Countering

            Joseph Harris’s idea of Countering is not a way to only bash on an authors but rather a way to prove to them why they are wrong. It is showing the author that their ideas are “partial” and telling them how to make them “whole”. Harris has three main points to Countering and they are; Arguing the other side, Uncovering values, and Dissenting.

            Arguing the other side is showing why something the author has criticized is correct or why one of their arguments is not correct. In this method, Harris says that you are supposed to add to what the author is saying; you are not telling them why they are wrong but rather why it is incomplete.

            Uncovering Values is a way to explain words and ideas that writers have not explained in their writing. To me, this is a way to use writer’s own words against them. If they do not completely define or explain a word or idea, you can add your own meaning to it in order show why they are not correct.

            Dissenting is showing a shared thought in order to show its limits. I see this as a way to show that the author was on the right path but did not make the right conclusion in the end. You can show where the writer’s ideas went wrong and include your own to show how to make it right.

            In all of this I think that Harris is missing one key feature, over thinking. For example, in the idea of “Arguing the other side”, Harris uses the example of how Berger “Counters” Clarks writing about nakedness and nudity in paintings. Berger “Counters” how there is a deeper meaning to nudity in art but that is not what Clark was trying to say. While yes Berger was adding to the conversation and pushing the idea of nudity in paintings, he was adding a point that Clark never brought up. All Clark was saying in his writing was that there is a difference between nudity and nakedness in paintings, not that nudity has a much more underlying meanings to it. In this case, Berger was not “Countering” but rather “Building” upon what Clark wrote.

            The author of this blog post used an example of countering. The author understood what points Harris was making about Countering and added to them. He showed that there is a difference between Countering a text and Building upon a text.