College Composition / Unit 31 CMP 0766 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
The Four Skills Together
The idea
The course's four skill areas, conventions, revision, sources and rhetorical analysis, work together in every piece of writing.
In practice
Review them in order. First, conventions: sentences that are complete, punctuated and agreed, so readers trust the writing. Second, revision: a thesis that is clear, paragraphs that are unified, evidence that supports, and language suited to the audience. Third, sources: research that is evaluated, integrated fairly and documented in the expected style. Fourth, rhetorical analysis: the ability to see how a text persuades, through its appeals, devices, structure and reasoning. A writer revising a draft uses all four at once: analyzing a source's argument before citing it, checking that its quotation is integrated and documented, revising the paragraph around it, and editing the sentences last.
Where people slip
The skills are separate for study, not in practice. When a revision question asks which change improves a passage, the answer may depend on grammar, logic, evidence and audience together.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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