Instructions for Revision
English 101 Major Writing Assignment 4
Look carefully through the feedback you received and make changes. Your revision should meet the research and length requirements of the original MWA, but it might take on a new purpose or direction as you see fit.
With your revised paper, include a cover letter (no more than a page, single-spaced) in which you introduce the paper you have chosen, summarize the feedback you have received, and describe the improvements you have made.
Further Instructions:
The most important skill to demonstrate for this unit is that you can look at your own writing with a new eye to improve and reshape it. An oft-quoted truism (sometimes attributed to Hemingway, but who knows?) says “there is no good writing, only good rewriting.” That’s true whether you’re a novelist or a number cruncher. Learning to revisit and revise your writing is an essential skill for any mature thinker or communicator.
Things to Avoid:
Don’t simply “fix” the paper. Even if you earned a good grade on the first draft, a revision is supposed to be a new, better version of the paper—not the same paper with fewer errors.
Also, don’t rely only on the feedback of others, including me. Look at your paper with an eye to your purpose and what you’d like to say. Search for ways to say it better, with more detail, with more excitement, with more clarity.
Specifications:
The revision should meet the minimum requirements of the original assignment in terms of length and required research. A good revision, however, should probably exceed those. Your audience and purpose might change from the original paper, but it should still meet the research and length requirements.
Grading Criteria:
Your revision will be assessed in two ways:
I’ll look at the paper on its own merits: Does it meet the original success criteria? Does it accomplish its purpose? Is it organized and free from errors? Does it document sources well?
I’ll look at the paper as a revision of a previous paper: can I see that the student listened to and learned from feedback? Can I see the student exploring other possibilities in terms of audience and purpose? Can I see the student thinking critically about the organization, evidence, or form of the paper? Etc.
Since it is the end of the semester, now is the time for your MLA skills to be flawless. Triple check the in-text citations and works cited entries. Make sure you’ve included all of the elements required by MLA formatting rules like the header, page numbers, double spacing. Also check to be sure you have used the correct margins and font.
Is it tedious? Yes. Is it necessary? Also yes.
Grade Calculation:
Note that this assignment requires 2 submissions:
Revision itself
Cover letter
