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Revision Essay Assignment
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Hetty Baillargeon
Dec 8, 2023, 11:53:24 AM12/8/23
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Avoid slipping into clichés or generalities. Take this opportunity to really examine an experience that taught you something you didn't previously know about yourself, got you out of your comfort zone, or forced you to grow. Sometimes it's better to write about something that was hard for you because you learned something than it is to write about something that was easy for you because you think it sounds admirable. As with all essay questions, the most important thing is to tell a great story: how you discovered this activity, what drew you to it, and what it's shown you about yourself.
revision essay assignment
Download File https://ckonti.com/2wJcdn
Be sure to read your assignment thoroughly before you read the article or book. Your instructor may have included specific guidelines for you to follow. Keeping these guidelines in mind as you read the article or book can really help you write your paper!
Please note: The length of your introduction and overview, the number of points you choose to review, and the length of your conclusion should be proportionate to the page limit stated in your assignment and should reflect the complexity of the material being reviewed as well as the expectations of your reader.
If your assignment asks you to review the book as it relates to issues or themes discussed in the course, or to review two or more books on the same topic, your introduction must also encompass those expectations.
First, put your draft aside for a little while. Time away from your essay will allow for more objective self-evaluation. When you do return to the draft, be honest with yourself; ask yourself what you really think about the paper.
Check the focus of the paper. Is it appropriate to the assignment prompt? Is the topic too big or too narrow? Do you stay on track throughout the entire paper? (At this stage, you should be concerned with the large, content-related issues in the paper, not the grammar and sentence structure).
Because this is a writing intensive course, students will earn a substantial part of their final grade through four writing assignments (80%). Students are required to review their first paper at the Writing Center with a peer tutor, although they are strongly encouraged to avail themselves of these services for all three writing assignments.
For one paper, students may choose one to send a draft for review, but it must be sent a full week ahead of the paper deadline. Students may also rewrite one paper if they received a B or lower. I require students to send drafts far in advance because it takes 7-10 days for me to thoroughly read and comment on all papers. I often tell students to go to the Writing Center after giving them feedback. Although I make many suggestions, I hope that students revise the entire essay, based on my suggestions, rather than just fixing the specific things marked. When I receive a rewrite, I average the two grades.
My WI courses focus heavily on improving analytical writing skills. For all essays I provide extensive feedback in the form of in-paper corrections as well as a separate sheet of general suggestions. I also provide a small amount of extra credit for those who go to the Writing Center when it is not required.
Students are required to revise one paper. In my introductory course, I average the original and the revision grade. In my upper-level course, in which the revision is of a research prospectus for a 25-page research paper, the revised prospectus receives a separate grade. In addition, students are required to have a Writing Center conference on a second essay. For all papers, students are encouraged to meet with me one-on-one.
True revision requires that you look at your essay from a completely different perspective than when you initially wrote it. When you wrote this draft, your first concern was expressing your ideas; now your primary concern is to communicate those ideas more clearly to your reader. Here are some suggestions and guidelines for your revision.
As the most important sentence(s) of your essay, anything you do to clarify or narrow your thesis statement will benefit your entire essay. Remember: It should contain concrete elements and specific names and places rather than vague generalizations. Your thesis should explain the significance of the topic you have chosen to discuss, rather than announce your topic as a statement of fact.
What is the connection between the details you've chosen to discuss in your essay? What are the similarities or differences? How are pieces of evidence related? If your thesis is strong, the connection between your examples should be evident.
In an essay, nothing is understood; all of your arguments need to be explained. Avoid using general terms which are meaningless without context. Example: "a better life" (What does this mean to the character within the context? There is an implied comparison, so better than what?) Don't assume your reader knows what you mean. Make sure you define your terms and use examples to illustrate.
An error which has been identified on your first draft should not appear again in the revision. If your essay contains confusing, unclear sentences, rephrase, reorganize, or edit those sentences. Even if you use a Spell Check program, look over your paper for typos which the computer can't recognize (ex. "tow" instead of "two").
Revising and editing are the two tasks you undertake to significantly improve your essay. Both are very important elements of the writing process. You may think that a completed first draft means that little improvement is needed. However, even experienced writers need to improve their drafts and rely on peers during revising and editing. You may know that athletes miss catches, fumble balls, or overshoot goals. Dancers forget steps, turn too slowly, or miss beats. For both athletes and dancers, the more they practise, the stronger their performance will become. Web designers seek better images, a more clever design, or a more appealing background for their web pages. Writing has the same capacity to profit from improvement and revision.
You should revise and edit in stages: do not expect to catch everything in one go. If each time you review your essay you focus on a different aspect of construction, you will be more likely to catch any mistakes or identify any issues. Throughout this chapter, you will see a number of checklists containing specific things to look for with each revision. For example, you will first look at how the overall paper and your ideas are organized.
When you edit, you take a second look at how you expressed your ideas. You add or change words. You fix any problems in grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. You improve your writing style. You make your essay into a polished, mature piece of writing, the end product of your best efforts.
How do you get the best out of your revisions and editing? Here are some strategies that writers have developed to look at their first drafts from a fresh perspective. Try them throughout the writing process; then keep using the ones that bring results.
When you revise to improve organization, you look at the flow of ideas throughout the essay as a whole and within individual paragraphs. You check to see that your essay moves logically from the introduction to the body paragraphs to the conclusion, and that each section reinforces your thesis. Use Checklist 12.1: Revise for Organization to help you.
Jorge reread his draft paragraph by paragraph. As he read, he highlighted the main idea of each paragraph so he could see whether his ideas proceeded in a logical order. For the most part, the flow of ideas was clear. However, he did notice that one paragraph did not have a clear main idea. It interrupted the flow of the writing. During revision, Jorge added a topic sentence that clearly connected the paragraph to the one that had preceded it. He also added transitions to improve the flow of ideas from sentence to sentence.
Begin to revise your paper to improve organization. Start with any major issues, such as needing to move an entire paragraph. Then proceed to minor revisions, such as adding a transitional phrase or tweaking a topic sentence so it connects ideas more clearly.
Careful writers use transitions to clarify how the ideas in their sentences and paragraphs are related. These words and phrases help the writing flow smoothly. Adding transitions is not the only way to improve coherence, but they are often useful and give a mature feel to your essays. Earlier chapters have discussed using transitions for specific purposes in the planning of your writing. Table 12.1: Common Transitional Words and Phrases groups many common transitions according to their purpose.
When Mariah (who you were introduced to in Chapters 5 and 6) revised her essay for unity, she examined her paragraph about televisions to check for coherence. She looked for places where she needed to add a transition or perhaps reword the text to make the flow of ideas clear. In the version that follows, she has already deleted the sentences that were off topic.
Many writers make their revisions on a printed copy and then transfer them to the version on screen. They conventionally use a small arrow called a caret (^) to show where to insert an addition or correction.
When a piece of writing has unity, all the ideas in each paragraph and in the entire essay clearly belong and are arranged in an order that makes logical sense. When the writing has coherence, the ideas flow smoothly. The wording clearly indicates how one idea leads to another within a paragraph and from paragraph to paragraph.
When you reread your writing to find revisions to make, look for each type of problem in a separate sweep. Read it straight through once to locate any problems with unity. Read it straight through a second time to find problems with coherence. You may follow this same practice during many stages of the writing process.
eebf2c3492
revision essay assignment
Download File https://ckonti.com/2wJcdn
Be sure to read your assignment thoroughly before you read the article or book. Your instructor may have included specific guidelines for you to follow. Keeping these guidelines in mind as you read the article or book can really help you write your paper!
Please note: The length of your introduction and overview, the number of points you choose to review, and the length of your conclusion should be proportionate to the page limit stated in your assignment and should reflect the complexity of the material being reviewed as well as the expectations of your reader.
If your assignment asks you to review the book as it relates to issues or themes discussed in the course, or to review two or more books on the same topic, your introduction must also encompass those expectations.
First, put your draft aside for a little while. Time away from your essay will allow for more objective self-evaluation. When you do return to the draft, be honest with yourself; ask yourself what you really think about the paper.
Check the focus of the paper. Is it appropriate to the assignment prompt? Is the topic too big or too narrow? Do you stay on track throughout the entire paper? (At this stage, you should be concerned with the large, content-related issues in the paper, not the grammar and sentence structure).
Because this is a writing intensive course, students will earn a substantial part of their final grade through four writing assignments (80%). Students are required to review their first paper at the Writing Center with a peer tutor, although they are strongly encouraged to avail themselves of these services for all three writing assignments.
For one paper, students may choose one to send a draft for review, but it must be sent a full week ahead of the paper deadline. Students may also rewrite one paper if they received a B or lower. I require students to send drafts far in advance because it takes 7-10 days for me to thoroughly read and comment on all papers. I often tell students to go to the Writing Center after giving them feedback. Although I make many suggestions, I hope that students revise the entire essay, based on my suggestions, rather than just fixing the specific things marked. When I receive a rewrite, I average the two grades.
My WI courses focus heavily on improving analytical writing skills. For all essays I provide extensive feedback in the form of in-paper corrections as well as a separate sheet of general suggestions. I also provide a small amount of extra credit for those who go to the Writing Center when it is not required.
Students are required to revise one paper. In my introductory course, I average the original and the revision grade. In my upper-level course, in which the revision is of a research prospectus for a 25-page research paper, the revised prospectus receives a separate grade. In addition, students are required to have a Writing Center conference on a second essay. For all papers, students are encouraged to meet with me one-on-one.
True revision requires that you look at your essay from a completely different perspective than when you initially wrote it. When you wrote this draft, your first concern was expressing your ideas; now your primary concern is to communicate those ideas more clearly to your reader. Here are some suggestions and guidelines for your revision.
As the most important sentence(s) of your essay, anything you do to clarify or narrow your thesis statement will benefit your entire essay. Remember: It should contain concrete elements and specific names and places rather than vague generalizations. Your thesis should explain the significance of the topic you have chosen to discuss, rather than announce your topic as a statement of fact.
What is the connection between the details you've chosen to discuss in your essay? What are the similarities or differences? How are pieces of evidence related? If your thesis is strong, the connection between your examples should be evident.
In an essay, nothing is understood; all of your arguments need to be explained. Avoid using general terms which are meaningless without context. Example: "a better life" (What does this mean to the character within the context? There is an implied comparison, so better than what?) Don't assume your reader knows what you mean. Make sure you define your terms and use examples to illustrate.
An error which has been identified on your first draft should not appear again in the revision. If your essay contains confusing, unclear sentences, rephrase, reorganize, or edit those sentences. Even if you use a Spell Check program, look over your paper for typos which the computer can't recognize (ex. "tow" instead of "two").
Revising and editing are the two tasks you undertake to significantly improve your essay. Both are very important elements of the writing process. You may think that a completed first draft means that little improvement is needed. However, even experienced writers need to improve their drafts and rely on peers during revising and editing. You may know that athletes miss catches, fumble balls, or overshoot goals. Dancers forget steps, turn too slowly, or miss beats. For both athletes and dancers, the more they practise, the stronger their performance will become. Web designers seek better images, a more clever design, or a more appealing background for their web pages. Writing has the same capacity to profit from improvement and revision.
You should revise and edit in stages: do not expect to catch everything in one go. If each time you review your essay you focus on a different aspect of construction, you will be more likely to catch any mistakes or identify any issues. Throughout this chapter, you will see a number of checklists containing specific things to look for with each revision. For example, you will first look at how the overall paper and your ideas are organized.
When you edit, you take a second look at how you expressed your ideas. You add or change words. You fix any problems in grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. You improve your writing style. You make your essay into a polished, mature piece of writing, the end product of your best efforts.
How do you get the best out of your revisions and editing? Here are some strategies that writers have developed to look at their first drafts from a fresh perspective. Try them throughout the writing process; then keep using the ones that bring results.
When you revise to improve organization, you look at the flow of ideas throughout the essay as a whole and within individual paragraphs. You check to see that your essay moves logically from the introduction to the body paragraphs to the conclusion, and that each section reinforces your thesis. Use Checklist 12.1: Revise for Organization to help you.
Jorge reread his draft paragraph by paragraph. As he read, he highlighted the main idea of each paragraph so he could see whether his ideas proceeded in a logical order. For the most part, the flow of ideas was clear. However, he did notice that one paragraph did not have a clear main idea. It interrupted the flow of the writing. During revision, Jorge added a topic sentence that clearly connected the paragraph to the one that had preceded it. He also added transitions to improve the flow of ideas from sentence to sentence.
Begin to revise your paper to improve organization. Start with any major issues, such as needing to move an entire paragraph. Then proceed to minor revisions, such as adding a transitional phrase or tweaking a topic sentence so it connects ideas more clearly.
Careful writers use transitions to clarify how the ideas in their sentences and paragraphs are related. These words and phrases help the writing flow smoothly. Adding transitions is not the only way to improve coherence, but they are often useful and give a mature feel to your essays. Earlier chapters have discussed using transitions for specific purposes in the planning of your writing. Table 12.1: Common Transitional Words and Phrases groups many common transitions according to their purpose.
When Mariah (who you were introduced to in Chapters 5 and 6) revised her essay for unity, she examined her paragraph about televisions to check for coherence. She looked for places where she needed to add a transition or perhaps reword the text to make the flow of ideas clear. In the version that follows, she has already deleted the sentences that were off topic.
Many writers make their revisions on a printed copy and then transfer them to the version on screen. They conventionally use a small arrow called a caret (^) to show where to insert an addition or correction.
When a piece of writing has unity, all the ideas in each paragraph and in the entire essay clearly belong and are arranged in an order that makes logical sense. When the writing has coherence, the ideas flow smoothly. The wording clearly indicates how one idea leads to another within a paragraph and from paragraph to paragraph.
When you reread your writing to find revisions to make, look for each type of problem in a separate sweep. Read it straight through once to locate any problems with unity. Read it straight through a second time to find problems with coherence. You may follow this same practice during many stages of the writing process.
eebf2c3492
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