Reformulating

Workshop for Petra Watzlawik-Li

FYSM 1605 Language, Identity and Education

T S

Writing Tutorial Service

215 Paterson Hall, 520-6632

www.carleton.ca/wts

Overview

Reformulate vs. Edit

Editing
Read Out Loud
Peer Review (How & Why)
Peer Review (in twos)
Wrap Up

September 13, 2015

Writing Tutorial Service

- 10 min
- 5 min
- 5 min
- 5 min
- 50 min
- 5 min

Class Activity 1
Reformulate vs. Edit?

September 13, 2015

Writing Tutorial Service

Reformulating vs. Editing

Reformulating

Editing

High Level Concerns

(deep issues)
Meaning
Organization
Persuasive

Spelling, punctuation
Grammar
Referencing

Major Structural
Impact Do Soon

September 13, 2015

Low Level Concerns

(surface issues)

Minor Structural
Impact Do Late

Writing Tutorial Service

High Level Concerns

September 13, 2015

Writing Tutorial Service

Stages of the Composing Process

Starting point

Editing
Reformulating

Exploration
Composing
Incubation

Illumination

SOURCE: Freedman, The Carleton University Writing Tutorial Service

September 13, 2015

Writing Tutorial Service

Structure While Drafting

Thesis

controls the essay

September 13, 2015

Writing Tutorial Service

Structure After Reformulating

Thesis

controls the essay

September 13, 2015

Writing Tutorial Service

Editing
Use your computers spellchecker and
proofread carefully yourself;
Verify any words you are unsure of in the
dictionary;
Read your essay out loud to catch language
errors;
Have a friend or a colleague read it over for
surface mistakes you missed;
To ensure that your bibliographic form is
correct, consult your departments style sheet
and the appropriate style guide.
September 13, 2015

Writing Tutorial Service

Why Read Out Loud?

Encourages discussion vs. automatic
correction
Encourages a higher level focus (meaning
vs., spelling)
Greater sense of language flow, e.g.,
stress, rhythm, complexity, tone,
variations, repetitions
Provides awareness for audience
response (vs. writer intention)
September 13, 2015

Writing Tutorial Service

10

Class Activity 2 Why Peer Review

Why read each others writing?
Whats in it
for the reader?
for the writer?
for the professor?

September 13, 2015

Writing Tutorial Service

11

Why read each others writing?

READER

A chance to learn other strategies for effective writing

Learning how to give feedback
Learning how to read critically
Applying these skills to your own work

WRITER
A chance to see whether your ideas have come across
effectively
A chance to see gaps or structural errors that are difficult to see
when you are familiar with the text

PROFESSOR
To read text that clearly expresses the students ideas and
arguments
September 13, 2015

Writing Tutorial Service

12

How do I do it?
Observe: taking the writers concerns into
account, you will observe, interpret and assess a
classmates rough writing.

Communicate: as you read, you will

communicate your reactions as a reader.
Your role is to be a critical friend each person
has the capacity to respond based on a unique
perspective. You are not grading or correcting!
Be tactful
Talk about strengths as well
September 13, 2015

Writing Tutorial Service

13

Effective Peer Reviews

Dont overload the reader if you have a
long paper, ask for feedback on a specific
section or sections.
Indicate what your main concerns are
(other than grammar and spelling).

September 13, 2015

Writing Tutorial Service

14

Group Activity A Peer Review

In groups of two, 20min/person
Writer should suggest a section to be
reviewed
one or two paragraphs (1 page)
describe context of section

Reader will
read section out loud, and
make comments/ask questions as they go along

Focus on pointing out areas that can be

improved, not on debating (writer has final
control)
September 13, 2015

Writing Tutorial Service

15

Reminder - What to look for?

Anything missing?
Assignment questions answered?
Enough examples or evidence?
Appropriate amount of background information? (25%
or less)

Thoughts well organized?

Flow logically?
Transitions effective?

Points related to thesis?

Paragraphs focus on one idea? Thoughts clearly
expressed?

Quotations relevant and useful

Academic tone
September 13, 2015

Writing Tutorial Service

16

Class Activity 3 - Wrap-Up

What did you learn from reading or listening?
What did you learn from the feedback you
received?

September 13, 2015

Writing Tutorial Service

17