30.1: Readings by H Morrison

1.1 The Process

It’s human nature to want to “cut corners” or take the path of least resistance. However, for well done academic writing, and for succeeding in this course, there aren’t any real short cuts. First, it’s pivotal to understand that academic writing is a recursive, iterative process. That means it’s a lengthy and involved process.

Recursive here refers to something that is repeated, over and over again—and again—all with the goal of improvement and refinement. In this case, we mean that you will repeat the sequential process of 1) brainstorming, 2) outlining,3) drafting, and 4) editing over and again for each assignment in order to ultimately reach the final version of each assignment.

Iterative refers also to repetition of a process that produces iterations, and here we use iteration to refer to any single step in the process.

The writing process generally consists of the following steps.

1. Reading (and re-reading) the texts

2. Understanding the relevant concepts

3. Understanding the assignment

4. Brainstorming

5. Outlining

6. Drafting/composing

7. Editing/revising

You’ll notice that three of the seven steps listed above do not include writing, but they are crucial steps. Essentially, you must thoroughly understand what you are writing about and why you are writing before you can adequately compose an essay.

While you may find yourself repeating any and all of these seven steps, you are more likely to find yourself repeating steps 4 through 7. For most students, their process for this course looks like this:

1,2, 3, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7,4,5,6,7, 4, 6, 7, 6, 7

Yes, that’s a lot of steps, and yes, you need to plan on engaging in the process in that depth. Being a strong writer does not exempt you from full engagement in the proscribed process.

Plan on getting help

Step in the Writing Process	Who to see for help (you can always ask your professor for assistance, though they may direct you to the resources below)
Reading (and re-reading) the texts	Reading tutor
Understanding the relevant concepts	Your professor
Understanding the assignment	Your professor, Writing tutor
Brainstorming	Writing tutor
Outlining	Writing tutor, Your professor
Drafting/composing	Writing tutor, Your professor
Editing/revision	Writing tutor

Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY 4.0 license

Planning for success

English 101 or 101-097 is required for most every degree program and certification for good reason: it’s a course designed to help you in arguably every other class you will take at college or university level and in your life as thoughtful, informed individual.

Academic success in general relies on your ability to plan ahead: you constantly need to assess how much study time you need to complete each assignment or assignment component. If you run into trouble, e.g.., you’re struggling with a concept, you will also need to factor in time for acquiring assistance. Maybe this means meeting with a tutor, or your professor. If you’re taking classes, have a job or two, have family responsibilities, or all of the above, it’s even more crucial for you to plan ahead to allot time for your reading, writing, and revising,

Your professors and the academic support staff—tutors, wellness center and ACCESS coordinators, among many others—all want you to succeed. When you need help, please ask for it.

Use these three steps to plan for your success.

1. Consider your real needs and preferences. Is focusing difficult for you? Is your attention best used in short spurts? Is reading a challenge? If you crumble under pressure, waiting to the last minute to finish an assignment isn’t a good plan.

Consider your other obligations:

· Relational and familial needs

· Work

· Other course work

· Health and wellness needs.

o How do you recharge your battery?

o You need food—proper nutrition, adequate sleep, exercise, to live.

2. Make time to do each step of the writing process:

1. Reading (and re-reading) the texts

2. Understanding the relevant concepts

3. Understanding the assignment

4. Brainstorming

5. Outlining

6. Drafting/composing

7. Editing/revising

3. Organize your schedule/create a calendar

• The due dates for all formal assignments are listed in the course schedule on Brightspace. While some of the homework is TBA or will shift, every graded component of your research project has a due date. Consider your other course schedules, and other life obligations, as well as your known patterns and energy levels (e.g. you know you will not be a functional person the three days following Thanksgiving, so you plan to complete your work ahead of time). A friend’s birthday or your cousin’s wedding are not good reasons for an extension.
• Be realistic about your energy and needs.
• If you do need an extension, know that it will put you behind and make your progress more difficult. It should only be requested if absolutely necessary. That said, if you do need an extension, ask me via email as soon as possible. Also, be honest, please. I’ve found students’ real situations make for much more compelling reasons for extensions than their fabrications.

How to Revise an essay draft

Revisions are divided into two distinct types: content and mechanical.

The content revisions deal with the thesis, topic sentences, concepts, logic, evidence, transitions, introductions, and conclusions that make up your essay. Content revisions are the most important and should always come first!

Mechanical revisions deal with sentence-level mechanics—your grammar, syntax, punctuation, and word choice. We’ll also include MLA formatting of the essay and the MLA in-text citations and Works Cited page in this category. While all of these mechanical revisions are important, they are secondary to your content revisions. For some, it may be helpful to only work on mechanical revisions in the draft before the final essay.

It's important to understand the differences between these two types of revisions. You should plan on doing content revisions at different times than you do mechanical revisions. It makes good logical sense to do content revisions first and then do mechanical revisions. If you do mechanical revisions first, your content may change, and then you’ll have to do another round of mechanical revisions.

If you work with a tutor on your revisions, which is recommended, be able to clearly articulate if you want help with content revision or mechanical revisions, and do not expect the tutor to work with you on both in one session.

Questions to Ask Yourself When Revising Your Paper

Content Revision checklist

General questions

· Did I answer/respond to the assignment prompt?

· Is my essay tailored to the stated audience?

· Does the essay accomplish the stated purpose?

· Did I use all required sources?

· Do I meet all other requirements discussed in the assignment description?

Ensure the following are present:

Introductory paragraph with

· A hook (sentence)

· Introductory content that provides adequate information about the topic so that your reader will understand your thesis (ensure this part aligns with the assignment description)

· A thesis statement that suggests the structure of what will follow

Multiple body paragraphs that

· Have an argumentative topic sentence as their first sentence and corresponds directly to the thesis statement.

· Stick to the topic sentence and don’t go off course

· Provide adequate evidence to support the argument in the topic sentence

· Engages sources that support the argument

o Each use of a source is clearly cited

o Use a signal phrase and or a parenthetical citation

o Have quote sandwiches: each quote or paraphrase is introduced, presented, and then you connect the quote/paraphrase to your topic sentence

· Are logical

· Are well explained to the stated audience

· Effectively use transitional words and phrases

Has a conclusion that

· Restates the core argument of the thesis in the first sentence.

· Summarizes each and every main point, i.e. restates each topic sentence

· Ends with a concluding thought (a sentence) that serves as an inverse hook.

Mechanical Revision Checklist

· Minimal or no punctuation errors

o No comma splices

o Every sentence starts with a capital letter

o Every sentence ends with a period (question marks and exclamation points, and their types of sentences, should be avoided)

o Semicolons and colons are properly used

o Commas are properly used

o Single quotes [‘example’] and double quote [“example”] are used properly

· There are minimal to no grammatical errors

o In particular, look out for

o dangling modifiers

o subject verb disagreement \run on sentences

· No fragments!!! Every sentence is complete with at least one subject and predicate.

· Writing is concise, succinct: no extra or “filler” words/phrases

· No repetition

· No idiomatic phrases or platitudes

· Uses just language

· Uses gender-neutral language, as appropriate

· Uses a vocabulary appropriate for the context and the audience and jargon is explained

As you proceed in this course, wherever you are in the drafting process, once you have a complete draft, use the Content Revision Checklist to guide your revising. Repeat as necessary. Then, use the Mechanical Revision Checklist as you approach the final draft