Posts Tagged: revising

By creating a Discussion Board for each project, you can give students a place to upload their work-in-progress on that project. Students can post drafts, planning materials, and revisions in one thread and have easy access to their work wherever they have internet access.

• Several organizations (including some government offices) use the file name to track document revisions – for both single-authored and collaborative projects. Here’s an example students could practice:

• • short_title_v1_2009nov11.doc (original)
  • short_title_v3_2009nov13.doc (second revision)

This system allows writers to track how many revisions a document has undergone and when the revisions were made, making it easier to revert to earlier versions or to identify the most recent version. The file name also can be expanded to include the most recent contributor’s initials:

• • short_title_v4_2009nov14_jm.doc (third revision, by author “jm”)

Developing a Revision Plan, Examining Content, Examining Organization, Planning Dedicated Revision Time, Revising for Style, Paragraph Glossing, Cutting and Pasting, Computer Read Aloud, Color Coding

• Color Coding Example: Students could mark transitions, lexical ties, and pronouns in three different colors to illustrate how they are using coherence strategies.

• Rhetorics as Resources: The Academic Writer (Chapter 12), Writing: A Manual for the Digital Age (Chapters 5, 6), Harbrace Guide to Writing (Chapter 3)

• The brief Thomson Handbook by David Blakesley & Jeffrey L. Hoogeveen

• Project Checklists:
  • “Using Self-Evaluation to Guide Revision” (p. 31)
  • “Revising for Context” (p. 32)
  • “Do You Have an Effective Working Thesis Statement” (p. 74)
  • “Questions to Ask about Your Reasoning” (p. 81)
  • “Questions to Ask about Your Ethos and Pathos” (p. 82)
  • “Revising for Standard Written English” (p. 399)
  • “Reviewing for Biased Language” (p. 406)

• Technology Toolboxes:
  • “Cutting, Copying, and Pasting Text and Images” (p. 35)
  • “Software for Editors” (p. 39)
  • “Tracking Changes in Microsoft Word” (p. 41)

• A Meeting of Minds: Strategies for Academic Inquiry and Writing, 2^nd Ed. by Patsy Callaghan & Ann Dobyns
  • Chapter 11: Revising. Offers strategies for “Revising for Compelling Ideas,” “Revising for Unity and Form,” and “Revising for Voice and Tone.” Includes several activities that could be conducted during class, including “Speak It/Tape It,” descriptive outlines, and revision plans.
  • Most chapters also include Strategy boxes that students could use to analyze their own writing to identify potential areas for revision.

• The Harbrace Guide to Writing by Cheryl Glenn
  • Chapter 3 includes a discussion about what happens during revising.
  • Most chapters include checklists that students can use to assess their drafts and to prompt and prioritize revisions.

• The Academic Writer by Lisa Ede
  • Chapter 12: Strategies for Revision. Discusses “revising through re-vision” and offers guidelines and questions to prompt revision.
  • Differentiates strategies for responding to peer feedback, Writing Center consultant feedback, self-assessment, and writing group responses.