PART 1: Revised versions of Essay 1 and Essay 2. •Revise Essay One & Essay Two so that they reflect your best work. What does that mean? As this class is writing-intensive, we have spent the semester writing, peer-reviewing, and revising formal essay as

 

What am I looking for in your revisions? I expect to see essays that reflect the critical thinking we’ve been working on all semester. I will also be looking for perfect MLA format and good grammar and spelling. Your argument should be clear and sound. Your organization should make sense, according to your argument. Your argument should be cohesive overall and not rambling. I want to see that you not only address my comments, but that you were able to take feedback from this class (peer review, for example) and apply things that I did not personally mark in every one of your essays. I’ll be looking to see if ideas were moved around, for better sense, or whole paragraphs revamped, to clarify your purpose. (This is called “conceptual level” revision.)

Substantive revision means revising at the conceptual level, not only the sentence level. Only fixing what is marked will n guarantee an A; I want to see you revise with purpose and demonstrate to me that you have “re-viewed” this paper—that you have thought more about your topic, your argument, your evidence, your organization, and how they all interact.

*IMPORTANT*
In your Rough Draft submission, document the changes you make in the final version. You can do this via the comment function in Word; by highlighting; or by typing in a different color. The key thing is that each change MUST be accompanied by a short explanatory note. Where you comment is up to you, but plan ahead. For example, it may be gross to have a million comments inserted for EVERY spelling error. Maybe you want to make a bullet list at the bottom of your paper, to say things like “fixed spelling and grammar throughout.” Use your discretion.

PART 3: Finally, you should submit a 1-2 page Reflection essay in which you reflect on your composition and revision process throughout the semester. You should ALSO articulate the specific writing choices you have made and why. Some ideas to address: How are each of your revisions improving upon your original work? What improvements have you made in your writing process overall? Talk about your revision process. Do you feel like a stronger writer at the end of the semester, and why? What parts of your writing/revising process still need work? What do you see as your strengths and weaknesses as a writer? Overall, has your relationship to writing changed over the semester? How and why? This is your opportunity to show off the hard work you’ve done over this semester, so let me know what you’ve done and your honest experience. There is no specific format for the Reflection essay, EXCEPT 12-point font, SINGLE-SPACING, and identifying information (your name and title, at the very least). A sample letter will be discussed in class.