Writers who double back to alter diction and syntax change their understanding of what it is they are saying, thereby clarifying their understanding and enhancing the discovery of new ideas. Revision, when taken this way, is often a form of invention. The difficulty in teaching revision is that writing has mistakenly been regarded as a linear activity, and the unity of the essay has been taught with a vertically linear paradigm that moves from subtopic to subtopic. The outline is the symbol of the reality of the essay and may be formulated through any combination of prewriting activities. One way is through oral feedback on the student's ideas or topic. Another method of attacking the traditional outline is, first, to introduce a visual structure that invites employing the"topoi" during the planning stage and, second, to allow conferencing during the beginning stages of actual writing. Students are given a four-page handout that provides the traditional outline, a visual portrayal of the new paradigm with a section representing the interaction between teacher and student, a blank revision worksheet, and a representation of the work that is done at the instructor's desk during conferencing. In changing the paradigm of the outline, teachers can move students from a rudimentary mind set into the realm of formal logic. (HOD)