You come late.

When you arrive, others have long preceded you, and

they are engaged in a heated discussion, a discussion too heated for
them to pause and tell you exactly what it is about. You listen for a
while, until you decide that you have caught the tenor of the
argument; then you put in your oar. Someone answers, you answer
him; another comes to your defense; another aligns himself against
you. The hour grows late, you must depart. nd you do depart, with
the discussion still vigorously in progress.
- Kenneth Burke
Notes on They Say / I Say:
The Moves that Matter in
Academic Writing
By Gerald Graf and Cathy Birkenstein
The central claim of the authors: It is our belief that the they say / I
say !attern cuts across diferent disci!lines and "enres of #ritin"$
includin" creati%e #ritin"& 'lthou"h students must e%entually master
the s!eci(c #ritin" con%entions of their ma)ors$ #e belie%e that there is
no ma)or or disci!line that does not re*uire #riters to frame their o#n
claims as a res!onse to #hat others before them ha%e said& Indeed$
students #ho master the elemental mo%es !rom!ted by the tem!lates
in this book should actually become better able to a!!reciate the
diferences bet#een disci!lines and "enres+ ,-%iii.&
They say / I say+ is the internal /0'+ of all argumentation& Comin"
to reco"ni1e the #ay these mo%es #ork in their o#n #ritin" are
!ositioned to become better readers$ too$ since the tem!lates hel!
them to reco"ni1e the #ays that authors are !ositionin" themsel%es in
relationshi! to other ar"uments&
The book !ro%ides tem!lates not to sti2e critical thinkin" but to be
direct #ith students about the key rhetorical moves that com!rise it+
,-%.3 the forms dont dictate content but !ro%ide a #ay of formattin"
how you say it+ ,44.&
Part I. They Say
The sim!lest tem!late for academic #ritin" is this one: They say 55553
I say 5555&+ In other #ords$ #ritin"6all #ritin"6is about listenin" to
others$ summari1in" their %ie#s$ and res!ondin" #ith your o#n idea&
Its about more than assertin" your o#n !osition6its about !lacin"
that !osition #ithin the con%ersation thats already been takin" !lace&
The con%ersation doesnt have to be a res!onse to "reat authors or
e-!erts or some #ell-kno#n !erson6it can be a res!onse to some
interior stru""le$ or to your sister& But theres "ot to be some tension:
7hen I #as a kid$ I thou"ht that all !eo!le could succeed if they
)ust tried hard enou"h& The older I "et$ thou"h$ the more I see
that our chances for success are "reatly restricted by our
location$ our u!brin"in"$ and the institutions #e !artici!ate in&
The "oal of #ritin" like this is 08T to !lay it safe&+ Good !ersuasi%e
#ritin" is not about re!eatin" the truths that are already acce!ted by
your audience3 instead$ !ersuasi%e #ritin" can only ha%e a !ur!ose if it
challenges some belief your readers hold& 9o#e%er$ this e-!ectation
doesnt mean that you ha%e to make ridiculous claims6and in some
cases$ a"reement can be a !art of !ersuasi%e #ritin"$ if you ha%e
somethin" 0:7 to add to the acce!ted %ie#:
9er ar"ument that 5555555555555 is su!!orted by ne#
research/my o#n e-!erience/chan"in" attitudes that
55555555555555&
Chan"in" the #orld be"ins #ith a sentence like this: 8f course$
someone may ob)ect that 55555555&+
This structure #orks #ell for academic #ritin"$ but its not only about
the academy6its also a "ood model that hel!s us reali1e #e need to
listen to others diferent from us and (nd #ays of en"a"in" #ith them
thou"htfully and res!ectfully&
'ccordin" to Graf and Birkenstein$ ar"umentati%e #ritin" needs to
identify 798 its res!ondin" to$ early in the #ritin": To kee! an
audience en"a"ed$ a #riter needs to e-!lain #hat he or she is
res!ondin" to6either before oferin" that res!onse or$ at least$ %ery
early in the discussion& /elayin" this e-!lanation for more than one or
t#o !ara"ra!hs in a %ery short essay$ three or four !a"es in a lon"er
one$ or more than ten or so !a"es in a book-len"th te-t$ re%erses the
natural order in #hich readers !rocess material+ ,4;.&
<o$ start #ith #hat they say& ,Then follo# u! #ith #hat an indication of
#hat you say6#hat you intend to '// to the to!ic& 8ther#ise it feels
like youre )ust "oin" to deli%er the !arty line&.
'n illustrati%e *uotation$ a sur!risin" fact/statistic$ a !ersonal
e-!erience can #ork as a #ay of introducin" #hat they say$ as lon" as
it illustrates the %ie# that youre addressin"&
Tem!lates for introducin" the standard %ie#
'mericans today tend to belie%e that 5555&
Con%entional #isdom is that 5555&
The standard #ay of thinkin" about 555 is that 55555&
=y #hole life I ha%e heard it said that 55555&
=any !eo!le ha%e a"reed #ith 5555$ #ho claims that 555555&
>resentin" the standard %ie# as your o#n
I%e al#ays belie%ed that 555555&
7hen I #as a child$ I used to belie%e that 55555555555&
>resentin" an ar"ument that is often im!lied
'lthou"h none of them ha%e e%er said so directly$ my teachers
ha%e often "i%en me the im!ression that 55555555
Thou"h they may not admit it$ 5555555 often take for "ranted that
55555555&
<ettin" u! sides of an issue
In discussions of 555$ one contro%ersial as!ect has been 555555&
8n the one hand$ 555555 ar"ues 5555555555& 8n the other hand$
555555555 su""ests that 55555555555& ?Because of 55555555$@ =y
%ie# is 55555555555&
7hen it comes to the to!ic of 55555555555555$ most of us a"ree
that 555555555555& But the a"reement usually ends #hen #e
reach the *uestion of 555555555555& 7hile some belie%e that
55555555555555$ others feel that 555555555555&
's you #rite$ you should return to the %ie# that youre res!ondin" to$
#hich hel!s maintain a sense of !ur!ose and si"ni(cance for the
#ritin"& 'nd it hel!s your readers see that youre honestly responding
rather than )ust !resentin" information about a to!ic&
Summarizing the positions of others
' summary is not your res!onse$ your o!inion$ or your "ri!in" about
the to!ic& 'nd its also not )ust a strin" of *uotations from the te-t&
Its tricky: ' "ood summary re*uires balancin" #hat the ori"inal
author is sayin" #ith ?your@ o#n focus& Generally s!eakin"$ a
summary must be at once true to #hat the ori"inal author says #hile
at the same time em!hasi1in" those as!ects of #hat the author #ays
that interest you&+
If you do an honest )ob of summari1in"$ your reader shouldnt be able
to tell #hether you a"ree or disa"ree #ith the authors !osition&
/ont fall into the closest clichA+ tra!6thats #hen #hat "ets
summari1ed is not the %ie# the author in *uestion has actually
e-!ressed$ but a familiar clichA that the #riter mista!es for the
authors %ie#&+ This is reducin" an ar"ument to a tro!e or clichA or
truism that is much sim!ler than the real ar"ument !resented&
<ince a te-t #ill often !ro%ide rele%ant information about a %ariety of
to!ics$ youll #ant to summari1e it in relationship to the to!ic that
youre addressin"& This is not sim!lifyin" in the dishonest or reducti%e
sense but merely stressin" those elements/!oints #hich are most
rele%ant to your ar"ument& 'lso$ summari1in" the te-t in terms of the
to!ic that youre focused on #ill hel! you #ork from the bi" !icture
down to the rele%ant details6rather than )ust !ro%idin" a list
summary+ of !oints #ith no main focus& ,Bist summaries are ty!ically
)oined by and then$+ ne-t$+ after that$+ etc& ' list summary is #hat
your four-year-old ne!he# "i%es you #hen he summari1es his tri! to
the museum: 7e sa# bearsC nd then #e #ent to a room that had a
bunch of i"loos in itC nd then #e sa# a dinosaur boneC nd then
there #as a room that had dead !eo!le in itC+ In a summary like this$
its not clear why the s!eaker is choosin" to summari1e s!eci(c !oints
of the e-!erience&.
Balance ob)ecti%ity #ith accuracy& In !ersuasi%e #ritin"$ most authors
are not merely statin"+ somethin"6theyre also !artici!atin" in a
con%ersation by a"reein" and disa"reein"$ !ro%idin" e-am!les$
challen"in" claims$ etc& 's a result$ a "ood reader #ill reco"ni1e the
stance of the author and !ro%ide !hrasin" to indicate that stance in
their o#n summary&
7ords to sho# that the author is makin" a claim: ar"ue$ assert$
belie%e$ claim$ em!hasi1e$ insist$ obser%e$ su""est
7ords to sho# that the author a"rees #ith someone elses idea:
ackno#led"e$ admire$ a"ree$ corroborate$ endorse$ e-tol$ !raise$
do not deny$ %erify
7ords to sho# *uestionin" or disa"reement: com!lain$
com!licate$ contend$ contradict$ deny$ disa%o#$ refute$
challen"e$ *uestion$
7ords to sho# that the author is makin" a recommendation:
ad%ocate$ call for$ demand$ encoura"e$ im!lore$ !lead$ ur"e$
#arn
Dor e-am!le$ in most !ersuasi%e #ritin"$ the authors arent )ust
talkin" about+ an idea& Instead$ you mi"ht summari1e by #ritin" that
Eones disagrees #ith authorities on 5555555 by providing e%idence to
support his claim that 555555555$ and he #ants to encourage his readers
to 55555555555 as a result of his assertions&
Crafting quotations to support your argument
7hen buildin" on ideas from others$ the bi""est dan"er is not in
a%oidin" *uotations alto"ether$ nor is it in usin" too many of them3
instead$ the bi""est dan"er is assumin" that a reader #ill understand
how the *uote su!!orts your ar"ument& '%oid this dan"er by buildin"
quotation sandiches6the to! slice "i%es the reader information to
understand the *uote$ and the bottom slice hel!s the reader
understand ho# the *uotation is rele%ant to your o#n ideas&
Tem!lates for settin" u! and follo#in" u! on *uotations&
Basically$ F is sayin" 555555555555&
In other #ords$ F belie%es 555555555555&
In makin" this comment$ F ar"ues that 55555555555555&
<ome *uotations may not need a lot of set u!& But those that are lon"
and com!le-$ or (lled #ith details or )ar"on$ or that re*uire additional
com!le-ities ,like meta!hors.$ are es!ecially likely to re*uire a "ood bit
of front-loadin" before you insert the *uotation&
Part II. I Say
8kay$ so you%e ("ured out ho# to fairly restate #hat somebody else is
sayin"& But thats )ust the be"innin"& Dor !ersuasi%e #ritin"$ you also
#ant to be able to add somethin" to the con%ersation&
There are three basic #ays to res!ond: I a"ree& I disa"ree& I both
a"ree and disa"ree&
Thou"h these #ays to res!ond seem !retty basic$ in fact they become
e%en more im!ortant as your #ritin" becomes more com!le-: readers
need a #ay to see ho# your ideas (t on the roadma! they already
ha%e: are you "oin" in the same direction as they areG 're you "oin"
in a diferent directionG 're you takin" a ne# route to "et to the same
!laceG 'nd #hyG
=erely a"reein"$ or merely disa"reein"$ is not enou"h& Hou%e also "ot
to say #hy it matters&
Tem!lates for disa"reein":
I think F is mistaken because she o%erlooks 555555555555&
Fs claim that 5555555555555 rests u!on the *uestionable
assum!tion that 55555555555&
In li"ht of recent research sho#in" 555555555555555555$ I disa"ree
#ith F that 555555555555555&
F contradicts himself& 8n one hand he seems to su""est that
5555555555 #hile at the same time he also asserts that
55555555555555555&
By focusin" on 55555555555$ F distracts from the real !roblem of
555555555555555&
Tem!lates for a"reein"
I a"ree #ith F that 5555555555555555 because my o#n e-!erience
5555555555555555 con(rms it&
Iecent studies about 555555555555555 su!!ort Fs !oint that
5555555555555&
Fs #ritin" about 55555555555555555 hel!s to shed li"ht on the
diJcult/unrelated to!ic of 5555555555555555&
<ince I a"ree #ith F that 555555555555555$ #e need to reassess the
!o!ular belief that 55555555555&
=ost !ersuasi%e #ritin"$ then$ #alks a line bet#een te-ts that line u!
#ith the authors %ie#!oint and those #hich com!licate or contradict
it& Ksually$ a"reein" #ith some !ers!ecti%e also means disa"reein"
#ith some other #ay of lookin" at thin"s&
Tem!lates for a"reein" and disa"reein"
'lthou"h I disa"ree #ith Fs main !oint$ I concede that his !oint
about 555555555555 is !ersuasi%e&
'lthou"h I a"ree #ith F u! to a !oint$ I cannot acce!t her o%erall
!oint that 555555555555&
7hereas F !ro%ides am!le e%idence that 555555555555555555$ F
and Ls research on 55555555555555555 con%inces me that
555555555555555 instead&
' tem!late for s!eculati%e e-!loration
I ha%e mi-ed feelin"s about the te-t& 8n one hand$ I a"ree #ith
F that 555555555555555& 8n the other hand$ I (nd his claim that
555555555555555555 is !roblematic&
Placing yourself clearly in the riting
The dan"er of incor!oratin" the ideas of other #riters is that it can
become hard for readers to tell #here your summary of others ideas
ends and your o#n stance be"ins& 's a result$ its im!ortant for you to
!ro%ide markers+ that hel! to indicate #here you are be"innin" your
o#n ar"ument&
Tem!lates for markin" of your o#n claims
=y o#n %ie#$ ho#e%er$ is that 555555555555555&
I belie%e$ as F may not$ that 55555555555555555&
Fs assertion that 555555555555555555 does not (t the facts&
Iather$ the evidence sho#s that 555555555555555555& ?In this
sentence youre usin" a claim to distin"uish your ideas from
source F$ and then youre lettin" the evidence establish your
!ers!ecti%e&@
Hou can also distin"uish your claims from others by embedding their
idea #ithin a sentence& This hel!s to attribute the idea to its source
#hile also !ro%idin" your !osition on that idea6all #ithin the same
sentence& Tricky$ but smart&
Tem!lates for embeddin" ?0ote that one tem!late hel!s to distin"uish
ideas that are diferent from your o#n #hile the other hel!s you
distin"uish an idea that su!!orts your o#n&@
I assert that #hat F calls 55555555555555 is in fact
55555555555555555&
Fs conclusion that 555555555555555555 adds #ei"ht to my claim
that 55555555555&
!c"noledging naysayers
<ince !ersuasi%e #ritin" is about !ersuadin" !eo!le to belie%e
somethin" diferent than they already do$ those !eo!le #ill ha%e
diferent attitudes$ %alues$ !riorities$ or inter!retations than you do&
Thats #hy youre #ritin"& 'nd you can build credibility by
ackno#led"in"6rather than dismissin" or i"norin"6the beliefs of your
audience& Those beliefs are sometimes counterarguments$ and if
you dont address counterar"uments then you run the risk of bein"
seen as close-minded& Hou can e%en allo# yourself to act as a
naysayer in a te-t&
Tem!lates for introductin" counterar"uments
't this !oint I #ant to raise some ob)ections ins!ired by the
ske!tic in me& <he feels that I ha%e been i"norin" the issue of
555555555& 555555$+ she says to me$ 55555555555555555555&+
<ome readers$ ho#e%er$ may challen"e my %ie# that
555555555555555& 'fter all$ many belie%e that
555555555555555555555& In truth$ my ar"ument about 555555555
does seem to i"nore 5555555555555&
But is my idea realisticG 7hat are the chances of it actually
bein" ado!tedG
/oes the e%idence I%e !ro%ided com!ellin"ly sho# 55555555555-G
Tem!lates for introducin" counterar"uments held by a s!eci(c "rou! of
!eo!le ,liberals$ Christians$ ca!italists.
9ere many feminists may ob)ect that 55555555555555&
Biolo"ists$ of course$ may dis!ute my claim that 5555555555555&
Thou"h not all Christians think alike$ a fairly common !ers!ecti%e
they hold$ in o!!osition to my o#n$ may be that
555555555555555555&
Thou"h labelin" "rou!s introduces a le%el of generalization that may
be uncomfortable$ it also allo#s for the !ossibility of connectin" your
ideas to the lar"er interaction of ideas& The third e-am!le sho#s a #ay
to a%oid o%er"enerali1ation #hile still ascribin" a %ie# to a certain
"rou!&
!nsering o#$ections
Its not enou"h )ust to ac!nowledge the %ie#s of others6you also need
to ans#er them& 'nd you need to ans#er them fairly$ #ithout mockin"
or o%ersim!lifyin"& 'nd your res!onse to the counterar"ument needs
to be more !ersuasi%e than the counterar"ument& Thats )ust #ron"+
is not !ersuasi%e$ since its not backed u! #ith any research or lo"ic or
e-am!le& 'nd$ often$ youll disco%er that (ndin" a #ay to efecti%ely
address a counterar"ument #ill allo# you to re(ne your o#n !osition
by "i%in" it "reater de!th and !recision&
Gi%in" u! "rou! #hile still holdin" !osition
'lthou"h I admit that 55555555555$ I still maintain that 5555555555
since 5555555555&
>ro!onents are ri"ht to !oint out that 555555555555555& But they
e-a""erate/misre!resent the e%idence #hen they say
5555555555555555&
7hile it is true that 55555555555555555$ this fact does not
necessarily cause/indicate/sho# that 555555555555555555&
7hat if you disco%er that a counterar"ument is more !ersuasi%e than
your stanceG 7ell$ this disco%ery !robably means you need to do
some ma)or re%ision& 8ne "oal of #ritin" is to hel! you e-tend your
o#n thinkin"$ and a fair in%esti"ation of the e%idence may mean that
you learn somethin" ne# that chan"es your %ie#& Thats not a bad
thin"&
Part III. Some !dditional
Considerations
%sta#lishing signi&cance
If it isnt clear #hy your audience should care about your #ritin"$ they
!robably #ont& <ince youre #ritin" to !ersuade someone to re%isit
their !osition on some to!ic$ one of the easy #ays to hel! a reader see
the signi&cance of your #ritin" is by hel!in" them see ho# your claim
may difer from their o#n& If youre #ritin" about somethin" that
e%eryone already acce!ts$ theres not much reason to be #ritin" about
it&
' thesis statement is not a bad !lace to establish si"ni(cance by
identifyin" the tension bet#een a "rou!s current %ie# and the !osition
that you ad%ocate&
5555555555 used to think that 555555555555& But a shiftin" focus on
55555555555 has meant that 555555555555555&
This !osition challen"es the #ork of critics #ho ha%e assumed
that 5555555555555555555&
Iecent studies shed ne# li"ht on 5555555555$ #hich !re%ious
studies had not addressed&
If s!orts enthusiasts sto!!ed to think about it$ they mi"ht sim!ly
assume that most athletes 5555555555555& 9o#e%er$ ne#
research/e%ents sho# that 555555555555&
't (rst "lance teena"ers mi"ht say 555555555555555555& But on
closer ins!ection they mi"ht reali1e 55555555555555555555555&
In addition to identifyin" #hich "rou!s of !eo!le mi"ht care about the
to!ic$ you !robably also #ant to e-!lain why they should care&
555555 matters because 555555555&
'lthou"h 555555 may seem unim!ortant$ it is a crucial factor in
our societys in%esti"ation of 5555555555555555&
=y discussion of 55555555555555 is in fact addressin" the lar"er
matter of 555555555555&
9ey$ you mi"ht e%en be able to say that a "ood thesis statement
"enerally identi(es your !osition in relationshi! to other !ositions and
then e-!lains why your !osition on the to!ic matters&
'etacommentary
'etacommentary is the stuf in #ritin" that tells the reader ho# to
inter!ret the ideas you !resent& Its a #ay of "uidin" the reader
throu"h your ideas& In some #ays many of these tem!lates !ro%ide
#ays to build metacommentary into your #ritin"& But here are some
other !laces for metacommentary&
Tem!lates to clarify and elaborate& Hou use these because$ no matter
ho# clear your ar"ument$ sometimes readers #ill end u! on a
sideroad& Generally #riters assume that the reader is more familiar
#ith the to!ic than he or she really is&
In other #ords$ 555555555555555555555&
7hat 5555555 really means is that 555555555555555555&
To !ut it another #ay$ 5555555555555555555&
Tem!late to !re%ent misunderstandin"
=y !oint is not that #e should 555555555555555555$ but that #e
should 555555555555&
Tem!late to !ro%ide a roadma! to your structure
The (rst section !ro%ides 555555555555555555 #hile the second
section 5555555555555&
9a%in" )ust ar"ued that 55555555555555555$ let us no# turn our
attention to 55555555555&
Gi%en this information about 55555555555555 #e can no# be"in to
in%esti"ate the dis!ute in more detail&
Thus$ the !osition of 555555555555 is 55555555555555& In contrast$
the !osition of 5555555555555555 is 55555555555555555&
=o%in" from "eneral claims to s!eci(c e-am!les
Dor e-am!le$ 555555555555555555555&
55555555$ for instance$ sho#s that 5555555555555&
555555555555 !ro%ides a s!eci(c illustration of 5555555555555&
Improving the (o
=ost of these tem!lates are based on some recurrin" #ays of relatin"
ideas to one another& In "eneral you can establish a clearer 2o# of
ideas if you try to sho# the #ay that each is connected to the !re%ious
idea and to the idea that follo#s& The #ords that hel! you sho# these
connections are called transitions& The most common relationshi!s
indicated by transitions are
!ddition: also$ and$ besides$ additionally
%)empli&cation: after all$ for e-am!le$ to illustrate$ s!eci(cally
%la#oration: by e-tension$ that is$ to !ut it another #ay$
ultimately
Comparison: alon" the same lines$ like#ise$ similarly
Contrast: on the other hand$ althou"h$ but$ in contrast$ des!ite
the fact that$ ho#e%er$ nonetheless
Cause and e*ect: as a result$ because$ since$ so$ then$
therefore$ thus
Concession: admittedly$ althou"h it is true$ "ranted$ of course
Conclusion: in short$ in sum$ to sum u!$ o%erall$ ultimately
'nother #ay to create connection amon" ideas is by usin" the
pointing ords$ like these$+ this$+ such$+ that$+ those+3 and like
his$+ her$+ its$+ and their&+ 8f course$ if you use !ointin" #ords$
make sure your reader can ("ure out #hat youre !ointin" toC 'n easy
#ay to do this is by follo#in" u! #ords like this+ and those+ #ith a
!hrase to rename #hate%er it is that youre talkin" about&
+seful e)ercises from the #oo" ,matched to the
-
st
edition.
I&4 --- Identify the !ositionin" !hrases that the student #riter
uses&
4&4 --- /e%elo!in" !lausible they says for each claim&
M&4 --- 7rite t#o summaries of the same e-cer!t$ for t#o diferent
!ur!oses/focuses&
N&4 --- Identify to! slice and bottom slice in someone elses
*uotation sand#ich&
O&4 --- Identify ho# the author of the e-cer!t !ositions herself in
relationshi! to the stances of those #ho ha%e come before her&
P&4 --- Identify the markers the author of the e-cer!t uses to set of
her ideas from those of the sources shes buildin" from&
Q&4 --- >lant a naysayer in an e-cer!t from <chlosser&
!& 4MQ --- Identify the metacommentary ta"s in the >ostman
e-cer!t&