Higher Order vs. Lower Order
Concerns
Information from
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/548/01/
Higher Order
Lower Order
Focus and Purpose
 Audience
 Organization and
Document Design
 Development
 Readability


Sentence Structure
 Punctuation
 Word Choice
 Spelling
Higher Order Concerns vs.
Lower Order Concerns
Higher Order vs. Lower Order
Concerns
When revising, always start with the
higher order concerns.
 Lower order concerns should be
addressed last in the revision process.

Higher Order Concerns
Focus and Purpose
Does your document achieve the purpose
it was meant to meet?
 In other words, if it is a persuasive essay
assignment, is it sufficiently persuasive? Or,
if it is a rhetorical analysis, does it analyze
the text sufficiently?
 I.e. does your document fulfill the
assignment requirements?

Audience

Is the tone/language you use appropriate
to your audience? (Ex: Are you using
casual language in a formal academic
research paper?)
Organization
Is the text logically organized?
 Do you have a clear thesis statement and
does your paper follow it?
 On that note, does your introduction
forecast the contents of your essay?
 Do each of your paragraphs have only
one main idea?

Document Design

Do all the parts of your essay follow
proper MLA format (as per ENG 110
requirements)?
Development
This will vary from assignment to
assignment.
 However, in the case of LP2, did you
include enough background information?
 Is your main claim clear enough to be
properly supported or is it too general?
 Does all of your evidence tie back into
your main claim?
 Is your evidence specific enough to be
effective?

Development (cont.)
Do you still include details that are either
unrelated to your main topic or unhelpful
to supporting your argument?
 If LP2, do you address counterarguments?

Readability
Are there any unreasonably long chunks
of text? (Ex: page long paragraphs)
 Do you have any run-on sentences?
 Did your argument skip back and forth
within your essay to the point of inducing
confusion within your readers?
 When reading your essay out loud, were
there any sections which made you
pause?

Lower Order Concerns
Sentence Structure
Vary the length and structure of
sentences to enhance readability.
 Read each sentence out loud. This will
help you see if anything is not flowing
right and give you ideas on how to
reorder the sentence.

Punctuation, Word Choice, and
Spelling
Proofread your essay line by line.
 Use Spell Check.
 Avoid word repetition (it hinders
readability and makes your prose sound
monotonous).
 Avoid passive tense (see above).

Revision Advice
When revising, it’s helpful to focus on one
thing at a time.
 In other words, revise in rounds.

◦ Ex:
 Round 1: Focus and Purpose
 Round 2: Audience
 Round 3: Etc.

If you try revising for too many things at
once, you will miss things.
Editing Advice (cont.)
Write a retroactive outline. It’ll help you
see if you wandered off at any point in
your essay.
 Have people read over your essay. They
will notice things you didn’t (and each
person will notice something different).
 Go to the Writing Center for an
additional pair of eyes.

Editing Advice (cont.)
Don’t wait until the last minute to start
editing.
 Editing takes time to do properly, so make
sure you start early to get the most out
of it.
 Remember, what you get out of it is what
you put into it.

Final Portfolio Reminders
Highlight all changes you make (if you’re
doing SP2/3, see the Final Portfolio
breakdown for more details).
 Submit SP1/SP4/SP5/SP6/LP1/LP2 to
turnitin.com.

Any Questions?