Chapter 17: revising and editing

In chapter seventeen it's all about revising and editing. In four sections it describes and gives tips on revising and edition a paper.
The first sections, what to focus on while revising your document says to consider your wrong situation. Ask yourself these questions :
•will my readers truest why I have to say? How can I establishy credibility
•will my readers have other ideas about how to address this issue? How can I convince them that they should believe what I say?
• will my readers find my evidence appropriate and accurate? Is my selection of evidence consistent with their values and beliefs?
Consider your argument and ideas, how we'll are you conveying your ideas? And does your ideas help your readers understan? Consider your use and integration of sources. Consider the structure and organization of your document, and consider genre and design. The second section is about what strategies to use to revise. One strategy is save multiple draft so you can pick which one you are most happy with. Highlight our main point, reasons, and evidence in different colors to help you see everything. And challenge your assumptions, put yourself in your readers shoes, play devils advocate and play the so what game. This will help see mistakes in your paper that were unclear. Lastly scan, outline, and map your document and ask for feedback.
The third section is about what to focus on as you edit. Focus on accuracy : check your facts and figures, check every quote, check spelling of every name.
Focus on economy : reduce the number of words needed to express an idea, remove unnecessary modifiers and word introductory etc. Focus on consistentcy:
•treat concepts consistently
•use numbers consistently
•treat your sources consistently
•format your document consistently
Focus on style, readers will judge you and what you have to say. Choose the right words, use active and passive voice appropriately, adopt a consistent point of view.
Focus on spelling, grammar, and punctuation,
The fourth section is what strategies to use to edit. Four strategies ate read carefully, mark and search your document, use spelling grammar and style tools with caution, and ask for feedback!

Chapter 14: Drafting

Chapter fourteen in the Bedford reader Is all about drafting. Breaking it into five sections it first talks about using your outline to draft your document. Your outline includes your plans for the points that you will include in your document, the order you will make your points, and the evidence you will use for support. The second sections on chapter fourteen is about drafting effective paragraphs. First focus on a central idea ( each paragraph should focus on a single idea) topic sentence, 3 or 4 evidence  sentences, and the final sentence. The follow an organizing pattern in your paragraphs:
• chronology: identifying them in which they occur
• description: presenting the difference of an idea, concept, or an event
•definition: explaining an idea, concept, or event.
Also intergrate information from your sources effectively by introducing an important concept, establishing the strengths of a writers argument, or elaborating on the central idea.
The second section also talks about creating transitions within and between paragraphs like such as, however, and on the other hand. Transitions help your readers understand what your writing about. The third section in chapter fourteen is about drafting your introduction. To draft your intro you have to frame the issue in a way your readers can understand and put your take on the issue in the intro. Select a strategy for your intro, the different strategies are:
•state the topic
•establish the context
•state your thesis
• define a problem
• make a surprising statement
•ask a question
•tell a story
•provide a historical account
•draw a contrast
•lead with a question
The fourth section is about making sure your document is easy to follow:
•provide a map
•use heading and subheadings
•provide forecast and cross- references
•use a menu
•pay attention to design principles
The fifth section is about drafting your conclusion. First you need to reinforce your points, the select a strategy for your conclusion by: offering additional analysis, speculate about the future, close with a quotation, close with a story, question, call your readers to action, or link to your intro.

Chapter 18: understanding design principles

In chapter 18 the book divides it into two parts. The first part is using design effectively and the second part is knowing the design elements to use.
In the first part, your can use design effectively by :
Understanding design principles - balance, emphasis, placement, repetition, consistently.
Design for a purpose- well designed documents presents info, ideas, and arguments in a way that helps accomplish our purpose.
Design for your readers - help your reader understand the organization of a document. Help them locate info an ideas. Help them recognize the function of parts of a document.
Design to address genera conventions.

The second part, knowing what design elements to use.
Use fonts, line spacing, and alignment - the most common element used by writers
Use page layout elements - how much white space to do you want, how big of a heading, page numbers, footers etc
Use color, sharing, borders, and rules - this can make the overall attractiveness of your paper 10x better.
Use illustration - photographs, charts and graphs, tables, other digital illustrations

Chapter 15: Using Sources Effectively

In chapter fifteen it talks about using your sources effectively by breaking it into three categories.

The first category is using your sources to accomplish your purpose as a writer. In order to do that you have to first, introduce an idea or argument by quotes, paraphrase, or summary. Then contrast ideas or arguments by using a source that indicates you disagree with that issue. That way it backs up your reasoning with real documentation. Then, you can also provide evidence for argument doing the same thing unsaid before. The book also says to align your argument with an authority, meaning align it with a subject matter, scientis, politician, or religious figure this way you can borrow another's status without plagiarizing. Define a concept, illustrate a process, or clarify a statement is another way you can use your source to accomplish your purpose. For example, I will use an authors definition to define what an athlete really is in my paper, that way I can add more commentary making my point stronger.  The book also says to set a mood, provide an example, and amplify your point . M

Second category is integrating your sources into your draft by first identifying your source (which we learned while doing our literature review). Second, quote strategically this way your quote will jab e a powerful impact on your readers and make your paper stronger because of the placement it was put.  Paraphrase info, ideas, and arguments then summarize. Use images, audio, video, and animations because it makes your paper more effective. I agree with this because I always look at the pictures more, so make sure they are strong pictures.

The last category is documenting your sources. Choose a documentation system like MLA. Provide in-text references and publication info. Check for unattributed sources in your document making sure you have drawn info from sources that were named. Distinguish between your ideas and ideas in your sources, if you don't this can confuse your writers on who's idea it really belongs to and you want to take credit for all your own ideas.

Chapter 16

In chapter 16 it talks about writing concisely, the steps to write concisely is to first remove unnecessary modifiers, then remove unnecessary introductory phrases, and lastly eliminate stock phrases. It also talks about using an active and passive voice to accomplish your purpose. And to adopt a consistent point of view like write in first person using I and we, or write in second person using you, or third person writing in she, he , it, they, etc.Pay attention to word choice is a huge thing when writing any paper. You can choose good word choice by knowing if you are writing informal or formal, specialized writing, and variety.Use transitions effectively because your reader can get  confused if your transitions are not well formed, use transition words like first, second, third, however, etc.
Introduce other authors effectively like saying "the author wrote". and avoid sexist language like when talking about a doctor don't only call him a he.Chapter 16 says to consult a good handbook like the one assigned to this class. The last point made is to read widely!