Eleven

Harris discusses the idea of writing as a conversation and the idea of forwarding is not about debating in conversation, but more about moving the conversation forward. It is about bringing new people and readers into the conversation. Forwarding is about taking the work of other writers and putting it in your own work. The ideas are the same but the context is different. He points out four specific ways of countering: illustrating, authorizing, borrowing, and extending. Illustrating is about using examples for other works to help to make the point you are trying to make. Authorizing is about using another writer’s expertise to support your own writing. Borrowing involves using other writers’ ideas throughout your analysis of a subject. The last specific way, extending, is coming to your own unique position on the concepts from other writers. http://dish.andrewsullivan.com

This is an interesting example of forwarding because it is a blog post about someone forwarding. Andrew Sullivan posted about Justin E. H. Smith, who used the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson to get his point across. He uses the method of illustrating because he is making a point through Emerson’s writing.