Work in Progress: A Guide to Academic Writing and Revising

by Lisa S. Ede

The book offers powerful and sophisticated techniques based in composition theory and does so in a way that students can easily understand and readily use. It is an essential book for a writing course...

Genres: Writing

496 pages, Paperback

First published December 27, 2000

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this more for it's later chapters than its earlier ones, curious about what it had to say about revision and how it co-located writing alongside reading. I liked the chapters devoted to these things the best, particularly the lists of questions Ede provides to help guide revision at multiple levels and regarding specific things. I also liked the guidance she provides towards the end of the book regarding the multiple types of statements that a writer might make and how we might go about interrogating them. So, why three stars? I found the earlier chapters unnecessarily pedantic in tone. I didn't feel like she was giving her college-student audience the credit they deserve. Or maybe it was that she wasn't making clear to them what they already knew (even if they didn't have the vocabulary to name it) as much as they might.