AP Literature and Composition
Rewriting Your Essay
Effective writers revise their work constantly, rarely accepting the first version. Revision forces the writer to revisit a piece and rework those parts that were ineffective, and in the case of analysis this means focusing on improving the ideas or level of insight. In the case of an essay that has been returned with commentary, the writer has specific feedback that can begin to guide the revision.
Effective revision is more than fixing grammatical errors. When revising, you are trying to make your analysis more effective and convincing. This requires you to pay attention to all of the aspects of your essay: thesis, organization, language, and conventions. If you choose to revise essay this year, you must do so in the following manner:
Steps for Revision
1. Read the rubric and any comments, and then begin to revise your essay with these in mind. Focus your efforts on improving the analysis and organization first. Where could points have been developed, and where could the ideas be more nuanced or complex? Consider the organization of the analysis, and make decisions about how the organization could support your analysis more effectively. Consider the relative strength of your evidence, and its connection to the points you are making. Also, consider whether you sufficiently discussed the evidence, or if you left the evidence to stand too much on its own.
2. Correct the conventional errors. You will not get the initial score in this category raised, because I expect you to carefully edit your work. If you do not correct the conventional errors I will not raise the score in the other three categories.
3. Take two different colored highlighters and on your new essay highlight any revision in conventions (spelling, punctuation) in one color, and all other changes in the second color.
4. Type a one-page (200+ words) narrative discussing what changes you made and why those changes made you essay more effective. Address in particular the organization and quality of analysis whenever possible. If there was an error in logic, discuss how you corrected that error. This can be challenging, but it is one of the most important aspects of revision – thinking about the purpose behind your changes.
5. Staple the three pieces together with the narrative on top, the revised and highlighted essay second, and the original essay third.
Revisions that are not submitted in this specific manner will not be graded a second time.