Julius Caesar Draft Editing

Editing with laptops

Take out your outline Take out your copy of Antony’s

oration Take out your essay preparation

guide I will give you your draft, and you

will be able to resubmit it before it is graded.

Warm up

This presentation contains

many different check lists, all of which will help you improve your essay. Use the titles to select the ones you need to focus on most. If you want an A, I advise you to go through ALL check lists before turning in your final paper.

Checklist Directions

__Attack sentence is the first sentence __Attack sentence is interesting, and on the same topic as the thesis

and the novel __The first sentence of the summary transitions smoothly from the

attack sentence __The summary includes the author’s full name, the name of the

novel cited correctly (in italics), and the main plot and character details necessary to introduce the argument

__The last sentence of the summary transitions neatly into the thesis __The thesis is typed correctly, and the student has removed the title

of the novel and the author’s first name, as they have already cited this information in the summary

__Overall, this paragraph works like a funnel: the information at the beginning is most broad, and it becomes more and more specific until it gets to the argument

Introduction

__The first sentence of the conclusion ties up the argument

in a way that presents new perspective gained in the paper __The conclusion includes some interesting points from the

paper that have been further developed and are not copied and pasted from earlier in the paper

__The conclusion contains an implication about the book in general and about society

__The implication does not come out of nowhere or sound off topic (this person has transitioned smoothly into an idea that makes sense after what came before it)

__The sentences of the conclusion flow smoothly together and function as a funnel back out from the specific argument to the broader story and society.

Conclusion

__The first sentence of the first body paragraph transitions

nicely, and maturely from the thesis. It is not copied word for word.

__The first and last sentences of each body paragraph help to transition smoothly between ideas in each paragraph

__Quotes flow “as smoothly into the sentences” as though they were part of the writer’s words (200).

__ “Page number citations are done correctly” (200). __Repetitive sentence structures, starts, and word choice

has been noted for this person to correct __Awkward and confusing phrases have been marked

Transitions and Style

__contractions have been circled (use do not instead of

don’t – note that this does NOT mean you should eliminate the use of an apostrophe for possessives)

__spelling errors circled __noticeable format errors (heading, title, indentation,

spacing) have been marked __run on sentences, fragments, and other grammatical

errors have been marked when possible __improper punctuation or lack of punctuation has

been marked when possible

Mechanics and Grammar

Each paragraph has a topic sentence (use topic sentence

checklist: Look at the topic sentence. Check off that it has the

following ___ the main argument from the thesis (reworded) ___the area of support this body paragraph will focus on ___ indication of specific author techniques or categories

that this person examines in their quotes (look at the paragraph itself to find these if they are not in the topic sentence).

Identify the three areas the quotes will focus on: 1. 2. 3.

Body paragraphs – Topic Sentences

Look at the first support. Check off that it has the following ____Claim (statement of what the author is doing) ____Quote (proof of what the author is doing) ____Analysis (explanation of why what the author is doing matters/is

relevant to your argument)Look at the second support. Check off that it has the following ____Claim (statement of what the author is doing) ____Quote (proof of what the author is doing) ____Analysis (explanation of why what the author is doing matters/is

relevant to your argument)Look at the third support. Check off that it has the following ____Claim (statement of what the author is doing) ____Quote (proof of what the author is doing) ____Analysis (explanation of why what the author is doing matters/is

relevant to your argument)

Body Paragraphs - support

Look at the conclusion sentence. Check off

that it has the following ___Interesting summary of your argument in

the paragraph ___some restatement of the argument and

area of support, as well as what overall conclusion you might come to after reading the paragraph

___a transition into the next idea

Body Paragraph - Conclusion

Use the exact same checklist you

did for paragraph 1!

Second Body Paragraph