Difficulty Paper #2

In chapter one of They Say I Say Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst talk about how people write their own opinions without giving any other people’s views to support them. The authors say that without giving sources for your claim your agreement is not valid, or at least people might not think it is. They say “that to give writing the most important thing of all—namely, a point—a writer needs to indicate clearly not only his or her thesis, but also what larger conversation that thesis is responding to.” I don’t have difficulty in this concept, but I am still a little unclear, after reading this chapter, of how much of what “they say” needs to balance with what “I say?” How much support do I need to justify my argument? The authors introduce templates to achieve this task, and while handy, they’re kind of generic. I don’t feel like using them will help me relate my ideas, or maybe there is a bigger picture that I’m missing. There are twelve more chapters to expand my mind, so maybe it’s to come in time. The templates seem to indicate that every statement that uses “I say” must come with a “they Say.” But that seems like a lot of someone else’s information competing with my own, and it is my essay; Right? I tried, after reading this chapter, to go back and re-read one of my essay’s, and keep in mind what they had said about including support. I had quotes and used paraphrasing, but was it enough? It seemed to me like I had enough support, and I thought maybe I have just learned this lesson during my experience of writing and probably through reading as well. Now I feel unclear of my ability to support my argument, and wonder what others would think. What would the authors say if they read my essay? Difficult as it is to produce, I know why there is a need for a strong thesis. I can read other peoples paper and can usually pick out a thesis right away, if there is one. With my own writing I always question the clarity. I have read many essays and said “what’s the point?” but with my own writing I know what the point is supposed to be before I even write, so the question is “did I get that across.” I’m sure the authors have more to teach me, and hope that in time my difficulty will become clear.