Response #9 – Sue Miller’s “A Lecture on Revision”
As we head into the final two weeks of the semester, I would like to ask you to start thinking about revising, refining, polishing and deepening one of your four essays. In her essay “A Lecture on Revision,” Sue Miller gives us some pretty wonderful insights on how to think about revising.
In the exercise for this week, I’ll ask you to:
- take up Miller’s idea of “the dragon,” or how you might deepen your essay by looking closely at the what is the core struggle you are grappling in the work.
- As she also implores us, to keep in mind a reader, to make the work of consequence for a reader. Another way of thinking about this is to project out, to give a reader not only our story, but to help readers in thinking about their own lives and struggles.
- To consider the other word she uses: “center.” What is at the center of the essay you’re writing? Once this is determined, we can deepen the meaning of the essay by writing toward this core.
In your response this week, discuss what you have learned about revision from this essay, and how you might begin revising your own work.
Please post by Tuesday(ish), April 21.