2015 #7: They Say, I Say by G. Graff and Cathy Birkenstein

They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing by Gerald Graff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I share the concerns of those who dislike the idea of templates, but I can see their usefulness, at least in part. There are a lot of valuable ideas in this little book, however, and I think it can be a great resource for teachers who can then tailor the exercises to achieve similar goals. For example, my department feels strongly that students should NOT use first person for scholarly research writing (in disagreement with the authors of the book). That doesn't mean that the book is useless. I've gone through and highlighted the examples that are in third person. I found certain sections a bit questionable (e.g. "Mix Academic and Colloquial Styles") but the authors write very much in the spirit of suggestion, rather than dogma. The book provides some very admirable and engaging ideas as to how one might tackle the mega-question: Why does writing matter? Getting students to enter a dialogue with unseen respondents is difficult, but this book presents several exercises (many of which are not dependent upon templates) that can help students engage with writing as part of a much larger conversation, rather than a single assignment for a teacher or professor.