Just like for my peer review, when I revised my papers before English 110, I focused on grammar and surface level issues. I thought that since I wrote the first draft and worked hard on it, that my revisions should be minimal with only minor changes. After English 110, I have realized that is not the case. Like our syllabus states, “…writing should be a recursive process that requires substantial revision of drafts for content, organization, and clarity (global revision), as well as editing and proofreading (local revision).” I feel like this is one of the main ways I have grown in English. I use my own critiques and ideas from my peers and first focus on global revision and then move onto local revision. I chose my “Social Media and Self” paper for my significant writing project. There are significant changes from the first draft to the final. In my rough draft I was too focused on integrating my sources, and I didn’t focus enough on my own claims and ideas. So, for the final draft, I made sure to make my claims clear and I also brought my voice into it more. I didn’t have enough evidence in my paper to support my claims. I like to state many claims, without backing them up with evidence. I have tried really hard with my last two projects to work on that. In my significant writing piece, I went back to the parts that were lacking evidence and I added information so that my readers would agree with my claims. The more evidence, the more likely the readers will agree. The other main issue I have is transitioning. I need to work on linking ideas from one paragraph to the next or from one idea to the next. In my “Social Media and Self” paper I tried to connect my paragraphs and add a transition. I have improved my transitions with each new project, and I plan to continue improving as I move forward. After these global revisions are made, I can move onto local revisions. Local revisions are what I was used to doing before English 110. Grammar is a main focus of this step. A problem that I tend to have is commas. Many of my classmates struggle with them as well. We have spent some time going over different comma uses and this has helped me revise my papers. I have a better understanding of what to look for and what to fix. Combing global and local revisions leads to a whole new final draft. Before this class, I thought a final draft with many revisions was bad. Now I know that it is quite the opposite. Like Professor Gennaco says, “Don’t fall in love with your first draft”.
