revision 1 091812
DESCRIPTION
ENG 135 Powerpoint on the Revision Process and how to use track changes.TRANSCRIPT
DRAFT R
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TODAY’S AGENDA
Class Standards Reminder
Some Quick Mechanics
Revising at the Draft Level
Overall Meaning
Paragraph Level
Track Changes Demonstration
Conferences
STANDARDS
2 Revisions per paper
Office – Rm. 249 Liberal Arts Building
Office hours – 11:20-12:20 Tuesdays and Thursdays
Email – 24 hours except weekends!
CORRECTIONS
Go out on a limb
Explore
There’s no such thing as a finished piece; you just have to meet a deadline.
QUICK MECHANICS
“a lot”
Too, to, two
They’re, Their, There
Run-on sentences
A LOT
Two words
There is no such thing as an alot
TWO, TO, TOO
The professor told us two times not to make redundant statements. He may need to take that advice, too.
Two = a number
To = a preposition
Too = also
THEY’RE, THEIR, THERE
They’re going to pick up their books and write an essay for class over there.
They’re = They are
Their = possessive
There = place
RUN ON SENTENCES
Take a deep breath.
Read your sentence out loud.
If you’re out of breath, you’ll want to break up your sentence.
“This one time, I endeavored to write a run on sentence, which was rather difficult at first because I couldn’t think of anything to say, then I just decided to start saying stuff that came to my head and as it came to my head, it became easier to write a run on sentence without taking a breath, and thankfully commas exist otherwise I’d be choking trying to read this sentence out loud.”
AT THE DRAFT LEVEL
Revision is an ongoing process
Constant
Builds upon last segment
SOME TECHNIQUES
Set aside your first draft
Work from Printed Text (or with Track Changes)
Read the Draft Aloud
Revise in Steps
Address Instructor Feedback (when it comes)
Peer Review
SETTING ASIDE YOUR FIRST DRAFT
Take more than a few minutes
Wait until the next day
Read again from an impartial standpoint
Set aside time to re-read
PRINTED TEXT (OR TRACK CHANGES)
Allows an impartial stance
Grants ability to leave markup
Track changes – saves paper, leaves markup
READ THE DRAFT ALOUD
Helps with the impartial stance
Not in public
REVISION IN STEPS
Overall meaning and structure
Paragraph development
Sentences and Words
INSTRUCTOR FEEDBACK
I promise you’ll get feedback soon – by Thursday
Refer to it as a building block
Pay attention to the revision process
PEER REVIEW
Common practice
Find someone to help
Someone honest
OVERALL MEANING
Does the piece flow?
Do the paragraphs makes sense in sequence?
PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT
Does each paragraph have a topic?
Do the paragraphs fully explore their point?
Are they the correct length for their topics?
FULLY DEVELOPED PARAGRAPHS
One weekend, I tried to grade a mess load of papers (mess load being a technical term). I put all the papers out on my desk, sat in front of my computer, and proceeded to fail at grading. Sure, I marked up some of the papers. I made comments where they were needed. But I still haven’t finished the lot of them.
I could have lied about the whole affair. I could have claimed that my papers were stolen by an academically minded thief, or a very selective fire broke out in my house. In the end, though, I felt it more important to own up and say tell everyone that they’d receive their papers on Thursday. So that’s what I did.
BREAK IT DOWN
What were the topic sentences?
Did the paragraphs fully explore their topics?
Was the transition strong?
Were the paragraphs too long or too short?
Between these two paragraphs, could you reasonably tell what the paper was about?
TRACK CHANGES
Open Up Microsoft Word – or if you can’t log in to the computers, look over someone’s shoulder.
Follow along with me!
OPEN SOURCE
OpenOffice and LibreOffice are free versions of the Microsoft Office pack.
Available for any system
Fulfill many of the same functions
Different placement in the program. But look around.
GOOGLE DOCS
Google Docs are now a part of Google Drive
Far be it from me to tell you what to do, but the Docs are the best free collaborative writing software available.
Try out Gmail
Follow along
WORDPRESS
Should have an email sent already.
If you haven’t, I haven’t received your Wordpress information.
Make sure if you haven’t sent your Wordpress account information that you do so by midnight tonight.
If you’re having trouble, let’s talk about it during the conference period.
CONFERENCES
Status check.
How is your proposal coming along?
If you aren’t conferencing, you should be working on the writing assignment for the day.
WRITING ASSIGNMENT
Write a short proposal (introduction, problem, objectives) concerning a problem in your everyday life that you’d like to fix. It can be as simple as needing to fix the sink or as large as finding out what you’re doing with your life on a cosmic level.
Type this proposal or write it by hand. When you’re done, pair up, then email it (or hand over the handwritten copy) to one of your peers. That peer should then email (or hand over their handwritten copy) to you.
Revise the proposal on a structural level using track changes. Do the paragraphs flow? Is the purpose of the piece clear? Leave comments and markup in the final piece.
Save the file and email it to me with both partners’ names on it. If you handwrote it, hand revised copy to me.