Research Guides: Citation Resources: Quoting and Paraphrasing

They Say / I Say

Integrating sources is about having a conversation with others. You don't just use sources to provide quick facts. You use them to support your ideas and argument, which means engaging with them. A good way to get into the habit of this is to use the They Say/I Say templates, inspired by the book They Say / I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein. I've borrowed these templates from California State University, but we also have the book in the library if you want to check it out.

They Say/I Say template

They Say / I Say
ISBN: 9780393935851
"They Say / I Say" demystifies academic discourse and shows students that writing well means mastering some key rhetorical moves--the most important of which is to summarize what others have said ("they say") in order to set up one's own argument ("I say"). Students learn that writing is always part of a larger conversation, and the book provides templates to show students how to bring their own views in conversation with those expressed by others.

Citation Resources

Center for Writing and Communication

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They Say / I Say