{"id":686,"date":"2016-04-11T14:16:38","date_gmt":"2016-04-11T14:16:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level1-english\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=686"},"modified":"2016-07-15T18:30:40","modified_gmt":"2016-07-15T18:30:40","slug":"text-higher-order-concerns","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level1-english-gen\/chapter\/text-higher-order-concerns\/","title":{"raw":"Text: Higher Order Concerns","rendered":"Text: Higher Order Concerns"},"content":{"raw":"You\u2019ve written a draft of your paper. \u00a0Now your work is done, so you should just\u00a0turn it in, right? \u00a0No, WAIT!\u00a0\u00a0Step away from the computer, take a deep breath, and don\u2019t submit that assignment just yet.\r\n\r\nYou should always revise and proofread your paper. \u00a0A first draft is usually a very rough draft. \u00a0It takes time and at least two\u00a0(or more!) <strong>additional<\/strong> <img class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-689\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/04\/11142054\/5431331035_9410accdb4_z-291x300.jpg\" alt=\"Drawing of a watch face, cut away near the top to reveal a series of gears. Scaffolding leads up from trees at the bottom of the watch face, to the open gear area, to the top of the watch where four work crew members relax and enjoy the view\" width=\"291\" height=\"300\" \/>passes through to really make sure your argument is strong, your writing is polished, and there are no typos or grammatical errors. \u00a0Making these efforts\u00a0will always give you a better paper in the end.\r\n\r\nTry to wait a day or two before looking back over your paper. \u00a0If you are on a tight deadline, then take a walk, grab a snack, drink some coffee, or do something else to clear your head so you can read through your paper with fresh eyes. \u00a0The longer you wait, the more likely it is you will see what is actually on the page and not what you meant to write.\r\n<h2><strong>What to Look for in the First Pass(es): Higher-Order\u00a0Concerns<\/strong><\/h2>\r\nTypically, early review\u00a0passes of a paper should focus on the larger issues, which are known as <strong>higher-order concerns<\/strong>. Higher-order concerns relate to the strength of your ideas, the support for your argument, and the logic of how your points are presented. Some important higher-order concerns\u00a0are listed below, along with\u00a0some questions you can ask yourself while proofreading diting\u00a0to see if your paper needs work in any of these areas:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>The Thesis Statement:\u00a0<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">Does your paper have a clear thesis statement? If so, where is it? <\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">Does the introduction lead up to that thesis statement? <\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">Does each paragraph directly relate back to your thesis statement?<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>The Argument:\u00a0<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Is your thesis statement supported by enough evidence?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Do you need to add any explanations or examples to better make your case?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Is there any unnecessary or irrelevant information that should be removed?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Large-Scale Organization:<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Could your paper be easily outlined or tree-diagrammed?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Are your paragraphs\u00a0presented in a logical order?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Are similar ideas grouped together?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Are there clear transitions (either verbal or logical) that link each paragraph to what came before?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Organization within Paragraphs:<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Is each paragraph centered around one main idea?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Is there a clear topic sentence for each paragraph?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Are\u00a0any of\u00a0your paragraphs too short or too long?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Do all the sentences in each paragraph relate back to their respective topic sentences?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Are the sentences presented in a logical order, so each grows out of what came before?<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong><img class=\"alignright wp-image-691\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/04\/11142613\/3997687488_05f3e2de10_z.jpg\" alt=\"printed text with red edit marks all over the page\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\" \/>The Assignment Instructions:<\/strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Does your paper answer\u00a0all aspects of the writing prompt?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Have you completed all of the tasks required by the instructor?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Did you include all necessary sections (for example, an abstract or reference list)?<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Are you following the required style for formatting the paper as a whole, the reference list, and\/or your citations? (That last question is technically a lower-order concern, but it falls under the assignment instructions and is something where you could easily lose points if you don\u2019t follow instructions.)<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nWhen reading through your early draft(s) of your paper, mark up your paper with those concerns in mind first. \u00a0Keep revising until you have fixed all\u00a0of these larger-scale issues.\r\n\r\nYour paper may change a lot as you do this \u2013 that\u2019s completely normal!\r\n\r\nYou might have to add more material; cut sentences, paragraphs, or even whole sections; or rewrite significant portions of the paper to fix any problems related to these higher-order concerns. \u00a0This is why you should be careful not\u00a0to get too bogged down with\u00a0small-scale problems early on: <strong>there is no point in spending a lot of time fixing sentences that you end up cutting because they don\u2019t actually fit in with your topic.<\/strong>\r\n<h2>Contribute!<\/h2><div style=\"margin-bottom: 8px;\">Did you have an idea for improving this content? We\u2019d love your input.<\/div><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1UHo4vskHMyo5SwqnUPa5NWnBm9bCdnf5AO166pfUtZ8\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-weight: 600; color: #077fab; text-decoration: none; border: 2px solid #077fab; border-radius: 7px; padding: 5px 25px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; line-height: 1.5em;\">Improve this page<\/a><a style=\"margin-left: 16px;\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1vy-T6DtTF-BbMfpVEI7VP_R7w2A4anzYZLXR8Pk4Fu4\">Learn More<\/a>","rendered":"<p>You\u2019ve written a draft of your paper. \u00a0Now your work is done, so you should just\u00a0turn it in, right? \u00a0No, WAIT!\u00a0\u00a0Step away from the computer, take a deep breath, and don\u2019t submit that assignment just yet.<\/p>\n<p>You should always revise and proofread your paper. \u00a0A first draft is usually a very rough draft. \u00a0It takes time and at least two\u00a0(or more!) <strong>additional<\/strong> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-689\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/04\/11142054\/5431331035_9410accdb4_z-291x300.jpg\" alt=\"Drawing of a watch face, cut away near the top to reveal a series of gears. Scaffolding leads up from trees at the bottom of the watch face, to the open gear area, to the top of the watch where four work crew members relax and enjoy the view\" width=\"291\" height=\"300\" \/>passes through to really make sure your argument is strong, your writing is polished, and there are no typos or grammatical errors. \u00a0Making these efforts\u00a0will always give you a better paper in the end.<\/p>\n<p>Try to wait a day or two before looking back over your paper. \u00a0If you are on a tight deadline, then take a walk, grab a snack, drink some coffee, or do something else to clear your head so you can read through your paper with fresh eyes. \u00a0The longer you wait, the more likely it is you will see what is actually on the page and not what you meant to write.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What to Look for in the First Pass(es): Higher-Order\u00a0Concerns<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Typically, early review\u00a0passes of a paper should focus on the larger issues, which are known as <strong>higher-order concerns<\/strong>. Higher-order concerns relate to the strength of your ideas, the support for your argument, and the logic of how your points are presented. Some important higher-order concerns\u00a0are listed below, along with\u00a0some questions you can ask yourself while proofreading diting\u00a0to see if your paper needs work in any of these areas:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The Thesis Statement:\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">Does your paper have a clear thesis statement? If so, where is it? <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">Does the introduction lead up to that thesis statement? <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.5;\">Does each paragraph directly relate back to your thesis statement?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Argument:\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Is your thesis statement supported by enough evidence?<\/li>\n<li>Do you need to add any explanations or examples to better make your case?<\/li>\n<li>Is there any unnecessary or irrelevant information that should be removed?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Large-Scale Organization:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Could your paper be easily outlined or tree-diagrammed?<\/li>\n<li>Are your paragraphs\u00a0presented in a logical order?<\/li>\n<li>Are similar ideas grouped together?<\/li>\n<li>Are there clear transitions (either verbal or logical) that link each paragraph to what came before?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Organization within Paragraphs:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Is each paragraph centered around one main idea?<\/li>\n<li>Is there a clear topic sentence for each paragraph?<\/li>\n<li>Are\u00a0any of\u00a0your paragraphs too short or too long?<\/li>\n<li>Do all the sentences in each paragraph relate back to their respective topic sentences?<\/li>\n<li>Are the sentences presented in a logical order, so each grows out of what came before?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-691\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/85\/2016\/04\/11142613\/3997687488_05f3e2de10_z.jpg\" alt=\"printed text with red edit marks all over the page\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\" \/>The Assignment Instructions:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Does your paper answer\u00a0all aspects of the writing prompt?<\/li>\n<li>Have you completed all of the tasks required by the instructor?<\/li>\n<li>Did you include all necessary sections (for example, an abstract or reference list)?<\/li>\n<li>Are you following the required style for formatting the paper as a whole, the reference list, and\/or your citations? (That last question is technically a lower-order concern, but it falls under the assignment instructions and is something where you could easily lose points if you don\u2019t follow instructions.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When reading through your early draft(s) of your paper, mark up your paper with those concerns in mind first. \u00a0Keep revising until you have fixed all\u00a0of these larger-scale issues.<\/p>\n<p>Your paper may change a lot as you do this \u2013 that\u2019s completely normal!<\/p>\n<p>You might have to add more material; cut sentences, paragraphs, or even whole sections; or rewrite significant portions of the paper to fix any problems related to these higher-order concerns. \u00a0This is why you should be careful not\u00a0to get too bogged down with\u00a0small-scale problems early on: <strong>there is no point in spending a lot of time fixing sentences that you end up cutting because they don\u2019t actually fit in with your topic.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Contribute!<\/h2>\n<div style=\"margin-bottom: 8px;\">Did you have an idea for improving this content? We\u2019d love your input.<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1UHo4vskHMyo5SwqnUPa5NWnBm9bCdnf5AO166pfUtZ8\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"font-size: 10pt; font-weight: 600; color: #077fab; text-decoration: none; border: 2px solid #077fab; border-radius: 7px; padding: 5px 25px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; line-height: 1.5em;\">Improve this page<\/a><a style=\"margin-left: 16px;\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1vy-T6DtTF-BbMfpVEI7VP_R7w2A4anzYZLXR8Pk4Fu4\">Learn More<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-686\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Revision and Adaptation. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Proofreading and Revising. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: CUNY School of Professional Studies. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/bacwritingfellows.commons.gc.cuny.edu\/proofreading\/\">https:\/\/bacwritingfellows.commons.gc.cuny.edu\/proofreading\/<\/a>. <strong>Project<\/strong>: Writing Fellows. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Image of watch workers. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Frits Ahlefeldt-Laurvig. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/9gWZux\">https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/9gWZux<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-ND: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives <\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Image of edited text. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Joanna Penn. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/76gcdm\">https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/76gcdm<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":19,"menu_order":36,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Proofreading and Revising\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"CUNY School of Professional Studies\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bacwritingfellows.commons.gc.cuny.edu\/proofreading\/\",\"project\":\"Writing Fellows\",\"license\":\"cc-by-nc-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Image of watch workers\",\"author\":\"Frits Ahlefeldt-Laurvig\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/9gWZux\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-nc-nd\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Image of edited text\",\"author\":\"Joanna Penn\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/76gcdm\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Revision and Adaptation\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-nc-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"976bb98a-ec8d-41f9-bf1d-754dab43bd47, 31d80f49-4ca0-43a7-b024-d69a23c974d9","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-686","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":19,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level1-english-gen\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level1-english-gen\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level1-english-gen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level1-english-gen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level1-english-gen\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2747,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level1-english-gen\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/686\/revisions\/2747"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level1-english-gen\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/19"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level1-english-gen\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/686\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level1-english-gen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level1-english-gen\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=686"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level1-english-gen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=686"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymaker-level1-english-gen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}