Introduction

In the Introduction to “They Say/I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein provide templates designed to show their audience how to create and organize a well written essay.  Specifically, Graff and Birkenstein argue that the types of writing templates they offer provide guidelines on how to correctly utilize their advice to create a masterpiece.  As the authors themselves put it, “One of our key premises is that these basic moves are so common that they can be represented in templates that you can use right away to structure and even generate your own writing.”  Although some people believe that they are not able to express their own ideas freely by following a structured format, Graff and Birkenstein insist that with structured formats, one’s writing will improve; nevertheless, anyone can write their own unique work, even if they simply get help from a template.  In sum, then, their view is that people are able to always enhance their writings.  I agree with their writings in that being provided a set of directions, just helps someone get on the right path.

Chapter 1

The main point of Chapter 1 is to show readers that is just as important to express your own ideas as taking others’ into consideration too.  Writers should remind their audience what they are reading about so they never become confused.  Always be clear in your writing and be responsive to other ideas, beliefs or conversation.

1) “Remember that you are entering a conversation and therefore need to start with ‘what others are saying,’ as the title of this chapter recommends, and then introduce your own ideas as a response.” (20-21)

2) “Starting with a summary of others’ views may seem to contradict the common advice that writers should lead with their own thesis or claim.” (21)]

3) “In other words, even when presenting your own claims, you should keep returning to the motivating ‘they say.’  The longer and more complicated your text, the greater the chance that readers will forget what ideas originally motivated it- no matter how clearly you lay them out at the beginning.” (27)

Question

How can you be sure that you are providing the reader with clarification?  Sometimes I question if my writing is going to be clear to the readers.  I feel that it does not always make sense to others, even if it does to me.

When I revise my writing, I imagine that I could always do better.  Revising essentially helps me gain a new found confidence in myself because I am able to correct an errors I have previously made and improve my writing to the best of my ability.  When I revise my own work,  I gain a sense of confidence because I find new ways to improve my writing.  I go through a similar process that probably mostly everyone else does.  First, I reread my work aloud to see where I can change my diction or add or take out anything unnecessary.  Next, I do any necessary research to help me expand my writing with facts and sources for credibility.  Also, I allow someone else to read my paper to help me figure out what else I could do and provide me with constructive criticism.  It takes awhile, but it is definitely worth it!  According to, “Acts of Revision”, “authors in this collection will be considering revision as the practice of making meaningful changes in texts at the word, sentence, paragraph, and full text level by adding, deleting, substituting, and rethinking their work entirely. As editors, they are concerned with assuring the text has consistency and, at times, that is conforms to “house style”: the requirements of a class or publisher. As proofreaders, they check to make sure their revisions and their editing has been completed carefully and that no typographical errors mar their best presentation of their texts and thinking.”  This essentially shows that revising, editing, and proofreading have similar aspects, but are very different at the same time.  Revising is like the outer layer and the most detailed process.  You must observe different sources and allow yourself to accept that there are many ways to make your writing better.  Editing comes next, where you must ask others to check out your work.  Finally, proofreading is like the icing on the cake, where you must check for spelling errors or add or take out any punctuation.  In Brock Dethier’s piece, I strongly enjoyed reading about when he mentions writing in a journal and how he ties it all back to revision.  He states, “To revise, writers must compare versions, consider alternate methods of development and organization, assess the quality of their communication, and play, often with style options.”  Overall, revision needs you to be open minded to new ideas from various sources, essentially making room for improvement.  All authors need to go through the revision process; therefore, having a positive attitude and believe that their writing can always be better due to new ideas, a lot of help, and REVISION!

In my Rhetorical Analysis, I am in the process of completing my first rough draft.  I finished my zero draft, where I outlined what steps I will be taking, the audience of both my articles, and the overall purpose.  I have thoroughly annotated my 2 articles and pinpointed rhetoric and specific arguments that I will include in my writing.  I have established that I was make an argument in my paper, that my first article focuses on women being victims of domestic violence. Also, I will have a counterargument, where in my second article, the author shows that men are victims as well.  I will include in my paper that people have diverse perspectives on the topic of domestic violence and I can now educate my readers on the diverse viewpoints.  Overall, the purpose of the assignment is to take 2 articles and identify how they view a topic similarly and differently and educate others.  I hope to inform readers on my topic and I hope I will utilize rhetoric well and create a magnificent piece!

For my rhetorical analysis, I plan on researching and writing about violence against women, not only in the United States but all over the world.  I want to specifically look at rape rates and what people are attempting to do to prevent or try to stop it.  I find this topic to be very intriguing because I, myself, am a woman of the 21st century and I feel that I deserve the same amount of respect as any male.  Women, however, are constantly being degraded, violently harmed, and sexually abused in their homes and on the streets.  These actions need to be prevented because not only are unwanted pregnancies occurring, but illnesses, a loss of self-esteem, and even deaths are occurring.  I personally feel that this issue is not something that media focuses on and pays very little attention too.  The only time the public really hears about a “hate crime” against a women, is if a celebrity is involved.  The media does not focus on this issue that i would like to bring up; therefore, I hope to bring awareness to even the few readers that may read my piece.  By examining different articles, I can see how people’s perspectives, all over the world, are on this topic and see if anyone is really taking a stand for these women.  My questions about the rhetorical analysis are really about the set up.  Since I am focusing on diverse articles and sources, should I simply focus on one article first and then transition into another and then another, or should I talk about the many sources all together.  Finally, in my piece, should I state my own opinions on this topic?  I find it extremely difficult to not take a side or even agree with an article more.  If I shouldn’t be biased, how can I do so?  I would love my paper to be as informative and exciting as it can be; therefore, I need all the help I can get!!!