Entering the conversation
By: Graff and Birkenstein
In the introduction of “They say / I say, Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein provide
templates designed to help new writers master the art of writing. Specifically, Graff and
Birkenstein argue that the types of writing templates they offer can help new writers organize
their thoughts and enhance the writer’s ability to create arguments based on the ideas of others,
summarize those arguments and prepare the supporting cast for said arguments. As the authors
themselves put it “once you feel comfortable with the templates in this book, you will be able to
improvise creatively on them to fit in new situations and purposes”. Graff and Birkenstein
summarized by saying “ The templates offered here are learning tools to get you started ”. In
sum, then, their view is that “the immediate goal of this book is to help you become a better
writer”. I have mixed feelings about the templates and their effectiveness. In my view, the types
of templates that the authors recommend are very useful for new writers. For instance, they can
be used as the initiation to different writing styles and for writers to get accustomed to following
a pattern, which can be helpful for new writers. In addition, templates can be helpful in
organizing writer's ideas as well as helping new writers find consistency in their writing.
However, it must be noted that new writers should not overuse templates and rely on them as a
safe way into the mastery of writing. Relying on these tools too often could limit the writer's
progress and originality, they could fail to develop new ideas and focus on following every detail
of these templates. Some might object, of course, on the grounds that the positive effect these
templates have on new writers can give them ground to get more comfortable with expressing
their own ideas through writing. Yet I would argue that as helpful as the templates are, they give
a false sense of security to new writers, meaning, new writers can be too comfortable with these
tools to the point that they can't write without them. Overall, then, I believe that templates can be
a useful tool, it's necessary that writers use them as an inauguration into writing and not as a
roadblock for critical thinking, Writers should alter the templates as often as they can, to create a
creative piece of writing, allowing their voices to be heard.