Skip to Main Content

Lesson 5

We will work with partners to proofread and revise our character analysis essays.

Lesson Goals

  • Can I revisit, refine, and revise my understanding, knowledge, and work based on discussions with others and feedback and review by myself and others?

  • Can I apply correct and effective syntax, usage, mechanics, and spelling to communicate ideas and achieve the intended purpose?

Texts

Core

  • Tradebook
    • Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe, Penguin Random House, 1994

Materials

Reference Guides

Activity 1: Read

We will proofread our partners’ essays for errors in grammar, conventions, and spelling.

Exchange the hard copy of your essay draft with a partner. Read through your partner’s draft as a proofreader. Look out for the following:

  • errors in grammar or usage

  • spelling errors

  • citation errors

  • any confusing or unclear sentences or ideas

  • verb tense issues—the essay should be written in the present tense (i.e., "Achebe depicts this character as," "Achebe presents the character’s perspective through"), even though Achebe wrote the novel in the past and you read it in the past.

Do not correct any errors. Simply circle possible issues or write a quick note in the margin about them. If you are unsure whether something is an error but think it might be, circle it anyway. It is the writer’s job to go through the corrections and change anything that needs editing.

Activity 2: Write

We will revise our essay for final publication.

Use the notes from your partner to revise your essay. One common way to revise your own essay is to read the essay backward, from the last sentence to the first, as a way to find errors that you would normally miss.