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

Compare and contrast the different formats used for papers about scientific research versus papers about research in the social sciences. What do they have in common? What makes them different? Why do you think these differences exist?

Pick any chapter from this book. Read through it and identify places where Birkenstein and Graff use their own methods. Which methods are they using? When and how do they employ them? Are they effective? Why or why not?

What is the rhetorical purpose of including cartoon diagrams throughout the book? How do they contribute to what the book teaches?

Imagine you are teaching a college level introduction to composition and rhetoric with They Say/I Say as your primary text. Would you follow it to the letter? Or would you highlight certain sections and not others? Explain your reasons in terms of the aims of your course and the students, your audience, whom you are teaching.

Look up the word “argument” in a dictionary—preferably one that provides an etymology of the word (that is, its origins and meanings over time). Discuss Graff and Birkenstein’s notion of “argument” in light of what you learn.

Can the “they say/I say” model of rhetorical analysis be applied to fiction? In what contexts? Would you recommend using it to analyze fiction or other narrative storytelling? Why or why not?

In addition to a hypothetical “naysayer,” what other kinds of audiences might be useful for a writer to imagine? Would some not be useful? Discuss using concrete examples.

Choose a short story and consider how its style contributes to its meaning, or how its form shapes and is shaped by its content.