Why revision is important

For some time now, many of the qualification systems around the world have focused on coursework essays, assignments or other homework that is completed outside of the classroom and counts towards the final mark or grade , with a smaller component of each qualification being based on examinations. However, in the UK at least, the pendulum is now swinging back in the opposite direction, with more emphasis on examinations.

The skills required to pass examinations are quite different from those required to excel in coursework-based study. This page provides some ideas about how you might develop suitable revision skills. Revise v. Revision, then, is looking again at something that you have previously studied, usually with a view to learning it in order to pass an exam. Our study skills pages contain much that is useful for revision as well as study more generally, including the importance of getting organised for study , finding time to study , time management , and avoiding distractions.

Perhaps the most important aspect to successful revision is being honest with yourself. Sitting at your desk staring out of the window does not count as revision, even if your books are open in front of you. You can have a friend read it. Or, you can take a draft to the Academic Skills Centre. Revising for Substance As you read through your draft, ask yourself the following questions about the substance of your paper: Is your thesis clearly and firmly stated?

Do you present your own analysis? Does your work fairly reflect the sources that you consulted? Do you include specific evidence to support your ideas? Is this evidence analyzed and explained? Are there gaps in your logic that need to be corrected? Do you fulfill all of the goals that you set out in the thesis? Have you met all of the instructions included with the assignment? Revising for Structure As you read, you need to ensure that your essay has a strong structure.

Consider all of the questions below: Is there a clear and logical pattern by which you prove your thesis? What is a major focus of revision? What is the best thing to do during the revision stage? What are the steps in the revision process? What would be the best definition of revision? What is the difference between revising and editing? Which comes first revising or editing? What is the best time to do revision? How much revision should you do a day? Is it better to revise in the morning or at night?

Is studying at 3am good? What time of day is your brain the sharpest? Is it good to revise before bed? Can you revise in your sleep? Why is studying before bed good? Does sleeping after studying help memory? Does napping improve memory? Does More Sleep improve memory? The idea or metaphor or paragraph that I think is most wonderful and brilliant is often the very thing that confuses my reader or ruins the tone of my piece or interrupts the flow of my argument.

Writers must be willing to sacrifice their favorite bits of writing for the good of the piece as a whole. In order to trim things down, though, you first have to have plenty of material on the page. One trick is not to hinder yourself while you are composing the first draft because the more you produce, the more you will have to work with when cutting time comes.

Sometimes you write something and then tinker with it before moving on. But be warned: there are two potential problems with revising as you go. One is that if you revise only as you go along, you never get to think of the big picture.

Another danger to revising as you go is that you may short-circuit your creativity. You may waste time correcting the commas in a sentence that may end up being cut anyway.

The truth is, though, that except for those rare moments of inspiration or genius when the perfect ideas expressed in the perfect words in the perfect order flow gracefully and effortlessly from the mind, all experienced writers revise their work.

I wrote six drafts of this handout. Hemingway rewrote the last page of A Farewell to Arms thirty-nine times. How do they sound now? What would you revise if you had a chance? If a better thesis comes along, let go of the old one. It is a chance to look at the entire paper, not just isolated words and sentences. If this happens and it will if you think long enough , then you have several choices.