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Struggling with writing? Excellence in Learning at DCU

ExL@DCU

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.
  1. Go through the question/title, carefully, underlining words or phrases according to this colour code:

    2. 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.

  2. 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?
  3. 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.