Revision as Re-“Vision”
After noticing a trend toward linear models of writing being taught in schools, Sommers decided to take a look at the way these models changed the way students thought of, approached, and viewed the revision process. She compared the opinions expressed by student writers to those of experienced adult writers, and her findings were rather interesting.
Linear Model of Writing
- specific stages
- prewriting, writing, rewriting (Gordon Rhoman)
- conception, incubation, production (James Britton)
- modeled on speech
- leaves little to no room for revision, except as an afterthought
Student Writers’ Revision Strategies
- shied away from the term “revision”
- predominantly concerned with vocabulary
- viewed revision as a “rewording activity”
- believe the ideas are there, and revision is simply a clarification of those ideas
- eliminating repetition
- unable to “see” revision as a process
- unable to “re-view” their work with different eyes
- lack “a set of strategies to help them identify” what is missing
- view their writing through the eyes of former teachers and textbook rules
Experienced Writers’ Revision Strategies
- finding the form of their argument
- 1st draft as an idea generator
- 2nd draft as way to establish patterns and further develop ideas
- meant to confuse
- view their writing through the eyes of an imagined reader
- strategic
- discover or create meaning in their writing
- allows writers to change their writing as they change their idea/vision
- recursive process
- narrow topic in first revision
- stylistic concerns addressed in later revisions
- view writing as a discovery
Discussion Questions
What are your revision strategies? Do they fall more in line with the student writers or the experienced writers in Sommers’ study?
We seem to keep bumping into this idea that mainstream education is misleading students when it comes to writing. In elementary school, we are taught to put five sentences in a paragraph. In high school, they tell us that five paragraphs makes an essay, and all along the way, we are told that writing is a linear process. In college, we find out that none of it was true. At what point should the teachers of writing begin to break down these barriers? Is college the right time? Is it too late? When is too soon?
Personal Connection
At the start of my college experience, I was—without a doubt—revising at the level of the student writers described in Sommers’ article. At the time, revision and editing meant the exact same thing to me. Revision was simply a clarification of ideas, or a rewording of specific thoughts, but never a re-envisioning of my work. While I have gotten far more comfortable with the thought of revising my work, I still rarely do as much as the experienced writers in the article claim to do. This course has served as a much needed reminder that writing is about far more than putting words on a page, and this article—like Flower and Hayes’—reminded me once more, that writing is not a series of steps on a ladder, leading to a perfect product at the top. In fact, writing is far more akin to a jungle gym with steps going up and down along the way. After all, the most fun jungle gyms from my childhood were always the most complicated and varied ones.
Works Cited
Friend, Christopher R. Digital image. Process vs Product in Composition. University of Central Florida, 9 Feb. 2010. Web.
Rothfuss, Patrick. Digital image. Patrick Rothfuss. The Tinker Packs, 16 Aug. 2010. Web.
Sommers, Nancy. “Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers.” College Composition and Communication 31.4 (1980): 378-88. JSTOR. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
