Learning Outcome Three: Employ techniques of active reading, critical reading, and informal reading response for inquiry, learning, and thinking.


I read an essay called “Making Conversation and The Primacy of Practice” by Anthony Kwame Appiah and I had to prepare it for discussion. I went through the essay highlighting areas where I had questions, terms that needed extended definitions, and what connections I made with the article. Once I found quotes for each section, I provided an explanation on what my take was on the quote. This process helped me get use to analyzing important texts and other scientific articles. Below, the questions are in red, the drawing connections are in green, and challenging the author quotes are in blue.


Appiah, Kwame Anthony. “Making Conversation and The Primacy of Practice.” Emerging: Contemporary Readings for Writers, 2nd ed., Bedford/St. Martins, 2010, pp. 66–82.

Questions from text (FIND IN RED)

  • On page 73, paragraph 3, I was caught off guard when Appiah said “you will be glad to hear, incest between brothers and sisters and parents and children is shunned as akyiwadee.” Why would I be glad to hear this? Was this something more normal a while ago?
  • On page 74, paragraph 3, I was surprised when Appiah said, “Many of us would, no doubt, mention the First Amendment (even though we don’t agree about what values it embodies). ” I’m not sure why Appiah did this. Why reference something you don’t believe in?
  • On page 76, paragraph 2, Appiah said, “Nev­ertheless, as he tells us in his autobiography, he decided as a teenager to have himself circumcised.” Why would he go against these beliefs if he cherishes them so much?
  • On page 76, paragraph 6, Appiah I was interested when Appiah said, “Circumcision—especially because it carried with it exclusion from the pos­sibilities of traditional political office—became a way of casting his lot with modernity. ” Were there any other ways to get in touch with modernity that didn’t go against traditional beliefs?

Draw connections (FIND IN GREEN)

  • On page 68, paragraph 1, I like how Appiah said, “It is, I think, little short of miraculous that brains shaped by our long his­tory could have been turned to this new way of life. ” He talks about the brain which I also talk about as a big part of my problem in essay #1.
  • On page 68, paragraph 3, Appiah brings up “means not only that we can affect lives everywhere but that we can learn about life anywhere too. ” This would help eliminate judgement, a topic I wrote about in my essay.
  • On page 69, paragraph 4, Appiah dials in that “we have obligations to others, obligations that stretch beyond those to whom we are related by the ties of kith and kind, or even the more formal ties of a shared citizenship. The other is that we take seriously the value not just of human life but of particular human lives, which means taking an interest in the practices and beliefs that lend them significance.” This quote relates to judgement, accepting and understanding others’ beliefs and practices would also help eliminate it.
  • On page 71, paragraph 3, Appiah said, “I want to be an Englishman, but I want to understand other points of view. And I want to get rid of a merely English attitude in studies.” Here, he talks about being mindful of others, which is very important and relatable to my essay because it is one of the ways to help solve the problem I wrote about.
  • On page 72, paragraph 1, it stuck with me when Appiah said “Mr. Baboo mostly because he always had a good stock of candies and because he was always smiling.” To me, this is about being genuine with positivity, an effect I wrote about in my essay.

Challenge author (FIND IN BLUE)

  • On page 74, paragraph 3, I wasn’t sure why Appiah said, “Many of us would, no doubt, mention the First Amendment (even though we don’t agree about what values it embodies). ” Why reference something just to say we don’t believe in its values?
  • On page 76, paragraph 6, I found it confusing when Appiah said, “Circumcision—especially because it carried with it exclusion from the pos­sibilities of traditional political office—became a way of casting his lot with modernity. ” Why chose this example of getting in touch with modernity if it challenges traditional belief? Cosmopolitanism is all about your local tribes and understanding other people’s local tribes.
  • On page 82, paragraph 1, I’m wondering when Appiah said “The younger they are, the more likely it is that they think that gay marriage is fine. And if they don’t, it will often be because they have had religious objections rein­forced regularly through life in church, mosque, or temple.” Is it okay to think gay marriage is not fine if it is a religious conflict? Or is it still not embracing cosmopolitanism if people don’t understand and accept this ideal?