第2周 手机版.docx

第2周 手机版.docx

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第2周手机版

Analysis:

WhatItIsandWhatItDoes

FIRSTPRINCIPLES

Writingtakesplacenowinmoreformsthaneverbefore.WordsflashbyonourcomputerandcellphonescreensandspeaktousfromiPods.PowerPointbulletedlistsarereplacingtheclassroomblackboard,anddownloadableentriesfromWikipediaandGoogleofferinstantreadingonalmostanysubject.Despitetheoften-heardclaimthatwenowinhabitavisualage—thattheageofprintispassing—weare,infact,surroundedbyavirtualseaofelectronicallyaccessibleprint.Whatdoesallthismeanforwritersandwriting?

Ifwhatismeantbywritingistheforminwhichwrittentextappearsonpageorscreen,thenpresumablythestudyofwritingwouldfocusonthenewformsoforganizationthatcharacterizewritingontheweb.Butwhatifwedefinewritingastheactofrecordingourthoughtsinsearchofunderstanding?

Inthatcase,thewritingpracticesandmentalhabitsthathelpustothinkmoreclearlywouldbe,astheyhavelongbeen,atthecenterofwhatitmeanstolearntowrite.

Thisbookisprimarilyaboutwaysofusingwritingtodiscoveranddevelopideas.Itsgoverningpremiseisthatlearningtowritewellmeanslearningtousewritingtothinkwell.Thisdoesnotmeanthatthebookignoressuchmattersassentencestyle,paragraphing,andorganization,butthatittreatsthesemattersinthecontextofwritingasawayofgeneratingandshapingthinking.

AlthoughitistruethatauthorsofwebpagesandPowerPointdemonstrationsdisplaytheirfinishedproductsinformsunlikethetraditionalessay,peoplerarelyarriveattheirideasintheformofPowerPointlistsandhypertext.Whateverformthethinkingwillfinallytake,firstcomesthestageofwritingtounderstand—writingasasustainedactofreflection.Implicitthroughoutthisbookisanargumentforthevalueofreflectioninanagethatseemsincreasinglytoconfusesustainedactsofthinkingwithinformationdownloadingandformatting.

ANALYSISDEFINED

Wehaveseizeduponanalysisasthebook'sfocusbecauseitistheskillmostcommonlycalledforincollegecoursesandbeyond.Thefacultywithwhomweworkencourageanalyticalwritingbecauseitoffersalternativesbothtooversimplifiedthinkingof

4Chapter1Analysis:

WhatItIsandWhatItDoes

thelike/dislike,agree/disagreevarietyandtothecut-and-pastecompilationofsheerinformation.Itisthekindofwritingthathelpspeoplenotonlytoretainandassimilateinformation,buttouseinformationintheserviceoftheirownthinkingabouttheworld.

Morethanjustasetofskills,analysisisaframeofmind,anattitudetowardexperience.Itisaformofdetectiveworkthattypicallypursuessomethingpuzzling,somethingyouareseekingtounderstandratherthansomethingyouarealreadysureyouhavetheanswersto.Analysisfindsquestionswherethereseemednottobeany,anditmakesconnectionsthatmightnothavebeenevidentatfirst.

Analyzing,however,isoftenthesubjectofattack.Itissometimesthoughtofasdestructive—breakingthingsdownintotheircomponentparts,or,toparaphraseafamouspoet,murderingtodissect.Otherdetractorsattackitastherarefiedprovinceofintellectualsandscholars,beyondthereachofnormalpeople.Infact,weallanalyzeallofthetime,andwedosonotsimplytobreakthingsdownbuttoconstructourunderstandingsoftheworldweinhabit.

If,forexample,youfindyourselfbeingfollowedbyalargedog,yourfirstresponse,otherthanbreakingintoacoldsweat,willbetoanalyzethesituation.Whatdoesbeingfollowedbyalargedogmeanforme,here,now?

Doesitmeanthedogisviciousandabouttoattack?

Doesitmeanthedogiscuriousandwantstoplay?

Similarly,ifyouarelosingagameoftennis,oryou'vejustleftajobinterview,oryouarelookingatapaintingofawomanwiththreenoses,youwillbegintoanalyze.HowcanIplaydifferentlytoincreasemychancesofwinning?

AmIlikelytogetthejob,andwhy（orwhynot）?

Whydidtheartistgivethewomanthreenoses?

Ifwebreakthingsdownasweanalyze,wedosotosearchformeaningfulpatterns,ortouncoverwhatwehadnotseenatfirstglance—orjusttounderstandmorecloselyhowandwhytheseparatepartsworkastheydo.

Asthisbooktriestoshow,analyzingissurprisinglyformulaic.Itconsistsofafairlylimitedsetofbasicmoves.Peoplewhothinkwellhavethesemovesattheirdisposal,whethertheyareawareofusingthemornot.Havinggoodideasislessamatterofluckthanofpractice,oflearninghowtomakebestuseofthewritingprocess.Suddenflashesofinspirationdo,ofcourse,occur;butthosewhowriteregularlyknowthatinspirationalmomentscan,infact,becourted.Therestofthisbookoffersyouwaysofcourtingandthenrealizingthefullpotentialofyourideas.

Nextweofferfivebasic"moves"—reliablewaysofproceeding—forcourtingideasanalytically.

THEFIVEANALYTICALMOVES

Eachofthefivemovesisdevelopedinmoredetailinsubsequentchapters;thisisanoverview.Aswehavesuggested,mostpeoplealreadyanalyzeallthetime,buttheyoftendon'trealizethatthisiswhatthey'redoing.Afirststeptowardbecomingabetteranalyticalthinkerandwriteristobecomemoreawareofyourownthinkingprocesses,buildingonskillsthatyoualreadypossess,andeliminatinghabitsthatgetintheway.Eachofthefollowingmovesservestheprimarypurposeofanalysis:

tofigureoutwhatsomethingmeans,whyitisasitisanddoeswhatitdoes.

TheFiveAnalyticalMoves

Move1:

SuspendJudgment

Suspendingjudgmentisanecessaryprecursortothinkinganalyticallybecauseourtendencytojudgeeverythingshutsdownourabilitytoseeandtothink.Ittakesconsiderableefforttobreakthehabitofrespondingtoeverythingwithlikesanddislikes,withagreeinganddisagreeing.Justlisteninonafewconversationstoberemindedofhowpervasivethisphenomenonreallyis.Evenwhenyoutrytosuppressthem,judgmentstendtocome.

Judgmentsusuallysaymoreaboutthepersondoingthejudgingthantheydoaboutthesubjectbeingjudged.Thedeterminationthatsomethingisboringisespeciallyrevealinginthisregard.Yetpeopletypicallyrolltheireyesandcallthingsboringasifthisassertionclearlysaidsomethingaboutthethingtheyarereactingtobutnotaboutthemindofthebeholder.

Consciouslyleadingwiththewordinteresting（asin,"WhatIfindmostinterestingaboutthisis..."）tendstodeflectthejudgmentresponseintoamoreexploratorystateofmind,onethatismotivatedbycuriosityandthusbetterabletosteerclearofapprovalanddisapproval.Asageneralrule,youshouldseektounderstandthesubjectyouareanalyzingbeforedecidinghowyoufeelaboutit.（SeetheJudgmentReflexinChapter2,CounterproductiveHabitsofMind,formore.）

Move2:

DefineSignificantPartsandHowThey'reRelated

Whetheryouareanalyzinganawkwardsocialsituation,aneconomicproblem,apainting,asubstanceinachemistrylab,oryourchancesofsucceedinginajobinterview,theprocessofanalysisisthesame:

Dividethesubjectintoitsdefiningparts,itsmainelementsoringredients.

Considerhowthesepartsarerelated,bothtoeachotherandtothesubjectasawhole.

Inthecaseofanalyzingthelargedogencounteredearlier,youmightnoticethathe'sdraggingaleash,hasaballinhismouth,andiswearingabrightredscarf.Havingbrokenyourlargersubjectintothesedefiningparts,youwouldtrytoseetheconnectionsamongthemanddeterminewhattheymean,whattheyallowyoutodecideaboutthenatureofthedog:

apparentlysomebody'slostpet,playful,probablynothostile,unlikelytobiteme.

Analysisofthepaintingofthewomanwiththreenoses,asubjectmorelikethekindyoumightbeaskedtowriteaboutinacollegecourse,wouldproceedinthesameway.Yourresult—ideasaboutthenatureofthepainting—wouldbedetermined,aswiththedog,notonlybyyournoticingitsvariousparts,butalsobyyourfamiliaritywiththesubject.Ifyouknewlittleaboutarthistory,scrutinyofthepainting'spartswouldnottellyou,forinstance,thatitisanexampleofthemovementknownasCubism.Evenwithoutthiscontext,however,youwouldstillbeabletodrawsomeanalyticalconclusions—ideasaboutthemeaningandnatureofthesubject.Youmightconclude,forexample,thattheartistisinterestedinperspectiveorinthewaywesee,asopposedtorealisticdepictionsoftheworld.

6Chapter1Analysis:

WhatItIsandWhatItDoes

Onecommondenominatorofalleffectiveanalyticalwritingisthatitpayscloseattentiontodetail.Weanalyzebecauseourglobalresponses,toaplay,forexample,ortoaspeechorasocialproblem,aretoogeneral.Ifyoucommentonanentirefootballgame,you'llfindyourselfsayingthingslike"greatgame,"whichisagenericresponse,somethingyoucouldsayaboutalmostanything.This"one-size-fits-all"kindofcommentdoesn'ttellusverymuchexceptthatyouprobablylikedthegame.Tosaymore,youwouldnecessarilybecomemoreanalytical—shiftingyourattentiontothesignificanceofsomeimportantaspectofthegame,suchas"theywonbecausetheoffensivelinewasgivingthequarterbackalldaytofindhisreceivers"or"theylostbecausetheycouldn'tdefendagainstthesafetyblitz."

Thismovefromgeneralizationtoanalysis,fromthelargersubjecttoitskeycomponents,ischaracteristicofgoodthinking.Tounderstandasubject,weneedtogetpastourfirst,generic,evaluativeresponsetodiscoverwhatthesubjectis"madeof,"theparticularsthatcontributemoststronglytothecharacterofthewhole.

Ifallthatanalysisdid,however,wastotakesubjectsapart,leavingthembro