Frank Loucks
Instructor: Christy Vance
English 102-013
October 31, 2009
They Say, I Say

To build a strong, interesting, and compelling essay, you must quickly let the reader know the point of your writing. In “ They Say, I Say”, the author describes his experience of listening to a lecture where the professor went on in length defending the work of a scholar but he never mentioned why he was defending the work until at the end when someone asked. This left some of the audience feeling confused or unclear of his point. The author’s point of describing this experience was to clearly illustrate that in order to write a good essay or present an effective argument you must be clear on what your thesis (or point) is and what it is responding to. You need to make your point early, clearly, and also make clear what you are responding to when writing an essay, or when participating in a verbal discussion.
It is suggested you begin your argument by stating what others are saying then building your point from there. You can use “templates” suggested in “They Say, I Say”. Starting with what someone else’s view, or using an illustrative quote, or even revealing a relevant statistic, or anecdote. You need to start with a clear message that you will build on by disagreeing, agreeing, or a little of both.
Reading “They Say, I Say” has provided me with some very useful suggestions and tools that I can use in my writing assignments in college and in everyday conversations. I’ll be more aware of how I’m organizing my thoughts and the sentences I communicate. I’ll be able to open my mind more and listen more carefully to others opinions and concerns so I can better understand what others are saying. This will be the first step in developing my own thoughts and conversations. I can think of past experiences where I disagreed with opinions or decisions others had made that had left me feeling somewhat defensive. But, if in this type of situation again I would clearly state what others are saying and find references or other facts to express an opposing opinion which may better reflect how I believe. This would construct a more effective argument with better results.