"They Say / I Say": The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, with 2016 MLA Update (Third Edition)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393617432 ISBN 13: 9780393617436

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2016

THIS TITLE HAS BEEN UPDATED TO REFLECT THE 2016 MLA UPDATE.

The New York Times best-selling book on academic writing―in use at more than 1,500 schools.

“They Say / I Say” identifies the key rhetorical moves in academic writing, showing students how to frame their arguments in the larger context of what others have said and providing templates to help them make those moves. And, because these moves are central across all disciplines, the book includes chapters on writing in the sciences, writing in the social sciences, and―new to this edition―writing about literature.

About the Author:

Gerald Graff, a professor of English and education at the University of Illinois at Chicago and 2008 president of the Modern Language Association of America, has had a major impact on teachers through such books as Professing Literature: An Institutional History, Beyond the Culture Wars: How Teaching the Conflicts Can Revitalize American Education, and Clueless in Academe: How Schooling Obscures the Life of the Mind.

Cathy Birkenstein is a lecturer in English at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has published essays on writing in College English, and, with Gerald Graff in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Academe, and College Composition and Communication.

Review:

The best tribute to "They Say / I Say" I've heard is this, from a student: "This is one book I'm not selling back to the bookstore." Nods all around the room. The students love this book. --Christine Ross, Quinnipiac University

The argument of this book is important--that there are "moves" to academic writing . . . and that knowledge of them can be generative. The template format is a good way to teach and demystify the moves that matter. I like this book a lot. --David Bartholomae, University of Pittsburgh

A brilliant book. . . . It's like a membership card in the academic club. --Eileen Seifert, DePaul University

Demystifies academic argumentation. --Patricia Bizzell, College of the Holy Cross"

This book demystifies rhetorical moves, tricks of the trade that many students are unsure about. It s reasonable, helpful, nicely written . . . and hey, it s true. I would have found it immensely helpful myself in high school and college. --Mike Rose, University of California, Los Angeles"

The best tribute to They Say / I Say I ve heard is this, from a student: This is one book I m not selling back to the bookstore. Nods all around the room. The students love this book. --Christine Ross, Quinnipiac University"

The argument of this book is important that there are moves to academic writing . . . and that knowledge of them can be generative. The template format is a good way to teach and demystify the moves that matter. I like this book a lot. --David Bartholomae, University of Pittsburgh"

A brilliant book. . . . It s like a membership card in the academic club. --Eileen Seifert, DePaul University"

Students need to walk a fine line between their work and that of others, and this book helps them walk that line, providing specific methods and techniques for introducing, explaining, and integrating other voices with their own ideas. --Libby Miles, University of Rhode Island"

This book uncovers the rhetorical conventions that transcend disciplinary boundaries, so that even freshmen, newcomers to the academy, are immediately able to join in the conversation. --Margaret Weaver, Missouri State University"