They say, I say?

Hi.

I've been thinking about They Say/ I Say a lot since our last discussion in class. While a was orginally sceptical of this precise essay formula, I am now starting to see it as a useful tool for creating a cohesive essay. I wish that I had had this book while writing essays in high school.

I'm all about structure. If an arguement doesn't follow a logical progression, I get really frustrated and sometimes I stop following.  Part of of this structural obsession most likely stems from my OCD; I like everything to be in order. Maybe another part of it comes from ADD. If an essay isn't clear, with a natural progression, I stop paying attention. So, when I start writing an essay, I have a step by step process. After researching and forming a thesis (which is subject to change as I dig deeper into the subject), I make a list of all of my supporting points. I then think of a way the supporting points most naturally relate to eachother, i.e. which points are related and could have potentially easy transitions. I kind of create a flow chart. A ---> B ----> C. Points A, B, and C etc. become sections of my paper.

Each of these sections can have more than one paragraph depending on the amount of information found. Within each paragraph, I start with some strong topic sentence, then support it, then show how it relates to the thesis, and transition into the next paragraph. After the body paragraphs, I write a conclusions. At the very end of my process, I go back and form a introduction paragraph that sets up the reader for everything that will follow.

This is where They Say/ I Say throws me for a loop: I have never thought about thoroughly discussing the counter aguement and what has already been said about the topic before I begin my arguement. In some essays I weave a counter argument througout my whole paper, in some essays I through in a paragraph towards the end that displays a counter arguement. But the beginning? I've never done it. Yes, I give some brief background of the topic in my introduction, but I've never dedicated the initial paragraph of my essay to "what has already been said/ argued".

It makes so much sense though! I kind of want to write an essay just so that I can attempt this formatting! So I respect this They "Say", followed by "I Say" structure, although it may not always be necessary. I've written successful essays in the past, and I've never consiously started with what they say. Plus, doesn't the amount of explaination of what "they say" depend on the audience? If you're writing a paper to an audience that already knows what has been said, why wast time going over what's been said?

So in general, I respect this method, although writers must remember to play around with it. This book provides a base. The writer must complete the essay with thought provoking arguements and conclustions.