SWA 8 E.A. pg 85-86 Questions 1-5

The Writing Process

The writing process is something that takes time and effort in order to produce a well-developed and successful paper. I would describe my writing as a discovery process. When assigned to write a paper, I begin to write, and then figure out what I want to say as I progress. I do not start writing a paper by making an outline, but rather I just let it develop as I write, and I usually try to make an outline after my paper is finished. I make the outline so that I can see the basic structure of my paper and see if I would make any changes to it. I would try to become more organized to write a paper so that I would be able to focus more and be more ready to write. In addition to that, I might also begin to keep a journal, notebook, or folder of ideas because I often find times where I think of a good idea but forget it because I do not have any source to record it.
There are many advantages to outlining ideas before writing a draft. An outline can often help to bring forth ideas before actually writing a paper. An outline is the basis for a paper, serving as a “skeleton or back bone, providing an internal structure that holds the paper together.” (E.A. 74) Also, the outline allows you to have the ability to write continuously, not having to pause to find more information to write about.
One suggestion for revision is to look at the draft as a whole. By looking at a draft as a whole, I would be able to analyze all of the different parts of my paper to make sure that it was complete. I would make sure I have sufficient information, an effective introduction, and strong transitions, allowing for a good paper. Another suggestion for revision is to ask revision questions to help locate other problems. By asking revision questions, I would be making sure that I have a strong paper that does not contain any holes. Revision questions would make me find the faults in my paper so that they could be corrected before being handed in. A third suggestion for revision is to check for final errors, add or adjust the title, and type or print your paper. By using this suggestion, I would make sure that everything grammatical would be correct, and this would add credibility to my paper. By eliminating grammatical mistakes, papers are taken more seriously.
In an exploratory paper, the author has an issue and identifies multiple positions involving that issue. They summarize the positions and talk about the overall rhetorical situation that involves the issue. Since it talks about multiple sides of an issue, it allows you to write a policy paper because after seeing the many different sides of an issue, you can chose your side and explore supporting information for your issue and contradictory information for the opposing position.
There are some different ways that peer reviews can be conducted. You can group-up and distribute a copy of your paper to your group, and then the group will provide feedback on the paper, sometimes with the teacher as part of the group and other times without. Another form of peer review is to have a round-robin reading session in which students take turns reading their papers and receiving feedback from classmates. and then to provide feedback on the hard copy of the paper. Another form of peer review is to exchange papers with a classmate and review it for the following class, which would allow for more time to review the paper and to provide constructive feedback. Peer review is helpful because having multiple readers of the same paper allows for different insights, thoughts, and perspectives that you would not have otherwise realized. Peer review allows for a more relatable audience to make suggestions rather then having suggestions come solely from a teacher.