Final Draft of Essay One

Overview Your job in this final draft is to revise and edit your essay before sharing it with classmates and turning it in for grading. But what's the difference between "revising" and "editing"? In Easy Writer, Andrea Lunsford defines revision as "taking a fresh look at your draft to make sure it is complete, clear, and effective" (18-19). She poses a series of questions for writers to ask themselves as they revise. Taking another tack, Joseph Harris invites you to "question and rework your own writing much as you might do with the texts of others. How might you summarize your own draft, come to terms with what you have to say in it? How do you define your own project in relation to those of the texts you are discussing? At what moments in your text do you most clearly articulate your own line of thinking? How might you extend or forward this line? How might you qualify or even counter it?" (Rewriting 8). In contrast, editing means smoothing out rough spots in your writing--parts that might confuse reader or slow them down. In editing, you find and fix problems in grammar, sentence structure, mechanics (spelling, capitalization, punctuation, abbreviation) and word choice.  Learning Objectives In addition to the goals listed for your rough draft, in this final draft you'll work to Understand the distinction between revision and editing Develop you revision skills Develop your editing skills Practice documenting sources and formatting your paper in MLA style Writing Process Review the directions for the assignment on p. 41-42. How well have you done? Using Lunsford's revision checklist and the questions posed by Harris as a guide, review your draft. How will you change it? Next, turn to editing. Use the editing strategies we've discussed in class to find and fix problems that might confuse readers or slow them down. When you're satisfied the paper is ready, turn it in. You're done! Length, Format, and Documentation of Your Writing Process The final draft of your essay should be at least 500 words long. Double-space, and include a heading with your name, instructor's name, course number, date, and the name of this assignment: Final Draft of Essay One. Your final draft must be submitted in a pocket folder with all the written work you've done leading up to it. (See Essay One for a checklist.) Grading I'll assign a grade to this draft, using this evaluation guide based on a 100-point scale.  This essay will count for 15% of your final grade in the course.