Revising for Purpose - Bruce Ballenger

In this weeks reading Ballenger talks about how writing a draft is like a relationship. You put so much time and effort into it you see past the mistakes. Ballenger states, "revision doesn't necessarily mean you have to sever you relationship with your draft (Ballenger 221)." Revising your paper will help you see rough transitions or sections of your draft that may need help. Revising will help you see from the reader's perspective, other than your own.
In this chapter Ballenger comes up with an excercise to help you see if your ideas are more prominent than ideas that you have cited. This excercise helps to show if your blending your ideas nicely with your sources or if one of the other is overpowering the other.
Ballenger also describes the close knit relationship between purpose and your thesis. Having a purpose in your writing tells the reader what you want to do. For your thesis you don't want it to be too overpowering.
Another interesting suggestion Ballenger proposes is to attack your draft. "Too often writers respect the paper too much", says Ballenger (Ballenger 230). Breaking the draft will help you see the points more clearly.