ENGLISH/FRESHMAN ENGINEERING WRITING PROGRAM • PAPER REVISION F.A.Q., FALL 2016/2171
Q. Am I permitted to revise a paper? If I’m thinking about revising, what steps should I take?
A. If you received a grade of 74 or lower, you may revise. However, you may NOT revise a paper without first contacting your
Writing Instructor (contact your instructor via email; do not “drop by” the Writing Center and expect that your W.I. will be there).
If you are considering revising a paper, e-mail your Writing Instructor, letting him or her know that you are considering revising. Your
W.I. will then advise you about whether or not revision seems appropriate, given your particular paper/grade. He or she will also set
up a revision deadline, and will specify how you are to submit the revision.
Q. If I revise, what grade is officially recorded for that assignment?
A. If you revise, the final recorded grade for that writing assignment will be an average of your original grade and your revision grade.
If, for example, you earned a 72 on the original and a 90 on the revision, your final grade for that paper will be recorded as 81
Q. I made formatting errors in my paper. Can I revise to correct the formatting of my paper?
A. A revision must have all formatting correct. However, points will not be “added back” for the corrections to your formatting.
Formatting is an aspect of professional presentation that straightforwardly requires that you read and follow specific instructions,
which you should do the first time and every time you submit a paper. Thus, when you revise formatting, you are following definitive
instructions that should have been adhered to100% when the paper was initially submitted.
Q. There were notable “sentence level” errors and/or problematic paragraphing in my paper; these negatively affected my
grade. Can I revise to correct these errors?
A. A revision must have all sentence level “mechanics” and/or paragraphing correct. However, points will not be “added back” for the
corrections to these “mechanics” of grammar, punctuation, spelling, correct sentence structure, and paragraphing. Correct “mechanics
requires that you make every effort to see, understand, and correct “mechanical” errors before submitting a paper. You have been
advised about resources that will help you (for example, the online resource, the OWL at Purdue). Thus, you are revising an aspect of
the paper that should have been very close to 100% correct when the paper was initially submitted.
Q. What, exactly, are the expectations for “revision?” What will readers and evaluators expect from my
revision? What does the task of revising involve?
A. Strong revision (of any writing) requires that a paper’s author returns to the work at-hand and rewrites for improved/optimal
clarity, authority, and impact. Revision allows writers to fix “sentence-level issues”—awkward wording or phrasing, problematic
sentence structure, proofreading errors, grammar and punctuation errors--and to “fix” problems with references and format, but
revision involves far more than “fixing” such “error.” Revision requires strengthening all aspects of your paper
• by continuing to refine and clarify central ideas, questions, issues
• by adding details, data, explanation, and analyses
• by including additional examples or replacing weak examples with stronger ones
• by reinforcing cohesion and coherence via more specifically articulated connections
• by rearranging material for improved coherence and impact
• by incorporating entirely new material, as required
Q. How are revisions graded?
A. The grade for a revision is based on several factors. The overall quality of the revised paper is considered—what are the qualities
and achievements of this paper; how well is this paper addressing all assignment requirements and expectations? The move from
“original” to revision is also considered—how significant are the revisions? Did the author address all problems, issues, and/or
weaknesses that appeared in the original?
Q. Will I automatically get a higher grade on the revision?
A. As noted above, revisions are graded on the quality of the paper submitted and on the attention paid to issues as the author moves
from “original” to revision. An author who opts to revise, but who addresses few of the issues that “brought down” the grade for the
original may not see his or her grade increase much, if at all. However, if issues from the original have been carefully and thoroughly
addressed, the revision will receive a higher grade.
Q. Should I definitely revise if I earned a low grade on a paper?
A. There is no requirement for revision; whether or not you revise depends on what you and your Writing Instructor decide will be the
best way for you to proceed, given that you will also have another paper coming due. Usually, your time will be best spent on revision
if you earned a low grade and you are certain you can give sufficient time to revision to write a considerably better paper by the
revision deadline given to you by your Writing Instructor. What is always useful is to give careful attention to your Writing
Instructor’s comments, and to incorporate his or her teaching, advice, and reminders into your process of writing all papers.