Reverse Outlines A Reading and Revising Strategy Travis

Reverse Outlines A Reading and Revising Strategy Travis Knapp August 5, 2019

What is Reverse Outlining? “The Swiss army knife of revising” - (Duke University Writing Studio) “A Writer's Technique for Examining Organization” - (UW-Madison Writing Center) “An Exercise for Taking Notes and Revising Your Work” - (Purdue OWL)

Flexibility with Outlining - In Writing Center contexts, often a revising tool for own drafts - - For reading, multiple levels of application - - Overarching organizational issues (reordering parts of an essay) Letting the argument emerge: a reflection tool after working on body (analysis) paragraphs Holistically: recognizing flow, points/shifts, and organization Paragraph level: claims and evidence (in scholarship, rhetorically) Out-of- or in-class activity - Allow plenty of time: the first time I did this as an individual free writing activity, I allotted 15 minutes and left it open ended, but the class needed 30 minutes. Potential for group activity: for rhetorical appeals, groups of four, three individuals get an appeal to outline, one to synthesize (eg, in “A Modest Proposal”) Used as a homework assignment to focus on smaller chunks of long academic articles Encouraged in drafting and revising stages

Case Study: Orwell’s “Why I Write” (1946) ● PDF is 4. 5 pages (including a poem I tell them to ignore), 15 paragraphs ● In context of course, a transitional piece: a personal essay, but, in class discussion, move towards rhetorical analysis ● Simplified outline ○ ○ ○ 4 paragraphs on childhood writing experiences Writer’s motives stem from childhood experiences 4 writing motives (sheer egoism, aesthetic enthusiasm, historical impulse, political purpose) Personal application (how he embodied the motives before encountering war and fascism) 4 paragraphs on shifting motives and turning politics into art ■ (nb: this predates 1984 and “Politics and the English Language”) Conclusion: public spirited? “All writers are vain” and “Good prose is like a windowpane” ● Discussion ensues: questions of organization, intention, (modern) audience expectations, interpretation, etc.