RhetoricVille

They Say, I Say

Over mid-term break, I’ve been reading a little book called They Say, I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing. The authors’ premise is that most academic writing is part of an on-going conversation, or should be, and that writers are obligated to present some of that conversation to their readers before putting in their oar. The potentially controversial aspect of the book is that it advocates using templates to teach the key “moves” of academic writing to students. I think the approach has merit, and I may use the book. The authors make a case for the templates as a temporary aid that students can leave behind once they really know the moves. Also, the book offers a number of templates, with clear explanations of their use, and shows how new ones can be created by examining successful pieces of academic prose.