They say / i say introduction examples

Introduction

In the Introduction to “They Say/I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein provide templates designed to show their audience how to create and organize a well written essay.  Specifically, Graff and Birkenstein argue that the types of writing templates they offer provide guidelines on how to correctly utilize their advice to create a masterpiece.  As the authors themselves put it, “One of our key premises is that these basic moves are so common that they can be represented in templates that you can use right away to structure and even generate your own writing.”  Although some people believe that they are not able to express their own ideas freely by following a structured format, Graff and Birkenstein insist that with structured formats, one’s writing will improve; nevertheless, anyone can write their own unique work, even if they simply get help from a template.  In sum, then, their view is that people are able to always enhance their writings.  I agree with their writings in that being provided a set of directions, just helps someone get on the right path.

Chapter 1

The main point of Chapter 1 is to show readers that is just as important to express your own ideas as taking others’ into consideration too.  Writers should remind their audience what they are reading about so they never become confused.  Always be clear in your writing and be responsive to other ideas, beliefs or conversation.

1) “Remember that you are entering a conversation and therefore need to start with ‘what others are saying,’ as the title of this chapter recommends, and then introduce your own ideas as a response.” (20-21)

2) “Starting with a summary of others’ views may seem to contradict the common advice that writers should lead with their own thesis or claim.” (21)]

3) “In other words, even when presenting your own claims, you should keep returning to the motivating ‘they say.’  The longer and more complicated your text, the greater the chance that readers will forget what ideas originally motivated it- no matter how clearly you lay them out at the beginning.” (27)

Question

How can you be sure that you are providing the reader with clarification?  Sometimes I question if my writing is going to be clear to the readers.  I feel that it does not always make sense to others, even if it does to me.

Introduction:

In the introduction of “They Say, I Say,” the author provides effective templates as a way of structuring essays. The authors believe that not only should you (the writer) express your ideas and beliefs but you should say what other says as well. The authors also state that the best way to respond to an argument is to agree or disagree simultaneously. They think it’s the best way because it avoids the question of “yes” or “no” as to there is no simple answer. This section also addresses that these templates don’t reduce creativity, it actually allows for more creativity while organizing.

I think that these templates are very helpful in structuring essays. Having a clear argument in an essay is one of the more challenging aspects of writing a paper because you can’t use a simple word to justify an argument. The templates are helpful in that it allows the writer to have a clear argument and then furthermore interpret other’s opinions as well.

Chapter one:

In chapter one, the author focuses on the importance of what other’s are saying. Essentially, none of the important information should be left out. Every piece of information is required because the reader can’t assume that they know what the author is talking about.

“Remember that you are entering a conversation and therefore need to start with ‘what others are saying’ and introduce your own ideas as a response” (page 18).

“This little story illustrates an important lesson: that to give writing the most important thing of all namely, a point- a writer needs to indicate clearly not only his or her thesis but also what larger conversation that thesis is responding to” (page 18).

“Instead of opening with someone else’s views, you could start with an illustrative quotation, a revealing fact or statistic, or a relevant anecdote” (page 20).

After finishing the reading, I would like to know how to introduce an illustrative quotation, a revealing fact or statistic, or a relevant anecdote into an essay. I feel like that’s really tricky to do because it might seem like unnecessary information, and I wouldn’t know how to relate an argument to it effectively.

Graff, Gerald; Birkenstein, Cathy (2007-08-17). “They Say / I Say”: The Moves that Matter in Persuasive Writing (p. 20). W. W. Norton & Company. Kindle Edition.