Taking An Approach

The key idea behind Joseph Harris’s “Taking the Approach” is the creation of knew knowledge.  It is the adaption of another’s writing, not the adopting, through which your some of your ideas and even those of the author change.

“When you take on the approach of another writer both your thinking and theirs needs to change.  Otherwise you are simply applying ideas to examples. To transform is to reshape, not to replace or rebut. The original does not go away but is remade into something new.” (Harris, 74).

Harris lists several ways to achieve his: acknowledging influences, turning an approach on itself, and reflexivity.

Acknowledging Influences: Making note of other writers whose own writing has been a source for your own model.

·      Defining Concerns: What kinds of problems or issues does this writer often seem attracted to? What kinds of questions do they often ask?

·      Characteristics Methods: How does the author answer the problem or questioned posed? What research methods do they use? What sources?

·      Style: What type of person is the writer? What do you like about them? How do they interact with others?

Turning an approach on itself: Asking the same questions that a writer asks of others.

Reflexivity: Reflecting and noting the specific choices of methods, values, languages, you have used in constructing your text.

The NYTs are a prime example of “taking the approach”.  You can often learn a lot from an author by looking at their past articles.  You can derive a style from them; what they like, what interests them and who are they more politically aligned with. In addition, you can also see, through the opinion sections, the personal questions and concerns raised by the writer(s).  This more often encompasses reflexivity, in which the author is giving their personal opinion and therefore is more inclined to be reflective of their work than an editor.

In the blog that I’m following Hit and Run I can obtain a sense of style, usually, from the authors.  They normally incorporate their own personalities alongside the facts of their topic. It reminds me of an editor, but with more freedom.  In any case, they don’t seem to employ reflexivity very often, if at all.  There is an occasional turning the approach on itself in which the authors ask questions while reporting on the topic.