English 110C'01

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English 110C.01

• Day 3

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Five Analytical Moves

• The five analytical moves is a tool that aids in
  analysis.
• Analysis examining a complex whole by breaking
  it down into its component parts.
• Why The Method works
• It enables you to look for meaningful patterns
  that will help you determine what things are
  significant.
• This technique also incorporates making
  observations and close reading.

3
Five Analytical Moves (cont.)

• Move 1 Suspend Judgment
• Suspending judgment is a precursor to analytical
  thinking.
• Rather than say this essay was boring, ask
  what did I find most interesting about the essay?
• Avoid responding to the readings in like/dislike
  and agree/disagree evaluative modes.
• Ask why did I have this particular reaction?

4
Five Analytical Moves (cont.)

• Move 2 Define Significant Parts and How Theyre
  Related
• Divide the subject into its main parts.
• Consider how the main parts are related.
• How they are related to each other.
• How they are related to the subject as a whole.
• Remember all analytical writing pays attention
  to detail.
• Consider how do the main parts contribute to the
  meaning of the subject as a whole?

5
Five Analytical Moves (cont.)

• Move 3 Look for Patterns of Repetition and
  Contrast (The Method)
• The Method is a procedure that helps you know
  which details are significant.
• It is useful to think of The Method as
  preliminary outlining that prepares you to do
  analysis.

6
Five Analytical Moves (cont.)

• Step 1 Locate exact repetitions
• List identical words or details and the number of
  times they appear in the text.
• Step 2 Locate repetitions of same/similar
  kinds of details/words (strands)
• Explain how the details/words are connected.
• Ask yourself what do these details and/or words
  have in common?

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Five Analytical Moves (cont.)

• Step 3 Locate binary oppositions
• Q. What is a binary opposition?
• A. details and/or words that are part of an
  oppositional pair
• Examples
• right/wrong
• empower/disempower
• rationality/irrationality
• Select the most important binaries

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Five Analytical Moves (cont.)

• Step 4 List and Rank
• Two most important exact repetitions
• Two most important strands
• Two most important binaries
• Step 5 Final Selection
• Choose one exact repetition, one strand, or one
  binary that you take to the most important.
• Explain why you chose what you did.

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Five Analytical Moves (cont.)

• Why The Method works
• Performing The Method allows you to spend more
  time noticing significant details rather than
  trying to make meaning of what may be a difficult
  subject.

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Five Analytical Moves (cont.)

• Move 4 Make the Implicit Explicit
• Making the implicit (what is suggested but not
  directly stated) explicit (directly stated) is an
  interpretive move, not simply an observation.
• This move can be a difficult one if you are
  resistant to analysis and think in terms of
  hidden meaning or reading between the lines.
• Meaning is not hidden rather, making meaning
  requires analytical thought.

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Five Analytical Moves (cont.)

• Move 5 Keep Reformulating Questions and
  Explanations
• The analytical process requires that you ask
  questions of your subject matter
• Which details seem significant? Why?
• What does the detail mean?
• How do the details fit together?
• What details dont seem to fit?
• How might the details that dont fit be connected
  to a different pattern?

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The Method Looking for Anomalies

• Q. What is an anomaly?
• A. An anomaly is something that seems out of
  place or does not fit a pattern.
• Example
• Why it works
• Looking for anomalies can get you to consider
  other possible interpretations.
• It moves you away from limited ways of thinking.

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More Analytical Tools
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10 on 1

• Q. What is the 1?
• A. The 1 is a representative example or pattern
  taken from The Method procedure.
• Q. What are the 10?
• A. The 10 are
• Observations about the 1
• Interpretations about the 1
• Ask yourself what patterns, repetitions, etc. do
  I notice?

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10 on 1 (cont.)

• Why 10 on 1 works
• 10 on 1 allows you to be more specific.
• 10 on 1 helps you discover the complexity of
  the subject you are dealing with.
• 10 on 1 deters you from making generalizations
  and only following your first claim about the
  subject