The Writing Process: Task, Purpose, Audience, and Revision Judgment

Question 1

Task: convince the principal to keep the library open later. Audience: the principal. Draft opening: "Libraries are buildings that hold books." Which revision best serves this task and audience?

Accepted Answer

The library closes at 3:15, before practices end, so students who need it cannot use it.

Answer

Libraries are quiet buildings that hold thousands of books on many different subjects.

Answer

The gym also closes early each day, which is inconvenient for many students here.

Answer

I like the library a lot, and I am sure that you will agree with me.

Question 2

Task: email the school board asking for a crosswalk. Draft line: "The corner by the school is super sketchy in the morning." Which revision keeps the point and fits this audience?

Accepted Answer

Traffic at that corner moves quickly each morning, and students cross with no marked crosswalk.

Answer

The corner by the school is extremely sketchy during the whole morning rush hour.

Answer

Somebody really ought to do something about that corner before a student gets hurt.

Answer

Drivers near a school who speed are being careless, rude, and completely thoughtless.

Question 3

A partner reads Maya's argument that the school day should start later. Which peer comment is actionable feedback rather than a vague compliment or a vague worry?

Accepted Answer

Your second paragraph says teens sleep too little but names no source; add one.

Answer

This is really strong writing, and I enjoyed reading every single paragraph of it.

Answer

I agree with your argument completely, because a later start would help me a lot.

Answer

Something in the middle section feels a little off to me, but I cannot say what.

Question 4

Task: explain photosynthesis for the school science newsletter. Ben's draft describes the steps clearly but never says why plants need sunlight, and it has two comma errors. What should Ben do first?

Accepted Answer

Revise for content by adding why plants need sunlight, then fix the two commas.

Answer

Edit the two comma errors first, because correct punctuation makes a draft finished.

Answer

Throw out the draft and start again from a completely new outline and new notes.

Answer

Add colorful adjectives throughout so the explanation sounds livelier to newsletter readers.

Question 5

Task: review a school play for the newspaper. Purpose: evaluate the performance. Rosa's draft retells the plot for four paragraphs and never judges the acting or staging. What should Rosa do?

Accepted Answer

Start over from a new plan organized around her judgment of the acting and staging.

Answer

Keep the four paragraphs and add one sentence of opinion to the end of each.

Answer

Cut the fourth paragraph so the plot summary is shorter and moves more quickly.

Answer

Fix the verb tenses so that the plot summary stays in the present throughout.

Question 6

Original: "The water was dirty. We could not swim." Revised: "Because the water was dirty, we could not swim." What does this revision accomplish?

Accepted Answer

It states the cause-and-effect link between the dirty water and the swimming.

Answer

It shortens the passage by cutting an unneeded detail about the lake water.

Answer

It adds a specific detail about exactly how dirty the water had become.

Answer

It reverses the order of events so that the swimming happens first.

Question 7

Assignment: a two-page paper for classmates comparing two city bus routes. Which plan fits this task?

Accepted Answer

Compare the two routes point by point on cost, speed, and number of stops.

Answer

Compare the colors and logos painted on the buses of the two routes.

Answer

Describe the first route in detail and mention the second only in the last sentence.

Answer

List every stop on both routes with each one's full daily schedule.

Question 8

Purpose: persuade readers to recycle more. Draft: "Recycling helps a lot. Our town recycles a good amount of trash." The named weakness is vague evidence. Which revision fixes that weakness?

Accepted Answer

Our town recycled 1,240 tons last year, up from 890 tons two years before.

Answer

Recycling helps our planet enormously, and every single person really should try it.

Answer

Our town recycles a truly impressive amount of trash from homes every single year.

Answer

Recycling takes some effort, but sorting bottles and cans gets simple once you start.

Question 9

Task: an argument essay that must acknowledge an opposing view. Peer comments: (1) "You misspelled definitely twice." (2) "You never say what people who disagree would argue." What should the writer do first?

Accepted Answer

Add a passage stating what people who disagree would argue, then answer it.

Answer

Correct both spellings of definitely and submit the essay without any other change.

Answer

Reword the claim until no reader could possibly disagree with what it says.

Answer

Move the strongest reason to the end so that the essay finishes strongly.

Question 10

Task: a lab report for the science teacher. Draft: "We put the stuff in the water and it got smaller." Which revision is precise enough for this purpose and audience?

Accepted Answer

We placed the salt crystal in the water, and it dissolved within two minutes.

Answer

We put the material into the water, and it slowly got smaller and smaller.

Answer

We dropped the stuff into the water, and it shrank right before our own eyes.

Answer

We added the salt to the water, and something interesting happened to it there.

Question 11

Purpose: persuade the town council. The draft argues that the town should add bike lanes because riders have been struck at three intersections. Which conclusion follows from that argument?

Accepted Answer

Marking bike lanes at those three intersections would protect riders where the crashes happen.

Answer

Riding a bicycle is healthier than driving and saves families money on gasoline.

Answer

The town should require every rider downtown to wear a helmet while riding.

Answer

Three intersections in this town are dangerous places for people who ride bicycles.

Question 12

Claim: the school should sell refillable water bottles. Next sentence: "___ some families say the machines cost too much, the bottles would pay for themselves in a year." Which opening signals the relationship?

Accepted Answer

Although

Answer

Because

Answer

As soon as

Answer

Whenever

Question 13

Task: a letter to the city council. Draft: "The park is a total mess and nobody's doing anything about it." Which revision keeps the same point in a formal style?

Accepted Answer

The park needs repair, and no group has been assigned to maintain it.

Answer

The park is a complete disaster, and nobody has bothered to fix it yet.

Answer

Someone really ought to get out there and clean that whole park up soon.

Answer

It seems to me that the park could probably use a little attention sometime.

Question 14

Task: a narrative about a first day at a new school. Purpose: make the moment vivid. Draft: "The hallway was loud and I felt bad." Which revision best serves that purpose?

Accepted Answer

Lockers slammed on both sides of me, and my hands went cold around my schedule.

Answer

The hallway was extremely loud, and I felt very bad about being there at all.

Answer

The hallway was loud because seven hundred students changed classes at the same time.

Answer

I walked down the hallway and then turned left toward my very first classroom.

Question 15

Original: "The team practiced daily. The team lost every game." Revised: "Even though the team practiced daily, it lost every game." What does the revision accomplish?

Accepted Answer

It shows that the losses happened in spite of the daily practice.

Answer

It shows that the daily practice caused the team to lose its games.

Answer

It shows that the practices and the games took place at the same hour.

Answer

It shows that the team practiced only on the days when it had games.

Question 16

Task: a book review for the class blog. Nadia's draft states her judgment, gives three reasons, and ends well, but two sentences run together with no punctuation between them. What does this draft need?

Accepted Answer

Editing for convention, because the ideas are complete and only the punctuation fails.

Answer

Revising for content, because a review of any book always needs a fourth reason.

Answer

A completely new approach, because run-on sentences show that the plan was wrong.

Answer

Revising for audience, because a class blog calls for a much more formal tone.

Question 17

Assignment: a twenty-minute in-class response explaining one reason a character changes. Which plan fits both the task and the time?

Accepted Answer

Name the reason, then give two moments from the story that show the change.

Answer

Research three articles about character development before beginning to write anything.

Answer

Outline five possible reasons, then write a full paragraph developing each one.

Answer

Retell the story from beginning to end, then add a sentence about the change.

Question 18

In a peer conference, Theo says his draft is "about how the flood changed the town." Which question from his partner would draw out the elaboration the draft needs?

Accepted Answer

Which change did the flood cause that the town still lives with today?

Answer

Did the flood happen before or after your family moved into that town?

Answer

Was the flood the worst thing that ever happened in the whole town?

Answer

How many paragraphs does your draft have written in it so far?

Question 19

Assignment: explain how a bill becomes a law. Purpose: inform. Sam's draft argues that Congress works too slowly and never lays out the steps. What should Sam do?

Accepted Answer

Begin again with a plan that walks readers through the steps in order.

Answer

Keep the draft as it is and list the steps in a paragraph at the end.

Answer

Soften the complaints about Congress so that the draft sounds more balanced.

Answer

Add sources showing how slowly Congress passed its bills during the last year.

Question 20

Task: explain erosion to second graders visiting the classroom. Draft: "Erosion is the gradual displacement of sediment by hydrological forces." Which revision fits this audience without changing the meaning?

Accepted Answer

Erosion happens when moving water slowly carries bits of rock and soil away.

Answer

Erosion is the gradual movement of sediment caused by the force of flowing water.

Answer

Erosion is what happens when water gets into things and destroys them over time.

Answer

Erosion is a process that scientists study by measuring riverbanks every single year.

Question 21

Task: a how-to article for the school website explaining how to reserve a practice room. Purpose: instruct readers who have never done it. Which organization fits this task?

Accepted Answer

The steps in the order a reader carries them out, one step per short paragraph

Answer

A history of the practice rooms, then the reasons the school built them

Answer

The writer's own practice memories, arranged from sixth grade to now

Answer

Every rule the music department has, arranged in alphabetical order

Question 22

Task: an article about stage lighting for readers who have never worked backstage. The draft uses gel, fresnel, and gobo without explanation. Which change best fits this audience?

Accepted Answer

Give a brief plain definition the first time each term appears

Answer

Add more lighting terms so the article sounds better informed

Answer

Leave the terms undefined and move them to the final paragraph

Answer

Replace every term with bright or dim and drop the details

Question 23

Task: a newsletter report on the results of the school food drive. Purpose: report what the drive achieved. Which detail from the writer's notes belongs in the draft?

Accepted Answer

The drive collected 1,240 cans, compared with 800 last year

Answer

Canned food was first invented in the early 1800s, in France

Answer

Two volunteers disagreed about where to stack the boxes

Answer

The writer believes the drive should be held twice a year

Question 24

Task: a 500-word article; the draft runs 900 words. Purpose: explain why the town built a seawall. Which cut best protects the purpose?

Accepted Answer

The three paragraphs retelling the writer's beach vacation

Answer

The engineer's account of how storm surge broke the old wall

Answer

The dates and the final cost of the seawall project

Answer

The two sentences naming the neighborhoods the wall protects

Question 25

An informational draft finishes a section on how wildfires start and begins a section on how crews fight them. Which sentence best opens the new section?

Accepted Answer

Once a fire is burning, crews attack it from the ground and from the air.

Answer

Wildfires begin in many different ways, as the section above explained.

Answer

Firefighting is easily the most exciting job anyone could ever have.

Answer

The state has employed paid firefighting crews since about 1905.

Question 26

A paragraph explains why sea otters matter to kelp forests. It contains these four sentences. Which one does not belong in that paragraph?

Accepted Answer

Sea otters have the densest fur of any mammal.

Answer

Otters eat sea urchins, which graze on kelp.

Answer

Where otters disappeared, urchins stripped the kelp bare.

Answer

Kelp forests shelter the fish that feed near the coast.

Question 27

Task: a guide for new sixth graders about their first week of middle school. Purpose: help them prepare. Which title fits this task and audience?

Accepted Answer

Your First Week: What to Bring and Where to Go

Answer

Transitional Anxiety Among Early Adolescent Populations

Answer

Why Sixth Grade Was the Worst Year of My Whole Life

Answer

Middle School

Question 28

Task: a bike-safety article for fifth graders. Purpose: persuade them to wear helmets. Which opening best fits this audience and purpose?

Accepted Answer

Your helmet is the only part of your bike that protects your head.

Answer

Cranial trauma remains the leading cause of pediatric cycling deaths.

Answer

Bicycles were first sold in large numbers in the 1890s.

Answer

Some riders say helmets look silly, and they may have a point.

Question 29

A draft about a class trip was written for classmates. It will now run in the newsletter that goes home to parents. Which change does the new audience require?

Accepted Answer

Explain the classroom references that only classmates would recognize

Answer

Add more slang so the writing sounds friendly to families

Answer

Remove the dates and place names to make the piece shorter

Answer

Keep the abbreviations classmates use, since they save space

Question 30

Purpose: show readers how to change a bike tire. The draft explains it in three long paragraphs, and every reader who tested it got lost partway through. What should the writer do?

Accepted Answer

Rebuild the explanation as short numbered steps in order

Answer

Add an introduction explaining why bike tires go flat

Answer

Correct the spelling mistakes and leave the paragraphs as they are

Answer

Split each long paragraph into two shorter paragraphs

Question 31

Task: a science newsletter paragraph explaining what a keystone species is, for readers meeting the term for the first time. Which addition develops it best for them?

Accepted Answer

One familiar example, such as the gray wolf, worked through in two sentences

Answer

A second definition of the term using different technical wording

Answer

A list of eight keystone species with no explanation of any of them

Answer

A sentence saying the idea is an important one to understand

Question 32

Task: ask the district budget committee to fund a new bus route. Which support best fits this audience and purpose?

Accepted Answer

The route's yearly cost set beside the number of students it would serve

Answer

A description of how tired students feel on the morning walk

Answer

A student's quotation about how fun the current bus rides are

Answer

An account of the district's first school bus, purchased in 1948

Question 33

A schoolwide guide addresses its readers as "you" in one paragraph and as "students" in the next. What should the writer do about this?

Accepted Answer

Settle on one form of address and use it throughout the guide

Answer

Alternate the two forms so the writing keeps some variety

Answer

Keep both and add a note explaining the difference between them

Answer

Replace both with "one" in every sentence of the guide

Question 34

Task: explain to classmates why the school moved lunch to 11:30. Purpose: inform. Which pattern of development fits this task?

Accepted Answer

Causes and effects: what the old schedule caused and what the change fixed

Answer

A comparison of the lunch menus at four nearby schools

Answer

A step-by-step procedure for serving a hot lunch line

Answer

A profile of the cafeteria's longest-serving employee

Question 35

In a draft about the school garden, paragraph 2 and paragraph 4 both explain that the garden lowers cafeteria costs, in different words. Which revision fixes this?

Accepted Answer

Combine them into one paragraph and use the space for a new reason

Answer

Delete both paragraphs, since the same point appears twice

Answer

Keep both, because repeating a point makes it more convincing

Answer

Move paragraph 4 next to paragraph 2 and keep both as they are

Question 36

Task: an informational article about how tides work, for the class blog. Which ending best fits an informational purpose?

Accepted Answer

A short recap of the moon's pull and the daily cycle it produces

Answer

A claim that beach towns should limit new construction

Answer

A paragraph about the writer's own trip to the shore in July

Answer

An invitation for readers to send in their own beach photos

Question 37

Task: a newsletter profile of the cafeteria manager. Purpose: show what her workday demands. Which interview question best gathers material for that purpose?

Accepted Answer

What happens in your kitchen between 5 a.m. and the first lunch bell?

Answer

How many years have you worked for this school district?

Answer

What did you usually eat for lunch when you were a student?

Answer

Which cafeteria in town serves the largest number of people?

Question 38

Task: a 40-word program note. Draft: "The band, which was started in 2019 by students, plays music that they write themselves." Which revision is concise without losing information?

Accepted Answer

The band, started by students in 2019, plays its own music.

Answer

The band plays its own music.

Answer

Students started a band back in 2019.

Answer

The band, which students started back in the year 2019, performs music that they themselves write.

Question 39

Task: propose a solution to crowding at the bike racks. Purpose: propose. The draft describes the crowding in detail and then stops. What does this draft need?

Accepted Answer

A proposed fix and what carrying it out would take

Answer

More detail about how crowded the racks get each morning

Answer

A stronger opening sentence about the crowding problem

Answer

An explanation of why more students ride bikes to school this year

Question 40

Task: an informational article about recycling. The draft's final line reads: "Everyone should agree that recycling is the smartest choice." That line states an opinion rather than information.

Accepted Answer

True

Answer

False

BLASTROOM

BLASTROOM

BLASTROOM

The Writing Process: Task, Purpose, Audience, and Revision Judgment

Ways to Play

Device Games: Students play on their phones

Blast Go

Board Games: Teacher-led, projected to the class

Like what you see?

Zombie Escape

Avalanche

Maze Blast

Cave Climb

Blast Out

Mystery Auction

Tour Guide

Food Truck Rush

Tug of War

Bug Blast

Alien Blast

Glacier Rush

BlastRace

BlastQuiz

BlastBoard

Seek & Destroy

Mystery Blast

Checkers

Texas Hold 'Em

Da Bomb

Castle Siege

Hot Potato

Market Mayhem

King of the Hill

Bank Heist

Top Corner

The Writing Process: Task, Purpose, Audience, and Revision Judgment

Ways to Play

Device Games: Students play on their phones

Blast Go

Board Games: Teacher-led, projected to the class

Like what you see?

More like this

Zombie Escape

Avalanche

Maze Blast

Cave Climb

Blast Out

Mystery Auction

Tour Guide

Food Truck Rush

Tug of War

Bug Blast

Alien Blast

Glacier Rush

BlastRace

BlastQuiz

BlastBoard

Seek & Destroy

Mystery Blast

Checkers

Texas Hold 'Em

Da Bomb

Castle Siege

Hot Potato

Market Mayhem

King of the Hill

Bank Heist

Top Corner