| Instructor: Dr. Jeff Webb |
Reflecting on "In Defense of Orchard Road"
By Benjamin Ching
The conference helped a lot in identifying the problems in my first draft,
the main one of which was that there were too many ideas and I was having trouble
linking them together. I did not have a clear focus. Hence, to prepare for my
final draft, I did several close readings of Tan's article, picking out things
that I had not noticed in earlier readings such as patterns in his writing.
I then asked several key questions suggested by these details and went back
to the article to find concrete answers. This strategy helped me focus my argument.
Next, I looked through my first draft and picked out the relevant portions while
leaving out the irrelevant ones. Then it was a process of restructuring my whole
essay and building up my argument from the close readings I had done. Even after
I have finished the draft, I spent much time looking through it to check for
logical flaws in the argument and also to check the flow of my essay. Overall,
I would say that the close readings were essential to establishing a clear focus
for the essay.
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