They say i say preface summary

what they’re saying about “they say / i say”

“The best book that’s happened to teaching composition— ever!” —Karen Gaffney, Raritan Valley Community College

“A brilliant book. . . . It’s like a membership card in the aca- demic club.” —Eileen Seifert, DePaul University

“This book demystifies rhetorical moves, tricks of the trade that many students are unsure about. It’s reasonable, helpful, nicely written . . . and hey, it’s true. I would have found it immensely helpful myself in high school and college.”

—Mike Rose, University of California, Los Angeles

“The argument of this book is important—that there are ‘moves’ to academic writing . . . and that knowledge of them can be generative. The template format is a good way to teach and demystify the moves that matter. I like this book a lot.”

—David Bartholomae, University of Pittsburgh

“Students need to walk a fine line between their work and that of others, and this book helps them walk that line, providing specific methods and techniques for introducing, explaining, and integrating other voices with their own ideas.”

—Libby Miles, University of Rhode Island

“A beautifully lucid way to approach argument—different from any rhetoric I’ve ever seen.”

—Anne-Marie Thomas, Austin Community College, Riverside

“It offers students the formulas we, as academic writers, all carry in our heads.” —Karen Gardiner, University of Alabama

“Many students say that it is the first book they’ve found that actually helps them with writing in all disciplines.”

—Laura Sonderman, Marshall University

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“As a WPA, I’m constantly thinking about how I can help instructors teach their students to make specific rhetorical moves on the page. This book offers a powerful way of teach- ing students to do just that.” —Joseph Bizup, Boston University

“The best tribute to ‘They Say / I Say’ I’ve heard is this, from a student: ‘This is one book I’m not selling back to the bookstore.’ Nods all around the room. The students love this book.”

—Christine Ross, Quinnipiac University

“What effect has ‘They Say’ had on my students’ writing? They are finally entering the Burkian Parlor of the university. This book uncovers the rhetorical conventions that transcend dis- ciplinary boundaries, so that even freshmen, newcomers to the academy, are immediately able to join in the conversation.”

—Margaret Weaver, Missouri State University

“It’s the anti-composition text: Fun, creative, humorous, bril- liant, effective.”

—Perry Cumbie, Durham Technical Community College

“Loved by students, reasonable priced, manageable size, readable.” —Roxanne Munch, Joliet Junior College

“This book explains in clear detail what skilled writers take for granted.” —John Hyman, American University

“The ability to engage with the thoughts of others is one of the most important skills taught in any college-level writing course, and this book does as good a job teaching that skill as any text I have ever encountered.” —William Smith, Weatherford College

“A fabulous resource for my students (and for me). I like that it’s small, and not overwhelming. It’s very practical, and really demystifies the new kind of writing students have to figure out as they transition to college.” —Sara Glennon, Landmark College

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T H I R D E D I T I O N

“THEY SAY I SAY” The Move s Tha t Ma t t e r

i n Academ i c Wr i t i n g

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T H I R D E D I T I O N

“THEY SAY I SAY” The Move s Tha t Ma t t e r

i n Academ i c Wr i t i n g

H

GERALD GRAFF

CATHY BIRKENSTEIN both of the University of Illinois at Chicago

B w . w . n o r t o n & c o m p a n y

n e w y o r k | l o n d o n

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For Aaron David

W. W. Norton & Company has been independent since its founding in 1923, when William Warder Norton and Mary D. Herter Norton first published lectures delivered at the People’s Institute, the adult education division of New York City’s Cooper Union. The firm soon expanded its program beyond the Institute, publishing books by celebrated academics from America and abroad. By mid-century, the two major pillars of Norton’s publishing program—trade books and college texts—were firmly established. In the 1950s, the Norton family transferred control of the company to its employees, and today—with a staff of four hundred and a comparable number of trade, college, and professional titles published each year—W. W. Norton & Company stands as the largest and oldest publishing house owned wholly by its employees.

Copyright © 2014, 2010, 2009, 2006, by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America

Third Edition

Composition: Cenveo® Publisher Services Book design: Jo Anne Metsch

Production manager: Andrew Ensor

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Graff, Gerald. “They say / I say” : the Moves that Matter in Academic Writing / Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, Both of the University of Illinois at Chicago.—Third Edition. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-393-93584-4 (paperback) 1. English language—Rhetoric—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Persuasion (Rhetoric)—Handbooks, manuals, etc. 3. Report writing—Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Birkenstein, Cathy. II. Title. PE1431.G73 2013 808'.042—dc23

2013039137

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110 www.wwnorton.com

W. W. Norton & Company Ltd., Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W1T 3QT

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

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brief contents

preface to the third edition xi i i

preface: Demystifying Academic Conversation xvi

introduction: Entering the Conversation 1

PART 1 . “THEY SAY” 1 “they say”: Starting with What Others Are Saying 19 2 “her point is”: The Art of Summarizing 30 3 “as he himself puts it”: The Art of Quoting 42

PART 2. “ I SAY”

4 “yes / no / okay, but”: Three Ways to Respond 55 5 “and yet”: Distinguishing What You Say from What They Say 68 6 “skeptics may object”: Planting a Naysayer in Your Text 78 7 “so what? who cares?”: Saying Why It Matters 92

PART 3. TYING IT ALL TOGETHER

8 “as a result”: Connecting the Parts 105 9 “a in’t so / is not”: Academic Writing Doesn’t Always

Mean Setting Aside Your Own Voice 121 10 “but don’t get me wrong”: The Art of Metacommentary 129 11 “he says contends”: Using the Templates to Revise 139

PART 4. IN SPECIFIC ACADEMIC CONTEXTS

12 “i take your point”: Entering Class Discussions 163 13 “imho”: Is Digital Communication Good or Bad—or Both? 167 14 “what’s motivating this writer?”:

Reading for the Conversation 173 15 “on closer examination”: Entering Conversations

about Literature 184 16 “the data suggest”: Writing in the Sciences 202 17 “analyze this”: Writing in the Social Sciences 221

readings 239

index of templates 293

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contents

preface to the third edition xiii

preface xvi Demystifying Academic Conversation

introduction 1 Entering the Conversation

PART 1 . “THEY SAY” 17

one “they say” 19 Starting with What Others Are Saying

two “her point is” 30 The Art of Summarizing

three “as he himself puts it” 42 The Art of Quoting

PART 2 . “ I SAY” 53

four “yes / no / okay, but” 55 Three Ways to Respond

five “and yet” 68 Distinguishing What You Say from What They Say

six “skeptics may object” 78 Planting a Naysayer in Your Text

seven “so what? who cares?” 92 Saying Why It Matters

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PART 3. T YING IT ALL TOGETHER 103

eight “as a result” 105 Connecting the Parts

nine “ain’t so / is not” 121 Academic Writing Doesn’t Always Mean Setting Aside Your Own Voice

ten “but don’t get me wrong” 129 The Art of Metacommentary

eleven “he says contends” 139 Using the Templates to Revise

PART 4. IN SPECIFIC ACADEMIC CONTEXTS 161

twelve “i take your point” 163 Entering Class Discussions

thirteen “imho” 167 Is Digital Communication Good or Bad—or Both?

fourteen “what’s motivating this writer?” 173 Reading for the Conversation

fifteen “on closer examination” 184 Entering Conversations about Literature

sixteen “the data suggest” 202 Writing in the Sciences

seventeen “analyze this” 221 Writing in the Social Sciences

Contents

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Contents

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r e a d i n g s 239

Don’t Blame the Eater 241 David Zinczenko

Hidden Intellectualism 244 Gerald Graff

Nuclear Waste 252 Richard A. Muller

The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream 260 Barbara Ehrenreich

Everything That Rises Must Converge 272 Flannery O’Connor

index of templates 293

credits 311

acknowledgments 313

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preface to the third edition

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We continue to be thrilled by the reception of our book, which has now sold over a million copies and is assigned in more than 1,500 (over half) the colleges and universities in the United States. We are also delighted that while the audi- ence for our book in composition courses continues to grow, the book is increasingly being adopted in disciplines across the curriculum, confirming our view that the moves taught in the book are central to every academic discipline. At the same time, we continue to adapt our approach to the specific ways the “they say / I say” moves are deployed in different disciplines. To that end, this edition adds a new chapter on writing about literature to the chapters already in the Second Edition on writing in the sciences and social sciences. In this new chapter, “Entering Conversations about Literature,” we suggest ways in which students and teachers can move beyond the type of essay that analyzes literary works in isolation from the conversations and debates about those works. One of our premises here is that writing about literature, as about any subject, gains in urgency, motivation, and engage- ment when the writer responds to the work not in a vacuum, but in conversation with other readers and critics. We believe that engaging with other readers, far from distracting attention from the literary text itself, should help bring that text into sharper

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focus. Another premise is that the class discussions that are a daily feature of literature courses can be a rich and provocative source of “they says” that student writers can respond to in generating their own interpretations. Throughout the chapter are numerous templates that provide writers with language for entering into conversations and debates with these “they says”: published critics, classmates and teachers, their own previous interpretations, and the authors of literary works themselves. This new edition also includes a chapter on “Using the Templates to Revise,” which grew out of our own teaching experience, where we found that the templates in this book had the unexpected benefit of helping students when they revise. We found that when students read over their drafts with an eye for the rhetorical moves represented by the templates they were able to spot gaps in their argument, concessions they needed to make, disconnections among ideas, inadequate summaries, poorly integrated quotations, and other questions they needed to address when revising. Have they incorporated the views of naysayers with their own? If not, our brief revision guidelines can help them do so. The new chapter includes a full essay written by a student, annotated to show how the student used all the rhetorical moves taught in this book. Finally, this edition adds a new chapter on writing online exploring the debate about whether digital technologies improve or degrade the way we think and write, and whether they foster or impede the meeting of minds. And given the importance of online communication, we’re pleased that our book now has its own blog, theysayiblog. Updated monthly with current articles from across media, this blog provides a space where students and teachers can literally join the conversation.

P R E FA C E T O T H E T H I R D E D I T I O N

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Even as we have revised and added to “They Say / I Say,” our basic goals remain unchanged: to demystify academic writing and reading by identifying the key moves of persuasive argu- ment and representing those moves in forms that students can put into practice. We hope this Third Edition will get us even closer to these goals, equipping students with the writing skills they need to enter the academic world and beyond.

Preface to the Third Edition

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preface

Demystifying Academic Conversation

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Experienced writing instructors have long recognized that writing well means entering into conversation with others. Academic writing in particular calls upon writers not simply to express their own ideas, but to do so as a response to what others have said. The first-year writing program at our own university, according to its mission statement, asks “students to partici- pate in ongoing conversations about vitally important academic and public issues.” A similar statement by another program holds that “intellectual writing is almost always composed in response to others’ texts.” These statements echo the ideas of rhetorical theorists like Kenneth Burke, Mikhail Bakhtin, and Wayne Booth as well as recent composition scholars like David Bartholomae, John Bean, Patricia Bizzell, Irene Clark, Greg Colomb, Lisa Ede, Peter Elbow, Joseph Harris, Andrea Lunsford, Elaine Maimon, Gary Olson, Mike Rose, John Swales and Christine Feak, Tilly Warnock, and others who argue that writing well means engaging the voices of others and letting them in turn engage us. Yet despite this growing consensus that writing is a social, conversational act, helping student writers actually partici- pate in these conversations remains a formidable challenge. This book aims to meet that challenge. Its goal is to demys- tify academic writing by isolating its basic moves, explaining them clearly, and representing them in the form of templates.