3. Writing Workshop: Revision strategies
Choose a partner
Read both essays aloud before you start
to write about or discuss the essays.
On separate sheets of paper, answer all
of the questions from the handout for
your partner’s essay.
When you finish, return your comments
to the writer.
When you get your essay back, read the
comments and determine how you might
remedy any issues.
5. MLA format: on our website under
“MLA Guidelines.”
MLA (Modern Language Association) style is most commonly used to write papers
and cite sources within the liberal arts and humanities.
MLA style specifies guidelines for formatting manuscripts and using the English
language in writing. MLA style also provides writers with a system for referencing
their sources through parenthetical citation in their essays and Works Cited pages.
Writers who properly use MLA also build their credibility by demonstrating
accountability to their source material. Most importantly, the use of MLA style can
protect writers from accusations of plagiarism, which is the purposeful or
accidental uncredited use of source material by other writers.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
7. Margins and
Formatting
Double Click in
Header Area
Type your last name
Justify right
Go to “insert” and click
on “page number
Header: Last Name 1
1” all around
Go to “Layout” and
adjust margins or
use custom
settings
Times New Roman
12
Indent body
paragraphs ½ inch
from the margin
8. Heading: Double
Spaced
Your Name
Dr. Kim Palmore
EWRT 1A
15 July 2015
Title
Original Title (not the title of
the essay we read)
No italics, bold, underline, or
quotation marks
Centered on the page
No extra spaces (just double
spaced after your heading and
before the body of your text.
9.
10. Making A Works Cited
Page MLA Style
Ensure that you have a properly formatted works cited page
14. Many people write wordy papers because they are trying to make
their ideas sound important by using long words and intricate
sentences. They think that their writing must be complicated to
seem professional. Although these writers are trying to impress
their readers, they often end up confusing them. The best writing
is clear, concise, and easy to understand. Your ideas are much more
impressive when your reader does not have to fight to understand
you.
Wordiness: using more words than
necessary to express thought.
15. Often writers use several words for ideas that can be expressed in one.
This leads to unnecessarily complex sentences and genuine redundancy as
the following examples show:
Redundant
The printer is located adjacent to
the computer
The printer is located in the
immediate vicinity of the computer
The user can visibly see the image
moving
He wore a shirt that was blue in
color
The input is suitably processed
Not Redundant
The printer is adjacent to the
computer
The printer is near the computer
The user can see the image moving
He wore a blue shirt.
The input is processed
16. Now you try it. Write this sentence in as few words as
possible without changing the meaning!
The available receptacle, in any
case, was of insufficient size to
contain the total quantity of
unnecessary waste.
17. How to reduce wordiness!
1. Reduce Long Clauses
When editing, try to reduce long
clauses to shorter phrases:
Wordy: The clown who was in
the center ring was riding a
tricycle.
Revised: The clown in the
center ring was riding a tricycle.
2. Reduce Phrases
Likewise, try to reduce phrases
to single words:
Wordy: The clown at the end
of the line tried to sweep up
the spotlight.
Revised: The last clown tried
to sweep up the spotlight.
18. Eliminating Wordiness: Strategies
3. Avoid Empty Openers
Avoid There is, There are, and
There were as sentence openers
when There adds nothing to the
meaning of a sentence:
Wordy: There is a prize in every
box of Quacko cereal.
Revised: A prize is in every box
of Quacko cereal.
Wordy: There are two security
guards at the gate.
Revised: Two security guards
stand at the gate.
4. Don’t Overwork Modifiers
Do not overwork very, really,
totally, and other modifiers that
add little or nothing to the
meaning of a sentence.
Wordy: By the time she got home,
Merdine was very tired.
Revised: By the time she got
home, Merdine was exhausted
Wordy: She was also really hungry.
Revised: She was also hungry [or
famished].
19. Eliminating Wordiness
5. Avoid Redundancies
Replace redundant expressions (phrases that use more words
than necessary to make a point) with precise words. Remember:
needless words are those that add nothing (or nothing
significant) to the meaning of our writing. They bore the reader
and distract from our ideas. So cut them out!
Wordy: At this point in time, we should edit our work.
Revised: Now we should edit our work.
20. Try these!
1. He dropped out of school on account of the fact that it was necessary
for him to help support his family.
2. It is expected that the new schedule will be announced by the bus
company within the next few days.
3. There are many ways in which a student who is interested in meeting
foreign students may come to know one.
4. It is very unusual to find someone who has never told a deliberate lie on
purpose.
5. Trouble is caused when people disobey rules that have been established
for the safety of all.
21. Possible Answers
1. He dropped out of school to support his family.
2. The bus company will probably announce its schedule during
the next few days.
3. Any student who wants to meet foreign students can do so in
many ways.
4. Rarely will you find someone who has never told a deliberate lie.
5. Disobeying safety regulations causes trouble.
22. Find a Wordy Sentence
Check your essay for wordiness. Look for a
sentence that falls into one of the categories
we just discussed. Edit it for clarity and
conciseness.
24. Compound Sentence
A compound sentence is made up of two or more simple
sentences joined by one of the following:
A comma and a coordinating conjunction
I like to study grammar, and I love this class.
A semicolon
I like to study grammar; I love this class.
A semicolon and an adverbial conjunction
I like to study grammar; therefore, I love this class.
27. COMPOUND SENTENCE:
CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS
I don’t think you understand punctuation;
therefore, we need to review.
I taught you how to write with adverbial
conjunctions last week; however, most of you
did not do it correctly in your essays.
Clause 1 Clause 2
Independent Independent
28. Look for Run-On Sentences
Look for compound sentences in your essay. Make sure you
are using both a comma and a conjunction.
Example: , and
Look for adverbial conjunctions; make sure you have
punctuated those sentences correctly.
Example ; however,
29. Writing Tips
Write about literature in present tense
Write about your experience in past tense
Avoid using “thing,” “something,” “everything,” and
“anything.”
Avoid writing in second person. (Don’t use “you” unless it is in
dialogue.
30. Surface Revision Strategies
Read Aloud
Reading the paper aloud slowly can
often bring to attention large and
small mistakes missed in the writing
and typing process. Read each
sentence and ask does it make
sense? Is it awkward? Am I
including words that are not actually
written on the paper? Sometimes
reading the paper out of order can
help isolate problems. Try reading
the paragraphs starting with the last
sentence and then reading the
previous sentence and so on; this
can reveal problems in the
sentences.
Isolate Specific Problems
Isolating specific problems can help
give objectivity to one's personal
work. One way to isolate specific
issues is to circle them on a paper
draft and look at them one by one.
For example: circle all commas and
then go back and look at each
comma asking if it is in the
appropriate place with the correct
usage. Another example would be
to circle all verbs and then go back
one by one and identify the tense
and verify subject verb agreement.
31. Essay Submissions
All out of class essays are to be submitted to me
electronically before the class period in which they are due.
1. Before you submit your essay, please save your file as your
last name and the number 2, like this: Smith 2. This will
help me keep your essays organized.
Smith 2
32. 2. Submit your essay through Kaizena, a Google Drive
add-on, at
https://kaizena.com/palmoreessaysubmissiongmail.
Or simply use the link on our class website home
page.
This system allows me to respond to your essay with both voice and written
comments and to insert helpful links.
33. 3. Sign in to your
Google Account,
and allow Kaizena access
to your Google Drive.
34. 4. Click on the “Request Feedback from Dr. Kim
Palmore” link.
35. 5. Choose your document from your Google Drive. You will be
directed to a new page to choose a delivery box from a drop down
menu.
36. 6. Add your essay to the appropriate EWRT 1A box (Essay
#2, #3, or #4) from the drop down menu. Then, click the
“Ask for feedback” button again.
37. 7. Once I have graded your paper, you may view it by going to the
conversations between us on the Kaizena page.
38. 8. Click on the highlighted sections of the paper to find both audio and
written comments concerning your essay and links to materials that
will help you improve your writing.
39. HOMEWORK
Read: SMG 134-148 Writing a Concept Essay
Write: Using the comments you received from your
readers, revise and edit Essay #2.
Post #9: Post two versions of a section of your
essay that demonstrates your revision and editing
strategies.
Submit Essay #2: Due electronically via Kaizena
before class 10. Your paper must be in MLA format.
