Revision and Peer Review
Use revision cycles to improve structure, evidence, reasoning, style, and mechanics based on self-assessment and peer feedback.
A lesson of English 12, in College Composition, about 10 minutes.
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to revise your work at the level of argument, structure, and style; give and receive specific, actionable peer feedback; and develop the habits of a serious revisory process.
The Professional Writer's Approach to Revision
Professional writers revise extensively. James Baldwin is reported to have revised The Fire Next Time a hundred times. The essay we now consider a masterpiece of concision and power was assembled from a much longer, messier draft.
The insight: the draft is where you find out what you think. The revision is where you make it legible to a reader.
At the college level, one revision is rarely sufficient. Build time for at least three revision passes:
- Argument revision: is the thesis right? Does the essay prove it?
- Structural revision: does each paragraph do one job? Do they build logically?
- Style revision: sentence by sentence — is each one doing what it should?
The Argument Revision Pass
Questions:
- Does my thesis make a specific, arguable claim?
- Does my essay actually prove this thesis — or does it drift toward a different, easier claim?
- Does each body paragraph have a clear sub-claim that supports the thesis?
- Is each sub-claim different enough from the others? (Avoid repeating the same point)
- Is the counterargument addressed fairly and specifically?
Common finding in argument revision: the real thesis is buried in paragraph 3. Move it to the introduction and restructure.
The Structural Revision Pass
Create a reverse outline: read your draft and write down what each paragraph actually argues (not what you intended it to argue). Compare this to what it should argue.
If the topic sentences don't tell a coherent story when read in sequence, restructure.
Cut ruthlessly: any paragraph that is primarily summary (describes what happens), or that makes a claim already made, should be cut or radically transformed.
The Style Revision Pass
Read aloud: your ear catches monotony, awkwardness, and imprecision that your eye misses.
Upgrade sentences:
- Replace "shows" with a precise verb
- Replace a vague noun with a specific one
- Break a long, tangled sentence into two cleaner ones
- Add detail where a claim is unsupported