revision strategies for writing comprehensive · pdf filerevision strategies for writing how...
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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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