Editing & Revising — Answer Key
Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. A student changes "The trip was fun" to "The trip to the Grand Canyon filled us with wonder as we hiked the rocky trails." What type of change is this?
A) Editing for punctuation
B) Editing for spelling
C) Revising for vivid details and word choice
D) Editing for capitalization
Adding vivid details ('Grand Canyon,' 'wonder,' 'rocky trails') and replacing 'fun' with more descriptive language is a revision.
2. A student adds a comma after "However" at the start of a sentence. What type of change is this?
A) Revising for organization
B) Editing for punctuation
C) Revising for word choice
D) Editing for spelling
Adding a missing comma after an introductory word corrects a surface punctuation error — this is editing.
3. A student moves the last paragraph to the beginning because it introduces the main topic better. What type of change is this?
A) Editing for grammar
B) Editing for sentence structure
C) Revising for organization
D) Editing for capitalization
Reorganizing paragraphs for better structure and flow is a revision task.
4. A student removes two sentences about lunch from a paragraph about the science fair project. What type of change is this?
A) Editing for punctuation
B) Revising to remove off-topic information
C) Editing for spelling
D) Revising for word choice
Removing off-topic content to maintain focus is a revision that improves content quality.
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1. Changing "walked" to "strutted" is a revision that improves word choice.
'Strutted' is more vivid and precise than 'walked' — this improves word choice.
2. Adding a missing period at the end of a sentence is an editing change.
Adding a period fixes a surface punctuation error — this is editing.
3. Revising focuses on the big picture of your writing, like ideas and organization.
Revising looks at the big picture: content, ideas, clarity, and organization.
4. Editing focuses on surface errors like misspelled words and missing commas.
Surface errors are the small mechanical mistakes: spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization.
5. The correct order of the writing process is prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.
The five stages of the writing process: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, publishing.