The process of writing an essay can be excruciatingly painful. Many have an overwhelming instinct to flee when the first draft is finally complete, which results in them forgoing the editing process altogether. Skipping this essential step will cause your overall grade to plummet. Since you have already completed the most difficult part, why not perfect your writing so that the final product reflects your efforts? If your immediate response is that editing an essay is too chaotic and overwhelming, then the SchoolTutoring Academy has got you covered. To save you from further frustration we have outlined a step-by-step editing guide for all high school students.
1. Targeted Grammatical Readings
Mechanical errors are difficult to spot, unless of course your teacher has already circled them in bright red pen! The good new is that once you spot them, these small yet detrimental mistakes are actually the easiest to fix. Continually reading your piece in its entirety, while only focusing on one specific grammatical component each time through, is the perfect solution. You will be a more efficient editor by targeting your search instead of reading aimlessly. Below is a list of the most common errors you should seek to eliminate immediately.
- first/second person pronouns: Remember that essays are a formal representation of your ideas so you need to write in the third person. This means that I, you, and we are prohibited, unless they are apart of a direct quote. Creative ways to avoid these pronouns include the use of: one, society, humanity, those who, it is widely agreed upon etc.
- incorrect tense: In general, English essays are written in the literary present since the work you are analysing is considered timeless. History essays however, are primarily written in the past tense because they cover events that are not current.
- contractions & colloquialisms : These are not allowed in proper writing as they are too informal!
- unintegrated quotations: Simply “dropping” a quote into the middle of a paragraph is grammatically incorrect not to mention poor style as it interrupts the flow of your writing.
- citation mistakes: Your work must be cited or it will be considered plagiarized. Use the referencing style specified by your teacher and be sure to look up its regulations if you need a refresher. Purdue Owl is an excellent online resource.
2. Body Paragraph Content Reading
This stage in the editing process is unfortunately the most difficult. With regard to the actual content of an essay, there are no concrete errors as its evaluation is subjective. The best method of revision is to consider each body paragraph separately. Ensure that the topic sentence supports your thesis. This is paramount as the opening line dictates the direction of the entire paragraph. Once the argument has been established, it’s time to strengthen it by ensuring that your proof is relevant and checking that you’ve followed your teacher’s guidelines on the amount of quotes/facts required. Try evaluating your paragraph on a sentence by sentence basis, always asking yourself what the purpose of each phrase is. Remember that description is not enough, you need to have an in-depth analysis that convinces the reader of your topic sentence. This will ultimately prove your thesis.
3. Intro/Conclusion Checklist
Some students struggle with composing a proper introduction and conclusion for their essays. The importance of these paragraphs cannot be overstated as they are responsible for both the first and last impressions of your work overall. Often students are unsure what to write which results in important details being forgotten. At this stage in the editing process you should go through your introduction and conclusion with the following checklists, being sure to add the necessary components.
Ordered Essay Introduction Checklist:
- a general opening sentence that relates to your topic
- an introduction of the topic (include the title & author of the material for an English essay)
- necessary background information (this would be a brief plot summary for an English essay)
- a segue into your main points with at least one sentence per argument
- your thesis
Ordered Essay Conclusion Checklist:
- restated thesis (in different words)
- a summary of each of your arguments
- several general sentences that lead to a final thought/idea you want to leave the reader with
4. Read Out Loud
Now it’s time for the most enjoyable step in the editing process! Print out a hard copy of your essay and read it out loud in its entirety. Some mistakes that are incredibly difficult to identify on the computer become glaringly obvious when you are listening to yourself speak. Listen carefully for: awkward wording, poor transitions, sentence fragments, and incorrect word choice. The benefits of this exercise are twofold. Since multiple areas of the brain will be engaged, you will be able to spot any double words, missing words, and typos that you would otherwise gloss over when reading in your head.
5. Peer Edit
By this point you likely have your essay almost memorized and the thought of reading it even one more time makes you nauseous. Lucky for you, it’s time to find fresh eyes. Since you are so familiar with what you’ve written, you will no longer be able to spot mistakes. By enlisting a friend (preferably an older, more experienced student) or an adult, you will get a new perspective and important feedback. How you choose to implement their suggestions is entirely up to you.
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