Through They Say/I Say, Cathy Birkenstein and Gerald Graff convey how conventional methods of writing allow for students to understand the idea of “supporting thesis with evidence, to entertain counterarguments, and to identify a textual contradiction” (Birkenstein xviii). Despite the prevalent comprehension of such concepts, evidently, students are incapable of implementing the aforementioned writing essentials into their own writing. Consequently, Birkenstein and Graff attempt to denounce the fear of using “I”, utilizing organized templates, and being observant of the ideas of others.
Although many students strive to avoid the usage of templates due to a possibility of plagiarizing another source, the templates presented by Birkenstein and Graff deviate from regular ones that label one’s writing as robotic. Rather, because the templates are advanced yet colloquial in all aspects, following the suggested guidelines of Birkenstein and Graff will not make one sound repetitive or unoriginal.
In the preface of They Say/I Say, Birkenstein and Graff claim that the prevention of using first-person pronouns such as “I” or “we” “hamper students’ ability not only to take strong positions but to differentiate their own positions from those of others” (xxiv). To an extent, the authors’ observations may be true, but are still arguable. Firstly, by stating “I” or “we” in formal papers, that piece of writing is seen as informal due to the way the paper stands. When one uses “I” in writing, one tends to expand the sentence as “I think that…” or “I believe that…”, which simply does not substantiate an argument as much as factual evidence would. Additionally, encouraging the incorporation of first-person pronouns seems to contradict the notion of listening to the voice of others, as writing any form of “I imagine that…” prevents one from fully integrating the ideas and thoughts of those that surround us.