Revision is not everybody's strong suit. We, especially as Honor's students, don't like to be told that we are wrong or what we do is incorrect. In high school, revision was not something I needed to utilize too often because I would get a good enough grade the first time around or my teacher's would not offer a higher grade than say, a 90/100 on a revised essay and here I am, stuck with a 93. I can see how this methodology can promote getting it right on the first try, but let's be honest, how often does that really happen? I am forced to be satisfied with a score I am not necessarily proud of because my teacher does not want to go through the trouble of re-grading.
Which is why I am actually really happy that we are somewhat being forced to revise our two essays for the portfolio. After our initial conference after turning in the rough draft of the research essay, Prof. Ballenger and I went over what corrections I could work on. I was pretty content with the way my rough draft turned out but there were a couple of things I knew which would need some tender, loving edits. Ballenger recommended something I like to refer to as, 'nit-picking'. My lengthy sentences needed chopping, my long-winded, sometimes cheesy-wording needed fixing, tidbits here and there which were basically just restatements needed the boot, you catch my drift.
I found this method of revision worked very well after the first go at it. I was able to chop down my word count by about 450 words with a couple hours. I am still continuing to revise my research essay while working on my political cartoons, and I hope that the next conference will have even more insight.
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