There are two different scopes of revision: global and local. The language and tone for either of those audiences would be very different. It could be that your paper needs to be geared towards elementary level students or participants in a seminar or peers at a conference. The simple answer to these questions is “My professor” and “Because they assigned it.” They are not the true answers. Asking questions like: “Who is going to read my paper?”, “What is the purpose of this paper?”, and “Why are they going to read my paper?” will help you set your audience. It is also during prewriting that the writer needs to make a decision about audience. Though the common perception is that there is nothing that hasn’t been written about before, if you allow yourself to think outside the box, you can find a way of looking at an old topic through new eyes. It is these sometimes dissociative ideas that can lead you to a paper topic that you never would have considered. In prewriting, no idea is too off topic or too strange. Prewriting is the step in which tools such as free writing, brainstorming, outlining, or clustering are used. Use the online searches through the Knight-Capron Library, but remember that other search engines, such as Google Scholar, can yield results. Peer-reviewed journals available online will be your most commonly used secondary resource. You can either look for a chapter title that you believe will have information pertinent to your paper, or look at the index for terms that you will be discussing. If your research yields books, remember that it is not necessary to read the entire book. Once the writer has finished an active reading of the primary source, it may be necessary to obtain secondary sources to back up the thesis. The question should no longer be “What happened?” but rather “Why did that happen? What does that say about the character(s)/plot?” Make notes of your thoughts and ideas as you read. Simply reading a primary source for content is no longer sufficient. The first step in writing a successful paper in college requires an active engagement with your sources.
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