An Insight into Academic Writing Essay Example for Free

An Insight into Academic Writing EssayAuthors Gerald Graff and Cathy Berkenstein claim in their book, They Say, I Say, that academic piece is non about playing it safe and piling up truths and bits of knowledge, the like many people assume. Rather, it is about the dynamic interaction between former(a) peoples points of view and the authors response to those perspectives. In chapter one of Graff and Berkensteins book they emphasize the necessity of balance when implementing certain writing moves, specifically, when introducing a counter-view, summarizing others arguments, and when quoting someone elses words. Graff and Berkenstein contend that by opening an argument with an explanation of what the thesis is responding tointroducing a counter-viewgives the main point clarity and relevance. They encourage stating the debate view or assumption initially so that it will define and explain what the thesis is addressing. But, they also caution the writer not to bloat their door wit h extraneous information for fear of losing the audiences focus and engagement. What Graff and Berkenstein suggest, then, is that as soon as possible you state your own position and the one its responding to together, and that you think of the two as a unit. Basically, they insist that the best way to give a genuine response to others views during academic writing is to have a balance between introducing what They Say (the opposing point of view) and what I Say (the writers response). If being in a ceaseless dialogue with others positions is essential to arguing persuasively, as Graff and Berkenstein claim, then summarizing others arguments is central to the writers arsenal of basic moves. All too often during a summary, writers will nominate their own opinions on an articles topic rather than revealing what the article is actually stating.On the opposite extreme, there be the writers who do nada but summarize, which dilutes their own views in an ocean of someone elses ideas. G raff and Berkenstein remind us that a good summary requires balancing what the original author is grammatical construction with the writers own focus. In other words, an exceptional summary contains the perspective of the original author, while emphasizing the points the responding author wants to address. One of the best shipway to initiate an effective argument is not only to summarize what they say, but to quote their exact words.According to Graff and Berkenstein, Quoting someone elses words gives a ugly amount of credibility to your summary and helps ensure that it is fair and accurate. By quoting someone elses exact statement it serves as a proof of evidence that you are not just fabricating anothers claim, but that you are disclosing their true ideas. Like introducing a counter-view and summarizing, quoting requires that you find an ideal balance between the quantity of quotes and guinea pig of commentary.A common issue with quoting is when the author assumes the quote speaks for itself. As Graff and Berkenstein, quotes are like literary orphans that have been taken from their original context, they need to be corporate into their new textual surroundings. In simpler terms, a quote needs to be introduced, interpreted, and then connected to the central idea. I found chapter one of Graff and Berkensteins book, They Say, to be extremely interesting and useful. The way they tied all their information to a central idea, while explaining how to do just that fascinated me.I felt like their writing had a constant flow from introduction of a move, to implementing balance, to common problems, how to fix those problems, and then to exercises that would reinforce their primary concepts. Their style and content kept me occupied and focused. Also, I learned a handful of writing tactics, like introducing a counter-view, summarizing, and inserting quotes, that I was not one-hundred percent sure on how to do prior to the reading. Overall, I found the chapter to be engaging, informative, and beneficial to me and my writing style.