Module 3: Introduction

Introduction

For many students, the expression "revising a rough draft" means to:

1. scan an instructor-graded paper and look for the first marginal note of the essay

2. find where the instructor marked an error in the actual sentence corresponding to the marginal note

3. hope that the instructor actually fixed the error—but if not, take a stab at fixing the sentence by shifting or replacing a few words or by dropping in some punctuation

4. look in the margins for the next note. And repeat.

After repeating the process above several times, you return the paper with corrections to your instructor—as a revised essay. If this process seems familiar to you, you are not alone.  For many writers, the sheer volume of marginal notes an instructor provides can be intimidating, and may chip away at a writer's confidence. After all, writers want to communicate something meaningful, and the response of instructors who focus on errors in sentence structure can be annoying. Yes, how dare they imply that meaning cannot somehow exist in the messy syntax of comma-splice or run-on sentences? The implied message is "fix the error first."  So, writers opt to give instructors what they think they want: a fixed sentence. Thus, revision is, for many, the act of fixing sentences.

However, revision is far more than the act of looking for and correcting problems with your sentence structure; revision is about meaning and expression, and meaning and expression should be the central focus of revision.

The reading assignments in this module will help you focus on meaning and expression as you revise your essays and edit the essays of your peers. "Making Meaning Clear: The Logic of Revision Links to an external site." by Donald Murray will help you appreciate new ways of practicing revision as a process of editing and proofreading that moves you closer to writing what you mean to write.