How I Say They Say “They Say, I Say”
Now, I am not one to agree with templates or methodical writing; in fact, I’d be the first to protest such a suggestion. However, after reading They Say, I Say, an argumentative text for such a style, I have to pay a certain homage to how well they say – or utilize, rather – the they say, I say style. Authors Cathy Birkenstein and Gerald Graff construct a convincing argument for the use of templates via the style of (essentially) templates. It’s quite ingenious, really. While it could be argued that the templates are inconsequential to the quality of writing within the book – and I would love to argue that – the real respect is in how the book is written.
In his essay “How to Read Like a Writer” Mike Bunn suggests that there are two ways to read: to read for information within the text, and to read for understanding in regard to how the text is written (Bunn 75). With respect to the latter, They Say, I Say is masterfully presented. Bunn remarks on multiple things to be conscious of when reading a given text like a writer, but there are two things to note that are ubiquitous throughout each step: the author’s purpose and their intended audience (Bunn 76-78). For Birkenstein and Graff, this is clearly to convince the audience (primarily college students and their professors) to write by their method via the practice of templates. The reason I distinguish Birkenstein and Graffs’ method and their templates as two different things is because they are two different things; however, it is in the way that they present this argument – and how they do it so well – that melds these two separate things seemingly into one. They real beauty is that their methodology in writing is the very methodology they’re advocating (it’s very effective).
The preface of the book is a prime example of the “they say/I say” method being argued throughout the text. In approximately a dozen pages Birkenstein and Graff effectively use most – if not all – of the “they say/I say” method. In the preface they cover what their peers and opposing arguments have to say and why they wrote the book (Birkenstein and Graff 19-21), summarize both the argument’s points and theirs (30), do not merely suggest the argument’s stance but also understand it (31-32, 78), and emphasize the importance of their method and suggested mode of practice (templates) (92-94). I find there to be a certain onus to acknowledge what has effectively been done to persuade the reader to abide by their method; furthermore, to see the usefulness of templates and how they are integral to aptly utilizing reading like a writer and writing what one has read. Ultimately, that is what both They Say, I Say and “How to Read Like a Writer” suggest: to critically think upon how a text is written and to utilize useful tricks in one’s own writing (of course, when said tricks are appropriate to the context of what is being written). The way both texts express this point is just so cheeky that it’s brilliant.
Works Cited
Bunn, Mike. “How to Read Like a Writer.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Ed. Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky. Vol. 1. West Lafayette, IN: Parlor P, 2010. 71-86. Writing Spaces. Web. 15 March 2016.
Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say/I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing. New York: W.W. Norton, 2014.
