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

I begrudgingly bought this book for my senior seminar. I thought it would be a bit childish for the class and the expected maturity level of the students therein. As a result, it sat on my bookshelf, ignored for most of the semester. That is, until I was having problems writing my final paper.At a loss, I turned to this book, and immediately started kicking myself for not doing so sooner. Every other writing guide and style book I have come across has been largely useless and rough reading. Graff and Birkenstein's efforts succeed where these others have failed. Their book is not only accessible, but well divided into manageable parts that are rich in advice, but not overwhelmingly so.I started the book doubtful of their strategies, particularly the use of templates. However, I was quickly won over. I soon came to see that rather than stifling, the templates helped arrange what I was trying to say in a way that made it much easier to make my points.Most of all, this book helped me by reminding me and proving to me how a good literary paper comes about. Professors always say that you need to explain why the topic is important for it to be a good paper. This book shows exactly how to do that: by making the paper become a conversation between yourself and other critics, and avoiding summarizing the topic or what has been said about it overmuch.This is one book that I expect I will use time and time again in the years to come.

As an adult student this book is a great resource to ease back into educational writing with lots of prompts and easy to use templates. Highly recommended

How much simpler could it get, templates for building your best arguements and critical responses. I had returned to graduate school after a 10 year vacation from academia and was sorely out of practice when a fab professor obligated the class to purchase this book. What a life saver and I use it to this very day when I am approaching a paper. I have had it for two years and believe it will be a staple in writing any of my future critical research papers or until I have become an expert at it on my own.

Graff and Birkenstein have written the best book about academic writing I've read. Itsstrategies, or moves, extend way beyond the purely academic to all kinds of non-fiction writing and have been put to rigorous classroom tests both by the authors and by many of their peers. They Say/I Say is also a pleasure to read: Graff and Birkenstein practice the very writing lessons they're advocating, so that the book becomes a testimonial to itself, and to the wisdom of its own teachings. Even the interior design of They Say/I Say is pleasing and helps to convey the book's message.

Graff and Birkenstein's short discourse on how to argue effectively is written in a clean, informal style that will appeal equally to young writers and their teachers. The authors stress the need to not only be familiar with your opponents' views, but to briefly incorporate them into your paper before offering your own counterarguments. This, along with providing context for the subject matter at hand, will make the paper that much stronger not only in its logos, but in its ethos and pathos as well.Especially appealing are the templates provided in each chapter. Like "training wheels," they provide a perfect start for writers hoping to show some rhetorical flair. Conveniently, the authors provide all of the templates together in an index at the back of the book. All in all, a worthy addition for your arsenal of writing manuals.

Truly a great help in writing academic papers; although I am not convinced that the concept of "templates" is good for every student. Readers and writers should pay attention to this concept, as it may be a catalyst for change in the way academic papers are written. I'm not sure yet if I think this is a good thing or not. It certainly will help students who have little or no experience in writing. The book has many helpful tips in general; its the "template" thing that I need to think about.

I like it. Good day.

The book is generally poorly written. It is extremely colloquial, and thus could be of use for teaching younger students. However, for an educated audience (college level), it is extremely weak and close to useless. I was assigned this book for an introductory writing course at my college and was surprised and slightly embarrassed at the quality of the writing.

This book is really boring to read base upon my opinion. The language is very basic.

Very good starter if you want to learn how to write an essay. Would highly recommend this to any new university student.

An essential read for people who struggle to grasp academic writing. The templates, examples and exercise ate best.

Fantastic book, very useful for my final year research project.

Very useful book that provides some practical insight into academic writing.