Final Editing Project.

Part One - Editor Response

Each member of the class will be assigned three papers to read and comment on. (They will be posted in Digital Dropbox on Blackboard). You will do this in three ways.

  • Comments on the actual paper (these will be mostly of the grammatical/mechanical variety).
  • A letter to the writer in which you tell him/her what you felt worked in the paper and why it worked. Indicate any questions you may have had, suggestions for revision, and general assessment of how the paper worked for you as a reader. Also indicate whether you agreed with the writer or not on the issue in question before you read his/her paper. Did the piece made you rethink your own position? If it did, what in particular tipped the scales? If it didn't, would anything the writer could have done made any difference?
  • Small group meetings in which we will discuss the edited papers. Authors will not be present.

    Part Two - Author Response

    After you have done this, the papers, along with comments from editors will be returned to their authors for final revision. In addition authors will respond to the comments they have received from their editors (this includes me). The author response will have two parts. In the first part you will respond directly to the specific comments made on your paper by your editors.

  • What did you agree with?
  • What did you disagree with? Why? (This last question is crucial.)

    In the second part you will assess your own strengths and weaknesses as a writer.

  • What aspects of the writing process (this of course asks you to consider the writing process as such) do you feel you handle particularly well?
  • What components of your writing do you feel improved over the course of the semester?
  • What areas do you feel you still need to work on in future writing courses?

    Meeting Times

    Group 1 - Tuesday, May 2 1:45
    Group 2 - Monday May 1, 3:00
    Group 3 - Monday, May 1, 11:00
    Group 4 - Monday May 1, 1:00
    Group 5 - Monday May 1, 2:00

    Editing Groups

    Group 1 - Sonja, Leah, Ashley (read papers from Group 2)
    Group 2 - Drew, April, Josh (read papers from Group 3
    Group 3 - John, Jill, Chris P. (read papers from Group 4
    Group 4 - Katrina, Erik, Erika (read papers from Group 5
    Group 5 - Sarah, Amelia, Chris B. (read papers from Group 1

    Schedule
    Meetings will take place on Monday May 1 (and possibly May 2). Edited copies of papers and letters to authors are due at the time of small group meetings.

    Authors will collect their edited papers and letters on May 2.

    All revised papers are due by 5pm May 8th.