Taking an Approach

            In Joseph Harris’s book Rewriting; Harris explains his idea of Taking an Approach. This idea of taking an approach has two meanings behind it, a week and a strong way to take a approach. A week approach is when someone adopts the ideas of another writing using quotes. Harris defines this as someone who is, “adopting (rather than adapting) the moves and interests of another writer.” A strong approach is basically the same thing as a week but with out using quotes. A person will transform an entire piece of writing and use the writer as an influence.

            There are three basic ideas on how a writer can take an approach. They are Acknowledging Influences, Turning an approach on itself, and reflexivity.

            Acknowledging influences has three ways of looking at your own work to see if someone has influenced it. The first on is by Defining Concerns. When an individual defines concerns, he or she asks what kind of writing they typically write? What kind of questions does he or she ask? And what texts and materials tend to attract his or her attention. Second we have Characteristic Methods. In characteristic methods a writer looks at his or her work and asks how does he or she go about answering the problems posed or questions asked? Does he or she interview or observe others? And does he or she survey previous research? Lastly, there is Style. Style is simply what sort of person you sense behind the writing.

            Turning an approach on itself is simply reading a writing and then asking the same sort of questions that he or she asks about others.

            Reflexivity is defined by Harris as, “When a writer reflects on the choices that he or she has made in taking a certain approach or in making use of a particular term.”

            All in all, Taking as approach was best described to me through on of Harris’s examples. He explains how when a producer is taking a book to turn into a movie, the producer has to creatively use the book as an influence. The movie cannot be the same as the book because it would not sell. The producer has to expand on the ideas of the book to make the movie unique but still following the main points of the book.