Coursework: Revising and acknowledging sources

Diagnose the reasoning before polishing

Revision is a reading decision before it is a wording exercise. First ask what the paragraph needs to prove; then check whether the evidence actually proves it. Correct spelling matters, but replacing a weak adjective will not repair an unsupported interpretation.

Use this authentic dramatic example. It is practice for reading and revision, not a required extra coursework text. Lady Macbeth is speaking alone before Macbeth enters.

A weak draft says:

Lady Macbeth is completely satisfied because she has power. Shakespeare says “what’s done is done”, which means the murder has no consequences. There are short sentences to make it dramatic.

The main problem is the claim. Her private “Naught’s had, all’s spent” contradicts satisfaction; the claim also treats what she says to Macbeth as a reliable statement of what she feels. The passage gives a structural clue: her private admission comes before the entrance, whereas the attempt to dismiss reflection comes after it.

A good revision must therefore alter the interpretation, not merely replace “dramatic” with “effective”. Distinguish private dissatisfaction from public reassurance, explain the language, and account for the entrance.

Make one revision that improves the argument

Revised paragraph

Lady Macbeth attempts to quiet a dissatisfaction that her private words have already revealed. “Naught’s had, all’s spent” balances nothing gained against everything expended, making royal success feel empty. Macbeth’s entrance then changes whom she addresses: “what’s done is done” becomes advice to stop dwelling on the murder. The sequence creates a gap between her own unrest and the reassurance she offers him. Her apparent confidence can therefore be read as an effort to control distress, not evidence that distress has vanished.

This paragraph changes three things that matter. It narrows an absolute claim; it explains the contrast within exact words; and it uses the entrance to interpret the change in speech. Its quotation is brief enough for the reader to see what is being analysed.

Test an alternative before accepting the revision. Perhaps she is trying to protect Macbeth rather than hide her own feelings. That reading can also work if it accounts for her private dissatisfaction and the direct question about his solitude. A strong paragraph need not list every possible interpretation, but its chosen interpretation should survive the evidence that complicates it.

When reviewing a longer draft, deal first with the weakest link between claim and evidence, then with missing development across the work. Read each paragraph’s first and last sentence to see whether the argument advances. Cut repeated claims only after checking that they add no new reasoning. Finally, check clarity, quotation accuracy and references.