Rewriting: How To Do Things With Texts


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Preview — Rewriting by Joseph Harris. But unlike many other writers, what intellectuals have to say is bound up with the books we are reading. How does writing as an intellectual change the way we work from sources? Harris wants college writers to think of intellectual writing as an adaptive and social activity, and he offers them a clear set of strategies—a set of moves—for participating in it. Paperback , pages.

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Mar 17, Tanya rated it it was amazing.

Rewriting: How To Do Things With Texts

This happens less and less as I enjoy the job I have more and more and get older and older , but every once in a while something comes along that makes me want to be a teacher again, and "Rewriting" by Joseph Harris is one of those things. Here is Harris on what he works toward when planning a semester's writing course, "I want to give students a series of chances to surprise me, to rewrite the course I have designed -- to notice unexpected things about the texts I assign and to bring new texts This happens less and less as I enjoy the job I have more and more and get older and older , but every once in a while something comes along that makes me want to be a teacher again, and "Rewriting" by Joseph Harris is one of those things.

Here is Harris on what he works toward when planning a semester's writing course, "I want to give students a series of chances to surprise me, to rewrite the course I have designed -- to notice unexpected things about the texts I assign and to bring new texts to the table for us to talk about, to put their own spins on the familiar moves of intellectual writing, to develop their own projects as writers, to say something that responds to the work of others but that also feels new and their own.

My aim, that is, is to make the writing classroom, like writing itself, a space of possibility. I want my classroom back. I want to make that too.

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"Writing this essay in response to Rewriting has given me a better sense of the moves I, myself, make In Rewriting, Joseph Harris draws the college writing student away from static ideas of thesis, support, and structure, and toward a more mature and dynamic understanding. "Like all writers, intellectuals need to say something new and say it well. But unlike many other writers, what intellectuals have to say is bound up with the books.

And I could, better than I ever did, having read Harris' book which, as he says a good writing course should do "teaches both a practice and a habit of mind -- a way of doing things and a way of thinking about things. I would say more, but you shouldn't be reading my review of Joseph Harris' work, you should be reading this book, if you are a writing teacher, or interested in the craft of academic writing, that is. Jun 03, Gary rated it it was amazing. Harris provides an original and helpful way of thinking about the process of revision.

He views all writing as "rewriting," either rewriting what others have written or rewriting what we ourselves have written. He focuses in particular on the "moves" that writers make. These include "coming to terms," "forwarding," "countering," and "taking an approach. More than just repeating what an author has said it involves understan Harris provides an original and helpful way of thinking about the process of revision.

More than just repeating what an author has said it involves understanding an author's "project," that is, understanding what a writer is trying to do on his or her own terms.

This move involves doing something along the same lines of what the author is trying to do. It wouldn't necessary be the same "project" of a particular writer, but it might involve the same "approach" to a different project. In his chapter on revising, Harris talks about how to use these moves in response to a writer's own writing. And in a helpful afterward, he reveals how he teaches these ideas in his own course.

Sep 11, Steve rated it it was amazing. Harris helps any writer--first-year college student, graduate student, teacher, essayist, journalist--see how intellectual writing involves "doing things with texts. His examples, drawn from published writing and his own experience, illuminate these moves.

The book makes you want to write!

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Sep 27, Ashley rated it liked it. Thankfully, this book was not as much of a snooze as I thought it was going to be! Still wasn't exactly what I wanted to spend my time doing, but I did walk away with some ideas for class, so I'll take it! Apr 20, Prionti Nasir rated it really liked it. We had this as the textbook for our academic writing class. I certainly take away a nuanced and structured approach to academic writing, and feel much more informed about handling intertextuality and literacy in my texts.

Mar 07, Denise Sudbeck rated it really liked it. I wish I had this resource when I started writing the mother of all intellectual writing Better now during the revision than never! Jun 16, Edward Ferrari rated it really liked it.

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Genuinely useful terms and perspective, I plan to come back to this. Jul 08, Shana Karnes rated it it was amazing. Super smart and probably worth a re-read or two! Thank you for sharing the post. Coach Outlet Store Online July 15, at All sentences are about a little something or another person. The a little something or anyone that the sentence is about is called the topic on the sentence. From your blog, I see that, and study a thing I'd like.

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Contributors deb macncheese holly joanna clc sharon timna howard Middlebrow. Tech Tools cmap tools colr. Organizations and Maillists if: How To Do Things with Texts. It is the best book on academic writing I've encountered. I was lucky enough to get him to sign a copy of the book. I won't try to summarize all of the wise and wonderful things Harris has to say about writing in this fine volume. Rather, let me focus on two things. First, I'm drawn to Harris's account of the intellectual work we're asking our students to do. Toward the end of the volume, Harris warns against introductions that seem to fully anticipate and therefore pin down what the essay will go on to say.

He ties this proscription to a more positive account of what academic thinking and writing is about. When we teach a writing course, Harris believes we're teaching "a habit of mind that resists quick closure and acknowledges the merits of competing interests and values" One lesson I'll take away from this book, then, and hopefully import into my own courses is to place a greater emphasis on inquiry rather than argument.

Rewriting: How To Do Things With Texts

In each of the main chapters, Harris describes the main intellectual moves in the writing process: Coming to Terms--describing how students actively read with purpose, how they make readings their own Forwarding--recirculating key ideas from a text in one's own writing Countering--not simply to oppose a text, but to supplement it, to view its account of a subject as "partial" Taking an Approach--focusing on the transformative moment in writing, where the student makes new knowledge after the work of coming to terms, forwarding, and countering Harris's account of revision emphasizes the work of restating.

He wants students to be able to answer the question, "What's your project? This seems to overlap with the work of reflection, but for me its more mechanical and, thus, actually more profound. When we ask students to reflect, we're often asking for a kind of false profundity. We want them to achieve some kind of critical distance on their own work and process in what is, perhaps, an impossible time frame. I'm just now achieving critical distance on my twenties. But asking students to restate in a shorter form their project is to aim for a more realistic target.

In his descriptions of his own courses, I was struck by how Harris provides a subject matter for his classes and asks his students to engage in serious intellectual work through writing: Since I and some colleagues are in the process of tinkering with one of our writing courses, Harris's description gives me pause.

University of Louisville Writing Center Rewriting How to Do Things with Texts, Part 2

In our course, we emphasize writing as a form of action in community or public contexts.