[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-187732-en":3,"doc-seo-187732-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-1-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":11,"category_id":12,"category_name":13,"doc_title":14,"doc_description":15,"doc_content":16,"file_id":17,"file_url":18,"file_type":19,"file_size":20,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":11,"is_downloadable":11,"audit_status":11,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":15,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},187732,962084925502,"Emma Mercer","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8",1,11,"Presentations","Entering the Conversation - STATE YOUR OWN IDEAS AS A RESPONSE TO OTHERS","This document explains the core framework of effective academic writing built on the “they say / I say” formula. It argues that strong arguments are not produced in isolation, but by entering an ongoing conversation with others’ views: summarizing what others think and then responding with one’s own position. Through examples, including Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and Katha Pollitt’s essay, it shows how writers motivate their claims by acknowledging provocation and engaging opposing or implied perspectives.","Entering the Conversation  \n# STATE YoUR OWN IDEAS AS ARESPONSE TO OTHERS\n\nThe single most important template that we focus on in thisbook is the “they say        I say      ”formula thatgives our book its title.If there is any one point that we hopeyou will take away from this book,it is the importance not onlyof expressing your ideas(“I say”),but of presenting those ideasas a response to some other person or group(\"they say\").For us,the underlying structure of effective academic writing—and ofresponsible public discourse—resides not just in stating our ownideas,but in listening closely to others around us,summarizingtheir views in a way that they will recognize,and respondingwith our own ideas in kind.Broadly speaking,academic writ-ing is argumentative writing,and we believe that to argue wellyou need to do more than assert your own ideas.You need toenter a conversation,using what others say(or might say)as alaunching pad or sounding board for your own ideas.For thisreason,one of the main pieces of advice in this book is to writethe voices of others into your text.  \nIn our view,then,the best academic writing has one under-lying feature:it is deeply engaged in some way with other peo-ple's views.Too often,however,academic writing is taught as aprocess of saying \"true\"or \"smart\"things in a vacuum,as if it werepossible to argue effectively without being in conversation withsomeone else.If you have been taught to write a traditional five-paragraph essay,for example,you have learned how to develop athesis and support it with evidence.This is good advice as far asit goes,but it leaves out the important fact that in the real worldwe don't make arguments without being provoked.We makearguments because someone has said or done something(or per-haps not said or done something)and we need to respond:“I can't  \n## INTRODUCTION\n\nsee why you like the Lakers so much”;“I agree:it was a greatfilm”;\"That argument is contradictory.\"If it weren't for otherpeople and our need tochallenge,agree with,or otherwise respondto them,there would be no reason to argue at all.  \nTomake an impact as a writer,you need to do more than makestatements that are logical,well supported,and consistent.Youmust also find a way ofentering a conversation with others'views—with something \"they say.”In fact,if your own argument doesn'tidentify the “they say\"that you're responding to,then it probablywon't make sense.As Figure 1 suggests,what you are saying maybe clear to your audience,but why you are saying it won't be.Forit is what others are saying and thinking that motivates our writ-ing and gives it a reason for being.It follows,then,as Figure 2 sug-gests,that your own argument—the “I say”moment of yourtext—should always be a response to the arguments of others.  \nMany writers make explicit “they say/I say”moves in theirwriting.One famous example is Martin Luther King Jr.’s \"Let-  \nFIGURE 1  \nFIGURE 2  \nter from Birmingham Jail,\"which consists almost entirely ofKing's eloquent responses to a public statement by eight clergy-men deploring the civil rights protests he was leading.Theletter—which was written in 1963,while King was in prisonfor leading a demonstration in Birmingham—is structuredalmost entirely around a framework of summary and response,in which King summarizes and then answers their criticisms.In one typical passage,King writes as follows.  \nYou deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham.Butyour statement,I am sorry to say,fails to express a similar concernfor the conditions that brought about the demonstrations.  \nMARTIN LUTHER KING JR.,“Letter from Birmingham Jail”  \nKing goes on to agree with his critics that \"It is unfortunatethat demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham,\"yet he  \nINTRODU CTION  \nhastens to add that \"it is even more unfortunate that the city'swhite power structure left the Negro community with no alter-native.”King's letter is so thoroughly conversational,in fact,that it could be rewritten in the form of a dialogue o","cbCaiudnX3aWXRuq","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiudnX3aWXRuq","pdf",6691810,9,"English","en",105,"# Entering the Conversation\n## STATE YOUR OWN IDEAS AS A RESPONSE TO OTHERS\n## The Importance of “they say”\n## Writing as an Ongoing Conversation\n## Examples: King and Pollitt\n## Identifying the “they say” Behind Claims","[{\"question\":\"What is the “they say / I say” formula described in the document?\",\"answer\":\"It is a writing approach where ideas (“I say”) are presented as a direct response to others’ views or claims (“they say”). The document frames it as essential for effective academic writing and responsible public discourse.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the document say argumentative writing must involve other people’s views?\",\"answer\":\"Because arguments are presented to respond to something that someone has said or done (or failed to say or do). Without that conversational trigger, there is no real reason to argue.\"},{\"question\":\"How do the examples of Martin Luther King Jr. and Katha Pollitt illustrate the method?\",\"answer\":\"King’s letter is structured as summary and response to critics, treating their views as the motivating source of his arguments. Pollitt uses her daughter’s comment to represent a wider patriotic mindset she intends to oppose.\"}]","Entering the Conversation - STATE YOUR OWN IDEAS AS A RESPONSE TO OTHERS | PDF",1788385097,3,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":14,"keywords":34,"description":15,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":28},"entering-the-conversation-state-your-own-ideas-as-a-response-to-others","",{"@graph":36,"@context":85},[37,53,68],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,50],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/","Template",2,{"item":49,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":29},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/presentations/",{"item":51,"name":14,"@type":43,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/template/entering-the-conversation-state-your-own-ideas-as-a-response-to-others/187732/",4,{"url":51,"name":14,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":14,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":23,"description":15,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":41,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-04","2026-09-02",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":11},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What is the “they say / I say” formula described in the document?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"It is a writing approach where ideas (“I say”) are presented as a direct response to others’ views or claims (“they say”). The document frames it as essential for effective academic writing and responsible public discourse.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"Why does the document say argumentative writing must involve other people’s views?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"Because arguments are presented to respond to something that someone has said or done (or failed to say or do). Without that conversational trigger, there is no real reason to argue.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"How do the examples of Martin Luther King Jr. and Katha Pollitt illustrate the method?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"King’s letter is structured as summary and response to critics, treating their views as the motivating source of his arguments. Pollitt uses her daughter’s comment to represent a wider patriotic mindset she intends to oppose.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":87,"og:title":14,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":15},"article",{"robots":89,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":92},[93,96,101,106,111,116,121,126,131],{"id":12,"doc_module":11,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":13,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},90,"presentations",{"id":97,"doc_module":11,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},12,"Resumes",80,"resumes",{"id":102,"doc_module":11,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},14,"Invoices",70,"invoices",{"id":107,"doc_module":11,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},15,"Posters",60,"posters",{"id":112,"doc_module":11,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":113,"show_sort_weight":114,"slug":115},16,"Social Media",50,"social-media",{"id":117,"doc_module":11,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":118,"show_sort_weight":119,"slug":120},17,"Forms",40,"forms",{"id":122,"doc_module":11,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":123,"show_sort_weight":124,"slug":125},18,"Letters",30,"letters",{"id":127,"doc_module":11,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":129,"slug":130},21,"Paper Templates",5,"papers-templates",{"id":132,"doc_module":11,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":4,"slug":134},158,"General","general-158"]