They say, I say Summary

First, let me just say that this is a great book and an excellent resource for writing. I wish I have known about this book before! My writing life would have been so much easier! Absolutely love it!!

Here is the summary for each chapter:

1) The first chapter, “They Say”, tells us to find a way to engage our audience. It gave an example of a speaker in a conference arguing his position without telling the audience why. He left the audience clueless for the entire speech. It goes on to urge us, as writers, to explain what we are responding to before offering our argument so that our audience has an idea what we are talking about. In this chapter, the authors offer different ways using various templates to help us apply the ideas the authors trying to convey.

2) The second chapter, “Her point is”, shows the importance of summarizing what other people say. The authors argued that if a writer who can not or will not suspend his own beliefs when summarizing what other people say, he is more likely to produce summarized that are more biased then a writer who can and will. In addition, a writer who summarizes what other people say must not take the words or sentence out of context.

3) Chapter 3, “As He Himself Puts It”, suggests that, as writers, we should not quote any comments just because it is convenient. The quotes you use must support your argument, mean something in whatever you are writing, and relate to your context. The authors also demonstrate this concept by providing various templates to help us introduce quotations.

4) Chapter 4, “Yes/No/Oaky, But”, moves away from the “they say” from the previous chapters to “I say.” The authors show the ways we can respond to other people’s argument. We can agree, or disagree, or agree and disagree simultaneously. The authors also provide different templates to help us agree or disagree with others in various ways.

5) Chapter 5, “And Yet”, helps distinguish your own opinion from other people’s opinion as well as finding your own voice in writing. By clarifying who is saying what, it clears the ambiguity. In this chapter, the authors also offer many examples of applying the concept.

6) Chapter 6, “Skeptics May Object”, points out that while criticism is hard to receive sometimes, it can play to our advantage sometimes. The authors went on to ask us to write with other people’s objection in mind so that we can think more thoroughly while we write. This helps us become more responsible when we write. The authors also suggest learning the art of disagreeing, and demonstrate the difference between “bullying your readers and genuinely persuading them.” Again, they offer many different examples to apply the art of disagreeing.

7) Chapter 7, “So What? Who Cares?”, brings up the point of saying why what you say matters. This is to establish a purpose for your writing and tell your readers why they care about the topic you are writing. This can be done by asking yourself “so what? Who cares?” when you write, and try to answer this question. The authors offer different templates to help us apply the concept.

8) Chapter 8, “As a result”, instructs us to make the transition from one sentence to next more smoothly. It addressed the issue of connecting your writings. The authors list some transition words that help the reader go from one place to another. The transition words include words that compare, contrast, and conclude. In addition, when repeating your own words, it is best to repeat them differently so as to make the writing more interesting while connecting the parts of your writings.

9) Chapter 9, “Ain’t So/Is Not”, teaches that while we are taught to write differently from how we speak normally while writing, it is not necessarily true that we need to abandon our own voice. It points out that academic writing should be relaxed, easy to follow, and even have some fun. To succeed in college, the writer need not limit the language to the strictly formal language.

10) Chapter 10, “But Don’t Get Me Wrong”, shows us how to use metacommentary to clarify and elaborate. Metacommentary is to restate what other people’s words in your own words and voice your own opinion. The authors offer different templates for introducing metacommentary.

11) Chapter 11, “I take your point”, teaches us the courtesy we should have for others after they make their points, and we should not respond by going off on a total difference issue. We should acknowledge other people’s point when we enter a discussion.

12) Chapter 12, “What’s Motivating This Writer?” asks us to look deeper in what a writer is trying to say. It is not just to listen to what the writer is saying, but to understand the writer and be able to translate the writer’s word in your own words. The authors also suggest us to read more critically instead of just taking the word at its face value.

13) Chapter 13, “The Data Suggest”, teaches us the writing used for scientific writing. The writing starts with the data, then presents theories. Moreover, scientific writing is very different from other academic writing. The writer needs to explain what the data means and use it to make his argument. The authors provide different templates for us to use in scientific writing.

14) Chapter 14, “Analyze This”, suggests different approach for writing in the social sciences. Social science is the study of people. It requires different approach from scientific writing because human behavior is more complicated than data. In this chapter, the authors list some example of interpreting the writing for social science.