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ELA Drills, Intermediate: Textual Analysis 3. Which of the following best summarizes the author's feelings about welfare?
What's an emotional appeal? Is that like when someone naturally attracts members of the opposite sex by crying all the time?
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ELA 6: Tell 'Em How 49 Views
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Description:
Okay, so we've all turned in an essay we wrote the night before in a desperate, caffeine-fueled fever dream... Ideally, though, there should probably have been some revising, editing, and proofreading involved.
Transcript
- 00:02
Writing the first draft of an essay can sometimes feel like climbing a mountain. [man attempting to climb up a mountain]
- 00:06
It takes a lot of thought, a lot of effort, and a lot of rope.
- 00:09
…Wait, it doesn't take rope? [man falling down the mountain]
- 00:11
Hm…maybe we've been doing it wrong…
- 00:13
Anyway, once you're done with that first draft, it's time to stop and admire the view, right? [boy admiring a scenic view]
Full Transcript
- 00:18
Not quite.
- 00:19
Although finishing your first draft is an accomplishment, you still have three more
- 00:22
mountains to climb:
- 00:24
Mount Revising, Mount Editing, and Proofreading Peak.
- 00:29
Hope you brought a lot of energy bars. [3 mountains and energy bars appear]
- 00:30
The first stage is revision.
- 00:32
Think of it as the big-picture stage.
- 00:34
Instead of keeping your nose to the page… [boy revising in his room]
- 00:36
…it's time to zoom out and think about how you've organized your paragraphs, and all
- 00:40
the details, facts, and examples within 'em.
- 00:43
This is the time to focus on the main ideas of your paragraphs.
- 00:47
If you have any new facts or details that support that main idea, toss them in.
- 00:51
But if you find some facts or details that don't seem too relevant or important, throw
- 00:55
'em out.
- 00:57
We know, we know…"recycle! [a big stash of recyclable material]
- 00:58
Compost!"
- 00:59
Yeah, they're important, but you can check them at the door when it comes to revising.
- 01:04
Next up.. editing.
- 01:05
While revision focuses on content and organization…
- 01:09
…editing forces you to zoom in a bit, focus on language, flow, and clarity.
- 01:15
If the goal is to make your essay feel like a nice, gentle ride… [car driving close to the edge of a road]
- 01:18
… editing should help you deal with any outstanding potholes.
- 01:23
That means you'll be editing at the sentence level: rewording sentences that aren't clear…
- 01:28
…breaking down sentences so they flow better…
- 01:31
…making sure you have solid transitions…
- 01:33
…and rewriting sentences to avoid repetition.
- 01:37
Because no one likes repetition. [men fighting each other and officer hits one man with a baton]
- 01:39
Yup, repetition is something nobody likes.
- 01:41
And we mean nobody likes repetition.
- 01:43
Last but not least, we finish with proofreading.
- 01:46
If you thought editing was up close and personal… [boy in the subway as train goes past]
- 01:48
…then you ain't seen nothing yet.
- 01:50
Proofreading requires you to really dig deep into your essay, with the hopes of unearthing [man digging into the ground]
- 01:55
any lingering errors in spelling, punctuation, or grammar.
- 01:59
That means even your capitalizations, quotations, and italics need to be in tip-top shape. [italics quotes and caps on the tredmill]
- 02:05
It might seem more detailed oriented and stressful than a meeting with the queen, but it's worth
- 02:10
it.
- 02:11
And trust us, if you happened to meet a member of the royal family with a dangling participle, [man meets a member of the royal family]
- 02:15
you'd never live it down.
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