They Say I Say Reading Response

Kevin Mak
Christy Vance
English 102
10/29/09

The point of the reading that stood out to me the most was to give writing a point, not only must the writer make his or her thesis clear but make the thesis comparable to what it is responding to. The essay starts with an anecdote and throughout most of the beginning it is referred back to a lot. The essay stated, "our speaker failed to mention what others had said about Dr. X's work, he left his audience unsure about why he felt the need to say what he was saying (Unknown 18)." Making sure you tie in a topic is very important especially in the beginning when stating your facts you must relate them. The essay made a very important fact. It says, "remember that you are entering a conversation and therefore need to start with "what others are saying," and than introduce your own ideas as a response (Unknown 18,19)." The essay suggests summarizing what "they say" as soon as you can in your text.
The next chapter focuses on the "I say" part of writing. The essay describes this part as the part where you focus your own argument. There are three ways to respond. Agreeing, disagreeing and sometimes both. Disagreeing involves proving your case and letting the writer know why you disagree. You must provide persuasive reasons on why you disagree. Agreeing involves making yourself a part of the conversation. Contributing to someones topic will better help something be understood.
From this reading I have learned that engaging yourself farther than just yes or no is very important. Invloving yourself in the conversation between writer and reader is important when you are writing or reading a paper. Knowing both sides of the conversation will help you better understand the topic in a way you would not see it from just one side. I will use much of this info in my argument paper that we are currently working on in class.