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The central claim of the authors: It is our belief that the they say / I
say pattern cuts across different disciplines and genres of writing,
including creative writing. Although students must eventually master
the specific writing conventions of their majors, we believe that there is
no major or discipline that does not require writers to frame their own
claims as a response to what others before them have said. Indeed,
students who master the elemental moves prompted by the templates
in this book should actually become better able to appreciate the
differences between disciplines and genres (xviii).
They say / I say is the internal DNA of all argumentation. Coming
to recognize the way these moves work in their own writing are
positioned to become better readers, too, since the templates help
them to recognize the ways that authors are positioning themselves in
relationship to other arguments.
The book provides templates not to stifle critical thinking but to be
direct with students about the key rhetorical moves that comprise it
(xv); the forms dont dictate content but provide a way of formatting
how you say it (11).
at the same time emphasizing those aspects of what the author ways
that interest you.
If you do an honest job of summarizing, your reader shouldnt be able
to tell whether you agree or disagree with the authors position.
Dont fall into the closest clich trapthats when what gets
summarized is not the view the author in question has actually
expressed, but a familiar clich that the writer mistakes for the
authors view. This is reducing an argument to a trope or clich or
truism that is much simpler than the real argument presented.
Since a text will often provide relevant information about a variety of
topics, youll want to summarize it in relationship to the topic that
youre addressing. This is not simplifying in the dishonest or reductive
sense but merely stressing those elements/points which are most
relevant to your argument. Also, summarizing the text in terms of the
topic that youre focused on will help you work from the big picture
down to the relevant detailsrather than just providing a list
summary of points with no main focus. (List summaries are typically
joined by and then, next, after that, etc. A list summary is what
your four-year-old nephew gives you when he summarizes his trip to
the museum: We saw bears! And then we went to a room that had a
bunch of igloos in it! And then we saw a dinosaur bone! And then
there was a room that had dead people in it! In a summary like this,
its not clear why the speaker is choosing to summarize specific points
of the experience.)
Balance objectivity with accuracy. In persuasive writing, most authors
are not merely stating somethingtheyre also participating in a
conversation by agreeing and disagreeing, providing examples,
challenging claims, etc. As a result, a good reader will recognize the
stance of the author and provide phrasing to indicate that stance in
their own summary.
Acknowledging naysayers
Since persuasive writing is about persuading people to believe
something different than they already do, those people will have
different attitudes, values, priorities, or interpretations than you do.
Thats why youre writing. And you can build credibility by
acknowledgingrather than dismissing or ignoringthe beliefs of your
audience. Those beliefs are sometimes counterarguments, and if
you dont address counterarguments then you run the risk of being
seen as close-minded. You can even allow yourself to act as a
naysayer in a text.
Templates for introducting counterarguments
At this point I want to raise some objections inspired by the
skeptic in me. She feels that I have been ignoring the issue of
_________. ______, she says to me, ____________________.
Some readers, however, may challenge my view that
_______________. After all, many believe that
_____________________. In truth, my argument about _________
does seem to ignore _____________.
But is my idea realistic? What are the chances of it actually
being adopted?
Does the evidence Ive provided compellingly show ___________-?
Templates for introducing counterarguments held by a specific group of
people (liberals, Christians, capitalists)
Here many feminists may object that ______________.
Biologists, of course, may dispute my claim that _____________.
Though not all Christians think alike, a fairly common perspective
they hold, in opposition to my own, may be that
__________________.
Though labeling groups introduces a level of generalization that may
be uncomfortable, it also allows for the possibility of connecting your
ideas to the larger interaction of ideas. The third example shows a way
to avoid overgeneralization while still ascribing a view to a certain
group.
Answering objections
Its not enough just to acknowledge the views of othersyou also need
to answer them. And you need to answer them fairly, without mocking
or oversimplifying. And your response to the counterargument needs
to be more persuasive than the counterargument. Thats just wrong
is not persuasive, since its not backed up with any research or logic or
Metacommentary
Metacommentary is the stuff in writing that tells the reader how to
interpret the ideas you present. Its a way of guiding the reader