The Bedford Researcher -- Chapter 17 Summary

Mike Palmquist's 17th chapter of The Bedford Researcher, titled Revising and Editing, goes over just that; revising and editing. The writer should evaluate their drafts and work to improve them in this stage. Chapter 17 provides the writer with what to focus on when revising and editing their paper as well as what strategies to use when revising and editing their paper. The writer should consider their writing situation; their argument and ideas; their use and integration of sources; and the genre, design, structure, and organization of their paper when revising their document. When editing their paper, the writer should read carefully; mark and search their document; use spelling, grammar, and style tools with caution; and ask someone for feedback. By checking facts and figures, checking every quotation, and checking the spelling of every name mentioned, the writer can effectively focus on the accuracy of their paper. To focus on consistency, the writer should be sure that concepts and sources are treated consistently, use numbers consistently, and format their document consistently. Strategies for the writer to edit their paper include pausing between sentences for a quick check; reading aloud; reading in reverse order; and marking and searching their document. These are the most effective ways to revise and edit a paper according to the Researcher.

The Bedford Researcher -- Chapter 13 Summary

Chapter 13 of The Bedford Researcher, titled Organizing, is a useful guide to organizing a paper properly. The multitude of options seem endless. The writer can organize by chronology, description, definition, cause and effect, process explanation, pro/con, multiple perspectives, comparison and contrast, strengths and weaknesses, costs and benefits, or problem and solution. The organizing pattern the writer uses will show their purpose and role as a writer. The writer's argument, according to the Researcher, can be arranged by label evidence, group evidence, clustering, or mapping. To effectively be reminded of key points that the writer wants to achieve in the paper, they can create an informal or formal outline. An informal outline can be "a brief list of words, a series of short phrases, or even a series of sentences" (223). "A formal outline provides a complete and accurate list of the points (the writer) want(s) to address in (their) argument" (226). There are two forms of a formal outline: Topical outlines and sentence outlines. Topical outlines present topics and subtopics that will be discussed in the writer's paper. "Items at the same level of importance should be phrased parallel in grammatical from" (227). "Sentence outlines use complete sentences to identify the points (the writer) wants to cover" (227). Chapter 13 is a fantastic guideline for the writer to use in terms of organizing their paper.