It it appropriate to polish up samples of my past writing from class for LOR

[grad2011a]

A professor for a class that I had for two classes: one recent, the other two years ago wanted, as part of the materials she needed to refer to in writing my letter, a copy of my final essay from the earlier class (the prof already has the copy of my recent essay). Is it ethical for me to proofread the one from earlier. Although I received a 4.0 on it, it was the TA grading it and he was more lenient than the professor about some errors I likely had (citations and so forth) because I was in a rush to get it in. I am proud of the paper, but feel like I should polish it somewhat. Does anyone know if this is frowned upon or not?

[wtncffts]

Interesting question. I think proofreading, correcting spelling and other style errors, would be fine. Perhaps, though, you would want to communicate that to the prof. Just a short note saying what you corrected. The key thing is you never want to misrepresent yourself or your work.

[runonsentence]

Hmm. Perhaps you could submit two versions? The original, and also the one you choose to revise?

I suggest this because it seems your advisor may want to do one of two (or two!) things: speak to how you did in her class, as compares to the typical undergrad she teaches, and also speak to your current abilities and your potential to do graduate level work.

While I understand wanting to put your best work forward, she may want to read through the original and gauge how you did given the context ("Wow, Student really wrote a well-organized argument considering she only had a week to do it!").

You could put a note on your email that says, "I wanted to polish up my writing, so I've since revised the paper, but I wasn't sure if you wanted to see the original I handed in for class so that is also attached." She doesn't have to read both if she just wants to see the polished version.