Very often, students work to deadlines and they hand in tasks at the last moment. Two hours spent on editing your work can make all the difference between creating the impression of a sloppy careless piece of work, and one that is thoughtful and well-executed. Below are some guidelines to use as a checklist.

What You should Know

Revising gives you the chance to preview your work on behalf of the eventual reader. Revision is much more than proofreading, though in the final editing stage it involves some checking of details. Good revision and editing can transform a mediocre first draft into an excellent final paper. It is more work, but leads to real satisfaction when you find you have said what you wanted.

There are four kinds of revisions: (1) large-scale revision; (2) small-scale revision;(3) editing; (4) proofreading.

Revisions usually start large and end small. In global revisions, you check the general structure of your writing by:

Making sure the structure is a complete and logical one.

Checking that your paragraphs follow the sequence of the topics.

Checking paragraph transitions.

In local revisions, you revise your language (sentences and words) for variety and style. You may take the steps as follows:

Proofreading. Read the whole writing carefully for spelling, punctuation and grammatical mistakes.

Revising sentences for variety and style. Revise sentences that follow the same pattern to avoid monotony, and pay attention to the right “tone” or “voice” of your language.

Revising words for accuracy and exactness. Use words that can best make your point, and remove redundant and meaningless words or phrases.

Finally, do not fall in love with what you have written. If you do, you will be hesitant to change it even if you know it is not great. Start out with a working thesis, and do not act like you are married to it. Instead, act like you are dating it, seeing if you are compatible, finding out what it is like from day to day. If a better thesis comes along, let go of the old one. Also, don’t think of revision as just rewording. It is a chance to look at the entire paper, not just isolated words and sentences.

Language Focus

Rules for Capitalization in Titles

The rules for capitalizing titles can vary according to a particular style guide, such as Associated Press Stylebook (AP), Chicago Manual of Style, and MLA style. They all have different rules for how to capitalize titles. So which one should you choose? Well, it all depends if a certain style is required by your teacher, course, or subject/field. For example, MLA style is commonly used in the liberal arts or humanities, while AP style is popularly used in journalism. One suggestion is to choose one style, or check the style required by your teacher, and stick to it.

General Rule: Title Case

As discussed there are some exceptions to the rule; however, here is one general rule that you can apply for capitalizing titles. Capitalize the first, last and any important words in a title, which is known as Title Case or Headline Style.

In Titles: Do Capitalize

Generally, these parts of speech are capitalized in titles.

Nouns (man, bus, book)

Adjectives (angry, lovely, small)

Verbs (run, eat, sleep)

Adverbs (slowly, quickly, quietly)

Pronouns (he, she, it)

Subordinating conjunctions (as, because, that)

In Titles: Do Not Capitalize

As you have probably noticed “small” words are generally lowercase in titles, unless they are the first or last words in a title. However, some title styles that do capitalize these words.

Generally, we do not capitalize:

Articles: a, an, the

Coordinating Conjunctions: and, but, or, for, nor.

Prepositions (fewer than five letters): on, at, to, from, by.

More Title Capitalization Rules

I. Sentence Case

Some writers and publications choose to use sentence case for titles. Basically the title is written as if it is a sentence, with only the first letter capitalized (however, proper nouns within the title are capitalized).

For example:

Budget wedding invitations

Top 10 things to do in Paris

Best technology blogs

II. Advanced Rules

Here are some advanced rules for title capitalization.

Hyphenated compound words

e.g. High-Quality Web Services, First-Rate U.S. Lawyers

The first word following a colon

e.g. Feminine Poetry: Ten Women Writers from Around the World

Prepositions that belong to a phrasal verb

e.g. How to Back Up a Computer

Final Note

If you are writing titles (or headings) for a school paper, it is recommended to choose one style for capitalizing titles and be consistent throughout.

Further, no matter your personal preference make sure that you write the exact titles of books, newspapers, journals, etc. as they are written (even if they do not follow common capitalization rules).

(From: http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/capitalization/rules-for-capitalization-intitles.html)

Assignment

1.Visit the website http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/872.htm in which there is a video file on how to revise a paper. Watch the video and summarize by yourself the most useful advice you have learned from it.

2.Revise the following paragraph to make the language more concise and accurate.

In early 1970 the National Aeronautics and Space Administration conducted an investigation to find funds from Congress for this new concept of a reusable space vehicle. The administration decided the establishment of a careful approach on its part was an important necessity because some members of Congress would doubtless show a strong opposition to the replacement of the expendable Saturn rockets that had carried the Apollo astronauts to the moon. There was tremendous precision and careful documentation in the preparation and submission of the request to Congress.

3.Look at your most recent written work, for example, the term paper of a course you took last semester. Revise it once again for structure, language and style.