Writing is never perfect the first time. Even professional writers revise.
Revision does not mean to look for spelling and grammar errors. It means to revision. It means to see more clearly what the writing is trying to say.
And that’s why Implied Questions are so important.
Hidden Questions
When you rid your prose of excess words, many questions show up that were “hidden” before. For example, what questions do you have about this sentence’s information?
There are many types of trees here.
You might ask—
What types of trees? How many types? Where is here?
Another example:
My mother bakes the best biscuits in the village.
Who is your mother? Who says they’re the best? How does she make them? What do they taste like? What kind of biscuits are they?
Task 4.12.1 – Small Group or Class
Name as many Implied Questions as you can for the following:
Columbus sailed west with four ships.
Implied Questions and Assignment Length
When you cut excess language, will your writing get shorter?
About 85% of the time, your writing gets longer. You see questions that need answering.
Your writing should also become more precise.
Example
Original: I love playing with microscopes. I think I have loved playing with them for a long time. My latest is a really big one.
Reduce Wordiness in the following:
I have loved playing with microscopes for a long time. My latest ‘scope is my biggest.
Implied questions: How long have you played with microscopes?
Where or how did you get your first one?
How big was it?
What kind was it?
What is your latest one?
Where or how did you get this one?
How big was it?
Why did you get a new one?
Re-visioned: I have loved playing with microscopes since I was ten. I got one for Christmas that year. It’s a 7x-45x trinocular stereoscopic model with a built-in photography port.
This year, I saved up my money from mowing lawns and bought a Motic BA310E LED high temp compound microscope. It’s an excellent ‘scope for college work, so I will have two years to become expert with it before trekking off to higher education. It has Plan Achromat objective lenses. Its maximum magnification is 1000x.
More IQs: I have loved playing with microscopes since I was ten. I got one for Christmas that year. It’s a 7x-45x trinocular stereoscopic model with a built-in photography port.
This year, I saved up my money from mowing lawns and bought a Motic BA310E LED high temp compound microscope. Why is that important? It has Plan Achromat objective lenses. Why is that important? Its maximum magnification is 1000x. Why is that important?
Re-vision #2: I have loved playing with microscopes since I was ten. I got one for Christmas that year. It’s a 7x-45x trinocular stereoscopic model with a built-in photography port.
This year, I saved up my money from mowing lawns and bought a Motic BA310E LED high temp compound microscope. It’s an excellent ‘scope for college work, so I will have two years to become expert with it before trekking off to higher education. It has Plan Achromat objective lenses, which are the best for a microscope without getting into electron types. Its maximum magnification is 1000x. I know from my interest in microbiology that any ‘scope that is advertised as having more than 1000 is a ripoff, because it’s just empty magnification.
Need-to-Know vs. Nice-to-Know Implied Questions
Need-to-know: The answers to these questions are necessary for the audience to understand the material.
Nice to know: The answers to these questions might help the audience better understand the material, but the information isn’t essential.
Task 4.12.2 – Class
Name the major implied questions (there are four) in the following. Name minor implied questions.
The sun was shining through the livingroom window. It warmed the room to just the right temperature. The floor had soft thick carpeting that cushioned your feet. The sofa had soft velvety cushions and swallowed you when you sat in it. The walls were a light blue and had a relaxing effect. The picture on the wall was of a smiling lady who made you feel welcome. The clock ticked a steady beat and gave the room a homey feeling.
Task 4.12.3 – Tandem
With a partner, go over your essay one section at a time. In other words, work on your Old Section then on your partner’s Old Section. And so on. Work on revisioning: Do not worry about spelling and grammar.
Task 4.12.1 – Small Group or Class
