tailieunhanh - Write better essays in just 20 minutes a day part 12

Prewriting is the critical first step in creating a successful essay. Whether you are handed a topic, must come up with one on your own, or writing under a time constraint, taking the time to focus and shape your thoughts will result in a better final product. | LESSON 14 Revising The Big Picture LESSON SUMMARY This is the first of two lessons dealing with the revision process. It shows you how to revise for three important big picture issues fulfilling the assignment stating a clear thesis and providing strong support. From the Latin revisere meaning to visit or look at again revision is the most general re-examination of your essay. But it can also seem like the most overwhelming it s harder to step back and look at your entire essay with fresh eyes and ears than it is to correct spelling and punctuation errors. But this is a critical step in which you make sure you have achieved your goal and see if any sections of the essay need improving. Revision takes place on a couple of levels the big picture or essay level and the paragraph level. It makes sense to look at your writing on these levels first before jumpig into editing or proofreading. Think of it this way Why take the time to correct grammatical errors and reword sentences if you might delete those sentences later in the revision process Re-visioning You can look at your essay with fresh eyes in two ways literally by giving your work to a trusted reader for feedback and figuratively by examining your own work as if you ve never seen it before. 107 -------------------------------- REVISING THE BIG PICTURE ---------------------------------------- If you think professional writers work alone think again. They know how important it is to get feedback before they send their work to the publisher it s not uncommon for them to share their work with a number of trusted readers first. That strategy is important for your essays too. Readers can help you pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of your writing. They can tell you what works well and what doesn t what comes across clearly to them and what confuses them. When you share your writing with people you trust to give you honest feedback ask them What do you like about my essay Is there anything that seems confusing or .