Comparing Gerald Graff And Brikenstein's 'They Say I Say'

In They Say/ I say, Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein informs the audience of the basic moves in academic writing through text, illustrations, and templates. Their main model in this book is they say/I say template, in which it helps writers to develop their arguments by paying attention to what others are saying, and engaging with a response. The authors goal is to demystify academic writing, and return it to its social and conversational roots. The authors want the writers to engage in the ideas of others. These concepts from this book, will help make a stronger, supportive argument. The book They Say/I say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein deserves a 4 out of five stars, because I believe these authors explain and illustrates the contents

“Should everybody write” is the question that is argued throughout the article Should Everybody Write by Dennis Baron. Baron, an English professor at the University of Illinois, incorporates essay styled writings in correspondence to English problems faced in today’s world. His main concern in this essay is to demonstrate to his audience a proper answer to the argued statement and uses rhetorical strategies throughout his article to support his claims. The use of tone is incorporated when he discusses the context of writing history. His purpose in this article is discussed using his strong sense of logic and he also conveys to his audience’s emotions to caution them on their own writing or writing fears. In this article, Dennis Baron expresses that not everyone

As I was reading Melissa Duffy’s “Inspiration, and Craig Vetter’s “Bonehead Writing,” I found myself connecting with Vetter’s paper more than Duffy’s. I found that the presentation in “Bonehead Writing” to capture my attention, and that Vetter’s feelings about writing was similar to my opinion on writing. Through his wording and humor, I think Craig Vetter wrote the best essay.

The word “rhetoric” is considered as the art of using language effectively and persuasively in any form of communication. So, it is omnipresent in our life. If you perceive carefully, you will recognize it. Further, you can find that it deeply influences your writing. To illustrate, reading a great number of rhetoric contents allows you to accumulate the knowledge of writing. It also serves as a great training for the writer to use the strategies, such as proving with the confirmed recourse, in order to make one become a credible writer.

Barry Alford, the author of Freirean Voices, Student Choices is an English professor at Mid Michigan Community College. In this specific piece of writing, he states that “particularly when they find themselves following some formula organizing the topic instead of the trail of their own thinking” (P. 280). Meaning that students just do exactly what they are told to do instead of venturing out and making it their own writing. Alford talks about how students need to have more in depth and creative forms of writing rather than being boring. A major thing he believes is that students need to hear themselves and their other classmates before they start writing. Some methods Alford uses is he has classroom discussions using the schema Shor outlines

Over the course of English 1302 at Texas Tech, I feel that my skills as a writer improved significantly. When beginning the class, I knew little about writing a literature review or researched argument. With the help of my instructor’s lectures and the University Writing Center, I was able to effectively get my point across effectively while forming a well developed and well spoken manner. The advice given to me about argumentative essays and integrating sources helped significantly over the course of this class, and the skills learned in English 1302 helped me in other classes this semester when writing as well.

In her essay "Does Texting Affect Writing?", Michaela Cullington presents her argument that texting does not impact formal writing written by students. She discusses the concerns presented by many people about how texting language can transfer into writing, but through the use of personal experiences and credible sources she discusses how this is not true. Her use of multiple different studies and situations help boost her argument and allow the reader to truly see how students actually do formal writing. She presents a strong argument as to why those who believe students don't have the control and knowledge to write formally, instead of with text speak, are wrong.

After reading the first chapter, writing with Style, from “Thinking Well”, by John R. Trimble, he made it seem as if he was writing about my writing when he explained a novice writer. Trimble explains how a novice writer would write by giving examples of how their style of writing looks like. For example, Trimble explains how new writers unconsciously write and how they are not aware of their egocentrism. He states what a novice would have to achieve objectivity, empathy, courtesy and social sensitivity in order for him to have a readable style. Trimble then discusses what makes a veteran writer and how their thinking process reflects their writing situation. He lists four fundamentals that would help win the readers and the only way to win readers is by courteously serving them with their satisfying needs. There are five ways to serve the readers needs: Phrase your thoughts, speak to the point, anticipate their reactions, offer them variety and talk to them in warm manner. I found everything that he had to say about a beginner and veteran particularly true. From my personal experience, Trimble makes

Teachers are utilizing various strategies to ensure students comprehend the writing process and the traits of writing as it pertains to writing an argument.

The Little Seagull Handbook by Richard Bullock discusses the documentation, punctuation, grammar, and the steps in writing a paper. This book is a guide for many types of writing including MLA, APA, Chicago, and CSE. The material makes up three sections which are how to write, research, and edit your paper. This handbook includes many great resources for helping you find what you need to write a paper.

The piece of writing which I felt was unsuccessful for me was the Rhetorical Analysis of an article relating to a topic from our course book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander. This piece of writing was difficult for me to organize my ideas around. The article that I decided to use for my rhetorical analysis highlighted mass incarceration among African American and the effect of civil liberties being are taken away from these individuals. I had a lot of repetition because many of the examples I used demonstrated more than one type of appeal. I found myself repeating what the purpose of the example was and how it demonstrated proper use of ethos, pathos, and logos. This also made it difficult

As a former AP Lang student, I feel that this class has been very beneficial for me in that it has allowed me to apply the techniques and strategies I learned last year toward more relevant subjects. Having the freedom of choosing topics to write about for our various essays made this class more enjoyable than the other English classes that I have taken. AP Lang focused heavily on the techniques of writing solid essays, but instead of writing about useful topics, we analyzed the short stories provided on the exams. Writing a personal narrative essay was very helpful in my college application process and allowed me to employ the same kind of strategies that I learned in class into my college essays. Likewise, creating a cover letter taught me many useful strategies that I will definitely put to use when it comes time for me to submit an official cover letter to a company.

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” This is a common saying within the world of reading and literature. Book covers are very important when grabbing a reader’s attention. The book They say/I Say: The Moves That Mater in Academic Writing by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein was a book that gabbed my attention at first sight. Graff/Birkenstein’s book has a very colorful front cover. Thinking blobs are yellow, orange, blue and green that are filled in with a quote, the authors and title. The back of the book also has these thinking bubbles but they are filled with reviews of people who have read this book. Graff and Birkenstein are the authors of this book who are also husband and wife, who both work at the University of Illinois. Gerald Graff

“They’ll turn us into writing robots”, a student contends against the use templates influencing the structure of their essays. (10) In the book “They Say/ I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein insist that the use of their relevant templates provide tools that will enhance the readers writing skills. These templates provide an exemplary format that one can use when writing an essay. Graff and Birkenstein suggests that, “Instead of focusing solely on abstract principles of writing, then, this book offers model templates that help you put those principles directly into practice.” (2) In other words, Graff and Birkenstein reason that these templates are designed to provide beneficial formulas that

The advice from this week’s reading from the book They say/ I say, is very similar to what most professors suggest to their students, and that is to create the argument as if you are having a conversation. The book states, and I agree that there is value and importance in clearly explaining and repeating throughout your work that the argument you are stating belongs to someone else. This will also make your work easier. For example, if you say Wallace states that language can be used to manipulate emotions, however I believe this is not true. This would make it very clear to your audience, what the author’s thesis is, and what your thoughts are.