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Learning task 3: Revising

You've finished your piece of writing, and it feels like all the hard work has been done. But wait! There's more! Just a little more work can significantly lift the quality of your piece. This is called revising your piece, and it's when you allow yourself to take some time off from looking at your writing too closely. Try to wait at least a night before looking at your writing again. This will give you fresh eyes, and you'll probably find you see your piece through the eyes of a critic. This is really useful, and it will allow you to polish your writing, so that it can become the best it can be.

The following check list will assist you to revise your opinion piece:

  • Is your style of writing appropriate?
  • Does your opening sentence grab the reader?
  • Is your opinion backed up with well-chosen facts/evidence/explanation?
  • Are there some original ideas and arguments?
  • Does the piece flow from one idea to the next?
  • Is every word useful and carefully chosen?
  • Are your sentences structured in different ways to make it interesting to read?
  • Have you considered using metaphors and/or similes to make points more clearly and effectively?

To improve the language of your piece, you can use "Essay" vocabulary. It will assist you to introduce flow into your writing and to meet the Assessment requirement to use the conventions of formal writing. Each of your paragraphs should introduce a slightly different dimension to your overall argument. The most straightforward "Essay" vocabulary you can use to do this is "firstly, secondly, thirdly". This will make your structure clear, but will not assist the development of structure. If you want to connect ideas into convincing argument, you should consider using some more fluid linking words. Supporting paragraphs contains some beginning words.

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