Week Eleven: Asking Follow-up Questions
If you've ever watched a news conference, you've undoubtedly heard a
reporter ask the question, "Can I ask a follow-up?" If this
seems kind of pushy, it's because it is kind of pushy! Reporters do this
because they know that the conversation doesn't end after the first question
has received a reply; that reply, in turn, generates other questions,
which require replies of their own. Of course, in a news conference, there
are always lots of other reporters eager to ask questions and the person
being questioned is usually equally eager for the topic to change, so
it is difficult to get beyond one follow-up question.
By this point in the semester, you should be well equipped to answer
the following questions about each of the readings you've been assigned
to work with:
The question that we want to make certain you leave this course asking,
in addition to these two, is:
-
What is the significance of holding this position?
-
Or, to put the question another way, what is the consequence of holding
this position?
By asking this question and seeking its answer, you give yourself the
opportunity to move the focus of your paper away from the assigned reading
and on to your own ideas about and responses to the assigned reading.
This last question, in other words, opens the door for you to write essays
that are primarily concerned with your own ideas and interpretations:
this last question allows you to use your own writing to advance your
own education.
Reporters aren't the only ones who ask pushy follow-up questions, of
course. This is a habit of mind that characterizes, in one way or another,
all who are intellectually engaged and curious. No doubt, by this point
in the semester, you will have found that, no matter what you write, your
teacher has further questions to ask about your position. Indeed, you
may well have had the following experience:
You have a strong paper overall and you've raised a point that you
feel pretty sure no one else has thought of. But, when your paper
is returned, your instructor, instead of remarking on the originality
of your insight, writes only, "GREAT IDEA-BUT EXPLAIN IN MORE
DETAIL."
It's not enough just to have a sentence or even a paragraph that makes
an interesting point. You must also show the steps in your thinking that
led you to that idea. You must explain not only WHAT you think, but also
WHY you think that way and WHY it is a significant response. And the way
to learn how to do that is to get yourself to ask follow-up questions-to
follow your first "why question" with another "why question."
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