I think the biggest change I see between the first and final draft is just a more complete flow of thoughts. After finishing my body paragraphs, I went back and filled out the introduction and conclusion so that it all made sense. I kept large chunks of text throughout the piece so that I would be able to later access other quotes if I needed to. In doing so, I spent more time looking at the text being worked with and dug deeper into the meaning. Because of this, I adapted the quotes I originally planned, and added additional quotes and paraphrased sections of text. I also believe my analysis is clearer in the later draft because I wove my own opinions and experiences into it. These are skills I focused in on for this draft because previous peer groups have recommended it to me and in classroom discussions. I think that is really what distinguishes a rough draft from a final draft. An understanding and connection to the material being worked with is essential to use Barkley’s formula, but also just in good writing in general.
Another pivotal part of draft working is the thesis. Being the center of a piece of writing, the thesis must also be worked and adapted to maximize precision and concision in ideas. After finalizing a thesis, I needed to go back into the piece and make sure every paragraph and topic sentence supported my thesis and explained a portion of the mapping piece of it.
