Is it Done Yet? Chapter 2

The first page of this chapter had me laughing and groaning at the idea of “quick write a paragraph” with little to no direction at all. This idea was one that I have been in many times before from middle school to the college classroom. Gilmore makes some excellent points about the content of such assignments and the extremes that are present. For instance the straight A student who pulls out all the stops and goes above and beyond what is necessary but somehow against all odds does not get a grade deserving of such an effort. Been there. The student that settles on the fact that things need to be written, and becomes so frustrated that something is slopped together. Been There. Or times when frustration runs its course and you pray to God that you can pull a C out of a massive amount of BS that you have fluffed together. Once again, been there. After staying up all night, and stressing yourself to the brim then you are greeted with a smile from your teacher and the simple word- revise.

I really enjoyed how Gilmore parallels the feeling students get towards revision as bit characters in a horror movie, just getting ready to get hacked. As stated before, and I apologize for my redundancy is the fact that with the right way of teaching, and attitude we can present revision as a concept that is not terrifying and can be beneficial. I know that we revised in my classes in high school, but I never remember gaining insight on the matter or any tips. The only things that were stated were “swap papers, look for spelling errors, grammar..sign you’re name at the bottom.” I think that this chapter offers a lot of great tools like the “PINE” example, and many others. I also really took a lot from the section on revising conclusions. I never really thought until now about how often I get stuck on a conclusion, and have just learned somewhere along the way to basically redo my introduction, change the wording, and make a few cliché influential statements. Basically it’s all fluff. Obviously this style of writing has improved once I hit college, but this chapter I think even made me reconsider how I conclude my papers. The general suggestions listed on page 45 seem like an excellent handout for students, or something that can be introduced in the classroom. Overall, I think this book has already done a great job at showing me how I can teach things subtly that will empower my students and improve their writing.