They Say/I Say – The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing 2e

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This book attempts to guide students through strategies for handling the ideas of others (even in the research and notetaking stages) and then how to signal they are using another's ideas in a paper. The authors then move into helping students understand how to write about their own ideas, which is another type of struggle. Entering the scholarly conversation can be terrifying!

They say i say | Caihua Dorji - Academia.edu (PDF) They say i say | Caihua Dorji - Academia.edu

Modern society is founded on the premise that divergence of opinions implies more dialogue than conflict, isn’t it. If that’s the case, why is the simple act of refusing to be like everyone else, oftentimes, a punishable offense? Or is my following perspective simply too pessimistic? Do we use writing as a mean to engage in dialogue with others or as another tool for nurturing uncritical thinking? Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert points out about group writing (but applies to other ‘-ings’): The main goal of group writing is to ensure that every sentence satisfies all the objectives of every person in the room. This can be problematic if all the participants have different objectives. You can minimize the impact of different objectives by focusing on the goals that all parties can agree on: Start with what others are saying and play off that. Resist the temptation to give your own opinion until you’ve sketched out the conversation, the dialog that’s going on.” Instead, this one literally said, we know writing is hard but we also know writing can be revised to be better too. Don’t you want to be understood? Here are templates, yes, templates, you’re welcome. Replaced, that is, with the holiness of They Say/ I Say. If I were to start a religion, this book would be the holy text and Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein would be the prophets. The concepts of They say/ I say would be the gods; both two and one at the same time- a bit similar to Yin/Yang, God/Jesus, or taco and mango.

In the introduction to “They Say/ I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein provide templates throughout the first six chapters in the book. The writers specifically designed these templates to make it easier on the write on how to write a professional and well written paper. It structures and expresses your own writing in words you couldn’t think to express. A unique feature is the way they present the templates, it help you enter a world of successful thinking and organization in your piece. The most important formula that was given to use is “they say…; I say…” which gives the book its title. This formula simply means that don’t only express your ideas with “I say…” but also responding to other people’s ideas with “they say…” The authors' aim is to help student writers take part in an academic conversation. Their definition of writing well consists of summarising current debate (they say) and setting up one's own arguments (I say). Each chapter provides simple templates to help students make these move in their own writing. For example,

They Say, I Say’ - VOA Learning English Tips for Writing: ‘They Say, I Say’ - VOA Learning English

One the one hand... on the other hand..." I could accept that in a middle schooler's persuasive paper, though I'd cringe a bit. To see some examples of academic writing forms from these experts, visit our blog, Confessions of an English Learner. These concerns of English language learners aren’t always that different from advanced language learners…These are basic questions, really not just of how to write…but they’re really how to think academically, and how to structure an argument, and how to really be interesting.” Each chapter ends with a few exercises which lead the reader through understanding the technique and how to implement it. The two experts say that good academic writing follows a simple design called “They Say, I Say.” A paper should begin with what others have already said about the subject, or “they say.” Then, student writers present their own opinions, or “I say.” A college paper should show the writer entering a debate among experts.

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Good academic writing starts with reading. Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein have some suggestions for getting started. To conclude, this book is the book equivalent of a toolbox. As with toolboxes, one never quite finished with it. It's very liberal/lefty, but that's exposed only in the pieces the authors selected for critique. The writing advice itself is very good. So, Graff and Birkenstein indicate that they have adapted the text some to underscore its relevance and importance in an era in which argument is at once ubiquitous and high-pitched and at the same time often sloppy and uncivil, carried out on a framework that seems at risk of disintegrating — inside and outside of academia. Its timeliness is peak. Still, the core of the book remains helping students identify and assimilate the basic moves that are inherent to academic writing, and therefore academic argument. In this way, the book gives students the constructs to build and express their own thinking; it demystifies the fundamental work that students are rewarded for being able to do well in school, much of which is comparable to the work that professionals are rewarded for being able to do well in an information economy. English learners often think that academic writing is all about spelling, grammar, and organization. Author Cathy Birkenstein says almost anyone can put a sentence together. The difficult part is learning to read and think critically.

They Say / I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing

The “I say…” method is where you often see arguments happen, it gives a responds to “they say…” You don’t have to be intelligent to start an argument, but this method should apply to your everyday life. In this chapter it focuses on three familiar ways to respond, “…agreeing, disagreeing, or some combination of both.” (Graff 56). When the reader takes a while to make their judgment on the writer view, then the writer did something wrong. Finding something you disagree with is the easy way out, find something you don’t feel certain about or don’t agree with and go from there. If agreeing with the writer you can’t really talk much about without copying what the writer already spoke about. If you do agree add a new idea in the story. to help you write a unique paper. Just talk to our smart assistant Amy and she'll connect you with the best I am so grateful for Gerald’s Graff and Cathy’s Birkenstein effort to lay down the rhetorical steps for dialogical writing. This book has opened my eyes to the countless mistakes I was and still am making. An excellent book! John Stuart Mill pointed up the connection when he observed that we do not understand our own ideas until we know what can be said against them.”(Clueless in Academe) I'm of two minds..." Just... no. Orwell would shit his pants reading that (read "Politics and the English Language" if you want realistic and credible writing advice). The writer did absolutely no thinking in composing that phrase.The preface to the fourth edition signals what guided the authors in making the few changes they made to their profound and durable textbook for academic argument. I am not particular religious. Indeed, I believe that the world would, in total, be better off without it. Don't get me wrong, religious people can do tremendous amount of good in the world. But these are the people, not the religious dogmas behind them. If it were up to me, then, religion would be replaced. Dialogue? Entire discourses about learning to interact with others have been perorated by expert soliloquists. Length is now frowned upon no matter what. We speak in: The first portion of the book was really interesting! It gave me some good ideas for how to make my writing more interesting and understandable to all readers.