HW for 4/22

Read the following. Again, bring your printed essays to Friday's class to work on them.

Editing

Here are some common areas where students need to grammatically improve:

1. Run-ons: both fused sentences and comma splices. Review the blog post from this week and Rules for Writer for techniques and examples.

2. Fixing pronoun references and pronoun agreement issues, including replacing confusing or weak usages with synonymous, more accurate word choice.

3. Test all sentences for subject-verb agreement issues.

4. Verb tense shifts and mood shifts. Get rid of them! See pages 136-138 in Rules for Writers for help!

5. Work on subordination of ideas, using run-on techniques discussed earlier this term. Look for places in essays where two ideas exist back-to-back, and this is where you will want to spend time considering and trying out subordination (and coordination, if necessary).

• See pages141-145 in Rules for Writers for how to do so, and pages 146-152 for considerations when to subordinate and when not to...

Revision

Here are major content areas where an essay may need improvement in the writer showing authority and supporting ideas. To strengthen authority, look at:

1. Your illustrations of ideas.  Do they fit the point? Are they specific enough, descriptive, and more than one sentence when needed?

• Are they placed effectively within paragraphs as hooks in intros or as supporting examples in PRE formed body paragraphs?  

• Are they appropriate examples for the prompt's purpose and point of view? 

• Do you have enough examples to support a larger point? Is one enough? Try to use 2-3 quotes per body paragraph for rough estimate of having adequate support.

2. Context for subject matter. 

• Do you give enough background on your subject that you can use or do address in essay? 

• Do you spell out who people are or what things or places are? 

• Do you give a framework of important factor, or do you assume too much? 

• Think more about individual qualities that your subject has in relation to the essay prompt. Try and match what you say about your essay subject to the essay questions or requirements given to you on the handout.

• Look at any pre-writing questioning and other exercises done or suggested, too, for help in what context your essay may need.