Introduction...
Literal An vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
The differences in depth of engagement between literal, interpretive and critical engagements really need to be clear. While the text already discussed the three levels of interaction and their differences, I believe they are worth examining further. What is meant by engagement should be clarified as well so that the expectations I have for you (and those that you should have for one another, and for me) are the same.
An Introduction...
Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
Engagement has different uses in different contexts, and each of these uses implies the presence of a common element: commitment. In an engagement to be married, the commitment is clear. An engagement with friends to meet for dinner requires a commitment that each person will be at the appropriate place at the prescribed time. In a rhetorical engagement, the commitment is to the rhetoric, to the interaction, to the mental work involved in figuring something out. An engagement is not a casual handshake, and is more than an embrace. Engagement, for the purposes of this course, involves wrestling with the material being covered, and I want you to consider wrestling in the more traditional Greco-Roman sense rather than what is popularized as entertainment in todays media. Now that we have that covered, its time we started engaging with each of the three levels of interaction mentioned above.
An Introduction...
Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
The Prose Reader indicates that to be literal entails knowing the meanings of the words individually and in relation to one another (2). Thats certainly true, and its important to be able to interpret things literally. Too often people skip over literal readings of things, for any of a variety of reasons, and end up reading too much into something, getting distracted, or looking for an answer instead of gathering information. If a literal meaning is absent then the foundation upon which the rest of that reading is built is shaky at best. A structure cannot stand without a foundation, right? Well, the truth is that it could, but any instability in the ground or severe weather would cause it to come crumbling down. For every text you read, whether it is one of the texts required for this course or your peers essays, I expect that you will be able to offer a literal reading of it.
An Introduction...
Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
A literal understanding of a text can be obtained quite easily by asking simple, straightforward questions of it. Complicated questions should not be asked because they can complicate otherwise simple details. Instead, keep to the simple and fundamental questions that lend themselves naturally to understanding something literally: Who, what, where and when. These questions, asked of the Prose Reader, could resemble Who is the target audience for this text? What is this section about? Where should I focus my attention? and When is a literal reading enough? The answers to who, what, where and when questions of a text give you a firm footing and establish your position as a reader relative to the text so you can structure your approach to an increased level of engagement with its content.
An Introduction...
Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
An interpretative understanding of a text requires the ability to make associations between details, draw inferences from pieces of information, and reach conclusions about the material (2). This should resonate with you. An interpretative understanding is an extension of a literal one, a level of understanding resulting from the interactions amongst the pieces of information gained from asking the questions I mentioned a moment ago. Understanding something on an interpretative level can be done by asking a single question: Why. Asking why about something forces you to assemble the information gathered in a literal reading in a certain order for a set of reasons defined by your understanding of the details at the moment you gather them. Returning again to asking questions of the Prose Reader, a fair question might be Why did the Flachmanns organize the material in this way?
An Introduction...
Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
A critical understanding of a text requires the most amount of mental work from us resulting in the deepest understanding about a subject. In this course critical work is expected of each of us regardless of what we do, where we do it, when were doing it, or who we do it with (or not), or why. In case youre sensing a pattern emerging, youre right: theres a single question that you can ask that lends itself to critical engagement each and every time, and thats How. If you were to ask such a question of the Prose Reader, it might be How does the organization of this text structure my effective interpretation of it? Working through the answer to that question will require a dip into the pool of interpretation and an examination of why the associations between the whos, whats, wheres, whens and whys of the text exist as they do and whether theyre legitimate or not based on the information gathered from a literal understanding of the content that led to the connections being made in the first place. Yes, critical work is that involved.
An Introduction...
Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
Now that we have reviewed engagement and critical separately, we have to reassemble them so that we may come to the appropriate understanding of what it is to have a critical engagement with something. Critical engagement: the deepest mental work we can commit ourselves to performing in order to understand something completely through disassembly, analysis and reassembly. This new definition is a far cry from the deep thinking too frequently associated with critical engagement, isnt it? I expect to see this level of interaction with the material to be evident in your responses to the required readings and your commentary on one anothers writing.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
If you were to witness me engaging with one of your texts at the three levels detailed above, a literal reading would not require me to loosen my necktie. An interpretative reading, however, would warrant me loosening my tie and straightening my glasses. For critical readings I lose the tie, clean and straighten my glasses, roll up my sleeves and make sure Ive got plenty of room to work. Roll up your sleeves, folks. Its time to get messy with the material.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
What does it mean to be critical? Who is critical? Where is something critical? When is someone critical? Good questions, yes? Im sure you recognize them, and I think you know what Im looking for by getting answers to them. You guessed it: a literal meaning for critical.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
So what does it mean to be critical? Does it mean to be mean and nasty? If so, why, and in what contexts? If not, then does it mean to be their antitheses? If so, why, and in what contexts? If not, why not, and, finally, what then? Im not convinced that being critical necessarily involves being mean and nasty, that its always necessary to have that overwhelmingly negative value attached to critical.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
Critical engagements, as discussed previously, naturally involve deconstruction and reconstruction, the disassembly and reassembly of a texts raw materials to unearth new understandings of the content with greater depth that change a texts landscape. These seemingly violent interactions are necessary and natural parts of critical work, and if you examine the natural world you will doubtless find examples where nature engages critically with itself. Consider volcanic flows: they decimate landscapes, yet reeds and grasses grow naturally to repopulate the landscapes with flora. If destruction is a natural product of growth so that new growth can emerge, then how can critical carry an inherently negative value?
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
Anything can be critical, cant it? It has to be something conscious, though (keeping in line with the nature of thought as a conscious act). People, obviously, can be critical. All too often people are accused of being critical of what someone might be wearing or thinking. And film critics Need I say more? But beyond people, can something else be critical? If you have pets, or if you know someone who has them, has one of them ever looked at you with a look youve had labeled as critical when youve placed it on someone else? Ask some poets and theyll anthropomorphize nature and give a rock a face with a critical look from time to time.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
Someone can be critical at any time and in any place, provided that the person is consciously willing and able to get to that level of engagement where new understandings are gained through the disassembly and reassembly of acquired information. Critical work happens all the time when something new and seemingly unfamiliar is encountered for the first time or after its been forgotten. Any changes to our lives, whether theyre large or small, serious or silly, can jumpstart critical engagements within us. Being a writing person, any changes to my writing habits require me to engage with them critically so I am fully aware of them. I made the switch from a Windows-based desktop to an Apple Powerbook just a few years ago, and I had to change the way I typed.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
The Backspace key I was used to was labeled Delete on my Powerbook, and Windows Delete key was no longer present. This seemingly subtle shift required me to revision the Backspace key in both name and function. I came to realize that Backspace moved my cursor back a space and deleted text at the same time. I had taken for granted that backward movement and deletion were the same action and realized that the real action, deletion, was disguised, hidden from me. I then had to break that connection, become consciously aware of exactly what I was doing whenever I was typing, and realize that what key I pressed had an accurately represented direct effect on the text on my Powerbooks screen.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
But why are we critical? And how do we critique? Those are questions we need to discuss as a group on the discussion boards after youve finished this presentation.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
Keeping dialogues going on a conscious level to a seemingly exhaustive (a.k.a. critical) depth between you and the texts you will read is part of the aim of this course. Asking questions came naturally to us when we were younger as we struggled to understand the complex language(s), signs, symbols and relationships that surrounded us and defined our already thriving and active world. Asking questions does not necessarily require a natural interest in learning more (although it helps), but it will lead you down the road of critical engagement that is expected of you inside this academic setting and beyond.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
Be prepared to ask questions, and look for questions to ask. If youre unsure of what specific questions to ask, the answer is that there is not any one question that is always the correct one to ask. Even the six basic questions that we have allied with literal, interpretive and critical can be asked in any form.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
I would offer that anything youre unsure about is something worth learning more about. If youre not sure of what you dont understand about a certain subject, then I encourage you to start asking questions of yourself that explore what you already know about that subject. Sometimes what we do not know becomes clear after combing through what we believe we do know. How many times have we misplaced something, so sure it wasnt in an odd place (like car keys in a sock drawer), only to end up tearing our rooms apart only to find it there? My old friend Sherlock Holmes has an axiom, that when you eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Eliminating knowledge will always lead to the unknown, and asking questions of the unknown leads to knowledge.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
As it can be inferred from our review thus far, reading critically need not stem from any natural desire to learn more about a particular subject matter, although the textbook suggests otherwise. Since thinking critically about a subject is a conscious act, one has to choose to do it. Consciously choosing to take an action is antithetical to something occurring naturally. Developing a natural curiosity becomes pretty complicated, then, and fostering it through all kinds of pre-essay reading will not always be possible. I am inclined to believe that few (if, indeed, any) of us read forwards or about the author sections to books before we read them. Instead, you rely on clues and cues you pick up from the author that indicate your presence or absence, most likely both to varying degrees, in the target audience for the piece. There are only two things texts immediately give a reader that offer a gauge on his/her presence in the target audience for the writing, and those are the writings title and language.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
Understanding titles are key to understanding anything about the writing at all. Titles serve as the names of the pieces for all intents and purposes, and how theyre read flavor the first impression the reader has about the text and its author. If you were to come across a title that made no sense to you, how would that affect your reading of a piece? It might very well affect your desire to read it or not, and that can affect the reading a great deal. However, if a piece of writing has a title that you recognize as reminiscent something of you already know something about, that flavors the reading as well and might cause some misinterpretation of the piece through bringing in preconceived notions based on previous experience of a text with a similar title.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
The language of a piece helps determine how accessible it is to you. It is also an indicator of any preconceived notions of inclusion in, or exclusion from, the target audience you may have as the author composed his/her work. If you can read mediaeval English easily then odds are text translations of other European sagas would be more accessible than it would be to you if you had trouble reading Shakespeares English. However, it is not always fair to assume that something written in high English carries some great content within its text. Consider the teachings of the Tao and its use of clear, simple language and metaphors. It is one of Humanitys greatest philosophies and continues to be examined and used as a way of living.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
When you read something critically, I encourage you to come to a literal understanding of the text first, an interpretative understanding second, and a critical understanding third. A great way to begin attaining each of those understandings is to ask their 6 questions of the texts title and language. The title A Tale of Two Cities may seem uncomplicated, but consider these (hopefully) familiar words: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Fair questions to ask could resemble the following: Whos best of times is it? What is the best of times? Where did the best of times take place? When was this best of times? Why was it both their best and worst of times at the same time? How is it that a time can be both the best and the worst of itself at the same time?
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
I will not require multiple readings from you for the texts you will encounter in this course, but I will offer that rereading is always beneficial and encourage you to engage in multiple readings. Rereading a text, like a novel, or giving someone a second glance, or listening to a CD repeatedly, will always add to the knowledge you have about that text. Any change in a text affects its interpretation. What if you suddenly noticed the absence of an otherwise frequent sideways glance of one of your favorite characters in a novel youve read? The absence of that heretofore omnipresent glance requires you to revisit the focus that character had on his/her situation in that scene and in turn adds a new flavor to the story. Even if nothing changes significantly, or indeed at all, the presence or absence of consistency indicates something.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
But an interpretation of a text without rereading offers a unique perspective for the reader and the author. In this case, the author has only one instance to successfully communicate to his/her target audience what he/she wants to get across, and that can be a very important measure of success for the piece being read.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
Is either right or wrong? No. I strongly encourage you to get in tune with yourself and listen closely to your instincts that nudge you back to the text for another reading because theyre letting you know they need something else from the text, and you owe it to yourself to figure out what that something is. Similarly, if your impulse is to put the text down and distance yourself from it, there are reasons for that impulse as well, and I encourage you to find out what those reasons are. Either way, your engagement with those impulses and their reasons will be critical in nature and enhance your reading of those texts.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
A piece of critical writing, as you can probably discern by now, is a piece that goes to an extensive depth of analysis on a certain subject matter that explores the validity of the conclusion of your critical engagement with that subject matter (thesis idea). To compose a piece of critical writing requires you to write critically, which in turn requires you to verbalize on the page your exploration of the subject matter you have examined critically. As surely as asking questions of a text in the ways I have outlined above results in a critical engagement, your critical writing is the presentation and organization of the answers to questions from your critical engagement in a fashion that disassembles, analyzes and reassembles it revealing your new understanding of the material as a construction that is as stable as the substance you took the information from originally.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
Writing critically will not always require such an explicitly linear and logical organization and presentation of material as my statements above might imply need to exist. Certainly a piece like a documented essay should have a formal presence and voice to convey critical depth appropriately, but there are some non-fiction prose modes whose interpretations as critical works exist implicitly.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
Take the descriptive essay form, for example. That essay form can be very personal in nature. I read an essay of this form that revisited summer shenanigans on a favorite beach. The essay was more than a collection of details: it was a collection of interactions between characters, sand and surf and sun that were woven together in a way that conveyed the experience to be not only believable but livable. Having experienced time on beaches on the East and West coasts of the United States, and the Hawaiian islands, I can say those experiences were not only accurate but left my skin warmed and had me looking for sand in my shoes. This student had gone to a great length to evoke images and tie anothers experiences to mine seamlessly, and that would not have been possible without a critical depth of exploration of ones sensory perceptions. I got the literal reading of the piece, and I understood the piece through an interpretative reading, but I believed it because of its critical depth.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
Everyone has his/her own, and no one of them is right or wrong. Each way may be more or less effective and/or efficient relative to specific contexts for writing specific pieces, but no one way is wrong. Im curious to read what you think about my process and what it says about me as an author and how I conceptualize my readers. I want you to get critical with my writing process on the discussion boards. Heres what I do: I get to a caf somewhere to drown in white noise and focus on my laptop screen. I find that I cannot focus at home, and regardless of how connected through IM services I am or not, regardless of whether or not my cell phone is on, I can with great success ignore everyone. (continued on the next slide)
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
Coffee is a must. Tea just doesnt cut it.
Something sweet is nice, but protein must come within the first hour or its all over. A nice wrap with chicken, feta cheese, hot sauce, pesto and spinach is a great way to get me working. Music is a must, too. Goth and punk get me closing the piece, whereas Techno (not House, just Progressive and Trance) get me started. Words or not, its cool. Interestingly enough, though, the darker the music, the better the writing. Not sure why (Im really curious to hear thoughts on this). Invention (receiving a subject matter to write about to a particular audience through a particular lens) is a subconscious act for me. I do not outline. I do not plan. I release it and let it (whatever it is) find its way. (continued on the next slide)
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
I revise as I go, and edit each word as I type. I dont edit the piece as a whole until its done and I can get some distance from it as a whole. I write until my body needs a change of scenery, not necessarily until the piece is done. Revision sessions with completed drafts require ambient music to be playing, and all the consumables mentioned above need to be present as well. I revise on paper before I put my fingers back to the keyboard, so blue rollerball pens are always present in my laptop bag.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
In your critique and analysis of my writing process, I want you to address whether or not my process would work for you and why (or why not). How similar to, or different from, your writing process is it? What do you see as ineffective and why? What do you see as effective and why?
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
Each of the methods listed in the textbook involves conscious thought. Each of these methods has been around for a while and are tried, true and trusted (by those they work for). In no way must any of these methods necessarily work for you (none of them work for me). However, if youre stuck on getting your writing process going, any one of those methods can be a good place to begin. You should also be aware of how forceful these potentially freeing methods for invention and drafting can be...
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
Freewriting forces freedom to write anything so ideas may sort themselves out. Clustering forces the making of associations between ideas in an attempt to sort them out. Brainstorming is forcing ideas to come out regardless of their associations. Journaling invites a private and intimate environment where comfort is the key to unlocking the door through which ideas can come and go regardless of their associations or values. Questioning is probably the most critical of these methods since it avoids assumptions about values and associations between ideas yet uses them as starting points ultimately fostering an analysis of the how of something youre just starting to uncover.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
The s*#&ty first draft exists. Yes, it does. Everyone makes one, whether we like to admit it or not. This is the draft that is whipped out and not proofread or edited or revised or not as well thought out as your work deserves to be. Keep it to yourself. Keep it for yourself. Maybe bring it out to see how far your writing has come between this draft and the final one, but keep it to yourself.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
Theres a perfect first draft. Nope. Never in human history has anyone created a perfect first draft, at least not one thats designed to be communicated to the masses as your essays are in this course. No one knows his/her audience that well or is that gifted with words that success comes on the first try.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
Each draft has to be perfect. Uh-uh. Were all human, and each draft is a stage in a larger process. It should be recognized and understood that each stage should be as close to ideal as possible, sure, but reaching the ideal is pretty tough. Simple things like punctuation and mechanics should be nailed down consistently so that the reader isnt being programmed to misread your text, but getting the concepts and ideas across perfectly in a draft Um, thats why its a draft.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
The final draft is perfect. Really? A draft is not perfect because it is final any more than it is final because it is perfect. A drafts finality makes it final, nothing more. I cant tell you the number of writers Ive met who look at their earlier work and say, I wrote that?! and want to take it and revise it all over again.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
Theres such a thing as a perfect draft. Ill let you figure this one out for yourselves.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
Well, not really, but it sounds nice, doesnt it? And it echoes the differences between the two. Think of editing as tightening screws on something youve just built from scratch. Without those fasteners in the proper orientation in the proper places the piece you built would fall apart, and no one wants that for their work. In contrast to editing, revising might involve changing the building material altogether. For example, changing the material for a cars exterior from metal to plastic makes the car lighter and eliminates the opportunity for it to rust. In short, editing looks at the microcosmic elements of the piece while revision yields macrocosmic changes.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
Revision literally means to vision again, and always includes new insights. Revision can involve a change of tense for the whole piece, or a new point of view, an altered tone of voice, a shift in focus onto a new main idea, etc. The bottom line: if your vision of your text hasnt changed, you havent revised. As you write, revise before you edit.
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Literal vs. Interpretative vs Critical Engagements Getting Critical with Critical Thinking Critically Reading Critically To Reread, or Not To Reread? Writing Critically Writing Processes Drafting Methods Drafting and Drafting Myths To Edit is Human, to Revise is Divine Conclusion
Now you have a reasonably solid foundation upon which we can build the rest of the course. If you are cautious to walk around wet spots in the concrete, remember this: Concrete, at its core, may never dry by the time its exterior falls apart because the material is so dense moisture has trouble escaping it. Yet concrete is solid enough to build tall buildings and walkways. You will not sink. None of us will let you. Sleeves up, everyone. Here we go!