In Nancy Sommers' "Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers," Sommers examines the differences of revision between student writers and experienced adult writers on compositions. The purpose of Sommers' article is to point out to the reader how students view revision and how experienced writers portray revision.
Sommers argues that compositions follow a very bland, dogmatic linear structure that focuses on a systematic production of first, then, and finally. Due to this linear notion of writing, Sommers feels that revision comes "as a separate stage at the end of the process-a stage that comes after the completion of a first and second draft" (Sommers 378). She came to this conclusion by conducting a case study with 20 freshman from the University of Oklahoma and Boston University and 20 experienced adult writers. All wrote three essays and were interviewed afterwards. In this case study, Sommers found that student writers defined revision as a "rewording activity" whereas experienced writers defined revision as "finding the form or shape of their argument" (Sommers 383-384). Although both writers defined revision differently, similar levels of revision occured between the two. The four revision operations that were found were deletion, substitution, addition and reordering. Word, phrase, sentence, and theme were four levels of changes that were identified as well.
Overall, Sommers concludes that student writing differs from experienced adult writers because students use a linear structure instilled in them by their teachers and experienced writers continually revise to discover a deeper, more focused meaning behind their work. Conceptual repetition, ability to make clear and distinct concepts through repetition, is non-existant in student writing whereas experienced writers use holistic perspectives and recursive processes to enhance the balance and rhythm of their paper as a whole. It is differences like these that helps Sommers realize that the remedy for student writers is to look at their work through their own eyes and focus on the meaning of their work rather than vocabulary and linear methods.
