Interrogating the question or title
Petrucci
suggests creating notes while you undertake these stages. For the first
stage WORD by WORD you will need pens or
pencils in these three
colours: BLACK, RED,
GREEN.
- Go through the question/title, carefully, underlining
words or
phrases according to this colour code:
| BLACK
= BLAtant Instruction |
Something
you clearly must do; a directive. |
RED = REference
Point;
REquired
Input |
Any
definition,
term,
author, theory, particular text, idea (either referred to or strongly
implied). |
GREEN = GREmlin
‘GREEN Light’
|
Subtle
signal, easily missed (to your cost!)
Hint on: how to proceed, desired emphasis, etc. |
Note: Don’t overdo BLACK. Home
in on specific demands (e.g.
‘Compare all the texts, using 2 or more of the criteria
…’). Broadly, RED refers to anything in the
‘knowledge base’ (facts, authors, theories, etc)
that you’ll need to draw on.
- Ideally, most of the words in
the question (including quotes) should
get underlined in one (or more) of the colours. Make sure you cover all
significant phrases. If any large sections remain un-coloured, discuss
them with your tutor: have you missed something?
- Now, using a large sheet of paper, list all your ideas, thoughts
& reactions for each coloured segment. Give attention to each
section in turn, remembering what its colour stands for.
Finally, returning to the second stage in the process of interrogating
the question or title, you need to re-check your notes in the context
of the OVERALL PATTERN. Have you covered
everything? Do your notes make sense in the overall
context? This activity helps to compensate for any
‘reductionism’ that might have slipped into the
first stage. Remember you should keep the question in mind
during all stages of writing the assignment.
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