Chapter 69

Practice reviewing your work carefully. For the next assignment you write, review it fully as part of the writing process. This will require you to finish the first draft about one week before the hand-in date, e.g. by setting yourself an earlier deadline than the submission date. This exercise is best done with a word-processed essay. Do not worry if it is a little over the word limit at this stage. (a) Print out a copy of the essay. Do not look at it for at least two days after finishing this version. (b) Review 1: spelling, grammar and sense. Read through the draft critically (try to imagine it had been written by someone else) and correct any obvious errors that strike you. Does the text make sense? Do sentences/ paragraphs flow smoothly? (c) Review 2: structure and relevance. Consider again the structure of the essay, asking yourself whether you have really answered the question that was set (see study exercise 69.1). Are all the parts in the right order? Is anything missed out? Have you followed precisely the instruction(s) in the title? Are the different parts of the essay linked together well? (d) Review 3: shorten and improve style. Check the word count. Shorten the essay if required. Look critically at phrasing and, even if the essay is within the word limit, ask yourself whether any of the words are unnecessary or whether the text could be made more concise, more precise or more apt.