This document provides an agenda and instructions for an EWRT 1A writing workshop class. It includes sections on grading a writing workshop, revising and editing essays, completing a peer review process, and homework assignments. The peer review process involves students exchanging papers and providing feedback using a review form to help writers improve organization, content, integrating quotations, and MLA style. Students are instructed to revise their essays at home based on peer feedback and eliminate word choice errors. They are also assigned homework that includes reading assignments, journaling, submitting MLA citations, revising an essay, and discussing education challenges.

1. EWRT 1A Class 9

2. AGENDA
 Writing Workshop:
 10 points graded and 10 points
participation
 Revising and editing
 Word choice editing

3. First things first
Is your essay complete? That is, Have you
included each of the mandatory parts of it?
Is your formatting correct? For the essay? For
the quotations?

4. 1. Your MLA formatted header and heading
2. Your original title
3. Your introduction to the essay
4. Your thesis.
5. Your topic sentences for all of the body paragraphs
6. Three properly integrated and cited quotation, formatted in MLA style
7. Your (at least two) quotations from your outside sources (marginalization
articles or dictionary), formatted and cited in MLA style
8. Your counterargument(s)
9. Your conclusion
Find each the following parts of your essay, bracketing to
designate the beginning and ending of each section:

5. Your job as a reader is to answer the questions (in writing)
on the handout. These questions will help you help the
writer to improve the paper in terms of organization,
content, integrating quotations, and MLA style. It will also
help you do a better job revising your own essay.
If you don’t know the answer to a question, ask me. I will
be happy to help you.
You will respond to two essays. You will receive comments
from two reviewers.
This is not an editing exercise; it is a revision process.
This session is geared toward revision—not editing. While you may mark errors
you notice in the text, refrain from making editing suggestions, that is
spelling, grammar, and word choice suggestions.

6. Follow the directions on the peer review sheet.
Respond to each prompt carefully and completely.
1. Evaluate how well the issue is presented.
Summarize: Tell the writer what you understand the issue to be about. If
you were already familiar with it and understand it differently, briefly
explain.
Praise: Give an example from the essay where the issue and its
significance come across effectively.
Critique: Tell the writer where more information about the issue is
needed, where more might be done to establish its seriousness, or how
the issue could be reframed in a way that would better prepare readers
for the argument.
A good critical reading does three things: It lets the writer know how the
reader understands the point of the story, praises what works best, and
indicates where the draft could be improved.

7. Get into pairs: You can work in or out of your house

8. The Process
• You will exchange papers so that your partner can follow along as
you read.
• Each person will read his or her own essay aloud. EVERYONE
SHOULD FINISH READING BEFORE ANYONE BEGINS RESPONDING.
• Readers will follow along as the writer presents his or her work;
readers may circle obvious errors.
• If you cannot decide reading order, the youngest reads first.

9. Be kind but be clear. Be thoughtful and thorough
to earn the maximum points.

10. When you are done thoroughly
responding to the revision questions.
1. Bring the paper and your notes to me so
I can record your points.
2. Return the paper and your notes to the
author.
3. Work on your own paper until we end
the writing workshop.
4. When you are both finished, you and
your partner may ask and answer
questions together.

11. Revision and Editing Strategies:
Use the clean copy of your own essay for the next exercises

12. Errors to Avoid How to use
THIS GUIDE
Self-edit
Before you submit your essay, make sure you aren’t
making these common word choice errors.
Keep track
Notice the mistakes you make; soon you’ll be
able to avoid them easily.
Get better
Once you master these common mistakes, you
can start writing better without worrying about
making little mistakes.

13. THE USE O F
“whom”and “who”
★ Who = subjective pronoun, like “he,” “she,” “it” – acts as a subject.
★ Whom = objective pronoun, like “him,” “her” “us”
1

14. THE USE O F
“lay” and “lie”
★ Lay – transitive verb; needs a direct subject and an object.
★ L i e – intransitive verb and needs no object.
2

15. THE USE O F
“farther” and “further”
★ Farther = used for physical distance.
★ F u r t h e r = used for abstract
lengths.
3

16. THE USE O F
★ Disinterested = someone who is impartial. No bias.
★ Uninterested = someone who really just couldn’t care less.
4
“disinterested” and “uninterested”

17. THE USE O F
“since” and “because”
★ Since = time-related..
★ Because = cause related..
5

18. THE USE O F
“bring” and “take”
★ Bring = moving an object towards something.
★ Take = moving an object away from something..
6

19. THE USE O F
“affect” and “effect”
★ Affect = almost always a verb; means to influence..
★ Effect = usually describes the result or an outcome. In some cases, is used
as a transitive verb..
7

20. THE USE O F
“your” and “you’re”
★ Your = Possessive. Your dog, your bag, your car.
★ You’re = You + are. Describes a state of being. You’re a doctor. You’re a
teacher. You’re a child.
8

21. THE USE O F
”they’re” “there” “their”
★ T h e y ’ r e = they + are. Describes a state of being. They’re cooking.
★ There = location of something., I live there. I eat there. You work there.
★ Their = possessive. Their dog. Their house. Their apples..
9

22. THE USE O F
“it’s” and “its”
★ It’s – It + is. Describes a state of being. It’s a boy. It’s running.
★ Its – Possessive. Its tail, its eyes, its whiskers.
10

23. THE USE O F
“me”& “I”
★ I = Subject. Like he, she and it.
★ Me = Objective pronoun, similar to him, her, them.
11

24. THE USE O F
“between” and “among”
★ Between = used when something is in the middle of two things.
★ Among = being located within a group of things.
12

25. THE USE O F
“then” and “than”
★ Then = used when you are situating events in time..
★ Than = used for comparisons.
13

26. Double space your heading.
Put your header in Times
New roman 12 Make any changes that are obvious.
 Look up any information you lack.
 Ask me or another student if you aren’t sure about
any aspect of your essay.
Name 1
Student Name
Dr. Kim Palmore
EWRT 1A
20 July 2017

27. Content: Have you done everything the assignment requires? Are the claims you
make accurate? Does your paper make an argument? Is the argument complete?
Have you supported each point with adequate evidence? Is all of the
information in your paper relevant to the assignment and/or your overall
writing goal?
Overall structure: Does your paper have an appropriate introduction and
conclusion? Is your thesis clearly stated in your introduction? Is it clear how
each paragraph in the body of your paper is related to your thesis? Are the
paragraphs arranged in a logical sequence? Have you made clear transitions
between paragraphs?
Structure within paragraphs: Does each paragraph have a clear topic
sentence? Does each paragraph stick to one main idea? Are there any
extraneous or missing sentences in any of your paragraphs?

28. Clarity: Have you defined terms that might be unclear to your reader? Is the
meaning of each sentence clear Is it clear what each pronoun (he, she, it, they,
which, who, this, or that) refers to? Have you chosen the proper words to express
your ideas?
Style: Have you used an appropriate tone? Have you varied the length and
structure of your sentences? Do you repeat a strong word unnecessarily? Have you
eliminated vague words like “thing” from your writing?
Citations: Have you appropriately cited quotes, paraphrases, and ideas you got
from sources? Are your citations in the correct format? (See Purdue Owl. for more
information.)
As you edit, keep an eye out for patterns of error; knowing what kinds of
problems you tend to have will be helpful. . Once you have identified a pattern,
you can develop techniques for spotting and correcting future instances of that
pattern.

30. Revising at home
 Revise in stages
 Read the comments from your peer
reviewers.
 Address each section of the peer review
document. Check your peer reviewers
concerns. Revise accordingly.
 When you finish revising, read your essay
aloud. This will help you check your
revision efforts and find common errors.

31. Editing at home!
 Look into the details of your paper. This is the part of the editing process you may think of most
often—looking at grammar, punctuation, word choice and other nitty-gritty details.
 In reading through your paper with your focus on the details, ask yourself these questions:
 Is everything spelled correctly?
 Are all punctuation marks used accurately?
 Have you eliminated run-ons and fragments?
 Are all your citations formatted correctly?
 Does the vocabulary you use appropriate for the topic?
 Do each of the sentences maintain the appropriate verb tense?
 Do you use too many clichés that cloud your argument?
 Do all sentences maintain parallel structure?

32. Homework
 Read HP POA (Chapter 14)
 Reading Journal 2
 HW Discussion #12: your properly formatted works cited entries: the
novel, and article, and at least one other source. Post this document as
an attachment so you don’t lose your formatting.
 Revise Essay #2 based on the feedback you got from the writing
workshop, and eliminate word choice errors.
 Essay #2 is due Friday at noon
 Essay #3
 Read these articles
 “8 Critical Issues Facing Education in 2018”
 “10 Major Challenges Facing Public Schools”
 HW Discussion #13: Which three of these challenges do you see as
critical and why?