Jacob Hickey
English 110-H4
Professor Miller
Responding to Entering the Conversation
“Entering the Conversation” in “They Say/I Say” is very informative for teaching any level of student how to write in a way that is scholarly but also interesting to read. The authors makes it known that it is important in writing any essay to provide the ideas of both your own personal side, “I say”, while also showing the opposing side, “they say”. In order to make a great essay, it is important to listen to others and their views, while finding a way to incorporate those ideas with your own. The authors states that the best type of scholarly writing, “is deeply engaged in some way with other people’s views.” They give the example of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, in which he almost entirely gives the opposing views of people and responds to them. In some of the writing, he even agrees with his critics saying, “It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham”. He uses these opposing views as his main origin for some of his arguments. In this way, a reader is able to see the general map of how informative and scholarly writing is supposed to look. In some examples, as the book points out, some authors imply their opinions and views.
This chapter also gave an interesting point that not all writing must be completely one-sided, that some texts may agree and disagree. Still others may, in certain statements, agree and disagree all at once. In my opinion, it is also refreshing that the authors acknowledges the fact that some may look at this writing road map with a bit of skepticism. They state that this “writing template” does not hinder the creativity and imagination with which students can write. Rather, it describes the level of refinement and philosophy with which this level of writing requires and often takes many attempts before being successful. One very enlightening statement from the chapter is, “These templates do not dictate the content of what you say, which can be as original as you can make it, but only suggest a way of formatting how you say it.” After you master this type of writing, you will learn how to successfully be creative without this template.
The authors also explain the difference between plagiarism, “if the words used to fill in the blanks of such formulas are borrowed from others without proper acknowledgment,” and using common phraseology that has been “recycled” and is beneficial to make a point. Toward the end of the chapter, the writers make it clear what they want us as the reader to get out of this informative manual: to be “a critical, intellectual thinker who, instead of sitting passively on the sidelines, can participate in the debates and conversations of your world in an active and empowered way.” It is important to be a person of these traits for many reasons such as applying for a job, being successful in any endeavor, and plainly just living life independently. We, as people, must be respectful of other’s views while also having our own ideals and thoughts.
