50 pages 1 hour read

Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein

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

Nonfiction | Reference/Text Book | Adult | Published in 2006

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Essay Topics

1.

Read through an essay you wrote before reading They Say/I Say. Can you identify any places where you were already using Birkenstein and Graff’s methods? Can you identify areas where applying their techniques might improve your work? Explain your reasoning. Use evidence from both your essay and They Say/I Say. 

2.

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?

3.

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?