After reading “Why and How We Revise” review the final draft of your first essay.
Introduction
As you have just completed and submitted your first college English essay, you are probably not too excited about the idea of revising it. Most of us aren’t excited about revising; we want to be done. We spend countless hours, days, and sometimes even week working on an essay or a large research paper, and when we finally submit it, we are feel relief that it is finally done. We want to move on and forget about it, especially if writing is something we dread or struggle with.
But, learning to develop writing skills that are appropriate for college and university level writing, requires revision. You see, we don’t fully learn how to write unless we revise what we have written. If we do not revise, then we simply carry the same mistakes with us into the next writing assignment. We must reflect upon our experiences and learn from them.
Directions
After reading “Why and How We Revise” review the final draft of your first essay. Read the entire essay completely without stopping–even if you see an error that you didn’t notice before, keep reading; do not stop to revise it.
This discussion post will require you to reflect on your writing in Essay #1.
1. Select ONE of the following questions from the “Developing Objectivity” section of the reading article to answer based on the latest reading of your essay.
What are the strengths of my paper?
What are the weaknesses of my paper?
Next, practice analyzing your work. Select THREE of the questions below from the “Analyzing Your Work” section of the reading article to answer based on the latest reading of your essay.
Does the introduction draw in your reader? HOW? Provide examples.
Does your introduction lead your reader clearly to your thesis? Explain using examples from your essay
Does your thesis provide your reader with some sense of the paper’s structure? HOW? Provide examples
Does each paragraph have a topic sentence that clearly controls the paragraph? Provide an example of one of your topic sentences, and explain HOW it serves as a topic sentence and controls the paragraph.
Have you really presented an argument, or is your essay merely a series of observations or a summary of your sources?
Do you see any logical fallacies, including circular reasoning, that may weaken your argument? Provide examples.
Have you provided ample evidence for your argument? Explain
Does your conclusion leave your reader with something to think about or does it simply restate the main points or thesis?
Finally, Select THREE of the following suggestions from the “Tips for Revision” section of the reading article that you will use when revising your next essay AND explain how they will help develop stronger writing skills.
Give yourself adequate time to review
Print a hard copy of your paper
Read your paper out loud
Get a second reader
Be a second reader
Visit a tutoring center
