Most of us should have heard the phrase "practice makes a man [or woman] perfect" but it is important to know that revision makes a paper perfect. Revising a paper is not just fixing the commas or spellings. Revision is an ongoing process of rethinking the paper: reconsidering the arguments, reviewing the evidence, refining the purpose, and reorganizing the presentation. It is all about "re", I think of revision as reread, rethink, redo, rewrite, and so on.
I would like to share some tips that I find useful for revision. Revision doesn't necessarily mean rewriting the whole paper. Sometimes it means revising the thesis to match what you've discovered while writing. Sometimes it means coming up with stronger arguments to defend your position, or coming up with more vivid examples to illustrate your points. Sometimes it means shifting the order of your paper to help the reader follow your argument, or to change the emphasis of your points. Sometimes it means adding or deleting material for balance or emphasis.
The worst case, very few times revision does mean trashing your first draft and starting from scratch; but trust me it is always better for you to do it than your teacher.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment