"They Say / I Say": The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, with 2016 MLA Update (Third Edition)

The book They Say, I Say is the book I wish I had had at the beginning of my own graduate studies. It is a practical book that demystifies academic writing through the provision of basic templates that help first-year college students grasp the structure of good academic argument. I see it not as a cheat-sheet or prescriptive form of instruction, but as a useful tool that uncovers the patterns that already exist in writing and turns them into techniques students can adopt. Within the templates there is still plenty of room for students to add in their own perspectives and apply critical thinking. Intuitive readers pick these moves up through reading, but even the best of us can use the kind of explicit help that Graff and Birkenstein's templates provide.The templates and lessons in this book unlock the secrets of good writing and argument for anyone interested in improving their written arguments.

Call me old-fashioned (thank you, Dame Edna), but I always browse a book before reading it. Leafing through this book really annoyed me. I always understood that authors of a high-school book or popular guides to some language didn't need to be exemplary in sensitivity or tolerance. Nevertheless, I often was repulsed by those who teach translating: The girl is beautiful, The boy is smart, and Boy, take my luggage to room 16. It was clear to me that you needlessly make learning a language harder when you give examples that probably remind many students of traumas they went through! However, I expected something much better from a guide to improve academic writing, written by two university teachers, reprinted five times, last time in 2017, third edition, sold over a million copies. I was in for some big disappointment.

Take this example (I'm still browsing): "Think how your heart sinks when someone, immediately after praising you, begins a sentence with "but" or "however." No matter what follows, you know it won't be good." For the same money, it would have read: " Think how you revive when someone, immediately after criticizing you, begins a sentence with "but" or "however." No matter what follows, you know it will be good."

Worse, I found a long, excellent story from the 60s that uses the N-word multiple times per page. Why? Don't the authors believe in a safe classroom? Yes, the piece painfully describes a boy going against his mother's bigotry, which could be instructive for White students. The mother gets so angry (spoiler alert) that in the end, she dies of her high blood pressure, giving a whole new meaning to the truism that racism kills. But, are the non-Arian students supposed to not see this or not mind? Did they ask for this? Why not change the language? There are [sic], Black, dark-brown, not-pale-faced—be creative.

The first illustration after the Introduction shows a speaker going "And then he says … then also he points out … … and then another thing he says is … and then …" with the listeners all fast asleep. Yet, the speaker is a woman. Why? Then, a cartoon that points out a family being Italian-America for no reason. Leave out their roots, and you get the same idea. Then another lengthy reading piece about cartoon figures making oppressive jokes. The authors are educators intending to help or hinder their students? When discussing informal language, the first examples are from black [sic] Americans. Why? Every State and age group in the US has its own informal talk but the first to mention are those exotics?

Lastly, making an intelligent Index costs lots of time and, yes, intelligence. Time is money. But after a million copies in print, there's still no index. That's stealing from the students' time.

Maybe, one day, when I'm desperate or bored enough, I'll turn to what they want to teach. Meanwhile, my browsing has annoyed me enough. How can we ever get to a better world when apparently popular university teachers are so inconsiderate?

My book has blank pages. I bought this as required reading for a class. Chapter 8 is missing 7 out of 17 pages alone! I have no issues with the content (at least what I'm able to read), but the print quality is sub-par, to say the least. And I don't see where I can contact the seller for a replacement. Awesome :( Guess this week's homework will be completed on a wing and a prayer.

So if you're buying this for High School composition to improve your writing as a whole, or if a University class mandated its use, I can understand why you need to buy this product. Its points are very factually based and can dramatically help guide you through making a report more interesting, or developing your first few ideas into something more verbose. It is also at least somewhat engaging compared to other books of its nature.
But if I'm being honest it really did not add upon more than I already knew. Having it as a reminder of proper sentence structure is great, but if you're going into university level classes and do not yet understand to integrate quotes into your argument you might have larger problems to face. A lot of the book goes through writing tips that you have been hearing since sophomore year of high school.
At least for the University of North Dakota, I did not find this book particularly helpful. It may be of more use in other programs.

I paid $15.00 for a brand new book and the package I got is “used, good,” which is $10.50. I paid $4.50 more for nothing.

That’s too bad. Please be careful.

By far the best book I have read on this subject. I love to write, but am not familiar with the more subtle rhetorical moves at my disposal. This book lays out loads of examples, along with where and how to use them. Very impressive content and structure. Easy to approach, while the content is very easy to consume.

great product got for college class

good quality paper

Its not the complete version. Do not waste your money.