WRITING WORKSHOPS

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• WRITING WORKSHOPS
• Center for Learning and Academic Support Services
• C.L.A.S.S.
• California State University Dominquez Hills
• Fall 2008
• Stefan Bergman

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• REVISION

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The Writing Process

• I. Prewriting
• II. Writing
• III. After-writing

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Steps in writing process

• Prewriting
• Researching the topic
• Preparing bibliography
• Brainstorming
• Writing (Drafting)
• Getting a vision down on paper (getting words on
  paper)
• Revising
• Clarity
• Precise word selection
• Fully developed, connected thinking
• Editing and Formatting
• Spelling
• Punctuation
• Grammar
• Usage and style (MLA, APA)
• Publishing

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• I. Prewriting
• 1. Selecting a topic
• 2. Selecting material (bibliography)
• 3. Generating ideas
• A. Brainstorming
• B. Clustering
• C. Mapping
• D. Listing
• E. Outlining

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• II. Writing
• 1. Deciding on your audience
• 2. Drafting
• 3. Organizing
• 4. Thesis development

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III. After-writing

• 1. Revision
• 2. Editing
• 3. Proofreading
• 4. Formatting
• 5. Publishing

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Definition of Revising

• Revisingmaking changes to improve a piece of
• writingis an essential part of writing process.
• I cannot understand how anyone can write without
  rewriting everything over and over again. Leo
  Tolstoy

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Strategies for Revising

• Print out a draft double-spaced so that you can
  easily write in changes and comments.
• Create distance and space. Put a draft away for
  few hours or days, and then read it again with
  fresher, more critical eye.
• Highlight key words in the assignment. Mark
  passages in your draft that address the topic. If
  you fail to find any, that could signal where you
  need to revise.
• Make an outline of what have written to discover
  gaps or repetitions.
• Copy and paste first sentences. Select the first
  sentences of each paragraph, then examine them to
  check for logical progression of ideas,
  repetition, or omission.
• Have a tutor to look at your draft for advice.

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Editing and Proofreading

• Examine your draft for grammar, punctuation, and
  spelling error.
• Look carefully at every word and its function in
  a sentence will alert you to grammatical problem
  area
• Never make a change in your draft at the
  suggestion of a grammar-check program before
  verifying that the change is really necessary.

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Formatting your Essay

• Once you have written, revised, and edited your
  document, you need to prepare it for
  presentation. Frequently used style guides are
  those published by
• MLA (Modern Language Association),
• APA (American Psychological Association) CSE
  (Council of Science Editors),
• CMS (The Chicago Manual of Style)

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Guidelines for College Essay format

• Paper white, unlined 8½ x 11" staple the pages.
• Print Dark black inkinkjet or laser printer.
• Margins One inch all around. Lines should not be
  justified.
• Space between lines Uniformly double-spaced for
  the whole paper, including any list of works
  cited.
• Type font and size Times New Roman or Arial,
  regular size 12.
• Page numbers In the top right margin (in MLA),
  put your last name before the page number. In APA
  style, put a short version of the running head
  before the page numbers.
• Paragraphing Indent one-half inch (5 spaces)
  from the left.
• Title and identification On first page or on a
  separate page.
• Parentheses around a source citation MLA and APA
  style, for any written source you refer to or
  quote, including the textbook for your course.
  For an electronic source, give author only.
• Works cited On a separate page, add an
  alphabetical list of works cited.

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Sample revision of thesis

• Tentative thesis Revised thesis
• In Cathers stories, Cathers A Death in
• characters isolated the desert and A
• from familiar Wagner Matinee show
• surroundings are people who are isolated
• severely affected from familiar environ-
• physically and ment.
• spiritually.

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• A Second Revised thesis Final copy
• The central characters in In two particular
  stories,
• Cathers A Death in the A Death in Desert
  and
• Desert and A Wagner A Wagner Matinee, the
• Matinee show the effects central characters
  bear the
• of an untamed country on burden of escape and
• people from a stable, isolation from familiar,
• civilized world. stable traditions in a new
• country (20).

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• Revising the Thesis
• Revising the thesis for clarity of aim
• Revising the thesis for unity
• Revising the thesis for coherence
• Revising the thesis for specificity
• Revising the thesis to get rid of wordiness
• Revising the thesis to suit your audience

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Revising the thesis for clarity of aim

• Original thesis Why should colleges have honor
  courses as part of their curriculum?
• Revision Honor courses should be established in
  every college curriculum so that students with
  motivation and talent can be challenged to bring
  our their best.

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Revising the thesis for unity

• Original Hemingways fictional women fall into
  two major categories, the nurturing mother and
  the bitch goddess, and his men seem to be flawed.
• Revision Many of the flawed men in Hemingways
  novels have been brought to ruin by the
  selfishness of the stereotypical bitch goddesses.

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Revising the thesis for coherence

• Original In actually lobbying the legislature is
  not always unethical because of desirable
  political action whereas most people think in
  terms of negativism, which shows a lack of
  knowledge about how the system works.
• Revision Whereas many politically naive citizens
  think of lobbying the legislature as unethical,
  in actuality lobbying is a practical system that
  often results in desirable action.

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Revising the thesis for specificity

• Original many citizens of Communist regimes are
  wonderful people.
• Revision Many citizens of Communist regimes are
  as unideological and as self-seeking as their
  counterparts in the Western democracies.

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Revising the thesis to get rid of wordiness

• Original In my honest opinion, the U.S.
  government should stop promoting the questionable
  process of affirmative action because, as can be
  clearly seen, it is beginning to have the reverse
  effect of denying school entrance and jobs to
  middle-class whites, who are becoming the
  disadvantaged minority.
• Revision The U.S. government should stop
  promoting affirmative action because it is
  beginning to have the reverse effect of denying
  school entrance and jobs in middle-class whites.

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Revising the thesis to suit your audience

• Original Role playing is covering ones face
  with a bandanna or veil and playing at being
  someone else during the masquerade, the way I do
  when I sell shoes at my part-time job.
• Revision Role playing is the assumption of an
  external pattern of behavior and expectations
  which one carries out regardless of personal
  feelings and dispositions, and is especially
  associated with occupation and work.

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Levels of Revision

• 1. Macro revision Also called global revision,
  the most important level of revision. On this
  level you rethink your big ideas. First, think
  about your thesis. Are terms clear and succinct
  enough for your reader? Having gone through all
  the writing, do you think that thesis is what you
  now want to say?
• Look separately at each major supporting idea.
  Does it support the thesis, or have you let a
  digression slip in?
• Check your evidence. Is there enough support for
  your major ideas.
• Try a paragraph-by-paragraph outline. Having such
  an outline allows you to see how your essay
  developed.

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Example of global revisions
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• Micro revision Also called sentence-level
  revision. You look at your writing phrase by
  phrase, sentence by sentence, paragraph by
  paragraph.
• Is the meaning of each sentence is clear? Is
  there variety on writing style? Are the sentences
  in right order?
• What about word choice is the writing concise,
  concrete, and vivid?

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