COLLEGE W

RITING

R E V I SI N

G O R G A N I ZA T I O

N , A N A L Y S I S, I N

T R O

ORGANIZATION

PLAYING WITH STRUCTURE Cut up your unit 2 draft by paragraphs and number the back of

each paragraph with the original order, then shuffle the paragraphs up.

Trade cut-up drafts with your peer response group. Share the main argument of your essay.

Put your peer’s draft in the order you think it should go, then number it on the front. Put a question mark on any paragraphs that seem like they don’t belong, keeping your partner’s argument in mind.

Trade back, discuss. Compare the order your partner chose with your original order. What is the same? Different? What does that tell you about your essay? How can you use this feedback to revise, rearrange/cut/clarify?

ANALYSIS

ANATOMY OF A PARAGRAPH

Conduct interviews in peer response groups: 1 person asks the questions listed to

the right and raises follow-up questions

1 takes notes 1 answers questions.

Repeat twice, switching roles each time.

At the end, give the notes you wrote to the person who answered the questions, to use in expanding their analysis.

You should plan to spend a full 10 minutes per person discussing these questions.

Why did you choose this quote? What is it saying, to you? What do

you interpret it to mean? Do you agree with what it’s saying?

Why or why not? What questions does this quote raise

for you? What are you left wondering about, or confused about, after thinking about this quote?

What is the author’s tone in this quote? How does their tone make you feel? Does their tone help or hurt their argument? Why?

How do the ideas expressed in this quote relate to your argument?

What else does this quote make you think of? How can you relate it to personal experiences, or issues in contemporary culture, or other things you’ve read/seen/heard?

DEVELOPING ANALYSIS OF QUOTES

Read the notes that your peer wrote down during your interview.

Draft some additional analysis of your quote based on your interview discussion. You don’t have to use everything that you discussed; just use it as a jumping-off point.

If you have extra time, start to brainstorm more analysis for another quote based on the same questions.

Why did you choose this quote? What is it saying, to you? What do

you interpret it to mean? Do you agree with what it’s saying?

Why or why not? What questions does this quote raise

for you? What are you left wondering about, or confused about, after thinking about this quote?

What is the author’s tone in this quote? How does their tone make you feel? Does their tone help or hurt their argument? Why?

How do the ideas expressed in this quote relate to your argument?

What else does this quote make you think of? How can you relate it to personal experiences, or issues in contemporary culture, or other things you’ve read/seen/heard?

DEVELOPING ANALYSIS OF QUOTES

INTRODUCTIO

NS

BASIC STRUCTURE OF INTRODUCTIONS1.General idea to ease readers into your

essay2.Connection to article you’re

responding to3.Your specific argument or contribution

REVISING INTRODUCTIONS: PART 11.General idea to ease readers into your

essayLet’s revise or draft this ^ part of your intro by re-writing it three different ways

Start your introduction by writing a generalization about your topic. Could be a general statement of fact, a statistic, an observation, etc.

Example: “The deep infiltration of digital information into our lives has created a fervor around the supposed corresponding loss of logged-off real life.” (Jurgenson)

REVISING INTRODUCTIONS: GENERALIZATION

Start your introduction by writing an anecdote that relates to your topic. Could be a personal experience, or an anecdote from something you’ve read, seen on TV, etc.

Example: “On the evening of February 12, 2009, a Continental Connection commuter flight made its way through blustery weather between Newark, New Jersey, and Buffalo, New York.” (Carr)

REVISING INTRODUCTIONS: ANECDOTE

Start your introduction by incorporating a quote from your article that exemplifies the ideas you’re responding to.

Example: “Happiness is consistently described as the object of human desire, as being what we aim for, as being what gives purpose, meaning and order to human life. As Bruno S. Frey and Alois Stutzer argue, ‘Everybody wants to be happy. There is probably no other goal in life that commands such a high degree of consensus.’” (Ahmed)

REVISING INTRODUCTIONS: QUOTE

Share what you wrote in peer response groups. Which version of your opening do you like the best? Choose one version to stick with. (It’s ok to use the one you started with.)

• Generalization• Anecdote• Quote

SHARE REVISED PART 1 OF INTRODUCTIONS

REVISING INTRODUCTIONS: PART 21.General idea to ease readers into your

essay2.Connection to article you’re responding

toLet’s work on this ^ part of your introduction now.3. Your specific argument or contribution

Create a transition between your revised version of step 1 and step 2. Step 2 should include a mention of the author whose work you’re discussing, and a 1-2 sentence summary of their article, so incorporate those details if you don’t already have them.

1. General idea to ease readers into your essay

2. Connection to article you’re responding to

3. Your specific argument or contribution

REVISING INTRODUCTIONS: CONNECTION TO ARTICLE

REVISING INTRODUCTIONS: PART 31.General idea to ease readers into your

essay2.Connection to article you’re responding

to3. Your specific argument or contributionLet’s work on this ^ part of your introduction now.

REVISING INTRODUCTIONS: THESIS STATEMENTSometimes our best ideas come at the end of the writing process, and good thoughts get buried in the conclusion. Try to find 1-2 sentences from your conclusion that would be better in your introduction (especially as a thesis statement) and move it to the beginning of your essay.

Reflect on the changes you’ve made to your introduction. What changes will you keep? What will you leave the same? What further adjustments do you need to make to your introduction?

1.General idea to ease readers into your essay

2.Connection to article you’re responding to

3.Your specific argument or contribution

REFLECT ON REVISED INTRODUCTIONS

OTHER STRATEGIES FOR REVISING • Use highlighters to color-code and point

out statements, concrete details, analysis,

• Read your essay out loud• Look at the rubric• Go to office hours, the writing center• Read model essays in Student Writing

Anthology