They Say/I Say Templates
Why Templates?
Academic writing requires presenting your sources and your ideas effectively to readers. According to Graff and
Birkenstein, the first element in the process involves
“entering a conversation about ideas” between you—the writer—and your sources to reflect your critical thinking
(ix). The templates allow you, the writer, to organize your ideas in relationship to your thesis, supporting evidence, opposing evidence, and the conclusion of the argument.
The Most Important Templates:
On the one hand, __________. On the other hand,
__________.
Author X contradicts herself. At the same time that she argues __________, she also implies __________.
I agree that __________.
She argues __________, and I agree because __________.
Her argument that __________ is supported by new research showing that __________.
In recent discussions of __________, a controversial issue has been whether __________. On the one hand, some argue that __________. On the other hand, however, others argue that __________.
Introducing Standard Views:
Americans today tend to believe that __________.
Conventional wisdom has it that __________.
My whole life I have heard it said that __________.

Making those Views Something You Say:
I have always believed that __________.
When I was a child, I used to think that __________.
Writing a Summary:
She demonstrates that __________.
In fact, they celebrate the fact that __________.
Introducing a Quote:
X insists, “__________.”
As the prominent philosopher X puts it, “__________.”
According to X, “__________.”
In her book, Book Title, X maintains that __________.
X complicates matters further when she writes that
__________.
Disagreeing:
I think that X is mistaken because she overlooks
__________.
I disagree with X’s view that __________ because, as recent research has shown, __________.
Introducing Your Point of View:
X overlooks what I consider an important point about
__________.
I wholeheartedly endorse what X calls __________.
My discussion of X is in fact addressing the larger matter of __________.
These conclusions will have significant applications in
__________ as well as in __________.

Graff, Gerald and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. New York: Norton, 2006.

They Say/I Say Templates
Why Templates?
Academic writing requires presenting your sources and your ideas effectively to readers. According to Graff and
Birkenstein, the first element in the process involves
“entering a conversation about ideas” between you—the writer—and your sources to reflect your critical thinking
(ix). The templates allow you, the writer, to organize your ideas in relationship to your thesis, supporting evidence, opposing evidence, and the conclusion of the argument.
The Most Important Templates:
On the one hand, __________. On the other hand,
__________.
Author X contradicts herself. At the same time that she argues __________, she also implies __________.
I agree that __________.
She argues __________, and I agree because __________.
Her argument that __________ is supported by new research showing that __________.
In recent discussions of __________, a controversial issue has been whether __________. On the one hand, some argue that __________. On the other hand, however, others argue that __________.
Introducing Standard Views:
Americans today tend to believe that __________.
Conventional wisdom has it that __________.
My whole life I have heard it said that __________.

Making those Views Something You Say:
I have always believed that __________.
When I was a child, I used to think that __________.
Writing a Summary:
She demonstrates that __________.
In fact, they celebrate the fact that __________.
Introducing a Quote:
X insists, “__________.”
As the prominent philosopher X puts it, “__________.”
According to X, “__________.”
In her book, Book Title, X maintains that __________.
X complicates matters further when she writes that
__________.
Disagreeing:
I think that X is mistaken because she overlooks
__________.
I disagree with X’s view that __________ because, as recent research has shown, __________.
Introducing Your Point of View:
X overlooks what I consider an important point about
__________.
I wholeheartedly endorse what X calls __________.
My discussion of X is in fact addressing the larger matter of __________.
These conclusions will have significant applications in
__________ as well as in __________.

Graff, Gerald and Cathy Birkenstein. They Say/I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. New York: Norton, 2006.