ENGL 505B

Sommer’s discussion of the revision strategies of experienced writers resonated with me. I’m one of those people who typically plan and think things through extensively before I start my composition, and then when I write it’s all done in a single draft. I think over ideas, cross some out, make connections, and then diagram the idea structure of the whole essay. After I’ve thought it all through it’s just a matter of putting those ideas into the right words. My revisions are just the tweaking of sentences.

The exercise Booth mentions represents a good way to make students aware of the importance of writing for the intended audience and of the idea of writing what he calls "purposeful human communication" (141). I have employed variation of this exercise. I have asked my students to describe a phenomenon or a place for at least three different types of audience: interested in science, music, computer, sports, and/or a field of particular interest to them.