Chapter 17 Summary

Chapter 17 discusses revising and editing. This chapter is broken down into four sections that go into detail about what you should focus on when revising your document, strategies for revising, what you should focus on when editing your document and what strategies you should use to edit.  These are very important to keep in mind because these are key to improving your paper. For me personally, I really struggle editing and revising my own work. This chapter has really helped give me ideas on how I can do this on my own. When you are revising your document focus on your writing situation, your argument/ideas, your sources, structure and organization of your essay and lastly keep in mind the genre and design. With revising you just want to look at your essay as whole and find the large problems that stand out rather than the little ones. Some strategies you can use to revise are making/saving multiple drafts of your paper, highlight your main points, challenge your own assumptions, scan your entire paper and have someone else to look over it to find problems you have missed. Now, when you are editing your paper you are looking at the involvement of the words on your paper. You want the words to be accurate, effective and appropriate which will fit your argument. When editing you should focus on the accuracy, economy, consistency, style, and grammar/spelling/punctuation. Lastly, this chapter discusses what strategies you should use to edit. Unlike revising, editing is where you are constantly combing through your essay. Some strategies to keep in mind are careful reading, mark the document where you find errors, look over spelling/grammar/style, and ask for feedback. Like I mentioned before, it is easy for you to miss areas where you have errors, but when you have another pair of eyes looking over it it's easier to spot the error. This chapter is key to having a successful paper. Being able to revise and edit is an important skill that will benefit you for the rest of your life.