”Wrestling with the Draft” vs “Cut-and-Paste Revision”

Although,  I felt my essay was just a bunch of gibberish and regurgitated facts, I am actually glad I read it aloud <gasp> to a group of peers.  They, amazingly did not fall asleep, and  actually had questions (!) which helped me tremendously on moving forward with this ‘thing’.   I had taken a bunch of stuff out of the ‘thing’ because I had felt it was just relaying more and more “facts” without making the essay my own, but (now) realize that (at least until the next rewrite) some of this info is needed because it ties it together (such as what exactly are food borne illnesses,  what causes Salmonella, E.coli, and Campylobacter; And although everyone knows to “wash your hands” but WHY wash your hands).
Anyway, I have done the highlighter exercise, which  truly is helpful, but I am finding the “CUT-AND-PASTE REVISION” to be exactly what is needed in getting this thing to flow a bit better.    I actually think BOTH exercises are beneficial  and have helped me look at “this thing” with a new set of eyes.

What also has been helpful, is rereading my sources, then writing a phrase, paragraph, and/or jotting down some thoughts regarding a source, and then including those separate “conglomerate of words” in a cut-and-paste essay put together.  Some thoughts just don’t fit (yet).  Other “word pieces”, such as about the Food Handler’s Permit, and clusters of diseases (PulseNet) have brought more clarification and substance (I hope) to this topic.