Distinguishing What
You Say from What
They Say
5: Distinguishing What You Say from
What They Say
• Readers have to be able to tell at every point
• Recognize such signals in reading
• Voice-markers
5: Distinguishing What You Say from
What They Say
• Read the following passage. What are it’s
problems?
We are all middle class. As a result, our class
differences are muted and our collective character is
homogenized.
Class divisions are real and arguably the most
significant factor in determining both our very being in
the world and the nature of the society we live in.
- Gregory Mantsios, “Rewards and Opportunities:
The Politics and Economics of Class in the US”
5: Distinguishing What You Say from
What They Say
• Now read this version
“We are all middle class,” or so it would seem. Our
national consciousness, as shaped in large part by the
media and our political leadership, provides us with a
picture of ourselves as a nation of prosperity and
opportunity with an ever expanding middle-class
lifestyle. As a result, our class differences are muted
and our collective character is homogenized.
Yet class divisions are real and arguably the most
significant factor in determining both our very being in
the world and the nature of the society we live in.
5: Distinguishing What You Say from
What They Say
• “or so it would seem” – shows that he doesn’t
necessarily agree
• Placed opening view in quotation marks
• Distances himself – “our national consciousness”
• “Yet”
• Direct, authoritative, declarative tone (2nd par)
• Need to be able to distinguish.
• Look at previous paragraph without voice markers
5: Distinguishing What You Say from
What They Say
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•
•
•
First person okay… as long as supported
Avoid “I think” “I believe” “I argue” repetitively
You can embed it into your own writing
Ex. Liberals believe that cultural differences need to
be respected. I have a problem with this view,
however.
• Better Ex. I have a problem with what liberals call
cultural differences.
• Better Ex. There is a major problem with the liberal
doctrine about so-called cultural differences
5: Distinguishing What You Say from
What They Say
• Embedding references allow you to economize
your train of thought and refer to other
perspectives without any major interruption
5: Distinguishing What You Say from
What They Say
Exercise 8
• To see how one writer signals when she is
asserting her own views and when she is
summarizing those of someone else, read the
following passage by the social historian Julie
Charlip. As you do so, identify the spots where
Charlip refers to the views of others and the
signal phrases she uses to distinguish her view
from theirs.