldnotbeleftintheformofaquestion.

c Doestheessaythesisanswerthequestionsassignedbymyteacher?

c Isthethesispresentedasanarguableclaim,andnotasaquestion?

c Isthethesistoobroadortoonarrow?

c HaveIcarefullyconsideredmyaudienceandthereader’slevelofexpertise?

c Isthethesismissingimportantornecessaryinformationforthereader’sunderstanding?

c HaveIdefinedanyunfamiliarortechnicaltermsforanon-expertaudience?

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ChecklistEssayThe Comprehensive

You can use this checklist as a guide to editing your own writing.

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Inadditiontohavingaclearlystatedpurpose,youressayshoulduseaneffectivetoneinordertopersuadeyouraudience.

Isthelanguageformalorinformal?(Circleone.)

c Isthelanguageappropriateformyaudience?

c DoIusethislanguagechoiceconsistently?

c Examine the Essay’s Structure

Anessayshouldincludeanintroduction,threeormorebody paragraphs,andaconclusion.

c Introduction Theopeningparagraphorintroductionshouldcreateinterest.Itshouldincludetheessay’sthesisandmap

outthemainpointsyouintendtocoverasyoudeveloptheargumentofyouressay.

Doesmyintroduction...

c Createinterestor‘hook’thereadertowanttoreadmore?

c Clearlyandprominentlystatetheessay’sthesis(thesisstatement;statementofpurpose)inonesentence?

c Indicatethetypesofargumentsandexamplesthatwillbeusedtosupportthethesis?

c BrieflymapoutthesubjectsIintendtocoverintheessay?

Forliteraryessays,doesmyintroduction...

c Statethetitleandtheauthorofthework?

c Isthetitlewritteninthecorrectfontstyle,accordingtothetypeofwork(novel,shortstory,poemetc.)?

c Indicateaprincipalthemeorcentralmeaningoftheliteraryworktheessayexamines?

c Specificallymentionimportantliterarydevices(imagery,symbolism,setting,etc.)thatwillbediscussedoranalysedintheessay?

c Body Paragraphs Thebodyofanessayshouldformastructuredlineofargumentstronglyanddirectlysupportingyourthesis.Each

body paragraphshouldclearlysupportthethesisasitisstatedintheintroduction.

Thebasicunitoforganizationformostkindsofwritingistheparagraph.Aparagraphisacollectionofsentencesthatworktogethertoestablishonemainidea.Ifaparagraphworkscorrectly,itisunifiedandcohesive.

Aunifiedparagraphclearlyestablishesitsmainideawithatopic sentence,andeveryothersentenceintheparagraphworksexplicitlytosupportthattopicsentence.Ifasentenceisofftopicanddoesnotbelongwiththeothersentencesitisgroupedwith,itshouldberemoved.

Sometimessentencesfittogether,butalackoftransitionandconnectivewordsbetweensentencesmakestherelationshipbetweenthemuncleartothereaderatfirst.Thisproblemmeansthattheparagraphlackscohesion.Typically,acohesive paragraphguidesthereadereasilythroughtheparagraphfromtopicsentencetosupportingideasandfinallytoasatisfactoryconclusion.Inordertoedityourwritingforoverallorganization,youmustbeclearaboutwhateachparagraphintendstoachieve,andyoushouldalsobeveryconfidentabouthoweachparagraphworkstogetherwiththeotherparagraphsinadocument.

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First look at each body paragraph separately. Doeseachbodyparagraph...

c Indicatethemainpointoftheparagraphwithacleartopicsentence?

c Focusonthemainideaexpressedinthetopicsentence,andincludeonlysentencesthatclearlyrelatetothetopicsentence?

c Contributetothedevelopmentofmythesis?

c Useexperiences,illustrations,facts,opinions,orexamplestodevelopargumentsthatsupportmythesis?

c Usecitationsthatdirectlysupportthetopicoftheparagraphandtheessaythesis?

c Useappropriateandvariedtransitionwordstoindicatemovementtoanewaspectofthetopic?

c Providesufficientinformationwithoutaddingirrelevantdetails?

Is any information missing that would illustrate the thesis more clearly?

Now look at how the body paragraphs fit together.

c Arethebodyparagraphsarrangedinaneffectivesequence?

c DoideastransitionsmoothlyfromoneparagraphtothenextbecauseIhaveusedeffectivelinkingsentences?

c HaveIconsistentlyusedkeywordsandphrasesthatappearthroughoutthebodyoftheessay?

Finally, reread each body paragraph with the following questions in mind.

c HaveIavoidedwordinessandunnecessaryrepetition?

c HaveIusedavarietyofsentencestructuresandvocabulary?

c HaveIincludedrelevantcitations(quotations)andreferencedthemcorrectly?

c DidIvarywordsandphrasesusedtointroduceacitation?

c Conclusion

Theconclusionshouldsumupthemainpointsoftheessayandrelatethemtothethesiswithoutrepeatingexactlywhathasbeensaidbefore.Theconclusionshouldleavethereaderwithastrongsenseoftheessay’smessage.

Doesmyconclusion...

c Adequatelysummarizemymainideasorpoints?

c Reformulatemythesisandargumentsinnewwords?

c Endwithrecommendations,advice,orthoughtstoencouragefurtherdiscussion?

[Step 2] The Details: Final touches & document formatting

1. Workatyourcomputerwithaccesstoappropriateguidelinestoformatyouressay.

2. WorkthroughthequestionsinStep 2,highlightinganyproblemareasandmakingbriefnotesofwhatyouwouldliketochangeoraddonthehardcopyofyouressay.

3. AttheendofStep 2,gobacktothehighlightedissuesandnotesyoumadeandintegratetherequiredchanges.

4. Whenyouhavecompletedallthestepsinvolvedinthoroughlyeditingyouressay,saveandrereadoncemorebeforeprintingandsubmittingyourassignment.

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Formatting youressaycorrectlyisanessentialcomponentoftheeditingprocess.Mostimportantly,itmakesyourworkenjoyabletoread.Italsopresentstheessayaccordingtofamiliarstandardssothatreadersknowwheretofindandhowtointerpretcertaininformation.Finally,itshowsyourteacherthatyouareabletofollowinstructions,whichisavaluableskillforbothstudyandtheworkplace.

Followtheguidelinesprovidedbyyourteacher.Ifnoneareprovided(besureofthis),alwaysusecommonlyacceptedstandardsandstyles:Pickonestyleandsticktoitthroughouttheessay.ThemostcommonformattingstylesareAPA, MLA,andChicago.

c Essential Information

Everyessayshouldincludesomebasicinformation.DidIremembertoinclude...

c Pagenumbers?

c Atitlepage,correctlyformatted?

c Mynameandthedate?

c Myteacher’sname?

c Thenameoftheassignment?

c Thetitleoftheessay?

c Anyotherinformationrequestedintheassignment?

c Standards

Therearecriteriaforthewaythedocumentshouldlookwhenitishandedin.DidI...

c Useappropriately-sizedmargins?

c Useconsistentfontsthroughout?

c Respectthealignmentandspacingsetoutintheassignment?

c Includeconsistentparagraphbreaksandindentation?

c Respecttheassignment’stotalpagerequirementsorwordcount?

c Includeconsistentheadings,bullets,andnumberingforlistswhereapplicable?

c References

Allideasreadorusedinanywayinpreparinganessayshouldbecarefullydocumented.

DidIfollowconventionsofacademichonestyby...

c Avoidingplagiarismincludingparaphrasingandsummarizingwithoutproperreferences?

c Documentingmysourcesinthetextcompletely,correctlyandconciselyusingproperfootnotes,endnotesorin-textcitations?

c Followingthereferencingconventionsofanappropriateformattingstyle(e.g.APA,MLA,orChicago)?

c IncludingabibliographyofallsourcesIreadand/orreferenced?

c Ensuringthebibliographyisinalphabeticalorder?

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