Rough Draft and Revision

After you finish researching and finding evidence to support your claims, you have everything you need to write an organized, developed, and supported essay in both paragraph form and MLA Format.

First, you will write a rough draft in order to put all of your ideas on paper.
Then, after you complete the rough draft, you will revise your essay.
- The revision process gives you or another person a chance to look at the writing as a whole and make sure all of your ideas relate and make sense.
  - Having someone else revise your writing is helpful because you might understand what you are trying to say, but an outsider has an objective view and can determine if the writing is truly organized and cohesive.
Finally, proofreading (polishing) the essay for any grammar and punctuation errors allows you to make sure there are fewer flaws before the final essay (we will go over this on the next module page).

Let's take a look at the presentation below to learn more about these stages of the writing process.

When you write an essay, make sure that you are providing commentary after each piece of evidence in order to connect your ideas to the topic sentences and thesis statement.
- In the outline version of the brainstorm, you can visually see where analysis using commentary needs to appear in order to connect ideas.
- The commentary portion of the rough draft is very important.
  - Commentary should not be a summary of the evidence—the analysis should reveal how the evidence proves the claims:
    - Interpretation of the evidence/topic
    - Insight into the evidence/topic
    - Reaction about a topic/evidence (without using "I think" or "I feel" or any other 1st/2nd personal pronouns)
    - Reflection about a topic/evidence (without using "I think" or "I feel" or any other 1st/2nd personal pronouns)

View the short video below that shows you how to analyze your ideas and make connections (this video uses the term "analysis", but think of that as the same as "commentary"):

Introduction and Conclusion Paragraphs

Oftentimes, writing the introduction and conclusion paragraphs of the essay last is the best route to take when writing. Write your thesis first and then write your body paragraphs. Then, come back to write the introduction and conclusion paragraphs. Use the introduction and conclusion writing process on this document for help.

View the full text from the image above.

Introduction Example:
In the world today, many animals provide a sense of comfort for humans. People rarely view animals and "things" because pets become a part of the family and sometimes become the only family a person might have. There are a wide range of options for families who want a pet, and people have to consider their needs and desires before entering into pet ownership. If a family is rarely home, they might find that having a certain animal requires too much time, and they might need to consider animals that require less human interaction and less human care. Therefore, there are many different types and purposes of family pets to research prior to committing to owning an animal.

Conclusion Example:
Overall a pet can be a comforting gift or a cumbersome burden. In order for people to ensure the correct choice of animal, people should take time as much time as possible to research the different types and purposes of pets. Considering concepts such as food costs, medical costs, quality time, and commitment length are all a starting point for ideas to research. Choosing the right pet for a certain family will most likely result in a joyful experience for both the family and pet involved.

Revision and Polishing

View the full text from the image above.

Check the following when revising:
- MLA Format
- Introduction
- Paragraph Form
- Proper thesis statement
- Topic sentences that relate to the thesis statement
- On topic development and transitions
- Evidence that supports claims
- Integrated evidence
- Correct in-text citations
- Analysis of evidence that does not summarize
- Conclusion sentences for each body paragraphs
- Conclusion paragraph that does not summarize
- Proper works cited page

After writing the introduction and conclusion paragraphs, the revision process allows you to look at the writing as a whole to make sure all of your ideas relate and directly support your thesis statement. Finally, polishing the essay for any grammar and punctuation errors allows writers to have the best version of the essay. Check for the following items when revising:

Examples

The Works Cited

Do not forget to include a Works Cited at the end of your essay. The Works Cited should have its own page at the end of your essay and list only the sources you used in your essay in alphabetical order. View the image below for how your Works Cited should appear:

This is a visual image of what your Works Cited should look like in MLA Format.

IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS