The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing
By Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein
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Academic writing requires to express
themselves and respond to others
Effective writers do more than make claims (“I
say”); they also map those claims relative to the
claims of others (“They say”)
Writing as series of moves
Seasoned writers do these naturally…
templates help the rest of us learn them
explicitly!
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To help you become a critical, intellectual
thinker who can participate in conversations in
a meaningful way.
“You come late. When you arrive, others have long preceded you,
and they are engaged in a heated discussion, as discussion too
heated for them to pause and tell you exactly what it is about…
You listen for a while, until you decide you have caught the tenor
of the argument; then you put in your oar. Someone answers; you
answer him; another comes to your defense; another aligns himself
against you… The hour grows late, you must depart. And you do
depart, with the discussion still vigorously in progress”
-Kenneth Burke, The Philosophy of Literary Form
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Most importantly: writing needs a point
Not only your point, but what larger
conversation your thesis is responding to
Must come first
Best to state your position and the one you’re
responding to ASAP. Elaborate later!
Always keep what “they say” connected in
your essay… gives you a sense of mission and
urgency
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Introduce standard views
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Introduce something implied or assumed
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Conventional wisdom has it that…
Although X doesn’t say so directly, she apparently
assumes that….
Introduce ongoing debate
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On the one hand…. On the other hand…. Others
even maintain… My own view is…
The following claims all provide an “I Say.” See
if you can supply a plausible “They Say.”
What might these be responding to?
1. Our experiments suggest that there are
dangerous levels of Chemical X in the Ohio
groundwater.
2. My own view is that this novel has certain
flaws.
3. Football is so boring.
4. I’m afraid that templates like the ones in this
book will stifle my creativity.
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Central tool
Balance between the original author and your
thoughts
Theory: “The Believing Game” (Peter Elbow)
Try to inhabit their worldview– readers
shouldn’t be able to tell whether you agree or
disagree
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Read what Zinczenko says
In his article, “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David
Zinczenko accuses the fast food companies of an evil
conspiracy to make people fat. I disagree because
these companies have to make money.
Natural to summarize others quickly, but be
fair
Avoid “closest cliché syndrome”
Entering conversation: study very closely and
not collapse it into something you have already
heard or know
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But remember, your goal is your own response
Summary has to fit your agenda, while still
being true to the text
In his article “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko argues that today’s
fast food chains fill the nutritional void in children’s lives left by their overtaxed
working parents. With many parents working long hours and unable to supervise what
their children eat, Zinczenko claims, children today regularly turn to low-cost, calorieladen foods that the fast food chains are all too eager to supply. When he himself was a
young boy, for instance, and his single mother was away at work, he ate at Taco Bell,
McDonald’s, and other chains on a regular basis and ended up overweight. Zinczenko’s
hope is that with the new spate of lawsuits against the food industry, other children
with working parents will have healthier choices available to them, and they will not,
like him, become obese.
In my view, however, it is the parents, and not the food chains who are
responsible for their children’s obesity. While it is true that many of today’s parents
work long hours, there are still several things that parents can do to guarantee that
their children eat healthy foods.
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Fair summary, but also points toward the
second paragraph: the writer’s thesis
Make sure your “they say” and “I say” are well
matched
Avoid LIST summaries
Bottom line:
Summarize the author’s views accurately,
in a way that fits your own agenda. DO
NOT, however, ignore or misrepresent
the source.
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Signal verbs that fit
Authors don’t “say” or “discuss”
They “urge” “emphasize” and “insist on”
Vivid and precise
She demonstrates that…
In fact, they celebrate the fact that…
_______, he admits.
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Making a claim
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Argue
Insist
Assert
Believe
Claim
Emphasize
Observe
Remind us
Report
Suggest
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Expressing Agreement
 Acknowledge
 Admire
 Agree
 Celebrate the fact that
 Corroborate
 Do not deny
 Endorse
 Extol
 Praise
 Reaffirm
 Support
 Verify
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Questioning or Disagreeing
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Complain
Complicate
Contend
Contradict
Deny
Deplore
Disavow
Question
Refute
Reject
Renounce
Repudiate
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Making
Recommendations
 Advocate
 Call for
 Demand
 Encourage
 Exhort
 Implore
 Plead
 Recommend
 Urge
 Warn
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To get a feel for Peter Elbow’s
“believing game,” write a summary of
some belief that you strongly disagree
with. Then write a summary of the
position that you actually hold on the
topic. Give both summaries to a
classmate and see if they can tell which
position you endorse. If you’ve
succeeded, they won’t be able to tell!
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Write two different one paragraph summaries
of David Zinczenko’s “Don’t Blame the Eater.”
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Write the first one for an essay arguing that, contrary
to what Zinczenko claims, there are inexpensive and
convenient alternatives to fast food restaurants.
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Write the second for an essay that agrees with
Zinczenko in blaming fast food companies for
youthful obesity, but questions his view tht bringing
lawsuits against those companies is a legitimate
response to the problem.
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Compare the two; though they are of the same
article, they should look very different!
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Quoting gives credibility to your summary
Helps ensure that it is fair and accurate
Don’t quote too little/Don’t quote too much
Major problem: assuming the quotations speak
for themselves
Orphan Quotations: they’ve been taken away
from their contexts, and need to be integrated
into their new surroundings
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Two ways to achieve this integration:
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2.
Choose quotations wisely
Surround every major quotation with a frame
explaining whose words they are, what the
quotation means and how the quotation
relates to your text.
Quoting what THEY SAY must always be
connected to what YOU SAY!!