1. The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing Ch. 8, 9, & 10
They Say, I Say
The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing
Ch. 8, 9, & 10

2. Tying It All Together

3. Ch. 8: “As A Result” Connecting the Parts
The authors give an example of a student, named “Bill” who had a particular sentence pattern.
It read “something like this… ‘Spot is a good dog. He has fleas.’” (105).
They urged him to “connect his sentences.” They suggested to him the ideas of:
“Spot is a good dog, but he has fleas.”
“Spot is good dog, even though he has fleas.” (105)
Bill never connected or took their advice

4. Needing to Use Transitions
“Bill” failed “to mark his connections, his writing was as frustrating to read” (106).
The authors notes that:
“Bill [never realized] that to write a good sentence he had to think about how it connected to those that came before and after; that he had to think hard about how that sentence fit into the sentences that surrounded it.” (106)

5. Strategies
This chapter aims to put into practice a “do it yourself principle” – you must make the connections, not your readers.
Putting principle into action:
Using transition terms (like “therefore” and “as a result”)
Adding pointing words (like “this or “such”)
Developing a set of key terms and phrases for each text you write
Repeating yourself, but with a difference – a move that involves repeating what you’ve said, but with enough variation to avoid redundant

6. Use Transitions (common ones)
Addition:
Also Furthermore In fact
And In Addition Moreover
Besides Indeed So too
Example:
After all Specifically
As an illustration To take a case in point
For example Consider
For instance

7. Elaboration: Comparison: Actually That is To put it bluntly
By extension In other words
In short To put it another way
Ultimately To put it succinctly
Comparison:
Along the same lines Likewise
In the same way Similarly

8. Contrast: Cause and Effect: Although Despite Nevertheless
But Even though Nonetheless
By contrast However On the contrary
Conversely In contrast On the other hand
Regardless Whereas While yet
Cause and Effect:
Accordingly Hence Then
As a result Since Therefore
Consequently So Thus

9. Concession: Conclusion: Admittedly Naturally
Although it is true Of course
Granted To be sure
Conclusion:
As a result In sum
Consequently Therefore
Hence Thus
In conclusion To sum up
In short To summarize

10. Transitions… Should go unnoticed in your paper, if done right
They can “not only [help you] move from one sentence to another, but to combine two or more sentences into one” (111).
Combining helps to avoid the choppy, static sentences

11. Use Pointing Words Very literal in their meaning
Most common: this, these, that, those, their, and such – as well as simple pronouns such as: he, his, she, her, it, and their
They refer back to something you have mentioned
Need to be used carefully though – make sure that you have identified, clearly, what the pronoun is referring to before using them

12. A bad example…
The authors provide this example as to how a pointing word can be ambiguous and unclear
Alexis de Tocqueville was highly critical democratic societies, which he saw as tending toward mob rule. At the same time, he accorded democratic societies grudging respect. This is seen in Tocqueville’s statement that…
Issue with what “this” is referring to here
You can fix it by making sure that there is only one “object” that the pointing word can refer to
How can you do that in the example above?

13. Repeat Key Terms and Phrases
When making an argument, it’s good to make use of repeating the key terms that you wishing to make.
A good example can be found in Martin Luther King Jr.’s use of the key words: criticism, statement, answer, and correspondence in the opening paragraph of his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

14. Repeat Yourself – But with a Difference
This means saying what you have already said, but in a slightly different way
Think of it as “building bridges” between ideas
You can do this “by echoing what you’ve just said while simultaneously moving your text into new territory” (116).

15. You can “repeat yourself in a different way” by using transitions:
Phrases like – “in other words” and “to put it another way” --- these indicate to your readers that you are rewording something you have already said and aids in clarity
Repetition --- it can help you move your paper along. It “is a central means by which you can move from point A to point B in a text” (118).
Issues – Repetition is key to making a point, but you want to avoid falling into the habit of getting trapped in a place where you repeat yourself and never make a point
Solution – “The trick therefore is not to avoid repeating yourself but to repeat yourself in varied and interesting enough ways that you advance your argument without sounding tedious” (118).

16. Ch. 9: “Ain’t So / Is Not” Academic Writing Doesn’t Always Mean Setting Aside Your Own Voice
The authors open this chapter by asking the question: “Have you ever gotten the impression that writing well in college means setting aside the kind of language you use in everyday conversation?” (121).
The answer is: it’s a conversation. You do want to use academic and sophisticated words but it can be appropriate to use a “turn of phrase” or how you would talk with family and friends in your paper

17. What is important…
One can “write effective academic arguments while holding on to some of your own voice” (121).
This does mean that you should not fill your paper with any language you use around your friends, or “fall back on colloquial usage as an excuse for not learning more rigorous forms of expression” (122).
The authors feel and suggest that ---
[One use a] relaxed, colloquial language can [serve to] enliven academic writing and even enhance its rigor and precision. Such informal language also helps you connect with readers in a personal as well as an intellectual way. (122)

18. Mix Academic and Colloquial Styles
I can serve to mix the two approaches
Marking and judging formal and mechanical errors in student papers is one area in which composition studies seems to have a multiple-personality disorder. On the one hand, our mellow, student-centered, process-based selves tend to condemn marking formal errors at all. Doing it represents the Bad Old Days. Ms. Fidditch and Mr. Flutesnoot with sharpened red pencils, spilling innocent blood across the page. Useless detail work. Inhumane, perfectionist standards, making our students feel stupid, wrong, trivial, misunderstood… ( )
Can you identify the “popular” phrases and words from above.

19. Informal language Article uses words like: “mellow”
Article uses phrases like: “Bad Old Days”
Also, look at generic names of the “mean” teachers and red ink as “blood”

20. When to Mix Styles? Consider Your Audience and Purpose
One can always experiment with one’s writing
Knowing when to be formal and informal rests primarily on the aim of your paper and the audience who you are trying to reach.
Demonstrate an awareness of what you are seeking to achieve and who is going to listen to what you are saying when making the choices for how you will say what you plan on saying

21. Ch. 10: “But Don’t Get Me Wrong” The Art of Metacommentary
What is metacommentary?
You know what “commentary” is, right?
The trick is, we engage in metacommentary all the time, take the following template:
What I meant to say was ,
My point was not , but
You’re probably not going to like what I’m about to say,
but
Metacommentary – it “is a way of commenting on your claims and telling others how – and how not – to think about them” (129).

22. Who knows what a Greek Chorus is?
Greek Chorus – in a Greek drama, it is their job to stand off and elaborate and explain on what is unfolding on the stage
They explain what the characters are doing and usually talk directly to the audience
Modern examples: C-3PO and R2D2 from Star Wars or Jay and Silent Bob from any of Kevin Smith’s movies

23. Use Metacommentary to Clarify and Elaborate
Why use it? Why can’t you just be clear to begin with?
The answer is that, no matter how clear and precise your writing is, readers can still fail to understand it in any number of ways. Even the best writers can provoke reactions in readers that they didn’t intend, and even good readers can get lost in a complicated argument or fail to see how one point connects with another (131)
“Because the written word is prone to so much mischief” it is important for an author to use metacommentary effectively to help clarify and avoid misinterpretations (131).

24. Metacommentary can…
It can also “help you develop your ideas and generate more text” (131).
A good use is to avoid that “shuttering” stop you sometimes come to at the end of a paper. Metacommentary can help you discuss your own writing and lead you to more discussion or even wrap up your paper…

25. Examples of metacommentary
Even if you think you’ve said everything…
In other words, she doesn’t realize how right she is.
What really means is
My point is not but
Metacommentary should, ideally, “help you recognize some implications of your ideas that you didn’t initially realize were there” (132).

26. Titles as Metacommentary
Take this example:
Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
Titles can serve as a kind of metacommentary on your whole paper.
They are your newspaper headlines for what the paper is about, so give it some thought when developing them

27. Templates for Introducing Metacommentary
To ward off potential misunderstandings
Essentially, I am arguing not that we should give up the policy, but that we should monitor effects far more closely.
That is not to say , but rather
X is concerned less with than with

28. To alert readers to an elaboration of a previous idea
In other words,
To put it another way,
What X is saying here is that

29. To provide readers with a roadmap to your text
Chapter 2 explores , while chapter 3 examines
Having just argued that , I want now to complicate the point by

30. To move from a general claim to a specific example
For example,
, for instance, demonstrates
Consider , for example.
To take a case in point,

31. To indicate that a claim is more, less, or equally important
Even more important,
But above all,
Incidentally, we will briefly note,
Jus as important,

32. To explain a claim when you anticipate objections
Although some readers may object that , I would answer that
To guide readers to your most general point
In sum, then,
My conclusion, then, is that
In short,

33. Ch Exercises
Complete each of the following metacommentary templates in any way that makes sense
In making a case for the medical use of marijuana, I am not say that
But my argument will do more than prove that one particular industrial chemical has certain toxic properties,. In this article, I will also
My point about the national obsessions with sports reinforces the belief held by many that
I believe, therefore, that the war is completely unjustified. But let me back up and explain how I arrived at this
conclusion: In this way, I cam to believe that this war is a big mistake.