Revising

Do Now: Please open your half-draft and count up the paragraphs. On a separate sheet of paper, list the number of paragraphs and leave some space between each number.

1. Turn to your paper, read the first paragraph, and write on your list the main point you make in this paragraph. A word of phrase will do here. (n.b., If you can’t summarize the content of a paragraph, you probably have multiple ideas in play in that paragraph that may need revising; note each of the ideas expressed in the paragraph.)

2. Do the same for each paragraph of your paper in turn.

3. Now focus on your list (which reflects the direction of your paragraphs!)
     a. How well does the list cohere?
     b. How does one idea connect to the next?
     c. Are the connections between ideas made explicit in your writing?

4. Use your notes to do four things:
i. See whether each paragraph plays a role in supporting your thesis.
ii. What needs to be revised – your thesis? Or the order of the points in your argument?
iii. Look for unnecessary repetition of ideas.
iv. Compare your notes with your half-draft to see whether the sentences in each paragraph are related to the main point of that paragraph, per the notes you've taken.

"Revision Activities." Vanderbilt.edu. Vanderbilt U, n.d. Web. 20 March 2016.

HW: Add at least one more paragraph to your draft.