Direction Words - Spring Grove Area School District

in the workplace than learning to write well. You've heard it so often you've probably become numb to the advice. Let's ask the big question, however. Why is writing well so important?The simple answer is that no activity develops your ability to think better than writing does. Writing allows you to develop your thoughts and to "see" and reflect critically on what you think: In that sense, writing also involves its twin sister, reading. Small wonder, then, that employers in all fields are constantly looking for people who can read and write well. Simply put, employers want to hire and retain the best minds they can to further their business objectives, and the ability to read and write well is a strong indication of a good mind.

In today's technology-driven economy, there is virtually no field of work that doesn't require clear, accurate, and direct expression in writing, whether it be writing internal memos, self-appraisals, laboratory reports, bids for con­tracts, proposals for new products or procedures, loan or grant applications, sales reports, market analyses, or some other type of document. Starting with the ability to write an effective job-application letter and resume and continuing on to advancement through the ranks of an organization-and perhaps more than any other factor - your ability to organize your thoughts and clearly present them will affect your overall success on the job and in life.

College is a practical training ground for learning to write. In college, with the help of instructors, you will write essays, analyses, term papers, reports, reviews of research, critiques, and summaries. Take advantage of the oppor­tunity college provides to develop your skills as a writer: What you learn now will be fundamental, not only to your education, but also to your later success.

Writers cannot rely on inspiration alone to produce effective writing. Good writers follow a writing process: They analyze their assignment, gather ideas, draft, revise, edit, and proofread. It is worth rememberin!=),

Developing an Effective Writing Process 17

however, that the writing process is rarely as simple and straightforward as this. Often the process is recursive, moving back and forth among dif­ferent stages. Moreover, writing is personal - no two people go about it exactly the same way. Still, it is possible to describe basic guidelines for developing a writing process, thereby allowing you to devise your own reliable method for undertaking a writing task.

A great deal of the writing you do in college will be in response to very specific assignments. Your American history professor, for example, may ask you to write a paper in which you explain the causes of the Spanish­American War; your environmental studies professor may ask you to report both the pro and con arguments for regulating industrial carbon emissions; or your English professor may ask you to compare and contrast the text and film versions of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. It is important, therefore, that you understand exactly what your instructor is asking you to do. The best way to understand assignments such as these (or exam questions, for that matter) is to identify subject words (words that indicate the content of the assignment) and direction words (words that indicate your purpose or the writing strategy you should use). In the first example given above, the subject words are Spanish-American War and the direc­tion word is explain. In the second example, the subject words are indus­trial carbon emissions and the direction word is report. Finally, the subject words in the third example are text and film versions of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, while the direction words are compare and contrast.

Most direction words are familiar to us, but we are not always sure how they differ from one another or exactly what they are asking us to do. The following list of direction words, along with explanations of what they call for, wi" help you analyze paper and exam assignments.

Direction Words

Analyze: take apart and examine closely

Argue: make a case for a particular position

Categorize: place into meaningful groups

Compare: look for differences; stress similarities

Contrast: look for similarities; stress differences

Critique: point out positive and negative features

Define: provide the meaning for a term or concept

Evaluate: judge according to some standard

Explain: make plain or comprehensible

Illustrate: show through examples

Interpret: explain the meaning of something

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18 Writing

(continued from previous page)

List: catalog or enumerate steps in a process

Outline: provide abbreviated structure for key elements

Prove: demonstrate truth through logic, fact, or example

Review: summarize key points

Synthesize: bring together or make connections among elements

Trace: delineate a sequence of events

Although you will often be given specific assignments in your writing course, you may sometimes be given the freedom to choose your subject matter and topic. In this case, begin by determining a broad subject that you like to think about and might enjoy writing about - a general subject like the Internet, popular culture, or foreign travel. Something you've recently read - one of the essays in Subject & Strategy, for example - may help bring particular subjects to mind. You might consider a subject related to your career ambitions - perhaps business, journalism, teaching, law, medicine, architecture, or computer programming. Another option is to list some subjects you enjoy discussing with friends: food, sports, televi­sion programs, or politics. Select several likely subjects, and explore their potential. Your goal is to arrive at an appropriately narrowed topic.

Suppose, for example, you select as possible subject areas "farming" and "advertising:'You could develop each according to the following chart.

VERY GENERAL

t LESS

GENERAL

t GENERAL

t MORE TV

lof SPECIFIC

\ / t TV ad~ertising of VERY high.fib'i/ cereals

SPECIFIC

TOPIC TOPIC

Developing an Effective Writing Process 19

All effective writing springs from a clear purpose. Most good writ­ing seeks specifically to accomplish anyone of the following three purposes:

To express thoughts and feelings about life experiences

• To inform readers by explaining something about the world around them

To persuade readers to adopt some belief or take some action

In expressive writing, or writing from experience, you put your thoughts and feelings before all other concerns. When Annie Dillard reacts to being caught throwing a snowball at a car (Chapter 4), when Malcolm X shows his frustration at not having appropriate language to express himself (Chapter 4), and when Stan Badgett describes the rock dust covering every surface in the coal mine where he worked (Chapter 5), each one is writing from experience. In each case, the writer has clarified an important life experience and has conveyed what he or she learned from it.

Informative writing focuses on telling the reader something about the outside world. In informative writing, you report, explain, analyze, define, classify, compare, describe a process, or examine causes and effects. When Michael Pollan explains how the beef we eat travels from factory farms to our tables (Chapter 7) and when Deborah Tannen dis­cusses examples of orders given and received in the workplace (Chapter 6), each one is writing to inform.

Argumentative writing seeks to influence readers' thinking and atti­tudes toward a subject and, in some cases., to move them to a particular cour~e()Laction. Such persuasive writing uses logical reasoning, authori­tative evidence, and testimony, and it sometimes includes emotionally charged language and examples. In writing their arguments, Richard Lederer uses numerous examples to show us the power of short words (Chapter 12) and Thomas Jefferson uses evidence and clearly expressed logic to argue that the fledgling American colonies are within their rights to break away from Britain (Chapter 12).

The best writers always keep their audience in mind. Once they have decided on a topic and a purpose, writers present their material in a way that empathizes with their readers, addresses their difficulties and concerns, and appeals to their rational and emotional faculties. Based on knowledge of their audience, writers make conscious decisions on content, sentence structure. and word choice.

20 Writing

Academic writing most often employs the conventions of formal standard English, or the language of educated professionals. Rather than being heavy or stuffy, good academic writing is lively and engaging and holds the reader's attention by presenting interesting ideas supported with relevant facts, statistics, and detailed information. Informal writing, usually freer and simpler in form, is typically used in notes, journal entries, e-mail, text messages, instant messaging, and the like.

In order not to lessen the importance of your ideas and your credibil­ity, be sure that informal writing does not carryover into your academic writing. Always keeping your audience and purpose in mind will help you achieve an appropriate style.

When you write, your audience might be an individual (your instruc­tor), a group (the students in your class), a specialized group (art history majors)' or a general readership (readers of your student newspaper). To help identify your audience, ask yourself the questions posed at the top of page 21.

Formal Writing

Uses standard English, the lan­guage of public discourse typi­cal of newspapers, magazines, books, and speeches

Uses mostly third person

Avoids most abbreviations (Professor, brothers, miles per gal/on, Internet, digital video recorder)

Uses an impersonal tone (The speaker took questions from the audience at the end of her lecture.)

Uses longer, more complex sentences

Adheres to the rules and con­ventions of proper grammar

Informal Writing

Uses nonstandard English, slang, colloquial expressions (anyways, dude, freaked out), and shorthand (OMG, IMHO, GR8)

Uses first and second person most often

Uses abbreviations and acro­nyms (Prof., bros., mpg, Net, DVR)

Uses an informal tone (It was great the way she answered questions at the end of her talk.)

Uses shorter, simpler sentences

Takes a casual approach to the rules and conventions of proper grammar

Developing an Effective Writing Process

Questions about Audience

Who are my readers? Are they a specialized or a general group?

What do I know about my audience's age, gender, education, religious affiliation, economic status, and political views?

What does my audience know about my subject? Are they experts or novices?

What does my audience need to know about my topic in order to understand my discussion of it?

Will my audience be interested, open-minded, resistant, or hos­tile to what I have to say?

~ Do I need to explain any specialized language so that my audi­ence can understand my subject? Is there any language that I should avoid?

What do I want my audience to do as a result of reading my essay?

21

Ideas and information (facts and details) lie at the heart of good prose. Ideas grow out of information; information supports ideas. Before you begin to draft, gather as many ideas as possible and as much information as you can about your topic in order to inform and stimulate your readers intellectually.

A good way to generate ideas and information about your topic is to brainstorm: Simply list everything you know about your topic, freely associating one idea with another. At this point, order is not important. Write quickly, but if you get stalled, reread what you have writ­ten; doing so will jog your mind in new directions. Keep your list handy so that you can add to it over the course of several days.

Here, for example, is a student's brainstorming list on why Martin Luther King Jr:s "1 Have a Dream" speech (page 525) is enduring:

WHY "I HAVE A DREAM" IS MEMORABLE

Delivered on steps of Lincoln Memorial during civil rights demonstration in Washington, D.C.; crowd of more than 200,000 people

¥ Repetition of "r have a dream"

• Allusions to the Bible, spirituals

• "Bad check" metaphor and other memorable figures of speech

22 Writing

• Echoes other great American writings- Declaration of Independence and

Gettysburg Address

• Refers to various parts of the country and embraces all races and religions

Sermon format

• Displays energy and passion

Clustering allows you to generate material and to sort it into meaningful groupings. Put your topic, or a key word or phrase about your topic, in the center of a sheet of paper and draw a circle around it. Draw four or five (or more) lines radiating out from this circle, and jot down main ideas about your topic; draw circles around them as well. Repeat the process by drawing lines from the secondary circles and adding examples, details, and any questions you have.

Here is a student's cluster on television news programs:

news programs

You may want to supplement what you know about your topic with research.This does not necessarily mean formal library work or even online research. Firsthand observations and interviews with people knowledgeable about your topic are also forms of research. Whatever your form of research, take careful notes, so you can accurately para­phrase an author or quote an interviewee.

Consider rehearsing what you are going to write by taking ten or fifteen minutes to talk your way through your paper with ::. rnomm::.tp.. frip.ncL or familv member. Rehearsina in this wav mav suit

Step 2: Gather Ideas and Formulate aThesis 23

your personality and the way you think. Moreover, rehearsing may help you generate new ideas.

The thesis of an essay is its main idea, the major point the writer is trying to make.

A thesis should be

The most important point you make about your topic

More general than the ideas and facts used to support it

Focused enough to be covered in the space allotted for the essay

The thesis is often expressed in one or two sentences called a thesis statement. Here's an example of a thesis statement about television news programs:

The so-called serious news programs are becoming too like tabloid news shows in both their content and their presentation.

A thesis statement should not be a question but rather an assertion. If you find yourself writing a question for a thesis statement, answer the ques­tion first - this answer will be your thesis statement.

An effective strategy for developing a thesis statement is to begin by writing, "What I want to say is that .. :'

What I want to say is that unless language barriers between patients and health care providers are bridged, many patients' lives in our most culturally diverse cities will be endangered.

Later you can delete the formulaic opening, and you will be left with a thesis statement.

To determine whether your thesis is too general or too specific, think hard about how easy it will be to present data - that is, facts, statistics, names, examples or illustrations, and opinions of authorities - to support it. If you stray too far in either direction, your task will become much more dif­ficult. A thesis statement that is too general will leave you overwhelmed by the number of issues you must address. For example, the statement "Malls have ruined the fabric of American life" would lead to the question "How?" To answer it, you would probably have to include information about traffic patterns, urban decay, environmental damage, economic studies, and so on. To cover all of this in the time and space you have for a typical college paper would mean taking shortcuts, and your paper would be ineffective. On the other hand, too specific a thesis statement will leave you with too· little information to present. "The Big City Mall should not have been built because it reduced retail sales at existing Big City stores by 21.4 percent" does not leave you with any opportunity to develop an argument.

The thesis statement is usually presented near the beginning of the essay. One common practice in shorter college papers is to position the thesis statement as the final sentence of thp. first O::'rI'Iflrrmh

24 Writing

wm YOur 1be$isHold Water?

Once you have a possible thesis statement in mind for an essay, ask

yourself the following questions:

Does my thesis statement take a clear position on an issue? If

so, what is that position?

Is my thesis the most important point I make about my topic?

Is my thesis neither too general nor too specific? Will I be able to argue it in the time and space allotted?

There is nothing mysterious or difficult about the nine organizational strat­egies discussed in this book. In fact, you're familiar with most of them already. Whenever you tell a story, for example, you use the strategy of narration. When you need to make a decision, you compare and contrast the things you must choose between. When you want to describe how to make a pizza, you use the strategy of process analysis to figure out ~ow:o explain it. What might make these strategies seem unfamiliar, espeCially In

writing, is that most people use them more or less intuitively. Sophisticated thinking and writing, however, do not come from simply using these struc­tures, but rather from using them consciously and purposefully.

Writing strategies are not like blueprints or plaster molds that deter­mine in advance exactly how the final product will be shaped. Rather, these strategies are flexible and versatile, with only a few fundamental rules or directions to define their shape -like the rules for basketball, chess, or other strategic games. Such directions leave plenty of room for imagina­tion and variety. In addition, because these strategies are fundamental ways of thinking, they will help you in all stages of the writing process - :rom prewriting and writing a first draft through revising and editing your piece.

Organizational" Strategies

Narration

Description

Illustration

Process Analysis

Comparison and Contrast

Telling a story or giving an account of an event

Presenting a picture in words

Using examples to explain a point or an idea

Explaining how something is done or happens

Demonstrating likenesses and differences

Step 3: Organize and Write Your First Draft 25

Division and Classification

Definition

Cause and Effect Analysis

Argumentation

Breaking down a subject into its parts and placing them in appro­priate categories

Explaining what something is

Explaining the causes of an event or the effects of an action

Using reason and logic to persuade

*Also known as rhetorical or writing strategies.

Good essays often employ components of more than one strategy. In determining which strategies to use, the language of the writing assignment is very important. If a description is called for, or you need to examine causes and effects, or, as is often the case, you are asked to argue for a posi­tion on an important issue, the language of the assignment will include key direction words and phrases that will indicate the primary strategy or strategies you should use in developing your essay.

The first column in the following chart lists some key direction words and phrases you may encounter in your writing assignments. The second column lists the strategy that is most likely called for by the use of those words.

D~t~rmining What Strategias to Use with a Specific Assi.gnmant

Key Direction Words and Phrases Suggested Writing Strategy

Give an account of; tell the story Narration of; relate the events of

Describe; present a picture; Description discuss the details of

Show; demonstrate; enumerate; Illustration discuss; give examples of

Explain how something is done; Process Analysis explain how something works; explain what happens; analyze the steps

Compare; contrast; explain dif- Comparison and Contrast ferences; explain similarities; evaluate

Divide and classify; explain what Division and Classification the components are; analyze the parts of

(continued on next page)

26 Writing

(continued from previous page)

Explain; define a person, place, or thing; give the meaning of

Explain causes; explain effects; give the reasons for; explain the consequences of

Argue for or against; make a case for or against; state your views on; persuade; convince;

justify

Definition

Cause and Effect Analysis

Argumentation

Often in academic writing your instructor may not give you a specific assignment; instead, he or she may ask only that you write a paper of a specific length. In such cases you are left to determine for yourself wh.at strategy.~r strategies might best accomplish your purpose. If you are ~ot given a speCifiC assignment and are uncertain as to what strategy or strategies you should use in developing your essay, you might try the following four-step method:

Determining What Strategies to Use with an Open Assignment

1. State the main idea of your essay in a single phrase or sentence.

2. Restate the main idea as a question - in effect, the question

your essay will answer.

3. Look closely at both the main idea and the question for key words or concepts that go with a particular strategy, just as you would when working with an assignment that specifies a topic.

4. Consider other strategies that would support your primary

strategy.

The examples below

show how a student writing in different disciplines might decide what

strategies to use.

American Literature 1. MAIN IDEA: John Updike relies on religion as a major theme in his fiction.

2. QUESTION: In what instances does John Updike use religion as a major

theme? 3. STRATEGY: Illustration. The phrase "in what instances" suggests that it is

necessary to show examples of where Updike uses the theme of religion to

further his narrative purposes. 4. SUPPORTING STRATEGIES: Definition. What is meant by religion needs to be

Step 3: Organize and Write Your First Draft

Biology

1. MAIN IDEA: Mitosis is the process by which cells divide. 2. QUESTION: How does the process of mitosis work? 3. STRATEGY: Process analysis. The words how, process, and work suggest a

process analysis essay. 4. SUPPORTING STRATEGIES: Illustration. A good process analysis includes

examples of each step in the process.

Political Science

27

1. MAIN IDEA: The threat of terrorism has changed the way people think about air travel.

2. QUESTION: What effects does terrorism have on air travel? 3. STRATEGY: Cause and effect. The phrase "what effects" asks for a listing of

the effects. 4. SUPPORTING STRATEGIES: Illustration. The best presentation of effects is

through vivid examples.

These are just a few examples of how to decide on a writing strat­egy and supporting strategies that are suitable for your topic. In every case, your reading can guide you in recognizing the best plan to follow. In Chapter 13, you will learn more about combining strategies.

First drafts are exploratory and sometimes unpredictable. While writing your first draft, you may find yourself get­ting away from your original plan. What started as a definition essay may develop into a process analysis or an effort at argumentation. For example, a definition of school spirit could turn into a process analysis of how a pep rally is organized or an argument about why school spirit is important (or detrimental). A definition of manners could become an instructive process analysis on how to be a good host, or it could turn into an argument that respect is based on the ways people treat one another. A definition of democracy could evolve into a process analysis of how democracy works in the United States or into an argument for democratic forms of government.

If your draft is leaning toward a different strategy from the one you first envisioned, don't force yourself to revert to your original plan. Allow your inspiration to take you where it will. When you finish your draft, you can see whether the new strategy works better than the old one or whether it would be best to go back to your initial strategy. Use your first draft to explore your ideas; you will always have a chance to revise later.

It may also happen that, while writing your first draft, you run into a difficulty that prevents you from moving forward. For example, suppose you want to tell about something that happened to you, but you aren't certain whether you should be using the pronoun I so often. If you turn tn tho .oC'c-.n'/C" in. rh,.. ...... + ......... A ............. ,...,.. l-_.~. _ .. .1.1- ____ -~

28 Writing

this problem, you will find that it isn't necessarily a problem at all. For an account of a personal experience, it's perfectly acceptable to write I as often as you need to. Or suppose that after writing several pages describing someone you think is quite a character, you find that your draft seems flat and doesn't express how lively and funny the person really is. If you read the introduction to Chapter 5, you will learn that descriptions need lots of factual, concrete detail; the chapter selections give further proof of this. You suddenly realize that just such detail is what's missing from your draft.

If you do run into difficulties writing your first draft, don't worry or get upset. Even experienced writers run into problems at the beginning. Just try to keep going. Think about your topic, and consider your details and what you want to say. You might even want to go back and look over your original invention work or information you've gathered.

Once you have completed your first draft, set it aside awhile and do something else. When you are refreshed and again ready to give it your full attention, you are ready to revise.

Revision is a vital part of the writing process. It is not to be confused with editing or "cleaning up" a draft but should be regarded as a set of activities wherein a rough draft may be transformed into a polished essay that powerfully expresses your ideas. In fact, many writers believe that all writing is essentially rewriting. When you revise, you give your­self a chance to re-see how well you have captured your subject, to see what has worked and what still needs. to be done.

In revising, you might need to reorganize your paragraphs or the sentences within some paragraphs, generate more information because you have too few examples, revise your thesis statement so that it better fits your argument, or find better transitions to bind your sentences and thoughts together. Rather than an arduous task, many writers find revi­sion a very satisfying process because they are able to bring their work into sharper focus and give themselves a better chance of connecting with their audience.

The following sections offer proven techniques for initiating and car­rying out one or more revisions of your developing essays.

D Triple-space your draft so that you can make changes more easily.

D Make revisions on a hard copy of your paper.

D Read your paper aloud, listening for parts that do not make sense.

D Have a fellow student read your essay and critique it.

Step 4: ReviseYour Essay 29

of Peer When you critique work with other students - yours or theirs - it is important to maximize the effec­tivene~s and effiCiency of the exercise. The tips outlined in the following box Will help you get the most out of peer critiques.

",Brief Guide to Peer Critiquing

When critiquing someone else's work:

~ Read the essay carefully. Read it to yourself first and, if possible, have the writer read it to you at the beginning of the session. Some flaws only become obvious when read aloud.

Ask the writer to state his or her purpose for writing and to iden­tify the thesis statement within the paper itself.

~ Be pOSitive, but be honest. Never denigrate the paper's content or the writer's effort, but do your best to identify how the writer can improve the paper through revision.

~ Try to address the most important issues first. Think about the thesis and the organization of the paper before moving on to more specific topics like word choice.

.. Do not be dismissive, and do not dictate changes. Ask questions that encourage the writer to reconsider parts of the paper that you find confUSing or ineffective.

When someone critiques your work:

~ Give your reviewer a copy of your essay before your meeting.

~ Listen carefully to your reviewer, and try not to argue each issue. Record comments, and evaluate them later.

J> Do not get defensive or explain what you wanted to say if the reviewer misunderstands what you meant. Try to understand the reviewer'S point of view, and learn what you need to revise to clear up the misunderstanding.

Consider every suggestion, but only use the ones that make sense to you in your revision.

Ii> Be sure to thank your reviewer for his or her effort on your behalf.

the During revision, you s~ou.ld focus first on the larger issues of thesis, purpose, content, orga­nization, and paragraph structure to make sure that your writing says what you want it to say. One way to begin is to make an informal outline of your first draft - not as you planned it, but as it actually came out. What does your outline tell you about the strategy you used? Does this strategy suit your purpose? Perhaps you meant to compare your two grand-n"\nthorc hll+,/n" h~'I"" .................. 1 ............. 1., ..... 1--. .•. _ .Io.L_~ ___ ~ ___ !I_ "," • ,Or"

28 Writing

this problem, you will find that it isn't necessarily a problem at all. For an account of a personal experience, it's perfectly acceptable to write I as often as you need to. Or suppose that after writing several pages describing someone you think is quite a character, you find that your draft seems flat and doesn't express how lively and funny the person really is. If you read the introduction to Chapter 5, you will learn that descriptions need lots of factual, concrete detail; the chapter selections give further proof of this. You suddenly realize that just such detail is what's missing from your draft.

If you do run into difficulties writing your first draft, don't worry or get upset. Even experienced writers run into problems at the beginning. Just try to keep going. Think about your topic, and consider your details and what you want to say. You might even want to go back and look over your original invention work or information you've gathered.

Once you have completed your first draft, set it aside awhile and do something else. When you are refreshed and again ready to give it your

full attention, you are ready to revise. Revision is a vital part of the writing process. It is not to be confused

with editing or "cleaning up" a draft but should be regarded as a set of activities wherein a rough draft may be transformed into a polished essay that powerfully expresses your ideas. In fact, many writers believe that all writing is essentially rewriting. When you revise, you give your­self a chance to re-see how well you have captured your subject, to see what has worked and what still needs to be done.

In revising, you might need to reorganize your paragraphs or the sentences within some paragraphs, generate more information because you have too few examples, revise your thesis statement so that it better fits your argument, or find better transitions to bind your sentences and thoughts together. Rather than an arduous task, many writers find revi­sion a very satisfying process because they are able to bring their work into sharper focus and give themselves a better chance of connecting

with their audience. The following sections offer proven techniques for initiating and car-

rying out one or more revisions of your developing essays.

D Triple-space your draft so that you can make changes more easily.

D Make revisions on a hard copy of your paper.

D Read your paper aloud, listening for parts that do not make sense.

D Have a fellow student read your essay and critique it.

Step 4: ReviseYour Essay 29

of Peel' When you critique work with other students - yours or theirs - it is important to maximize the effec­tiveness and efficiency of the exercise. The tips outlined in the following box will help you get the most out of peer critiques.

.A8rlefGukle.toP.erCrltiquihg

When critiquing someone else's work:

I> Read the essay carefully. Read it to yourself first and, if possible, have the writer read it to you at the beginning of the session. Some flaws only become obvious when read aloud.

~ Ask the writer to state his or her purpose for writing and to iden­tify the thesis statement within the paper itself.

I> Be positive, but be honest. Never denigrate the paper's content or the writer's effort, but do your best to identify how the writer can improve the paper through revision.

I> Try to address the most important issues first. Think about the thesis and the organization of the paper before moving on to more specific topics like word choice.

I> Do not be dismissive, and do not dictate changes. Ask questions that encourage the writer to reconsider parts of the paper that you find confusing or ineffective.

When someone critiques your work:

Give your reviewer a copy of your essay before your meeting.

Listen carefully to your reviewer, and try not to argue each issue. Record comments, and evaluate them later.

I> Do not get defensive or explain what you wanted to say if the reviewer misunderstands what you meant. Try to understand the reviewer's point of view, and learn what you need to revise to clear up the misunderstanding.

i' Consider every suggestion, but only use the ones that make sense to you in your revision.

~ Be sure to thank your reviewer for his or her effort on your behalf.

the During revision, you should focus first on the larger issues of thesis, purpose, content, orga­nization, and paragraph structure to make sure that your writing says what you want it to say. One way to begin is to make an informal outline of your first draft - not as you planned it, but as it actually came out. What does your outline tell you about the strategy you used? Does this strategy suit your purpose? Perhaps you meant to compare your two grand-rYlnthorc hIIT\'I"11 ho::!o\11':\ n ..... +,..I,.. ....... h~,..h. ...... ".-.+t.... ... :_ ... :_:I __ :.&.:_- ---' -'~.c.r. _____ _