Guidelines for Revision

  1. Quickly scan through your paper and circle any there is, there are, it is, or similar sentence structures. Revise these sentences as needed (see Helpful Hints, #2).

  2. Scan your paper a second time and underline weak to be verbs (is, are, was, were, etc.). Go back and revise to use stronger, action verbs wherever possible. Don't use inflated language when making these revisions (see Helpful Hints, #3).

  3. Make sure that any pronouns you use (particularly this and that) have an easily identifiable previous referent. If not, revise to clarify what the pronoun refers to (for this, that, the easiest way is to add a noun--see Helpful Hints, #10).

  4. Scan your paper and mark prepositional phrases (prepositions are words that show relationships, such as of, in, to, by). Prepositional phrases frequently add unnecessary wordiness to your writing and make your sentence structures weak. Try shifting this information, using modifiers or verbs instead, or cutting words if not needed.

    Richard Lanham gives the following example in Revising Prose:

    Change: Central to our understanding of the character of Lucrece in William Shakespeare's The Rape of Lucrece is the long passage towards the end of the poem devoted to a painting of the fall of Troy (9 prepositional phrases, weak to be verb, 35 words).

    To: The Troy painting, described near the poem's end, illuminates Lucrece's character (1 prepositional phrase, strong verb, 11 words).

  5. Look at each paragraph in your paper. Does each one have a topic sentence? Is that topic sentence clear? Do all other ideas in the paragraph relate to, support, or help develop that topic sentence?

  6. Consider your paper in its entirety once more. Are all its parts arranged in the best possible sequence? Do you have adequate transitions (between sentences, paragraphs, ideas--see Helpful Hints, #12)? Will your title and opening paragraph pass the coffee table test? Are your reasons logical and logically presented? Is your conclusion strong and convincing?

  7. Use the mechanics checklist to look for grammatical and typographical problems.

  8. Give your paper a final going over before handing it in. A good proofreading will help you catch problems that a spell checker can't find. Even the best spell checker won't catch all types of errors. (See Helpful Hints, #13.)

Last updated 04/0402