Workshop Guide for the Complete Life Place Essay 2/7

This is a complete draft workshop. We need to provide each other with criticism that will get us to a polished final draft.

Author, remain silent and take notes while your partners discuss your essay. Once they're finished, ask questions. Otherwise hold your tongue. If you feel like they aren't understanding or are missing the point of your essay, write down your questions but ask yourself: did I really convey that in the writing, or did I simply think I had?

Start with questions of direction and scope and move into structure and then line edits. For each author write your top 3 suggestions for revision at the top of their essay along with 3 questions about the substance of the essay (for example, why do you care about this topic? What did you learn from writing this essay?) You can't use the two questions I just gave you as examples, but you should consider them for your own essay in revision. 

1. Summarize the draft as it stands. Paraphrase the essay, paragraph by paragraph. If this is unclear, the author needs to work to find a thread or purpose. Try and help them articulate what interests them about the topic. Maybe they disagree with the concepts, how can they disagree and still address the requirements of the assignment? What could the underlying purpose be? Be sure to have a discussion with them at the end of their session to find questions they can get excited about. 
2. Discuss whether or not the essay is engaged with the ideas of bioregionalism. Does place play a central role? Does the author describe a way in which a bioregion has had a major impact on their purpose and life? If not, how could they? 
3. Discuss the structure of the essay. Does one section progress to another? Does it keep you interested, even on successive readings? What if the author started on the last paragraph or ended on the first? Do they need to take another crack at the intro or conclusion? Try reverse outlining by summarizing each paragraph and then describing the points made to lead to an outline of the essay. Can anything be moved around in the outline, cut, or filled out?
4. Is the essay on track to meet the criteria of the assignment? Does it discuss Missoula as a bioregion? Is the author in pursuit of wisdom; looking for answers to why more than they are for what or how? Does the author take risks and engage the reader, or is the essay feeling uninspired (in which case they might consider taking a new track)?
5. Do you lose interest at any point? Should the author scrap sections of the essay and go in a new direction? If so, be clear about what should remain.
6. Go over the essay line by line, checking the grammar, citations, cutting for more concise language, transitions, spelling, etc. A good way to do this is to read it out loud. You can also focus a paragraph or single section of the essay to point out larger problems. Only spend time on this if you've gone through the rest of the essay and found relatively few problems. Before "finalizing" your draft to turn it to me, you should read it out loud or have someone read it to you.
7. Discuss the essay with the author and answer any questions.
8. Write down two things you learned because of this essay to share at the end of class.