They Say, I Say Chapters 4 and 5 Responding to Sources They Say, I Say Chapters 4 and 5

They Say / I Say: Responding to Sources As you write essay #1, you should ask yourself if you are agreeing, disagreeing, or doing a little of both as you read what you have found. As you interact with the ideas of others in your texts, there are two things you need to remember:  Place yourself clearly in respect to other arguments by either agreeing, disagreeing, or doing a mixture of both. It is not enough just to say that you agree/disagree. What else do you need to do? The answer is to explain why and make your agreement or disagreement unique to you.

Distinguishing What You Say from What They Say The authors of They Say, I Say call the phrases that help distinguish the ideas of your sources from your own ideas “voice markers.” Using these markers will help your reader to know when you are referring to ideas that you do not necessarily agree with.

Example Disagreement In the article “Why the Odds are Still Stacked against women in Hollywood,” the author interviews several women who believe that women are partially to blame for the gender imbalance in Hollywood, citing women’s tendency not to self-promote and to seek approval in a way that hurts their careers (Masters). However, by focusing on what women are doing wrong, the article overlooks the deeper problem of a business that seems to deny equal opportunity to women no matter what they do. If a woman acts boldly, “like a man,” in order to be successful, she risks getting a reputation as bossy and hard to work with, thereby missing out on opportunities. But to hear the women Masters interviews tell it, if a woman acts feminine and accommodating, she loses big opportunities to those who are willing to be more pushy. No woman should be forced to make this choice with no right answer, especially in an industry that profits so much from female consumers. Introduces article, summarizes point to be discussed, gives credit to author using in-text citation. Template from page 60 of TSIS. Voice marker, identifying that these aren’t my ideas. Further explanation of why I disagree.

Practice With Disagreeing Option 1 If one of the sources you will cite in your Essay #1 about diversity says something that you disagree with, and you have that source available to you tonight, use one of the templates from p. 60 of They Say, I Say to make a quote sandwich and explain your disagreement. (A bit of advice: start your quote sandwich with a bit of lead-up/context for the argument.) Option 2 If you do not have any of your sources from your essay with you, find a quote or an idea that you disagree with from any of the essays we have read so far in the class and make your quote sandwich about the idea you choose. You should still use a template from They Say, I Say p. 60

Example Agreement Introduces article, quotes point to be discussed, gives credit to author using in-text citation. Template from page 64 of TSIS. Further explanation of why I agree, adding something to the conversation. Deryl Hannah argues that representations of gay and lesbian people of color are important because to portray the LBGT community and its allies as entirely white would “inaccurately promote a world in which it would appear that LGBT people of color do not exist, or that acceptance of LGBT people is exclusive to white populations” (Hannah). I agree with Hannah that inaccurate portrayals of the diversity within the gay and lesbian community are troubling, a point that needs emphasizing because many people still believe that minority communities are backward and intolerant when it comes to their own LBGT members. To portray white communities as “enlightened” and accepting and minority communities as oblivious at best and bigoted at worst perpetuates old, ugly racial stereotypes.

Practice With Agreeing Option 1 If one of the sources you will cite in your Essay #1 about diversity says something that you agree with, and you have that source available to you tonight, use one of the templates from p. 62 or 64 of They Say, I Say to make a quote sandwich and explain your disagreement. (A bit of advice: start your quote sandwich with a bit of lead-up/context for the argument.) Option 2 If you do not have any of your sources from your essay with you tonight, find a quote or an idea that you agree with from any of the essays we have read so far in the class and make your quote sandwich about the idea you choose. You should still use a template from They Say, I Say p. 62 or 64.

Example Agree and Disagree at Once In the article “Tyler Perry’s Money Machine,” Eugene Robinson argues that even though Tyler Perry has been called formulaic, he is successful because he is one of a very small number of film makers who is making films that portray African Americans as “people relating to other people” (347). Although I agree with Robinson up to a point, and I certainly see the importance of films in which minority characters are fully rounded, not stereotypes, I cannot accept his overriding assumption that African-American viewers are “settling” for Perry’s films only because there is nothing better that portrays them positively. In this time of dwindling ticket sales and increasing ticket prices, Perry’s overwhelmingly black audience must be getting something more out of his movies than positive representation and cliché humor, as Robinson suggests. Introduces article, quotes point to be discussed, gives credit to author using in-text citation. Template from page 65 of TSIS. Further explanation of the point on which I disagree.

Practice Agreeing and Disagreeing Option 1 If one of the sources you will cite in your Essay #1 about diversity says something that you agree with parts of, but disagree with other parts, and you have that source available to you tonight, use one of the templates from p. 65-66 of They Say, I Say to make a quote sandwich and explain your disagreement. (A bit of advice: start your quote sandwich with a bit of lead-up/context for the argument.) Option 2 If you do not have any of your sources from your essay with you tonight, find a quote or an idea that you are of two minds about from any of the essays we have read so far in the class and make your quote sandwich about the idea you choose. You should still use a template from They Say, I Say p. 65-66.