USING YOUR INSTRUCTOR’S COMMENTS

The comments your instructor provides are an important resource to use in revising your essays. You can use them not only to revise an essay but also to improve your writing throughout the course.

REVISING AN ESSAY USING YOUR INSTRUCTOR’S COMMENTS

Often your instructor’s comments provide a road map for you to begin your revision. An essay by a student, Kate Atkinson, appears in Figure 9.5. Her assignment was to write an essay defining a specialized term, and Kate chose “guerrilla street art” as her subject. In the marginal comments, Kate’s instructor comments on a range of elements in the essay, including the effectiveness of the introduction, paragraph unity and development, word choice, and source citations. Atkinson read the comments carefully and used them to revise her essay. Her final draft appears in Chapter 18.

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FIGURE 9.5 Using Your Instructor’s Comments to Revise Your Essay

USING YOUR INSTRUCTOR’S COMMENTS TO IMPROVE FUTURE ESSAYS

When you receive a graded essay back from an instructor, it is tempting to note the grade and then file away the essay without reading any accompanying notes or suggestions. To improve your writing, however, take time to study each comment. Use the following suggestions to improve future essays.