Stage 3, Part 2 of the Academic Writing Guide
The final stage
Editing Your Draft Essay
Redrafting implies working on writing in order to meet your original writing goal more closely. Good critical essay writing is shaped by effective planning, is always improved by drafting, and is polished by editing and proofreading. The activities in this final part of the Academic Writing Guide will help you polish your essay and offer support for the development of other relevant undergraduate academic skills.
Using Feedback to Improve Your Work
Hopefully you have someone who can offer feedback on your draft essay to help you with the continued writing process. You can use feedback to:
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understand how well you’ve done against each of the marking criterion.
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think about how to improve your next assignments.
TASK
These ten comments are typical of the kind of feedback made on students’ essays. Read them and decide what you would do if you got similar feedback. What would you need to do to improve your draft? The questions will help you reflect on the development of your own academic writing skills.
1. Doesn’t answer the question
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How can you ensure that your essay is related directly to the title?
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In which of the pre-writing stages would you focus on this?
2. The argument is not clear
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How can you ensure that your position is clear to your reader?
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In which of the pre-writing stages would you focus on this?
​3. Better sign-posting needed (including stronger introduction/conclusion)
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What does ‘sign-posting’ mean?
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How can you help your reader follow your argument?
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What should your introduction/conclusion do?
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How can you develop strong structure and organisation in your essay?
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In which of the pre-writing stages would you focus on this?
4. Too descriptive
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Why is this a problem in a discursive essay?
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What can you do at each of the pre-writing stages to avoid this happening?
5. This just re-states what you have read in a book/journal or heard in a lecture
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How can you make sure that your own voice is heard in your essay?
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How can you use your sources/evidence effectively?
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In which of the pre-writing stages would you focus on this?
6. Make greater use of academic sources
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What makes a source ‘academic’?
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At what stage would you need to think about this?
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What is the role of paraphrasing, summarising and quoting?
7. States only one point of view
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Why is it important to acknowledge the counter-argument?
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At what stage would you think about this?
8. Lacks critical evaluation
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How can you show evidence of critical evaluation in your essay?
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In which of the pre-writing stages would you focus on this?
9. A range of grammar, spelling and punctuation errors
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Why is it important to proof-read your work?
10. Referencing system not used accurately
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At what stage should you check that your citations are accurate, and that your bibliography is accurately presented?
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Where can you check the detail of the referencing system you are using?
Using the Assessment Criteria
If you are writing in a university, you have probably been given a set of marking criteria that your lecturer will use to assess your essay. If that is the case it is important that you have a copy of the criteria open while reviewing your feedback and throughout the redrafting process. If you can see how the marking criteria relate to particular parts of your essay you may be able to make important changes that improve your work.
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Being aware of and interpreting tutor feedback is an important skill that will be essential to you throughout your degree.
TASK
Open this link to find a student essay on fast fashion. Read the essay and notice the lecturer’s feedback comments on the right-hand side that point out what the writer has done well:
Proof-reading Your Work
Proof-reading is the final, technical check for punctuation, spelling and correct referencing (not for content). It is the very last step before you submit your assessed essay.
It is better to work on paper, not on screen to do this.
Proofreading checklist:
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Is the essay spell checked?
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Have I corrected punctuation and grammar mistakes?
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Have I followed the conventions in textual references, quotations, bibliography, etc?
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Are the pages numbered?
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Have I double-spaced the text?
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Are lengthy quotes indented?
TASK
Open this link How many errors can you spot and see how many proof-reading errors you can find in the interactive quiz.
Over to you
If you are using the Academic Writing Guide to help you write a discursive essay of your own, take time to make the final changes to your draft essay.