Writing a Research Paper
Revision
The editing and rewriting process
We've been telling you all along to be critical whenever you read and
reading over your draft is no exception. You
hopefully turned off your "Critic" long enough to generate enough raw
material in the last step; now turn it back on.
The point is not that what you wrote was bad, but let's face it, not
even professional writers tap out perfectly thought-out prose the first
time at the keyboard. So now is the time to become your own audience and
evaluate your work just as we told you to analyze
texts while researching. Revision is RE-VISION. After letting your
draft sit for a few days, look at your work with a new critical eye, critical
for what doesn't work and what does.
Before you go over the heuristic we've devised below to help you revise,
remember that revision is not proofreading. Revision deals with underlying
issues and content while proofreading deals
largely with surface details and presentation. Like a funnel, you have
to start at "higher order" concerns (how the essay and individual paragraphs
hold together) and then move down to "lower order" concerns (sentences,
word choice, mechanics).
ASK YOURSELF . . .
-
Does your title give readers a good idea of what's to come? (Have
you even come up with one yet? Remember, "Assignment #3" is not a
title!)
-
Is your thesis statement or research question clearly stated?
-
Is there enough lead-in in the introduction to establish the importance
of and context for the statement/question? Is there too much? Too
little? By the end of the introduction, is it clear to the audience
what kind of material will follow? If so, are these expectations fulfilled,
that is, do you follow through?
-
Is it clear where your introduction ends and body begins and where
the body ends and the conclusion begins? In other words, are your
paragraph indents meaningful?
-
At the same time, are there transitions between all sections and
paragraphs to create flow and unity?
-
Does each body paragraph have a topic sentence? If you took your
thesis/question and all your topic sentences, would that correspond
to what you want to say in your paper? If not, do you need to revise
your thesis/question or re-examine your subpoints?
-
Do the topic sentences (1) make a connection back with the thesis/question,
(2) establish a link with the previous paragraph's content (perhaps
the chronological relationship, any comparisons/contrasts?) and (3)
give enough information that the audience could guess where a particular
paragraph's development would lead?
-
With or without a formal concluding sentence, do you somewhere near
the end of each paragraph remind readers why you are saying what you
are saying by moving back up to abstract, general terms?
-
Does the order of paragraphs make sense? (e.g., maybe the transitions
seem forced because they aren't in the right order)
-
Are your paragraphs too short (say, fewer than 4 sentences) or too
long ( longer than about 8)? Is there some combining or separating
of issues that needs to take place? Or do you simply need to generate
more content or delete irrelevant material?
-
Are your examples reliable, representative, and convincing? Are there
enough of them (or too many) to develop the main idea of the paragraph
in the word count you have available?
-
Are your sources convincing? Is there enough balance between your
own insights and expert opinions?
-
Is anything that should be referenced, referenced?
-
Are all sources and direct quotations explained or have you left
them standing on their own?
-
Has anything that goes off topic or is not essential (given your
word limit) been cut? (TIP: whenever you know you have to cut something
but you're finding it hard to do, cut and paste it in a separate file
so that you feel it hasn't been obliterated. In a couple of weeks,
you'll probably go back and wonder why you were so attached to the
passage in the first place!)
-
Does the conclusion say something different from your introduction?
Does it leave a good lasting impression or is it wishy-washy?
As the folks at Ashland University's Writing Center put it, there are
4 basic actions that will occur during the revisions you now hopefully
plan to make:
ADD. Insert needed words, sentences, and paragraphs. If your
additions require new content, return to the idea-gathering techniques.
CUT. Get rid of whatever goes off the topic or repeats what
has already been said.
REPLACE. As needed, substitute new words, sentences, and paragraphs
for what you have cut.
MOVE MATERIAL AROUND. Change the sequence of paragraphs if the
material is not presented in logical order. Move sentences.
All of these actions are easily done electronically, but try not to do
all your revision on the computer. Alternating between "screen" and "paper"
copy is a great way to achieve perspective.
Now what about 'lower order' concerns? These issues are highly individualized
so look through old marked papers for comments you received at
the level of sentences and diction (word choice). Are there any trends
you notice? Bring in a writing sample to a tutor and we can examine a
piece for you and look for things you both do well and seem to have difficulty
with. The most common mistakes are a lack of clarity (perhaps because
you're trying to sound "academic" or have forgotten that you're writing
to an audience) and general wordiness.
First visit our peer editing page and then
come back to the links below for more advice.
LINKS
From Purdue:
Higher Order Concerns
& Lower Order Concerns
Checklist for Eliminating
Wordiness plus an
exercise
Some Strategies
for Improving Sentence Clarity
From the University of Richmond's Writer's Web:
Glossing
Using Transitions
Subordinating
Ideas
Adding Action
and Clarity to Writing
How to make
Sentences Clear and Concise
From Literacy Online Education from St. Cloud University:
Combining
sentences for variety and clarity
Strategies
for Reducing Wordiness
Others:
Revising
a Draft from Bemidji State University Writing Resource Center Online
Revision Checklist
from Roane State Community College
Revising Your Writing
from Paradigm Online Writing Assistant
Revision
from Cleveland State University
Wordiness: Danger
Signals and Ways to React from the University of Toronto
Basic
Prose Style from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
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