It's that time of
year, the nights are becoming colder and the days becoming shorter.
School bells are once more ringing down the street, and children are
wondering from gas station to gas station collecting candy bars and
soda. It's almost a shame that college students spend so much time
inside studying instead of outside enjoying the season turn. As a
toast to the new college semester, let me begin my series of writing
tips with an essay “cheat” that one of my professors taught
me.
The most common problem with revising a recently written paper – if you don't have a firm understanding of grammar and English logic – is the difficulty in finding errors. Your eyes simply fly past them, your brain automatically corrects them (this is an embarrassing problem and spell check is 'Hades that follows.'). This exercise attempts to by-pass all those problems in a time efficient process.
Before you begin, you'll need a few things. First, and most importantly, you'll need another human being – doesn't even have to be a friend. The only qualifications you'll be looking for is his reading ability. It needs to be at or above college level. In otherwords, your baby brother will be a bad choice. Second, find a pen, or something to write with. Third, two copies of your essay (have a finished first draft). Fourth, five minutes of time. And that's it.
The exercise is simple. One copy of your essay is for your partner to read aloud, the other copy is for you to silently follow. As he reads follow him and note how he is reading your essay. Every time he makes an unusual pause or breaks his flow of speaking, circle the sentence. That sentence has a logic flaw. The reason we know this is because the brain has an auto-pattern identifier built right into it. Your reader may not understand this but every pause he makes sends his brain back on a quick journey to ensure what he has read is matching what's currently reading. The brain does this because it senses confusion. And confusion is what you're trying to avoid.
The most common problem with revising a recently written paper – if you don't have a firm understanding of grammar and English logic – is the difficulty in finding errors. Your eyes simply fly past them, your brain automatically corrects them (this is an embarrassing problem and spell check is 'Hades that follows.'). This exercise attempts to by-pass all those problems in a time efficient process.
Before you begin, you'll need a few things. First, and most importantly, you'll need another human being – doesn't even have to be a friend. The only qualifications you'll be looking for is his reading ability. It needs to be at or above college level. In otherwords, your baby brother will be a bad choice. Second, find a pen, or something to write with. Third, two copies of your essay (have a finished first draft). Fourth, five minutes of time. And that's it.
The exercise is simple. One copy of your essay is for your partner to read aloud, the other copy is for you to silently follow. As he reads follow him and note how he is reading your essay. Every time he makes an unusual pause or breaks his flow of speaking, circle the sentence. That sentence has a logic flaw. The reason we know this is because the brain has an auto-pattern identifier built right into it. Your reader may not understand this but every pause he makes sends his brain back on a quick journey to ensure what he has read is matching what's currently reading. The brain does this because it senses confusion. And confusion is what you're trying to avoid.
And there you have
it. If you need ten revisions, then have ten people read your essay.
You can do it quickly, efficiently, and will improve your essay by
leaps and bounds. Plus, your professor will love you for it – and
we all know that's what matters most.
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