"They Say/I Say": The Moves that Matter in Persuasive Writing

Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein

W.W. Norton, 2007 - Reference - 181 pages

As employers, politicians, parents, and other citizens lament the decline of writing skills among Americans, this little book comes to the rescue. An instant bestseller when it first appeared as a college textbook, "They Say / I Say" gives writers precisely what they need to know in the all-important domain of persuasive writing. Cutting through the clutter of educational diagnoses and nostrums, it goes right to the heart of what writers most need to do, and that is to listen to what others are saying (they say), summarize it, and then offer their own argument (I say) as a response. Offering user-friendly templates to help writers make these key moves in their own writing, "They Say / I Say" is already being called the Strunk & White of persuasive writing.

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - klara333 - LibraryThing

This "textbook" is very easy to understand and super easy to read. It gives you helpful tips on how to write better. For example it teaches you to summarize, quote, and so much more. After reading this book I feel like a better writer already.

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - RandyMetcalfe - LibraryThing

They, Graff and Birkenstein, say that writing well is a lot like entering a conversation. It involves listening to what others have said and summarizing it, fairly, prior to stepping up to add your ...

About the author

Gerald Graff is a professor of English and education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is the author of several books including 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 is the author along with Gerald Graff of They Say / I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing.

Bibliographic information

• Title: "They Say/I Say": The Moves that Matter in Persuasive Writing
• Authors: Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: W.W. Norton, 2007
• ISBN: 0393065456, 9780393065459
• Length: 181 pages
• Subjects: Reference / Writing Skills