There are several recommendations, specifically from Chapter 14 of Tell It Slant , that I found helpful while revising my essay. The first suggestion I noticed was to question, " Why does this essay exist? " Although a seemingly simple reflective question, it is an important one. There should be a reason behind any piece, a specific audience in mind. For Cara Italia , I want the focus to be about the personal transformation I experienced while studying abroad. Reading through my essay, I think I got caught up in describing the sights of Italy. It is a beautiful country and I want to give it the attention it deserves. However, some revisions I'm making on my essay are to include more personal feelings/reflections while I'm in those moments. I don't want to take out the descriptions of my excursions, but I want to add more depth to them. I think this will show how much I changed while I was abroad and shift the focus of my essay to what I intended it to be: growth. ...