In this second installment of They Say, I Say by Gerald Graff and Kathy Birkenstein they talk about the “I say” part of writing. In simpler terms its about how to clearly and effectively give your own opinion on a topic or subject. They go in depth on the three type of ways to respond with giving your own take. This section to me was my most favorite and helped me a lot because I tend to struggle giving my opinion on stuff once I have already heard others opinions. The three types of way responding is by agreeing, disagreeing, or disagreeing and agreeing.
Agreeing
Agreeing tends to be the hardest for most writers to make, mainly because they do not want to seem like they are copying what somebody has already said. Although you can agree and sound authentic and agree by including a new concept to the idea. Thus making yourself give the same perception but with new ideas. “While you don’t want to present yourself as a mere copycat of someone else’s views, you also need to avoid sounding like a lone voice in the wilderness.”(Graff,Birkenstein. pg61). This meaning that it is better to restate what your agreeing in your words and giving examples and or new concepts to support this statement.
EXAMPLE
original statement: ” According to social standards today it is essential to wash your hair every other day because washing your hair daily may kill it.”
agreeing statement: ” I agree that washing your hair everyday is a healthier routine because washing your hair everyday can give you a dry and itchy scalp.”
Disagreeing:
One of the most easiest and most common ways of responding to a rhetorical question, disagreeing. Although you make actually disagree with a reading or statement, disagreeing tends to be the most popular choice to use because most people are scared to agree and always want to be different and show originality. To make a good disagreement statement you must have reasons to support your ideas, take in all relevant factors, and make no questionable assumptions. Disagreeing is a common form of critical thinking because it makes your brain work and push through to find what you disagree with and why and then putting those thoughts on paper. Their are 2 commons moves to disagreeing, the “DUH” move and the “twist it” move. The duh move is simply taking the whole assumption of the statement and disagreeing with it by stating the obvious. The twist it move is where you start to agree with the subject then logically twist it around to disagree with it, a more complex way of disagreeing.
EXAMPLE
Original Statement: “Blue is the best color because everything cool is blue.”
Disagreeing Statement: ” I disagree with this statement because, you can’t assume just because its blue its cool, because I hate blue jeans.”
Agreeing and Disagreeing:
Agreeing and disagreeing is a readers favorite type of responses, and personally the hardest one for me. This type of response is the most critical thinking for me because to successfully do it you half to agree with half of it and disagree with the other half. You have to find where to stress what you disagree with and how to stress it appropriately. It is indeed possible to make your argument complicated while keeping a clear response. It is key in all three of these ways that you keep your response clear of what side you are on. So for agreeing to disagree its more like you agree with the big picture, but there are some smaller things that need changes to be made separating this style of response from the others.
EXAMPLE
Original statement: Religion has a major impact on everybody and highly influences them daily
Agreeing and disagreeing statement: Although I believe that religion has a major impact on a lot of people and their daily activities, I don’t believe it effects everybody.
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