Rewriting #1

You move in tandem with or in response to others, as part of a game or dance or performance or conversation- sometimes toward a goal ad sometimes just to keep the ball in play or the talk going, sometimes to win and sometimes to contribute to the work of group. I hope in this book to describe intellectual writing as such a fluid and social activity and to offer you some strategies, some moves as a writer, for participating in it.

-Joseph Harris, "Rewriting"

We live in a society where everyone can speak out his/her opinions and express her/himself by communicating with each other. There are so many events that are happening in our world, the media is getting faster and faster, and we are at the point where you can hear events that are happening on the other side of world. To survive in this society you have deliver and advertise yourselves to the others in an effectual ways. There are many different ways (“texts”) to display your ideas and thoughts to the others. Harris said in his book, “A book… movies, plays, songs, paintings, sculptures, photographs, cartoons, videos billboards, advertisements, web pages, and the like – as well as objects like buildings, cars, clothes, furniture, toys, games, and other gadgets when they have somehow acquired meaning for their users” (11). Anything that can carry your thoughts, ideas or what you’re trying to let others know can be used as a text.

   Writing is one of the texts that people uses the most, and it is suitable in any kind of situations. I believe what harries says is true. To write well, we need to know how to rewrite, because “our creativity thus has its roots in the work of others-in response, reuse, and rewriting”. When you read a book not only you have to think about what the author is trying to say, but only what the purpose behind it is, and use that information to support what you are trying to say. In order to do that as Harris said, “ the three central moves that you need to make in coming to terms with a text-defining projects, noting keywords, assessing uses and limits-stay the same” (16). Also, try to view the text not only in the way what the authors meant, but also in your way how it means to you and how you can approach it in your way, and “using their texts for your purpose” (2).

   The similar things that I found in “Harris’s understanding of writings and Sullivan’s understanding of blogging” that they both think the key things of blogging and writing is “the idea of a move”, “strives to be part of public life”, and something that people can use as a medium to connect and communicate with other people in their daily life.