Important: By revision, I don't simply mean fixing punctuation, grammar, spelling, etc. (though all of this is extremely important). Revision means re-writing: removing paragraphs, adding new paragraphs, tightening descriptions, re-writing dialogue, fleshing out a scene, even re-writing the entire piece from scratch.
Guidelines for Revising Your Essay:
To revise the essay:
Read my "bubble" comments as well as my end comments on your earlier draft
You'll be graded on whether you fix the mechanical errors I've pointed out
You'll also be responsible for fixing other mechanical errors that I didn't necessarily note
Re-type the essay when you revise--don't just cut and paste new sections or use the delete key
Note that you don't have to follow every suggestion I made, though you must fix all mechanical errors
if you don't follow one of my suggestions for revision, that's fine, but be prepared to explain why you chose a different route for revision in your reflections on the essay
Make sure to include what age you were when you experienced the episode you're writing about.
Have a strong title that makes someone want to read your piece
Title should relate to a theme or a subject of the essay
Run the essay through The Writer's Diet
Read your revision out loud before submitting it.
You might try recording the essay then listening to your recording
Your essay can be up to 1000 words long (that's 100 words longer than the first draft you submitted).
Link to some revision exercises: Revision Exercises
Try folding one or more of your brief revision exercises (on first lines, character, setting, and object) into your revision.
Suggestions for working on the opening of your piece:
Does your current opening grab the reader?
How can you make it even stronger?
Try writing five new opening lines: do any of these grab you/seem like a better place to start?
If so, try writing a new opening para (note that this might extend to a more radical revision of the whole essay)
Can the piece start later than it does?
Suggestions for working on the ending of your piece:
Endings are notoriously hard to pull off. You might consider the following:
The image: End with a powerful image that echoes the theme/s of your essay.
The self-revelation: End with an insight that writing the essay has given you about yourself.
The question: End with a question that the essay makes you (and the reader) ponder.
In other words, leave the reader with something to think about.
Requirements for Submitting the Revision:
There are TWO components to submitting the revision:
1. The revised personal essay itself
2. Reflection on the revision (approx. half a page--doesn't count towards word count):
a. What are the significant changes you made to the essay and why?
b. What did you cut and why?
c. Analyze your process. E.g. was revision harder or easier than writing your earlier draft? What did you learn through revising your essay?
d. If you chose not to use any or all of my suggestions (which is fine), explain why you decided to go in a different route revising your essay.
d. Please include your reflection on the revision (put at bottom of your essay) when you post your essay on turnitin.com
Please remember that the essay should:
° Have a title
° Use vivid, concrete, sensory details
° Employ at least THREE senses
° Use dialogue to create a scene
° Have a strong sense of setting
° Give us a "visual" on one key person in the essay
° Have a clear sense of the relationship with the reader
° Have some sort of conflict
° Demonstrate a personal investment in the topic
° Have something change or be revealed
° Be honest; don't try to sell yourself to the reader. Personal essays are far more compelling when they reveal a person's flaws, uncertainties, misgivings, insecurities, etc.
° Mechanics! Make sure grammar, punctuation, spelling, sentence structure, diction, formatting, etc. is perfect for your final draft.
Length for revised: 1000 words
Due: December 6th (but extensions possible)
***Important: Please post your essay on turnitin.com
*** Please make sure to hand in a copy of the writing contract
Link to writing contract: