Step 6: Revising
Revision is the part of the writing process that involves finalizing the content of the paper. We do this before the editing stage because no one wants to spend time editing paragraphs that may be deleted or rewritten. Revising involves finalizing the thesis statement, checking the organization, making sure the requirements of the assignment are met, and verifying the use of evidence. This is a very important stage, so do not try to rush it. It will very likely take longer than you expect it to.
Either print or save two extra copies of your draft as some of the markings may overlap and become confusing. The instructions for the following activities will cue you on which copy to use.
Following Directions: “Did I do this right?”
Re-read the directions from your instructor’s prompt and summarize them below. You can also look back at your answers on the Step 1 worksheet.
Directions summary:
Do you feel you have met all of the requirements? If not, what do you need to fix and how will you do that?
Your notes:
Checking for Paragraph Development: “Does this make sense?”
(Draft copy #1)
- Using four highlighters of different colors, highlight all direct quotes (pink), paraphrases (yellow), summaries (green), and parenthetical citations (orange).
- Now, look back at the paper. How much text is left uncolored (white)? What is the white text? Answer here:
- Do you have a lot of white text?
- Do you need to add more colored text (evidence) or more white (your ideas and explanations)?
- Where would you add these things? Make notes on your draft of where to add or delete.
Checking Use of Evidence: “Did I do this right?”
(Draft copy #1)
- Look at the number of times you use direct quotes (pink). Have you used quotes effectively? Should any be changed to summaries or paraphrases? If so, rewrite them on your draft.
- Now, look at the remaining pink quotes. Do you have any dropped quotations (quotes that are not introduced)? If so, how can you fix them? Check your handbook for help.
- Look at each summary (green) and paraphrase (yellow). Have you written them correctly so there is no plagiarism? If not, make corrections on your draft.
- Does every color (pink, green, and yellow) have a parenthetical citation (orange)? Does it need to? Why or why not? Check your handbook and make corrections.
Checking the Organization: “Does this flow?”
(Draft copy #2)
1. Paragraph organization
- Underline the topic sentence of each paragraph and write a brief paraphrase of each one. Record them here.
Paragraph 1 topic:
Paragraph 2 topic:
Paragraph 3 topic:
Paragraph 4 topic:
Paragraph 5 topic:
If you feel that the paper is extremely unorganized, then the following exercise may help. Assign each topic a highlighter color. For example, topic 1 is blue; topic 2 is purple; etc. Read through the paper and highlight each sentence with the color that corresponds to its main idea. Then, reorganize by color so all the blue sentences go together, all the green go together, and so on.
Now, repeat Part A to see if the organization makes more sense.
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Write your thesis here:
- Read through the list of topics from Part A and compare each one to your thesis.
- Do all paragraph topics relate to the thesis? YES / NO
- Is the list in the same order as the thesis implies? YES / NO
- Should it be? YES / NO
- Do the ideas have a logical organization? YES / NO
- Do you need to rewrite your thesis to fit the rest of the paper? YES / NO
2. Transitions
- What are transitions? Write a definition and a few examples below.
Definition:
Examples:
- Underline all of your transitions. Do you have one between every idea and every paragraph? If not, should you add some? Do the existing transitions need improvement?
3. Read your introduction and conclusion
- Do they reflect your paper? YES / NO
- Are they interesting and effective? YES / NO
- What strategies have you used? Look in your handbook for additional ideas. What can you do to make your introduction and conclusion more interesting to your reader?
Your notes: