JOIN the CONVERSATION: Tutorial + Practice Book

You’ve been told to analyze, interpret, and explain more.

But what does that really mean?Join the Conversation: Tutorial + Practice Book teaches you the thinking behind interpretation so you can develop your own ideas and build defensible arguments.

In the Tutorial, You'll Learn to:

• take what an author says and think about the decisions behind it

• develop your own ideas by learning how observations become interpretations

• distinguish between summary and interpretation

• turn a simple observation into a defensible argument

• work quotes into your writing without awkwardly tacking on phrases like This shows

• recognize common interpretation mistakes in your thinking

• make your thinking academic - not just sound academic

• use the Interpretation Barometer to assess the strength of an interpretation.

• develop your own ideas by learning how observations become interpretations and interpretations support arguments

  
  

You’ll also experience interpretation across music, art, literature, and essays. From listening to jazz to studying a drawing of a jazz musician, you’ll make connections between different forms of expression and the decisions behind them.

In the Tutorial, You Get:

A digital PDF tutorial of approximately 40 pages, including:

• Guided teaching and explanations.

• Worked examples and models.

• The Interpretation Barometer and guidance on how to use it.

• Instruction on recognizing and avoiding common interpretation mistakes.

Join the Conversation: The Practice Book

A separate 20+ page digital resource containing:

• practice questions

• exercises for all five sections of the tutorial

• sample responses to most questions

  
  

Please note: The practice book does not include additional teaching or explanations. It provides you with a set of questions to practice all of the thinking moves and skills covered in the tutorial. It's designed to accompany the tutorial.