Jacques 1 Angelica Jacques John Kubler English 114A 3 September 2013 Exercise 1.

1 This paper is intended to be a summary of two chapters of the book They Say/I Say. The introduction chapter and chapter 12 are being summarized together because they both focus on the conversation aspect of academic writing. In this paper, I will cover three key topics from each chapter that I read. You will learn about how to enter a conversation and how to figure out what motivates a writer. In the introduction chapter, the author makes it clear that academic writing is not just a summary of facts, but it is a process of entering a dialogue of different beliefs and perceptions. The purpose of They Say/I Say is to learn how to present your ideas as a response to some other person or group. With that being said, I came to my first point, do more than assert your own position (3). It is a good idea to use what others are saying as a launching pad to your upcoming argument. This is an example of logos because you are taking facts that were already stated in an argument and restating them to build upon your argument. My second point says write the voices of others into your text (3). This means to not only state your opinion, but to state the opposing side as well. This is also an example of logos because you stating both opinions and sides in your paper. My last point is to agree and disagree simultaneously. This allows you to avoid simple yes and no responses and to present a more complicated argument (9). If one presents this technique, it will help them fully explain and show their side of the argument. This is an example of ethos. Ethos is an authority or an expert opinion and in this key point you are trying to prove that you can see both sides of the argument, but still try to prove you are dominant.

Jacques 2 Chapter 12 is titled What is Motivating This Writer (145), and it talks about what the authors argument is and how it is related to who he is responding to. When one moves from reading what the author says, you have to ask yourself how does it play into the conversation of that topic. In doing this, they become a more active and critical reader verses an isolated reader. The reader must determine what the author is trying to say in the relation to the conversation he has joined. The chapter goes on to explain different ways determine what he responding to. I found three points from chapter twelve and I think that they are key to figuring out what is motivating the writer. The first one is that reading for the conversation means not just looking for the thesis, but for the view that motivates that thesis (155). This is saying not to read in isolation, but in conversation. I believe that this is both a form of ethos and logos because you are looking for the facts from the expert. My second key point is to be alert for the different strategies writers use to engage the views that are motivating them (155). For example, some writers will identify a view at the beginning of their paper, and then scatter it throughout to establish the point. This is an example of logos because the writer is using his expert opinion to share his argument with the reader. My last and third key point is that readers need to be armed with various strategies for detecting conversations in what they are reading (155). In order to be a conversational reader, one must know how to pick it out. Last but not least, this is an example of logos because the reader must have knowledge and logic to be able to detect the conversations in what they are reading. In conclusion, this is a perspective that will really help someone become a better academic writer that will get their point across, and it will enable them to engage in meaningful and critical discussion.