Countering in Writing

In “Rewriting”, Harris describes another form of rewriting, “countering”. In this form of rewriting you go on the limits of a piece of writing rather than the uses of it. He describes this not so much as arguing a another author’s point and winning, but rather as building off of what one author said and forming a different opinion. To do this you can argue the other side of a point, showing the different side of an idea that the writer focused on. You can also uncover values, expanding on a term or analysis that the writer did not focus on. Finally you can dissent, identifying a shared thought showing the limit of an argument. In countering, Harris stresses the importance of civility making sure that you do not tear an author to pieces because rather than show their weaknesses, you often show your own. To do this Harris suggests that you focus more on the position that the author has rather than how they phrase something, be careful with modifiers or words that hint at negative aspects of the writing, and always bring it back to what you are bringing to the discussion. By countering you gain a new perspective on an analysis or an idea. You show the limits of a piece of writing while building upon the idea. This can help to bring many new arguments to the table, extending the “conversation”. In countering you may lose the credibility of what is otherwise a very good analysis or idea by focusing on the weaker part of it.

Reading an article on the Huffington Post “Online Piracy: Youth Shaping Future of Online TV, Movies, Music” I saw not the author countering the analysis of the problem that is causing online piracy. Because most people focus on the people that are illegally downloading TV shows and music, the author countered this idea by arguing the other side of the point. Rather than writing about how to punish people who are illegally downloading entertainment the author writes how the entertainment industry could make things more available to the public. I thought that this was a very interesting article to read especially since it focused on studies done with college kids. Interestingly enough, the author also “forwarded” in this article using the research done by universities to help prove his point.