Taking an Approach

I think that taking an approach encompasses the ideas expressed in “Forwarding” and “Countering.” Yet, it takes these ideas and expands on them. In taking an approach, a writer acknowledges influences, turns an approach on itself, and reflects on his/her choices. Although Joseph Harris goes in length to describe and explains how a writer applies these three mechanisms of taking an approach, I interpreted this chapter in reference to forwarding and counter. Acknowledging influences is similar to forwarding because it calls on the work of other authors. On the other hand, I imagine turning an approach on itself is like countering because a writer can do so by examining how a work is incomplete or wrong. Lastly, I think the third mechanism of taking an approach, reflexivity, allows a writer to move beyond another’s work. I think reflecting on choices helps a writer write in another writer’s mode or style of thinking.

Harris wrote, “Reworking familiar material is a standard practice.” I understand what he means because taking an approach can be seen in my reading of the New York Time. Moreover, taking an approach is quite commonly used by writers.

On the New York Times, there was an article about a group of women in a small village in Vietnam. These women were unique because they made the choice to be single mothers. The writer of the article, Julie Cohn, acknowledges traditional Vietnamese custom that states it is improper for unmarried women to have children. She turns the approach  on itself by writing that theses women were defying this custom by bearing children without a husband. She argues that the male to female ratio was uneven due to war so these women accept to raise children on their own.