REVISING AND EDITING
Writing the First Draft
1. Purpose: Get your ideas on paper
2. Getting Started:
a. Freewrite or write a discovery draft
b. Use a formal outline
c. Break essay into parts and write the
different parts separately starting with
the easiest section
d. Do not concentrate on mechanics and
organization – leave that to revision stage.
e. As you use an idea from your sources put reference in
parenthesis immediately (Brown 45)
3. Format: write on one side, every other line, with margins
Revision
• Inexperienced writers do little more than refine word
choices, correct grammatical or mechanical errors
• Revision – “re-vision” to see again with fresh eyes; to
revise you need to evaluate, change and reevaluate your
draft. Decide whether to write an entirely new draft or
revise the one you have (Troyka 57, 58)
• Be systematic – don’t evaluate at random;
a. begin with overall organization
b. then move on its paragraphs
c. then to its sentences
d. then to its word choice
Examine your draft globally
• Is the thesis clearly stated?
• Is the supporting evidence sufficient?
• Is the paper logically organized? The role of
unity and coherence (Troyka 61)
• Does the introduction arouse interest and
prepare readers for what follows?
• Does the conclusion leave readers with a strong
final impression, question or challenge?
• Are any sections off-topic or redundant?
(Connelly 127)
Consider your paper with a
“reader’s eye”
• Are your readers likely to be receptive,
indifferent, or hostile to your views? What details
will arouse interest or defend your thesis?
• Do you expect reader objections? Do you
anticipate differing opinions?
• Do your readers need any additional
background info to appreciate your views? Are
there any misunderstandings or misconceptions
that should be clarified or dispelled? Do terms
or concepts require definitions?
• Will readers respond favourably to the style and
tone of your paper?
Analyze Your Critical Thinking
• Distinguish Fact from Opinion
• A fact is a verifiable statement that
something is true or that something has
occurred.
• An opinion is a conclusion or belief that
can never be substantiated beyond any
doubt and is, therefore, debatable. An
opinion may be supported or unsupported.
(Kirsner & Mandell 57)
Evaluating Supporting Evidence
• The more reliable the supporting evidence
– examples, statistics, or expert testimony
- the more willing readers will be to accept
a statement. No matter what kind of
evidence writers use, it must be
- accurate
- sufficient
- representative
- relevant (Kirsner & Mandell 56)
Analyze Your Critical Thinking:
Common Errors in Critical Thinking
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Ignoring the Role of Coincidence
Hasty Generalizations or Jumping to Conclusions
Relying on Anecdotal Evidence
Mistaking Time Relationships for Cause and Effect
Making Faulty Comparisons or Analogies
Assuming Trends will Continue, Making “Slippery Slope” Judgments
False Dilemmas
Relying on False Authorities, Attacking Personalities, Guilt by
Association
Using Circular Reasoning (Begging the Question)
Making Emotional or Irrelevant Statements (Red Herring)
Equivocation
Argument to Ignorance
Appealing to People’s Prejudice
(Connelly 51-8; Kirszner &
Mandell 59-61)
Revise Organization
• When satisfied that draft expresses the meaning that you
want to get across to your reader, check organization
• Is your organizational plan appropriate for your thesis
and purpose?
• Do you provide transitions and connecting ideas?
• What should you add so that audience can better follow
your train of thought?
• What should be eliminated to clarify meaning?
• What should you move that is out of place, or should be
grouped elsewhere?
• Does each paragraph have a main idea that relates to
the thesis, and does all material in paragraph support it?
Revise Organization (cont)
• Read essay out loud. What ideas or facts are missing, poorly
stated, or repetitive?
• Examine the Thesis – does essay have one or is it just a collection
of facts? Where have you placed the thesis? Is that the best place
for it?
• Review Topic Sentences and Controlling Ideas for each paragraph.
Do all paragraphs support the thesis? Do all ideas, support relate to
the thesis?
• Review sequence of paragraphs – from general to specific; specific
to general, chronological, spatial?
• Revise introduction – does it limit the topic, give adequate
background, and address reader concerns?
• Revise conclusion
• Revise supporting paragraphs is evidence easy to follow? Are there
clear transitions between ideas and between paragraphs? Should
some paragraphs be broken up and others joined?
Revise Style
• Style, tone, voice, attitude and liveliness, or lack
thereof are created by author’s choice and use
of words, the length and complexity of
sentences, and reader-based expression; Five
ways to improve your writing style:
1.Move from writer-based prose to reader-based
prose
2. Add your own voice
3. Stress verbs rather than nouns
4. Eliminate ineffective language
5. Eliminate sexist language (Kennedy 64)
Editing
• Read paper out loud to catch glaring errors
• The reread line by line, sentence by sentence
- check for correct usage,
- punctuation,
- spelling,
- mechanics,
- manuscript form, (see pg 72 of text)
- typos.
Proofreading
This concerns itself with the finished product – for accuracy and
neatness
1.
Make a last check for errors in text – mechanics and typos
2.
Use appropriate format
3.
Read line by line - look for letters accidentally omitted, inserted,
inverted; indentations omitted, created incorrectly, and check the
reference list closely.
4.
One technique:
a. use a ruler under each line to prevent yourself from looking
beyond that line
b. reading backwards (from the last line to the first) sentence by
sentence to prevent yourself from being distracted by the
content of the paper.
c. proofreading the final draft aloud to yourself or friend so that
you can hear the errors that slipped past your eyes. (Troyka 64)