The Last Blog: Taking an Approach

After reading through Harris’ Chapter “Taking an Approach” I have come to define “taking an approach” as a method of taking on another author’s methods, putting yourself in their shoes and producing work in the manner of someone else. He compares this to a band doing a cover of a famous song—they sing essentially the same song but make it their own. Taking an approach includes adapting another’s style, perspective, mode of thinking, or mode of writing, (79). Just as in each predecessor to this chapter, Harris has outlined three main “moves” that accomplish the goal of taking an approach: Acknowledging influences (openly stating the writer or writers whom you have modeled your text after), turning on an approach itself (turning the authors questions upon their own work or upon themselves), and reflexivity (openly noting what choices you have made in constructing a text).

One distinct method of taking an approach that is visible frequently in the NY Times and most news is the method of acknowledging influences. Almost every story is adapted from another—much news is a cover of a news story previously reported by a different source. Thus, within the story the author might quote other individuals that have reported the story, but they are taking a new approach at producing it in their own manner. This also leads to turning an approach on itself like we have seen in the videos that mock Fox News—within the video they turn what Fox News has said against themselves to illuminate the faults.

When taking an approach, little remains the same because you are taking someone else’s work and re-working it. The new approach alters the previous material in a new way. This gains new perspective on a topic but can lose some of the previous author’s intentions and grand ideas in the process. What exactly remains the same in the new approach varies based on how you conduct that approach.