Templates from They Say, I Say by Gerald Graff & Cathy Birkenstein
Chapter 1: “They Say”
Beginner
_______ suggests that _______’s work
has several basic problems.
Starting with What Others Are Saying
Intermediate
Many people assume _______.
Many times it is said _______.
Although I should know better by now,
I cannot help thinking that _______.
When I was a child, I used to think that
_______.
X apparently assumes that _______
______.
At the same time I believe _______ I
also believe_______.
When it comes to the topic of ______,
some are convinced that _______.
Beginner
In their recent work _______, Y and Z
have offered harsh critiques of _______
for _______.
Common sense seems to dictate that
_______.
One implication of X’s treatment of
_______ is that _______.
In discussions of X, one controversial
issue has been _______.
X feels that _______.
Chapter 2: “Her Point Is”
Advanced
The Art of Summarizing
Intermediate
Advanced
_______, he admits.
They celebrate the fact that _______.
She advocates, _______.
Verbs for making a claim:
believe
argue
Verbs for making a claim:
report
claim
Verbs for making a claim:
assert
emphasize
Verbs for expressing agreement:
agree praise
Verbs for expressing agreement:
acknowledge admire
Verbs for expressing agreement:
endorse extol
Verbs for expressing disagreement or
questioning:
complain question
Verbs for expressing disagreement or
questioning:
deny qualify
Verbs for expressing disagreement or
questioning:
refute contend
Verbs for making recommendations:
demand warn
Verbs for making recommendations:
encourage recommend
Verbs for making recommendations:
urge plead
Templates from They Say, I Say by Gerald Graff & Cathy Birkenstein
Chapter 3: “As He Himself Puts It”
Beginner
The Art of Quoting
Intermediate
Advanced
Introducing Quotes
Introducing Quotes
Introducing Quotes
X himself writes, “_______________.”
As the prominent philosopher X puts it,
“_______________.”
X states that, “_______________.”
According to X, “_______________.”
In X’s view, “_______________.”
X agrees when she writes,
“_______________.”
X disagrees when he writes,
“_______________.”
In her book, ______________, X
maintains that “_______________.”
Writing in the journal ______, X
complains that “_______________.”
X complicates matters further when she
writes, “_______________.”
Explaining Quotes
Explaining Quotes
Explaining Quotes
X’s point is that, _______________.
Basically, X is warning
_______________.
X is corroborating the age-old adage
that _______________.
In other words, X believes
_______________.
The essence of X’s argument is that
_______________.
In making this comment, X urges us to
_______________.
Templates from They Say, I Say by Gerald Graff & Cathy Birkenstein
Chapter 4: “Yes / No / Okay, But”
Three Ways to Respond
Advanced
Beginner
I agree that ________ because
________.
Intermediate
On the one hand, ________.
On the other hand, ________.
I disagree that ________ because
________.
He/She argues ________, and I
agree/disagree because ________.
He/She says ________, and I agree
because _______.
Though I agree that ________, I still
disagree that ________.
I agree/disagree that ________ because
in my experience ________.
Chapter 5: “And Yet”
Beginner
X is right because ____________.
Distinguishing What You Say from
What They Say
Intermediate
I think that X is mistaken because she
overlooks ________.
I disagree with X’s view that ________
because, as recent research has shown,
________.
Although I agree with X up to a point, I
cannot accept his/her overall
conclusion that ________.
I have two thoughts about X’s claim
that ________. On one hand, I agree
that ________. On the other hand I’m
not sure if ________.
Advanced
Although X makes the best possible
case for_________, I am not persuaded.
Although ____________, I
disagree/agree ____________.
My view, however, contrary to what X
has argued, is that ____________.
My view is that ____________.
According to both X and Y _________.
I have a problem with ____________.
That evidence shows that ___________.
There is a major problem with
____________.
Anyone familiar with _______ should
agree/disagree that ____________ I
have a problem with ____________.
X is wrong because ____________.
I have a problem because
____________.
I have a problem with ____________.
Templates from They Say, I Say by Gerald Graff & Cathy Birkenstein
Chapter 6: “Skeptics May Object”
Beginner
Planting a Naysayer in Your Text
Intermediate
Advanced
Yet some readers may challenge the
view that ____________.
Of course, many will probably disagree
on the grounds that ____________.
____________, of course, may want to
question whether ____________.
But ____________ would certainly
take issue with the argument that
____________.
At this point I would like to raise some
objections that have been inspired by
the skeptic in me. She feels that I have
been ignoring ____________.
Here many ____________ would
object that ____________.
Yet is it always true that ___________?
“Impossible!” some will say. “You
must be reading the research
selectively.”
On one hand I agree with X that
____________. But on the other hand, I
still insist that ____________.
While it is true that ____________, it
does not necessarily follow that
____________.
Chapter 7: “So What? Who Cares?”
Saying Why It Matters
Beginner
Intermediate
____________ is important because
____________.
If we are right about ____________
then ____________.
____________ used to think
____________ but now/recently/
____________.
These findings challenge
____________.
At first glance, ____________ but upon
closer inspection ____________.
Templates from They Say, I Say by Gerald Graff & Cathy Birkenstein
Nevertheless, both followers and critics
of ____________ will probably argue
that ____________.
However, does the evidence I’ve cited
prove conclusively that
____________?
Although I grant that ____________, I
still maintain that ____________.
Advanced
My discussion of ____________
addresses the larger matter of
____________.
These findings have important
consequences for ____________.
Chapter 8 “As A Result”
Connecting the Parts
Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced
Transitions
Transitions
Transitions
Addition
also
and
Addition
in addition
Addition
besides
Example
for example
Example
for instance
Example
specifically
Elaboration
to put it another way
Elaboration
ultimately
Comparison
in the same way
Comparison
similarly
Comparison
likewise
Contrast
but
however
Contrast
although
Cause & Effect
so
since
then
Cause & Effect
as a result
therefore
Cause & Effect
consequently
Concession
of course
Concession
although it is true
Concession
granted
Conclusion
as a result
Conclusion
consequently
Elaboration
in other words
Conclusion
in conclusion
actually
to summarize
in fact
even though
therefore
Templates from They Say, I Say by Gerald Graff & Cathy Birkenstein
furthermore
Contrast
In contrast
on the other hand
thus
to sum up
Chapter 10 “But Don’t Get Me
Wrong”
Beginner
In other words, ____________.
What ____________ really means is
____________.
The Art of Metacommentary
Intermediate
Advanced
This is not to say __________, but
rather __________.
Ultimately, then, my goal is to
demonstrate that __________.
X is concerned less with __________
than with __________.
Essentially, I am arguing not that
__________, but that __________.
What X is saying here is that ________.
Having just argued that __________, I
want now to complicate the point by
__________.
To put it another way, ____________.
For example, ____________.
Finally, ____________.
Chapter 2 explores ________, while
Chapter 3 examines ________.
To take a case in point __________.
In short, ____________.
________, for instance, demonstrates
________.
Consider __________, for example.
Even more important, __________.
But above all, __________.
Just as important, __________.
Templates from They Say, I Say by Gerald Graff & Cathy Birkenstein
Incidentally, we will briefly note,
__________.