Learning Outcome I:  Showcase Project– Demonstrate the ability to approach writing as a recursive process that requires substantial revision of drafts for content, organization, and clarity (global revision), as well as editing and proofreading (local revision). This learning outcome is focused on revising in ways that strengthen the ideas and structure of a project between first and final drafts, and in final editing/proofreading at the end of a project.

While comparing my final essay to some of my early drafts, some of my writing tendencies became obvious. Two tendencies in particular were present in the early writing that I corrected in the final draft. I tend to write the same thought multiple times using different words as I read the earlier drafts out loud, this repetition stood out as something that needed to be corrected. I also have a tendency to widen the scope of what I write about. The peer review helped me see the benefit of keeping the supporting evidence focused on the specific topic.

The process of revising the work multiple times showed the benefit of looking at the work after some time has passed and of getting comments from others. I can use what I learned from this comparison to help me improve my writing in the future. In this showcase project, each time that I reviewed the paper, I found additional examples of repetition that needed to be removed or rephrased. Being selective with the words that I use and efficient in how I use them, makes for a much crisper and more powerful essay.

Having a classmate review the essay helped me catch supporting examples that were not directly related to the theme. I was able to change these examples by picking other supporting evidence that was more directly tied to my topic. By focusing my examples, the paper became a more effective means to communicate and support the cause that I was advocating to fix.

The final paper which reduced redundancies and used examples that were more related to the topic provides a much stronger argument in support of my cause. Going through this process helped me see the benefit of revising the paper and is a tool that I will use in the future.