Essentials of College Writing Essay

Peer editing is an evaluative method of judging or critiquing written text with the valuable engagement of peers. The purpose of writing within the context of peer editing is to write a text that will be able to incite responses, not only from people in authority who oversee the writing process (ex. teachers, professors, technical writing instructors, etc. ), but also from an individuals’ peers. The process of peer editing follows the writing process, the reading process, the critiquing session, and the rewriting process. Peer editing allows the expression of comments or suggestions regarding a written text which an individual may use to modify errors within the text, identify ambiguous elements that defeats the purpose of a cohesive theme, and draw out additional information that are instrumental in improving the written text. (Adger, Wolfram, & Christian, 2007) The overall result of peer editing is the improvement of literacy or skills in writing. (Topping & Ehly, 1998) Perhaps, it is also important to reiterate that peer editing allows individuals to identify errors or mistakes in the writing process that may be unknown to them. The diversity of peer characters and points of views allows one to look at the theme and quality of written works from different angles, allowing a writer to complete a written work clearly and concisely. What are some of the techniques a team can use to integrate various writers work into one cohesive document? Integrating various written works into a cohesive document should follow a series of steps. The first step is to read all the written works carefully in order to identify the main points and focus of each text. The team should then group or categorize written works according to their similarities in meaning, theme, or points of view. Once this is accomplished, the team should agree on the organization or framework of the single document they will be working on depending on the ideas or information drawn from the grouped or categorized written works. This process is similar to constructing an outline that will become the basis of the targeted cohesive document. Moreover, constructing an outline will require a team to identify what the focus of the article would be, what work will best fit in the introduction, the body, or the conclusion, etc. The next step would be to fill in parts of the outline, such that main and valuable points from each written work of team members will be drawn out to be integrated into the outline of the targeted cohesive document. At this point, the team is prepared to layout the finished document. What is the purpose and historical academic use of the APA style and why is it important to use APA style? The American Psychological Association or APA is a common citation style utilized by professionals in their written works. Its use is most common in the social sciences. The content of the APA citation style is usually the author and the year of publication, as well as the title of work and the imprint. Other elements of written works designed under the framework of the APA style include the reference list, intext citations, headers, page numbering, and page margins. (Hajnal, 1997) The origin of the APA citation format is traced back to a discussion between professionals who write journals with anthropology and psychology as subjects. It was a way to set a standard of writing for journals in order to promote structure and organization in the formality of writing professional articles. After this discussion, the APA published a written work containing writing standards and guidelines. (Hunter, 2007) The importance of utilizing the APA style is to organize a written body of work by structuring the writing styles and citation references into something formal or standard. Standardized writing will benefit readers in such a way that reading other journals is recognizable and comprehensible. (Seas & Driscoll, 2007) Aside from this purpose, the significance of utilizing APA as a writing guide ensures clarity, consistency and unity all throughout the body of the written work or article. (â€Å"APA Style†) For authors or writers, following the APA format or writing style is a means of abiding by rules set forth a particular publication – in this case, publications that publish written works of professionals in fields wherein the APA writing style is commonly used (such as psychology, sociology, education, nursing, etc. ). (â€Å"Frequently Asked Questions†) Discuss what is meant by Parallel Structures in the writing process. Abiding by the rules of parallel structure during the writing process, an author or writer should present equally important thoughts and ideas appropriately. This means that if a sentence calls for the presentation of several thoughts or ideas that are within the same level of importance, structure, or content, these should be written as such. No thought or idea should go against the flow of thoughts, especially in form. For instance, a sentence calls for the enumeration of activities that a person does in the morning. If the form of the verbs being enumerated are in the present tense, they should be written as such: â€Å"†¦ waking up, eating breakfast, brushing one’s teeth, and bathing. † and not â€Å"†¦waking up, eat breakfast, brush one’s teeth, and bathing. † This rule goes the same with the use of clauses and words that follow a colon. (Purdue OWL & Driscoll, 2006) Discuss the meaning of verb tense in the writing process. Like the parallel structure which signals consistency and uniformity within the body of a written work, verb tenses also results to the same outcomes in writing. Aside from the general rules of verb tenses such as past tense for actions done in the past, present tense for actions that are currently taking place, and future tense for action that are about to take place, verb tenses in the writing process also necessitates consistency and uniformity of thoughts. For instance, a written work is in the form of a narrative then it should not only be written in the past tense, but should be written in the past tense all throughout the remainder of the text. Website: http://apastyle. apa. org/ â€Å"Frequently Asked Questions. † (2008) Retrieved October 22, 2008, from The American Psychological Association. Website: http://www. apastyle. org/faqs. html#1 Hajnal, P. I. (1997). International Information: Documents, Publications, and Electronic Information of International Governmental Organizations. SC: Libraries Unlimited. Hunter, S. (2007). APA Writing Style. Retrieved October 22, 2008, from Associated Content, Inc. Website: http://www. associatedcontent. com/article/181223/apa_writing_style. html? cat=3 Purdue OWL & Driscoll, D. L. (2006). Parallel Structure. Retrieved October 22, 2008, from The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue. Website: http://owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/resource/623/01/ â€Å"Tenses in Writing. † (N. D. ) Retrieved October 22, 2008, from University of Washington. Website: http://depts. washington. edu/engl/askbetty/tenses. php Topping, K. J. & Ehly, S. W. (1998). Peer-Assisted Learning. NJ: Laurence Erlbaum Associates. Seas, K. & Driscoll, D. L. (2007). APA Overview and Workshop. Retrieved October 22, 2008, from The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue. Website: http://owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/resource/664/01/