OWP
Book Report #2
Deep Revision by Meredith Sue Willis
Although on one level this is an excellent sourcebook for teaching revision of fiction and nonfiction, it also begins by discussing what I believe to be an essential element of teaching writing, or teaching anything, for that matter! Willis states on the first page that students don't "remember the precise teaching or editing technique that improved their writing" but they remember the teacher. She addresses that mystical, emotional, spiritual bond that is created by the teacher and which results in personal expression and growth: the success of the writing teacher "is dependent on how generally good the relationship is between the student and the teacher." (1) This is especially important when a teacher is giving a student feedback about writing because writing is the self on paper. It cannot help but be personal. I believe that this relationship-dynamic in the classroom is something that no one can teach, it is either present or it is lacking. However, it is truly the key in implementing all of these great techniques and strategies for revision that Willis includes in her book. Each chapter is filled with samples of student writing and ways to encourage changes that go beyond surface editing.
The book is divided into three parts: Thinking About Revision, Going Deeper and Shaping Up. Within those chapters are 196 specific revision exercises that are labeled: Try This. Any writing teacher would find these exercises useful and creative.
The most intriguing aspect of the book was the philosophy behind the title: that writing truly is revision and that one naturally doubles back, over and over, to play with the text, making changes. The process never really ends. Willis writes: " I believe that the revision an adult writer does is on a continuum with the child's teaching itself to walk. Our lives are full of revision, conscious and unconscious. Revision is a form of learning: it pushes us farther into experience, which alters how we perceive the past and prepares us for the future. I don't mean to describe revision as extraordinary; on the contrary, it seems to me one of the most ordinary of human activities." (22) I know that these statements are true for me when I write. I constantly go back and make changes to anything that I write. I enjoy the time I spend away from the piece, thinking about it and then returning to re-work it. I enjoy getting others' feedback and reactions to the words I put on paper. I listen to what others say but do not always take their suggestions! Often I am more interested in hearing their reaction to the content, the choice of subject matter, than I am to recommendations about mechanical details. I find revision as "exhilarating" as Willis describes it to be. However, this feeling is something that I do not feel my students share. For them, revision is linked to an improved grade. They do not always enjoy sharing their writing in pairs or small groups. The suggestions they receive are not always helpful and, quite honestly, most need to be ignored! The feedback they value most highly is mine. Something needs to be done to remove the grade as an impetus to change the text. I also feel that giving students more constant practice in helping each other with revision, almost daily, would improve the end result.
Willis's book is an excellent choice for a teacher interested in new ways to make revision a key component of a Language-Arts class.