Questions & Answers: The Essay - Reviewing the Essay

Discuss the need to replace general nouns with specific nouns. A writer's choice of words is a signature of their style. Careful thought about the use of words can improve a piece of writing. When you pay attention to the use of specific nouns rather than general ones, you can make your essay an exciting piece to read.
Example:
General: His kindness will never be forgotten.
Specific: His thoughtful gifts and bear hugs will never be forgotten.

Discuss the importance of revising and editing sentences.
Revising sentences is done to make writing more effective. Editing sentences is done to correct any errors. Sentences are the building blocks of writing, and they can be changed by paying attention to sentence length, sentence structure, and sentence openings. You should add variety to sentence length, structure, and openings so that the essay does not seem boring or repetitive. A careful analysis of a piece of writing will expose these stylistic problems, and they can be corrected before you finish your essay. Changing up your sentence structure and sentence length can make your essay more inviting and appealing to readers.

Discuss the need to replace passive verbs with active verbs.
Think about the kind of verbs that you use in your sentences. Active verbs (e.g., run, swim) should be about an action. Whenever possible, trade a linking verb for an active verb to provide clear examples for your arguments and to strengthen your essay overall.
Example:
Passive: The winners were called to the stage by the judges.
Active: The judges called the winners to the stage.

Define the recursive writing process and its importance in writing an essay.
The recursive writing process is not as difficult as the phrase appears to you. Simply put, the recursive writing process means that the steps in the writing process occur in no particular order. For example, planning, drafting, and revising (all a part of the writing process) take place at about the same time and you may not notice that all three happen so close together. Truly, the writing process is a series of moving back and forth between planning, drafting, and revising. Then, more planning, more drafting, and more revising until your essay is complete.