They Say I SayBy Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein

What You Already Know

Quoting Documenting The need to introduce and discuss your sources

What You Don’t Know There are innumerable ways to “use” or discuss a

quote. The rules:

o Again, you get thirty seconds to think of as many ways to “use” a source in the manner I direct. Winner of each round gets extra credit.

Let’s Play a Game

Game Introduce what “they” say. Just the source/ideas,

not a direct quote.o A number of sociologists have recently suggested the

X’s work has sever fundamentals problems.o It has become common today to dismiss X’s contribution

to the field of sociologyo In their recent work, Y and Z have offered harsh critiques

of Dr. X for _____________.

Game Explaining a quote: (full sentences)

o Basically, X is saying ______________.o In other words, X believes ____________.o In making this comment, X argues that _______________.o X is insisting that _______________.o X’s point is that _______________.o The essence of X’s argument is that _______________.

Game Disagreeing, with reasons.

o I think X is mistaken because she over looks______________.

o X’s claim that _______________ rests upon the questionable assumption that ______________.

o X contradicts herself/can’t have it both ways. On the one hand she argues _________________. But on the other hand, she also says _____________.

o By focusing on ________________, X overlooks the deeper problem of ______________.

Game Agreeing with a difference

o Those unfamiliar with this school of thought may be interested to know that it basically boils down to _____________.

o X surely is right about ___________ because, as she may not be aware, recent studies have shown that _______________.

o X’s theory of ____________ is extremely useful because it sheds insight on the difficult problem of_____________.

o If group X is right that ___________, as I think they are, then we need to reassess the popular assumption that ___________.

Game Agreeing and disagreeing simultaneously

o Although I agree with X up to a point, I cannot accept his overall conclusion that _________________

o Though I concede that ________________, I still insist that __________.

o Although I disagree with much that X says, I fully endorese his final conclusion that ________________.

o Whereas X provides ample evidence that _______________, Y and Z’s research on _____________ and ____________ convices me that ______________ instead.

Game Similarly, making concessions while still standing

your groundo Although I grant that ______________, I still maintain that

________.o Proponents of X are right to argue that ____________. But

they exaggerate when they claim that _____________.o While it is true that _______________, it does not

necessarily follow that ______________.o On the one hand, I agree with X that _____________. But

on the other hand, I still insist that _____________.

Game Establish why your claims matter

o X matter/is important because _______________.o Although X may seem trivial, it is in fact crucial in terms of

today’s concern over _______________.o Ultimately, what is at stake here is ____________.o These findings have important consequences for the

broader domain of ______________.o My discussion of X is in fact addressing that larger matter

of ____________.o These conclusions/this discovery will have significant

application in__________ as well as _____________.o Although X may seem to concern only a small group of

____________, it should in fact concern anyone who care about ___________.

In summary… There are other ways to use sources. You just

have to think about what the relationship each source/quote has with your material.

Source Graff, Geralf and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say I

Say. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2006. Print.