They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic WritingGerald Graff & Cathy Birkenstein 2006 W.W. NortonRenee Hobbs

Academic Discourse as a Conversation

The Conversation Has Been Going On Before You ArrivedIn fact, the discussion had already begun long before any of them got there, so that no one present is qualified to retrace for you all the steps that had gone before. 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, to either the embarrassment or gratification of your opponent, depending upon the quality of your allys assistance. However, the discussion is interminable. The hour grows late, you must depart. And you do depart, with the discussion still vigorously in progress. (Kenneth Burke, 110-11, Philosophy of Literary Form)

They Say, I SayAcademic writing is highly social: through writing, we engage with the work of othersWe enter an academic conversation using the ideas of others as a sounding board or launch pad for our own ideasWe can agree with, challenge or respond to the ideas presented by othersTemplates or models can help writers structure their ideas

Using and Citing SourcesThere are three ways to incorporate other peoples ideas into your writing:

Summarizing ParaphrasingQuoting directly from the source

SUMMARIZING When you condense the main ideas of a writers argument or evidence, you are summarizing. You do not use the wording of the writer, but you put the main ideas into your own words. You show your reader that the information you read has passed through your mind, that you have interpreted it and analyzed it, and that you are not just copying from the original source.

EXAMPLE OF SUMMARIZING THEY SAY: Boys and girls also have different content preferences, with girls having more interest in media that features human relationships, romance and friendships, celebrities and music. Girls are more likely to use chat rooms and boys are more likely to prefer media that features action, violence and competition (Lemish, Liebes & Seidmann, 2001). I SAY: Parents influence the way that children engage with media content; how adults respond to different genres and formats of movies, TV shows and print media helps set norms and expectations for children.

PARAPHRASING When you focus on one or two sentences of a writers work and put them into your own words, you are paraphrasing. You paraphrase when you want to highlight the details, facts or specific information provided by an author.

EXAMPLE OF PARAPHRASING THEY SAY: Patterns of media use and access to media show that in the U.S. and most Western European nations, two-thirds of girls play electronic games and an increasing number use the Internet. However, media use is still somewhat stereotypically gendered. For example, when asked which medium children would prefer as a birthday gift, girls are most likely to choose a television set and boys are most likely to prefer a computer or computer-related accessory (Livingstone & Bovill, 2001). I SAY: Although family influence is important, the ubiquitous presence of consumer merchandising of toys, games and media is almost certainly a factor in the maintenance of gender stereotypical responses of children.

DIRECT QUOTATIONYou may want to quote the source directly if the language in a specific quote is very powerful or the ideas in the quote are very important to your argument.

You should try not to use too many direct quotes or quotes that are too long if you did this, the writing would not truly be your own work. When you quote, you must alert your reader that you are quoting by enclosing the quote in quotation marks and make sure you copy the quote exactly as it appears in the text, punctuation included.

EXAMPLE OF DIRECT QUOTATION THEY SAY: Boys watch more television and play more videogames; girls read more magazines and books, listen to more music and watch more movies. As Roe (1998, 23) has put it, "In this period of their lives, boys and girls increasingly inhabit different media worlds." I SAY: Today there is very little media that can be comfortably watched by boys and girls, parents and children alike. Therefore, I contend that the extreme specialization of media content is contributing to increasing isolation among family members and a diminishment in the quality of family life;

MAKING A QUOTATION SANDWICHFraming statement introduces the general ideaAttribution statement introduces the authorQuotation: the meatElaboration offers additional detail as neededExplanation statement offers your own interpretation/response

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MAKING A QUOTATION SANDWICHFraming statement introduces the general ideaAttribution statement introduces the authorQuotation: the meatElaboration offers additional detail as neededExplanation statement offers your own interpretation/response

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Summarizing to Agree

She argues______, and I agree because_____.

Her argument that ______ is supported by new research showing that _______.

Summarizing to Disagree

While she argues ______, I disagree because_______.

The argument he proposes, while persuasive, is inaccurate because______.

Summarizing toConcede and Rebut

He claims that _______, and I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I agree that ______. On the other hand, I still insist that_______.

Although I grant that ____, I still maintain that _____.

Citing your SourcesYou should use a combination of:attributive tagsin-text citations

to document the sources you used in your work.

ATTRIBUTIVE TAGSAttribution (n). Assigning to a sourceLanguage that tells the reader that you are using anothers ideas.

According to AUTHORAUTHOR states thatAUTHOR goes on to say that

Attribution may be used with SUMMARIZING, PARAPHRASING or DIRECT QUOTATION.

IN-TEXT CITATIONAfter summarizing, paraphrasing, or direct quotation, use the (author-date) method of citation, following guidelines for style (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc).

For summarizing or paraphrasing: (Author, year of publication)

For direct quotation: (Author, date, page)

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