In Joseph Harris’ “Revising”, published originally in 2006 as a chapter in his book Rewriting: How to Do Things with Texts, he offers a compelling case to rethink the way that writers revise their own works in academic writing. He criticizes what he believes to be an incorrect understanding of the revision process, claiming that today’s college students “have been taught how to edit but not how to revise” (444). According to Harris, the process of writing begins with drafting, or invention. He tries to refute long-held assumptions regarding drafting by claiming that drafting is not a simple, quick process in which a perfect essay is crafted and never touched again, but rather a long, arduous task that involves careful thinking, idea creation, and time (443-444). …show more content…
Revision requires serious and complex changes to the basic tenets of an argument, whereas editing consists of cosmetic and grammatical changes to an already revised essay in targeted, or local, areas of the essay (444). The difference between revision and editing can be expressed in Harris’ own words - “You edit sentences; you revise essays” (444). Harris proceeds to elaborate on the process of revision, focusing on the importance of five basic tasks - addition, deletion, reworking, reformatting, and moving (445). Using an English student’s essay as an example, he explains the various functions of revision through analyzing several drafts of the essay over time. This visualization of the essay’s changes helps the reader to create an effective “map” of the revision process and to understand the benefits of the revisions made
Putting revision into context, Harris begins by addressing the 3 stages of writing: drafting, revising, and editing (Harris 443). To best exemplify the drafting process, Harris uses an excerpt from Stephen King’s book, Misery, to extract three tips that aid in formulating a draft: seize hold of any passing ideas, utilize patience and boredom for coming up with ideas, and work through writer's blocks rather than rely on sudden inspiration (Harris 444).
In Downs and Wardle’s article, they argue and identify the flaws in teaching writing in college. Demonstrating the misconceptions that academic writing is universal, but rather specialized in each case. Citing studies and opinions from esteemed professionals, Downs & Wardle state their points and illuminate the problem in today’s many colleges.
This assignment is a testament of growth and contributed to my outlook on strategies towards improving my writing through the importance of understanding how crucial, each component of the writing process is and how in depth you should take each process. Lastly, this reflection advocated how editing is the principal task of every good writer. “To write is human, to edit is divine,” Stephen
Both of the articles “Dancing with Professors” by Patricia Limerick and “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott resolve the issues faced by college students when writing papers. The first article, “Dancing with Professors,” explains why college professors expect more elaborate papers even though they assign dull and un-motivational reading to their students. On the other end of the writing spectrum, “Shitty First Drafts” explains how valuable the first draft is to students, and why students should not feel weary about writing them.
Graff, G., Birkenstein, C., & Durst, R. K. (2009). The Growing College Gap. "They say/I say": the moves that matter in academic writing : with readings (p. 379). New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
Ungar, Sanford J. “The New Liberal Arts.” They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter In Academic Writing. Ed. Gerald Graff. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. 190-197. Print.
Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel K. Durst. "They Say/I Say": The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing: With Readings. Vol. 2e. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2012. Print.
Herbert, Bob. “Hiding From Reality.” They Say I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. Graff, Gerald. Birkenstein, Cathy. New York. London: 2012. 566.
In the beginning of English 101 I was what you call a novice writer a person who only wrote what they felt was required. However, certain techniques that I learned in English 101 made me realize that writing was not about filling requirements; it’s about speaking out, exploring and proving a point. “Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.” (Trimble, 17) In John Trimble’s quote he tries to point out that writing is something that you grow with and learn as you go along. I believe this growth was achieved with a technique that was introduced to me by my professor called repetitive revision. What I found out was that revision of your essays helps in recognizing your mistakes and enhances the flow of your essays. By providing me...
Thomas, C. (2011). Is the American Dream Over? They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing (2nd ed.). New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.
Writing can be a very difficult process for those who do not know how to go about constructing
“The Virtues of Growing,” by Carol Siskin is an essay that has two different versions. One being the rough draft that is also known as the original version and also the final draft. The progress of this essay displays a great revision of a paper. The original version versus the final version shows growth in the writers work, but also shows a lot of fault in the writer’s rough draft. Furthermore, the rough draft experienced a few expected struggles such as, the intro was too basic and it also provided too much opinion and personal experiences too early in the essay. The thesis was unclear and the opening questions was too broad because it didn’t lead to a stance or a position on the topic. These mistakes could impact the quality of an essay.
My impact on my revision is based on the comments provided by my teacher and my peers and having additional modification to make me essay more presentable. In making it more presentable
As an educational practitioner, encouraging revision among your students is essential. This would enable them to make meaning of any writing they come up with. It has been found that when revision is encouraged as a natural process in the exploration of the content to discover meaning rather than as a punishment, then many writers would have the motivation of revising their content. It may be a slow process but it has been found to be miraculous. As a teacher, one must wean the student by giving the responsibility for the text to the writer, clearing the point that it is the student and not the teacher who makes the decision on what the writing means.
Before I registered for an ENGL 101A class, editing used to be one of my biggest challenges. I gradually started to develop the habit spending time editing my papers because it helped me to see my mistakes and improved my essay. To integrate all steps of a writing process, I needed clear comments from an instructor. In ENG 101 A, my professor helped me to know what my mistakes are and showed me how to fix them. In addition, the professors at the Writing Center helped me to catch my mistakes before I handed in my papers. It was difficult writing three to four page essay paper overnight. To write an organized essay, one needs to follow certain steps, such as pre-writing, outlining, drafting, revising and editing. In fact, I had learned the concept of writing process in American English Language Programs, but I never practically used this method of writing process before I registered an ENG101A