College Composition / Unit 12 CMP 0285 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Adding, Cutting, Moving, Replacing
The idea
Nearly every revision is one of four moves: adding, cutting, moving or replacing material.
In practice
Learn the moves and the questions behind them. First, add where readers need more information, a missing example, a definition, or evidence for a claim. Second, cut where information wanders from the main point, repeats what was already said, or tells readers what they already know. Third, move material when the order does not make sense to a reader without background, or when a point appears before the information it depends on. Fourth, replace material that is unclear, inaccurate or weaker than another option. Ask the questions in that order, amount first and then order and clarity, because those decide the shape of the draft.
Where people slip
Revision items on exams use the same four moves, asking whether to add, delete or move a sentence. The answer always depends on what the paragraph's main point needs, not on whether the sentence is interesting in itself.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Something wrong in this lesson? Flag it · Sources for College Composition