Revision

Englishes

There are many valid and excellent forms of English out there, like AAVE, Pidgin, Appalachian, Spanglish, and many more. Not all of them consider fragments, subject-verb coordination, or traditional spelling errors a problem- and that's okay! It means that English is changeable, flexible, and adapting to the new needs of its speakers to communicate with each other.

The form of English most commonly found in academia- white standard English- is also in flux. For example, it now accepts ending sentences with prepositions, and has adopted the singular use of "they" to denote nonbinary folx.

Why You Should Revise for Spelling and Grammar

Our brains are incredibly efficient at reading text without noticing errors. For example, take a look at the quote below from Live Science:

"It deson’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod aepapr, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pcale. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit pobelrm.

S1M1L4RLY, Y0UR M1ND 15 R34D1NG 7H15 4U70M471C4LLY W17H0U7 3V3N 7H1NK1NG 4B0U7 17."

Could you read the above? Then you might want to read on...

Trick Your Brain into Recognizing Errors with these Tips

Do not revise the essay immediately after writing. Instead, wait a while to approached with a fresh mind and fresh eyes for better revision.
Read the essay aloud to help catch mistakes. It can also help to have someone else read the essay aloud to you.
Read the paper one sentence at a time, beginning from the end and working towards the beginning to trick your brain out of filling in missing words, letters, or ideas.
Have others read through the essay and offer suggestions. Having a peer, roommate, instructor, or a tutor read the essay for mistakes and possible corrections is often helpful.
Read through the essay more than once and focus on a specific portion of the essay during each read. For instance, focus on transitions between sentences during the first revision. Then, during the next read-through, focus on overall organization, then something else, etc.
Try an online editor like Grammarly, which offers revising suggestions.

Remember, if you want to have time to revise (and believe us, you do) you must, of course, build in time for revision. Writing your essay the night before a due date won't give you the time you need to dramatically improve your work.

Hitting the Word Count

Many students don't want to revise or delete phrases and words because they haven't completed their word count yet. Dr Leslie Morrison explains how developing your paper fully can help you avoid fluff, clearly explain your ideas, and give yourself room to revise:

Revision Checklist

Print this out and use it to revise your paper. Underlined areas are helpful links.

__ Does the essay fit the instructor’s guidelines? Use the assignment sheet as a checklist for word count, format, etc.

__ Is there a clear introductory paragraph?

__ Is there an identifiable thesis statement? Does it clearly fulfill the assignment requirements?

__ Does the rest of the essay relate to or support the thesis?

__ Is there anything in the essay that is not on topic? If so, remove it.

__ Are the body paragraphs fully developed with topic sentences, evidence and examples, etc?

__ Is the essay organized and are the paragraphs/ideas presented in a logical manner?

__ Is there a clear conclusion paragraph?

__ Are there grammar problems that occur frequently? While even a few grammar problems can detract from an essay, it is particularly important to focus on the grammar problems that occur several times throughout the essay.

__ Is the essay in the proper format?

__ Is there any accidental plagiarism?