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paraphrase? Does it present a claim that requires defense? Does your introduction 2
outline or preview your argument?
• Reread each topic sentence. How does each topic sentence support your thesis?
What bridge does it provide between your thesis and the evidence in your paragraph?
• Check your evidence. Have you used more than one type of evidence? How does
the evidence you’ve chosen to use clearly support the claim in the topic sentence of
each body paragraph?
• Evaluate your commentary. What relationship does it establish between the
evidence you’ve selected and the claim in the topic sentence of the body paragraph?
• Reread your conclusion. How does it establish why your argument is
important — in other words, what is the answer to the question “So what?” How
does it connect to the larger concept or to the world outside the prompt?
• Reread for spelling and grammar. What resources available to you have you used Section 2 / From Reading to Writing: Crafting an AP ® Argument Essay
to correct typos, sentence fragments, run-ons, and other easy-to-spot errors?
• Read the essay aloud to yourself. How do the words, sentences, and ideas sound
when you hear them out loud? Where can you tighten up your own diction and
syntax? Where can you add transitional words and phrases to smooth out your
sentences and to make connections for your reader?
• If possible, step away from it. Clear your mind for a few hours — a day or more if
you can. Return to your work with fresh eyes as a reader instead of as the writer.
• Reread one final time with a clear head. This is just a tune-up. What small
changes can you make to improve word choice and sentence structure?

Revising a Paragraph activity
Revise your paragraph on the claim you made in the thesis you developed in the activity
on page 97. As you work on a second draft, try to answer all of the revision questions
that apply to a body paragraph of an argument essay.

®
Analyzing a Sample AP Argument Essay
The following student essay responds to the prompt we introduced on page 94. As you
read it, think about how you would provide feedback to help this student revise her draft.

“On Starting School Later”
Lea Marchl

It’s six thirty a.m. The alarm rings, it’s time to get up. You’ve gotten a total of five
hours of sleep, four hours less than the recommended amount. While in freshman
year, this was due to watching Netflix into the early hours of the morning, you now go
to bed at one in the morning because of a paper that’s due first period. This is the
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Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample. Copyright © Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
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For review purposes only. Not for redistribution.
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