My only regret about reading They Say/I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing (Graff & Birkenstein, 2006; 2e 2010) is that I didn't do it sooner. This book would have been immensely helpful to me before I began teaching argumentation.
The idea that good academic writing joins an ongoing conversation is one I certainly teach; it's always a good idea, for example, to state your thesis as a response to others' ideas about your topic (and thus to answer the "so what?" question). What hadn't occurred to me is Graff & Birkenstein's central thesis: that students might benefit from templates demonstrating how exactly the discourse might be joined. For instance, Graff & Birkenstein offer the following template students might use to put forward their own argument:
In recent discussions of _____, a controversial issue has been whether _____. On the one hand, some argue that _____. From this perspective, _____. On the other hand, however, others argue that _____. In the words of _____, one of this view's main proponents, "_____." According to this view, _____. In sum, then, the issue is whether _____ or _____.
My own view is that _____... (2e, 9).
I understand why some instructors might bristle at the idea of teaching from templates, a method which may discourage invention and creativity in favor of slavish imitation. But the authors frankly address this criticism in the preface, rightly pointing out that most students will not independently learn to make "the key intellectual moves" experienced writers absorb unconsciously. It follows, then, that such moves must be taught.
I'll be teaching my students some new moves this fall.
They Say/I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing
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