"They Say/I Say"

This reading was very useful. “They Say/I Say” has a lot of good information on how to write. It provides templates and exercises on how to become a better writer. I particularly enjoyed the examples they use to explain the wide range of uses for this model.

The authors talk about how to take an opinion or piece of conversation and set it up so that you can later refute it. It is also important on how to respond to the opposing opinion. You don’t necessarily need to strictly agree or disagree with the opinion. There are templates where you can agree with some points and disagree with others. They even use this model while explaining it. There are those who say that the “They Say/I Say” model is too restrictive and stifles creativity. However, they give plenty of evidence as to why it is helpful to follow such a model, and how it can still allow the user plenty of free reign. Another important aspect is that you can’t just state how you feel about a certain issue: you must state why you think so. Even if a viewpoint seems obvious, you must state your rationale behind your thinking.

The templates and instructions that the authors give in this reading are extremely useful in writing a paper. I will definitely use some of these templates when writing papers in the future.