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

They Say/I Say “Template” They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, presents the reader with a multitude of writing “templates” that are designed to help foster, not only one’s basic writing ability, but also their creativity. Authors Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein even go as far as to argue that writing in this format, and later conversing in this manner, can “get us thinking critically about our own beliefs.” Specifically the template “They Say/I Say” is the most important for a young writer to master, since they believe that strong, academic writing involves, not only the writer’s opinions, but also the stances of others. In their view, “the best academic writing has one underlying feature: it is deeply engaged in some way with other people’s views.”

Specifically, one can respond with either simple agreement, simple disagreement, or agreement and disagreement simultaneously. Via this idea, along with the help of another template, the writer can identify an issue, map some of the voices of controversy, introduce a quotation, state one’s own argument, and qualify said argument. They restate their main idea, that the templates foster the writer’s abilities by ingraining in them useful literary tools. The last argument that Graff and Birkenstein make is that their templates do not stifle creativity, but instead allow for its growth. Their argument raises the point that all creative works are based in patterns and structures. For instance, the Shakespeare is famous for his sonnets and dramatic form, although he invented neither. Essentially, creativity does not depending on the avoidance of form, but the imaginative use of