Harris Blog

I found Harris’s first two articles in Rewriting to be a very unique perspective than what I am accustomed to. He explains academic writing as “in response to the work of others”. He goes on to explain that academic writing, or what he calls ‘rewriting’, is a process by which a writer analyzes and expands on the works of others. According to Harris, academic writing and reading are interrelated. A writer clearly has to read other works before he or she can expand upon it. When reading critically, Harris suggests four methods: coming to terms, forwarding, countering, and taking an approach. Coming to terms involves comprehending and re-presenting a text. Basically, to understand a text so well that you can explain its intent or purpose without directly quoting the author. Forwarding is the concept of recirculating texts or ideas while adding ideas or insights to them. Although countering typically makes one think of an argument or rebuttal, it is not quite the same according to Harris. He says that a proper counter-argument must recognize the positive attributes of a text and rethink or expand its weaker points. Taking an approach is similar to putting yourself into an author’s shoes. You try to draw from an author’s style and apply it to other texts. These four methods for critical reading apply directly to one of the most important parts of the writing process: revision. When an author is able to apply these principles to their own work, he or she can advance their writing tremendously. The purpose of writing is not so much to follow a strict pattern as much as to fulfill a certain function. Every text has a purpose. The value in a text is not in the form; rather, it is determined by whether or not it fulfills its function. Harris and Sullivan share some similar opinions in writing. I found it interesting that both seem more concerned with the function or purpose of a text than any other literary aspect. Sullivan likes that blogging is unstructured. This lack of structure is the reason that blogging is such a powerful tool of self expression, or as he stated, “writing out loud”.