They Say I Say Summary

In the first part of They Say I Say, it talks about the idea of "They say" The purpose of this is to teach the student how to view and respond to the writings of others. The student needs to first learn how to introduce an idea in their writing. This idea can be someon elses or it can be their own idea but they need to learn the effective way of introducing this concept or idea into their particular piece of writing. This is the basic summary of chapter 1 of the book. Chapter 2 deals with what is called the "art of summarizing". Here it demonstrates an effective way for the student to listen to other's views and ideas and to consider their views, while at the same time keeping their own beliefs and ideas in mind to compare them to. It also describes how the student needs to utilize verbs that "fit the action" of the particular topic which is being described and discussed in the student's writing. In chapter 3, the authors discuss " The art of quoting" and the most effective ways to introduce quotations and citations into their work. Along those same lines, it also describes ways in which the student should avoid introducing quotations, as this will not be proper and cohesive to the writing assignment. In chapter 4, the authors tell the student that there are 3 main or basic ways to respond to another's writing: you can disagree, have a qualified agreement and also " agreeing and disagreeing simultaneously. Here the student learns the proper form of agreeing with a position or disagreeing with one and that you should have views that coincide with whatever your position might be. Chapter 5 describes how you can differentiate your views from someone elses in your paper. It describes how "voice markers" can be used to distinguish between your perspective and someone elses that you might be utilizing in your work. In chapter 6, the authors talk about possibly objections that your reader might have to your particular views expressed in your paper. If you are a saavy writer, you can possibly anticipate these objections and address them first in your writing so that you can basically circumvent the disagreements that might arise from your particular views. In chapter 7, they talk about the ideas of "so what?" and "who cares". The idea behind this particular instruction is to teach the student to really try and help the reader understand your particular views or opinions about your topics and why it is that they should care as well. It is important to express these views, even if it is about a topic that should be obvious to the reader as to the answers. Chapter 8 begins by teaching the student about "tying it all together" and talks about how they student should utilize "pointing words" such as this, that, etc in order that the ideas of the paper coalesce together and form a coherent theme. Chapter 8 also teaches the technique of a "constellation of key terms and phrases" to help the reader understand the student's intent and also describes how the student must rephrase their positions "without sounding monotonous". In Chaper 9, the main theme is in speaking of the tone of the paper. It discusses different styles that a student may choose to invoke in their writing, such as "Academic Style" or "Colloquial Style". The student is instructed to be mindful of their "audience and purpose" when embarking on their writing piece. Chapter 10 closes by talking about "In other words" or different ways of expressing ideas. It also describes the concept of "metacommentary" and then lists some popular examples of this idea.

Annie Dillard Discussion Questions

1. When I prepare to write I have a somewhat unique ritual that I perform. First I close the door to my study or office and I turn off the lights. I do this because it then I cannot see the books, or windows, or papers on my desk that will usually distract my thoughts and my attention from my focus on writing. I then put in my earphones and do not listen to music, I just put the earbuds in my ears so that I have complete silence from any possible distractions that are occurring around the house or outside. I have to be seated upright in my office chair and I have to be a comfortable distance from the keyboard and have a somewhat relaxed sitting position so that my arms hang comfortably on the desk and then I can write for hours without getting fatigued in the least. My pre writing ritual is to close my eyes and picture in my mind what it is that I am writing about and who I am directing my words to. This helps me to focus my style of writing to the project at hand, and makes sure that I am not wandering off topic or writing in such a way that it does not correspond to my purpose.

2. When I write, I find the the most difficult aspect for me is to remain within the bearing walls so to speak. I have a style of writing that often leads me to go outside of these bearing walls, or the structures of the assignment, and I find that I am constantly knocking down these walls and then depending on the rigidity of the assignment and instructions for it, I feel more free to express myself, or find myself having to reestablish these restrictions so as to stay within the established guidelines of the assignment. In my opinion, and in my experience, the bearing walls are generated by social constructions. I have been taught all throughout my educational experience to write a certain way and to follow certain established guidelines in order to receive the maximum grade potential. I find that this has been in someways helpful, as it provides guidance of some sort, and at the same time limits my fluidity of thought and freedom of expression that I enjoy when I sit down and write.

3. The metaphors she uses definitely describe her style of writing to a "t", and for me, I can create a metaphor that perfectly describes my style of writing. When I write, whether it is for business, school, or pleasure, the image of large waves crashing onto a beach come to mind. My style of writing can be compared to the ocean waves, which are free flowing without boundary and which sway in many directions as they approach land i.e. the assignment at hand. When the waves crash upon the land, the water is drawn back into the ocean deep to be reformulated into new swells. My writing has this similar effect. I am free flowing in my thoughts and my style and as I come closer to the goal of the assignment I find that much of what I have written must be drawn back into my thoughts and reformulated so that it will better fit into the parameters of the assignment. i.e. the beach.

4. I take the view of writing that is similar to mysticism, in that I feel that writing is an expression of ones deepest inner recesses of the mind. We all know that human beings can generate thoughts on average of 500 every minute, this means that within every human mind, there are a myriad of thoughts and feelings and impressions that are floating through the mind like large clouds in a big blue sky. When we write, we simply grab some of those clouds and put them into written form for others to see, so in that sense it is very mystical. Everyone has different thoughts and some are quite "out there" compared to others, but everyone is unique in their style of writing and in the thoughts and feelings that they entertain in their minds at any given moment. I find it fascinating to read what others have written, because in a mystical sort of way, I can put myself into their heads and catch a glimpse of who they are inside.

5. I think that Dillard's use of vagueness and mysticism and thick prose serve to entertain the reader and at the same time say something concrete about writing. I think that she displays this style of writing, so as to entertain her reader and to captivate their interest and pique their curiosity as to her inner workings and feelings and what kind of a person she just might be inside. Along with this, she is also teaching a valuable lesson about writing. By maintaining that air of vagueness when writing about writing, she tries to instill in the reader that there is no one way to write. There is no magic formula that you must follow to be a successful and or entertaining writer. Every writing style is different and she does not want to discourage or tout any one style over another. She understands perfectly that writing is an expression of who you are and what kind of person you are inside, and since everyone is different in that regard, every style of writing should be different as well.

Inventing the University

I found the piece "Inventing the University" interesting and particulary enjoyed reading the different essays that were shared and realizing that my own style of writing probably coincides with the just out of high school college freshman. I have never really felt at home writing. I always graded well in my English courses whether it was college or high school, but always felt that I was writing "to" someone, probably my instructor, and never really felt comfortable and at ease with my essay. I can see now from this lecture that I wasn't really part of the discourse. I hardly ever seemed to truly understand or truly feel capable of contributing in a meaningful way to the conversation. My only goal was to write what I felt the professor wanted to hear. Complete the assignment, pretend that I was part of their community, this was the thought process behind most if not all of my written works of my life. As I near graduation, and I become more intricately involved with my major and making sure that I understand all that it entails, I am slowly feeling more part of the conversation. I can view myself now as almost part of that community and it has taken me the better part of 6 years to accomplish this. A spanish major, I would imagine, should be eerily close in ideals to that of an english major. Both require the student to learn about the language initially and how it functions and flows, and then progress to writing and learning about different styles of writing the particular language. Finally, we learn about the history of the language and the beliefs of the most prolific and important of its authors. As a discourse community, it contains discussion and a conversation about the spanish language, there are membership requirements for any who wish to engage in and contribute to the ongoing conversation. Like the initial story about the conversation, I may be fairly new to it and I certainly dont know all that has gone on before I arrived, but I can contribute for a time to it and when I move on, others will take my place and it will continue indefinitely.