From They Say, I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein
Set up every major quotation with a frame that explains:
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Whose words these are (where quotes come from)
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What the quotation means
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How the quotation relates to the point you are making
Step One: Templates for introducing quotations:
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X states, “not all steroids should be banned from sports.”
As the prominent philosopher X puts it, “__________”
According to X, “__________”
In her book, _________, X maintains that “__________”
Writing in the journal Commentary, X complains that “__________”
In X’s view, “__________”
X agrees when she writes, “__________”
X disagrees when he writes, “__________”
X complicates matters further when she writes, “__________”
Step Two: Templates for explaining quotations
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Basically, X is warning that the proposed solution will only make the problem
worse
In other words, X believes….
In making this comment, X urges us to…
X is corroborating the age-old adage that….
X’s point is that ……..
The essence of X’s argument is that …….
Step Three. State your position about this evidence.
Templates for disagreeing, with reasons:
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X is mistaken because she overlooks recent fossil discoveries in the South.
X’s claim that ___________ rests upon the questionable assumption that
___________.
I disagree with X’s view that ____________ because, as recent research has
shown, ____________.
By focusing on ________________, X overlooks the deeper problem of ___________.
Templates for agreeing (but with a difference – don’t just echo the views, add something)
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X is surely right about _______________ because recent studies have shown…
X’s theory of ____________ is extremely useful because it shed light on the
difficult problem of _______________
Those unfamiliar with this school of thought may be interested to know that it
basically boils down to _______________.
Templates for agreeing and disagreeing Simultaneously:
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Although I disagree with much that X says, I fully endorse his final conclusion
that…
X is right that ____________, but she seems on more dubious ground when she
claims that _____________
Whereas X provides ample evidence that _________, X and Z’s (another source
of information) research on ________________ convinces me that ____________
instead.