Ratiocination

Ratiocination usually means to reason with a process. Strictly speaking, this is

revising with a process. This coding activity is going to take your revised work and
fine tune it! Please print out a copy of your latest History Fair writing piece and
follow these steps completely and in order.

Part 1: Using Strong Verbs

Linking and being verbs make your writing sound weak, and they rob your work of
sophistication and maturity. Instead of using these types of verbs, our task is to use
stronger, more precise language.

1. ALL of the being verbs in your writing (you may exclude being verbs in direct
quotations)

am is are was were be being been

Dont forget hidden being verbs:

arent isnt arent wasnt werent

2. Add up the number of being verbs you circled, and begin to revise your work to eliminate
of them. For example, if you circled 20 being verbs, your goal is to eliminate 10 from
your work. This is the most challenging task in the ratiocination, and it is going to stretch
your brain to rethink the structure of your work. However, this step will make the most
dramatic improvements! Stick with it, and think about making structural changes to
your sentence formation!

Part 2: Repetition
Many students begin too many sentences in the same way. Again, this makes your essay
weak and simple! This task will rid your writing of redundancy!
1. Put [brackets] around the first word of every sentence.
2. In the margin, make a list of those bracketed wordsALL of them...even if they are the
same. You may find that you write some words down more than once.
3. If you started any sentences with it, CHANGE IT!
4. Then, revise any areas where you started two or more consecutive sentences with the
same word.
5. Now that you have the first word of each sentence identified, check to make sure youve
started with a capital letter!
Part 3: Banned Words
Lets eliminate banned words, which are vague and simple. Instead, use specific and vivid
language.

Banned words:
very got get nice bad thing good stuff awesome wonderful cool okay *so

* If youre using So at the beginning of a sentence, chances are that it is a transition, and you dont need
to change it unless you can determine a better transition word..

1. Pull up a the digital file of your work.

2. Use Clt+F to search for all of the banned words...one-at-a-time,
3. As you find these words, block them out on your hard copy
4. Revise your work to eliminate a
ll of the banned words!

Part 4: Banned Words Part II

Contractions are a great way to shorten language. We use contractions in our everyday
language, but they should not be present in formal assignments. This step tasks you with
turning all of the contractions in your work into the words the contraction stands for
1. Use CTL+f to locate contractions in your digital work
2. On your hard copy, place an X through any contraction you find
3. Turn each contraction into the words it stands for
- Common Contractions -

Havent = have not Its = it is

Hasn't = has not Theyre = they are
Hadnt = had not Whats = what is
Wouldnt = would not Whos = who is
Wont = will not

Part 5: Specific Nouns

Your writing needs to be very clear. This step will help assure the reader has a crystal clear
understanding of your ideas.
1. Draw a around all incidences of it.

2. Look for a more definite/clear noun if the pronoun it is not clear.

3. If you used the contraction its separate it into the words it is.
Part 6: Spelling
1. Read your work BACKWARDS to check for spelling. Start at the end of your piece and
read from the bottom to the top, backwards to forwards. By reading this way, the focus
is on single words and not context. Dont ever depend on spell check on the computer.
2. Now read forward for spelling. This time look for proper use of homophones, again, I
suggest CTL+F to find the words. Make sure youve used the right spelling! If you find
any more contractions, turn them into the two words they stand for (ex: cant = cannot)

Their: Use as a To: c an be used as a It's: is the contraction Then: used to show
pronoun showing preposition or and an for it is. the passage of time
possession of infinitive Its: is the possessive Than: used for
something Too: can mean form ("possessive" comparisons
Theyre: this is a or means belongs to) of
contraction, so you Two: i s a number
shouldn't use it in a
formal assignment
There: is used as a
pronoun or an adverb