They Say I Say

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"THEY SAY I SAY"

The Moves That Matter


in

Academic

Writing

GERALD GRAFF
CATHY BIRKENSTEIN
both of the University of Illinois at Chicago

>r
W W NORTON & COMPANY

N E W YORK

1/.- -'N^,-".^

LONDON

THREE

"As

HE

HIMSELF

PUTS

IT"

stand them and therefore have trouble explaining what they j


mean.
But the main problem with quotation arises when writers
assume that quotations speak for themselves. Because the
meaning of a quotation is obvious to them, many writers assume
that this meaning will also be obvious to their readers, when
often it is not. Writers who make this mistake think that their
job is done when they've chosen a quotation and inserted it
into their text. They draft an essay, slap in a few quotations,
and whammo, they're done.
Such writers fail to see that quoting means more than sim'
ply enclosing what "they say" in quotation marks. In a way,
quotations are orphans: words that have been taken from their
original contexts and that need to be integrated into their new
textual surroundings. This chapter offers two key ways to produce this sort of integration: (1) by choosing quotations wisely,
with an eye to how well they support a particular part of your
text, and (2) by surrounding every major quotation with a frame
explaining whose words they are, what the quotation means,
and how the quotation relates to your text. The point we want
to emphasize is that quoting what "they say" must always be
connected with what you say.

I,
II'

However, finding relevant quotations is not always easy. In


fact, sometimes quotations that were initially relevant to your
overall argument, or to a key point in it, become less so as your
text changes during the process of writing and revising. Given
the evolving and messy nature of writing, you may sometimes
think that you've found the perfect quotation to support your
argument, only to discover later on, as your text develops, that
your focus has changed and the quotation no longer works. It
can be somewhat misleading, then, to speak of finding your thesis and finding relevant quotations as two separate steps, one
coming after the other. When you're deeply engaged in the writing and revising process, there is usually a great deal of backand-forth between your argument and any quotations you select.

FRAME EVERY Q U O T A T I O N

Before you can select appropriate quotations, you need to have


a sense of what you want to do with themthat is, how they
will support your text at the particular point where you insert
them. Be careful not to select quotations just for the sake of
demonstrating that you've read the author's work; you need to
make sure they are relevant to your work.

Finding relevant quotations is only part of your job; you also


need to present them in a way that makes their relevance and
meaning clear to your readers. Since quotations do not speak
for themselves, you need to build a frame around them in which
you do that speaking for them.
Quotations that are inserted into a text without such a frame
are sometimes called "dangling" quotations for the way they're
left dangling without any explanation. One graduate teaching
assistant we work with, Steve Benton, calls these "hit-and-run"
quotations, likening them to car accidents in which the driver
speeds away and avoids taking responsibility for the dent in
your fender or the smashed taillights as in Figure 4.
On the following page is a typical hit-and-run quotation
by a writer responding to an essay by the feminist philosopher Susan Bordo (reprinted on pp. 149-61).

4 o

4 1

IHIJIji,|i

The Art of Quoting

QUOTE RELEVANT PASSAGES

THREE

"As

HE

HIMSELF

PUTS

The Art of Quoting

IT"

set up what the quotation says; the follow-up statements should


explain why you consider the quotation to be important and
what you take it to say.

DON'T &E A HIT-AND-RUN QUOTER.

Illlr
TEMPLATES FOR INTRODUCING QUOTATIONS
X states, "

As the prominent philosopher X puts it, "..,

According to X, ",

If!
FIGURE

1 think Bordo is right. Another point Bordo makes is that. . . .


This writer fails to introduce the quotation adequately or
explain why he finds it worth quoting. Besides neglecting to
say who Bordo is or even that the quoted words are hers, the
writer does not explain how her words connect with anything
he is saying. He simply drops the quotation in his haste to zoom
on to another point.
To adequately frame a quotation, you need to insert it into
what we like to call a "quotation sandwich," with the statement introducing it serving as the top slice of bread and the
explanation following it serving as the bottom slice. The introductory or lead-in claims should explain who is speaking and

4 2

"

"

Susan Bordo writes about women and dieting. "Fiji is just one example. Until television was introduced in 1995, the islands had no
reported cases of eating disorders. In 1998, three years after programs from the United States and Britain began broadcasting there,
62 percent of the girls surveyed reported dieting."

I 1
;|l1

..."

^\

X himself writes, "_.

....."

In her book,

Writing in the journal Commentary, X complains that "

In X's view, "

X agrees when she writes, "

X disagrees when he writes, "

X complicates matters further when she writes, "..

...., X maintains that "

,-..

"
"

"
,

"
"
"

When adding such introductory phrases, be sure to use language that accurately reflects the spirit of the quoted passage.
It is quite serviceable to write "Bordo states" or "asserts" in
introducing the quotation about Fiji. But given the fact that
Bordo is clearly alarmed by the effect of the extension of the
media's reach to Fiji, it is far more accurate to use language that
reflects her alarm: "Bordo is alarmed that" or "is disturbed by"
or "complains." (See Chapter 2 for a list of verbs for introducing what others say.)

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THREE

"As

HE

HIMSELF

PUTS

The Art of Quoting

IT"

TEMPLATES FOR EXPLAINING Q U O T A T I O N S

Basically, X is saying

In other words, X believes

In making this comment, X argues that

:.
-.,._
_

X is insisting that
1

X's point is that


*

The essence of X's argument is that

We suggest getting in the habit of following every major


quotation with explanatory sentences structured by templates 1
like these. Consider, for example, how the passage on Bordo
might be revised using some of these moves.
The feminist philosopher Susan Bordo deplores the hold that the
Western obsession with dieting has on women. Her basic argument
is that increasing numbers of women across the globe are being led
to see themselves as fat and in need of a diet. Citing the island of
Fiji as a case in point, Bordo notes that "until television was introduced in 1995, the islands had no reported cases of eating disor- 9
ders. In 1998, three years after programs from the United States
and Britain began broadcasting there, 62 percent of the girls sur- 1
veyed reported dieting" (149-50). Bordo's point is that the West's
obsession with dieting is spreading even to remote places across
the globe. Ultimately, Bordo complains, the culture of dieting will
find you, regardless of where you live.
Bordo's observations ring true to me because a friend of mine
from a remote area in China speaks of the cult of dieting among
young women there. . . .
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This framing of the quotation not only helps to better integrate


Bordo's words into the writer's text, but also serves to demonstrate the writer's interpretation of what Bordo is saying. While
"the feminist philosopher" and "Bordo notes" provide basic
information that readers need to know, the sentences that follow the quotation build a bridge between Bordo's words and
those of the writer. Just as important, these sentences explain
what Bordo is sayitig in the writer's own wordsand thereby
make clear that the quotation is being used purposefully to set
up the writer's own; argument and has not been stuck in just
for padding or merely to have a citation.

BLEND THE AUTHOR'S WORDS WITH YOUR O W N

The above framing material works well because it accurately


represents Bordo's words while at the same time giving those
words the writer's own spin. Instead of simply repeating Bordo
word for word, the follow-up sentences echo just enough of
her text while still moving the discussion in the writer's own
direction.
Notice how the passage refers several times to the key concept of dieting, and how it echoes Bordo's references to "television" and to U.S. and British "broadcasting" by referring to
"culture," which is further specified as that of "the West."
Despite some repetition, this passage avoids merely restating what Bordo says. Her reference to 62 percent of Fijian girls
dieting is no longer an inert statistic (as it was in the flawed
passage presented earlier), but a quantitative example! of how
"the West's obsession with dieting is spreading . . . across the
globe." In effect, the framing creates a kind of hybrid text, a
mix of Bordo's words and those of the writer.
4 5

The Art of Quoting

T H REE

'As

HE

HIMSELF

PUTS

IT"

But is it possible to overexplain a quotation? And how do


you know when you've explained a quotation thoroughly
enough? After all, not all quotations require the same amount
of explanatory framing, and there are no hard-and-fast rules for
knowing how much explanation any quotation needs. As a general rule, the most explanatory framing is needed for quotations
that may be hard for readers to process: quotations that are long
and complex, that are filled with details or jargon, or that contain hidden complexities.
And yet, though the particular situation usually dictates
when and how much to explain a quotation, we will still offer
one piece of advice: when in doubt, go for it. It is better to risk
being overly explicit about what you take a quotation to mean
than to leave the quotation dangling and your readers in doubt.
Indeed, we encourage you to provide such explanatory framing
even when writing to an audience that you know to be familiar with the author being quoted and able to interpret your quotations on their own. Even in such cases readers need to see
how you interpret the quotation, since wordsespecially those
of controversial figurescan be interpreted in various ways and
used to support different, sometimes opposing, agendas. Your
readers need to see what you make of the material you've
quoted, if only to be sure that your reading of the material and
theirs is on the same page.

How N O T TO INTRODUCE QUOTATIONS

We want to conclude this chapter by surveying some ways not |


to introduce quotations. Although some writers do so, you |
should not introduce quotations by saying something like "X
asserts an idea that" or "A quote by X says." Introductory^
4 6

phrases like these are both redundant and misleading. In the


first example, you could write either "X asserts that" or "X's
idea is that," rather than redundantly combining the two. The
second example misleads readers, since it is the writer who is
doing the quoting, not X (as "a quote by X" implies).
The templates in this book will help you avoid such mistakes. And once you have mastered such templates you probably won't even have to think about themand will be free to
focus on the important, challenging ideas that the templates
frame.

Exercises

1. Find a text that quotes someone's exact words as evidence


of something that "they say." How has the writer integrated
the quotation into his or her own text? How has he or she
introduced it, and what if anything has the writer said to
explain it and tie it to his or her own text? Based on what
you've read in this chapter, are there any changes you would
suggest?
2. Look at an essay or a report that you have written for one
of your classes. Have you quoted any sources? If so, how have
you integrated the quotation into your own text? How have
you introduced it? Explained what it means? Indicated how
it relates to your text? If you haven't done all these things,
revise your text to do so, perhaps using the Templates for
Introducing Quotations (p. 43) and Explaining Quotations
(p. 44). If you've not written anything with quotations, try
revising some academic text you've written to do so.

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INDEX OF TEMPLATES

INTRODUCING WHAT "THEY SAY"

(p. 2ij

A number of sociologists have recently suggested that X's v\/ork has


several fundamental problems.

>

It has become common today to dismiss X's contribution to the


field of sociology.

In their recent work, Y and Z have offered harsh critiques of Dr. X


for

INTRODUCING "STANDARD VIEWS"

(p. 22)

> Americans today tend to believe that


>

Conventional wisdom has it that

Common sense seems to dictate that --

The standard way of thinking about topic X has it that .

>

It is often said that .__

My whole life I have heard it said that .

>

You would think that _.

Many people assumed that _


1 6 3

Illl

INDEX

OF

TEMPLATES

Index of Templates

M A K I N G W H A T " T H E Y SAY"

S O M E T H I N G V O U SAY (pp. 22-23)

When it comes to the topic of ^agree that

ever, is on the question of


*

I've always believed that

-.

that ..

When I was a child, I used to thjnk that .,.

___., most of us will readily

, Where this agreement usually ends, howWhereas some are convinced

.^__,, others maintain that

-..
In conclusion, then, as I suggested earlier, defenders of_._

Although I should know better by now, I cannot help thinking that

can't have it both ways. Their assertion that


dicted by their claim that -..

At the same time that I believe

..,

, I also believe

INTRODUCING S O M E T H I N G
I M P L I E D OR A S S U M E D

CAPTURING AUTHORIAL ACTION

(p. 23)

X acknowledges that
* Although none of them have ever said so directly, my teachers have
X agrees that

,.

often given me the impression that

One

implication

of X's

treatment

of

is

that

Although X does not say so directly, she apparently assumes that

X argues that .,.

_.

X believes that

X denies/does not deny that

often take for granted

While they rarely admit as much,


that

_,.

X claims that
X complains that
X concedes that

I N T R O D U C I N G AN O N G O I N G DEBATE

(p. 24)

X demonstrates that ,

In discussions of X, one controversial issue has been


On the one hand,

.._

contends

My own view is

argues

X deplores the tendency to

On the other hand,

Others even maintain _-_..

X celebrates the fact that .

..

X emphasizes that

1 6 4

1 6 5

,_- is contra-

1
NDEx

OF

Index of Templates

T E M P L A T E S

X insists that

EXPLAINING QUOTATIONS (p. 44}

X observes that

Basically, X is saying

X questions whether
* In other words, X believes

X refutes the claim that


In making this comment, X argues that ^--

X reminds us that ,,.,

X reports that

X's point is that

X suggests that

X urges us to

INTRODUCING Q U O T A T I O N S

* X states, "

As the prominent philosopher X puts it, "

According to X, "

In her book,

..-.'

--_

I think X is mistaken because she overlooks

X's claim that

."

Writing in the journal Commentary, X complains that '


-.

X agrees when she writes, "

because, as recent research

has shown,

X contradicts herself/can't have it both ways. On the one hand, she


But on the other hand, she also says -

"

By focusing on .^-

X claims

..,, X overlooks the deeper problem of

"

X disagrees when he writes, " ^ j

_.. rests upon the questionable assumption

I disagree with X's view that

argues
In X's view, "

{p. S5)

that

.., X maintains that " -

D I S A G R E E I N G , W I T H REASONS

"

X himself writes, "

The essence of X's argument is that

(p. 43)

."

X is insisting that

"

X complicates matters further when he writes, "

1 6 6

familiar with

, but we don't need him to tell us that. Anyone


has long known that

1 6 7

INDEX

OF

TEMPLATES

Index of Templates

A G R E E I N G W I T H A DIFFERENCE

(p. 57)

>

X is right that

, but she seems on more dubious ground

when she claims that

I agree that

because my experience

X surely is right about

confirms it.

_^. because, as she may not be aware,

While X is probably wrong when she claims that _

_..., she is

right that

recent studies have shown that


I'm of two minds about X's claim that -.-^. On the one hand,

X's theory of

is extremely useful because it sheds insight

I agree that

On the other hand, I'm not sure if

on the difficult problem of

I agree that

-.-, a point that needs emphasizing since so

IVIy feelings on the issue are mixed. I do support X's position that

many people believe

.-., but I find Y's argument about


research on

Those unfamiliar with this school of thought may be interested to

and Z's

to be equally persuasive.

know that it basically boils down to

If group X is right that

S I G N A L I N G W H O IS SAYING W H A T

, as I think they are, then we need

(p. 6j)

to reassess the popular assumption that .._


* X argues -

__.

According to both X and Y,


AGREEING A N D DISAGREEING

Politicians ^.,.-

S I M U L T A N E O U S L Y (pp. 59-61J

., X argues, should .

Most athletes will tell you that ... Although I agree with X up to a point, 1 cannot accept his overall
conclusion that
* Although I disagree with much that X says, I fully endorse his final
conclusion that

_.

Though I concede that .-.--

Whereas X provides ample evidence that


Z's research on
.-

I agree, as X may not realize, that

But

But X is wrong that

However, it is simply not true that

instead.

Indeed, it is highly likely that

1 6 8

-.

are real and, arguably, the most significant factor in

_ __

, Y and
convinces me that

--.

My own view, however, is that

, I still insist that

and

__..

1 6 9

INDEX

OF

But the view that

Index 0/ Templates

TEMPLATES

>

does not fit all the facts.

Yet some readers may challenge the view that


many believe

X is right that ._

X is wrong that

._. Indeed, my own argument that .-

seems to ignore .._


,

_..,.

After all,

and _

-.

Of course, many will probably disagree with this assertion that

X is both right and wrong that


Yet a sober analysis of the matter reveals _
.__

,_..

Nevertheless, new research shows


N A M I N G Y O U R NAYSAYERS

Anyone familiar with

should see that _

(p. 79J

Here many feminists would probably object that

E M B E D D I N G V O I C E MARKERS

that

(pp. 70-71J

X overlooks what I consider an important point about

My own view is that what X insists is a

But social Darwinists would certainly take issue with the argument

Biologists, of course, may want to dispute my claim that

^
is in fact a

Nevertheless, hoih followers and critics of Malcom X will probably


argue that

I wholeheartedly endorse what X calls .,-

.._

Although not all Christians think alike, some of them will probably
dispute my claim that

These conclusions, which X discusses in __

_,, add weight to

the argument that

Non-natiue English speakers are so diverse in their views that it's


hard to generalize about them, but some are likely to object on the
grounds that ..-._

E N T E R T A I N I N G OBJECTIONS

(p. 78)

At this point I would like to raise some objections that have

I N T R O D U C I N G OBJECTIONS INFORMALLY

(p. 80)

been inspired by the skeptic in me. She feels that I have


been

ignoring

"

,"

she

says

to

me.

But is my proposal realistic? What are the chances of its actually


being adopted?

1 7 o

1 7 1

INDEX

OF

Yet is it always true that

>

? Is it always the case, as I have

been suggesting, that

Index of Templates

TEMPLATES

Recent studies like these shed new light on

, which pre-

vious studies had not addressed.

However, does the evidence I've cited prove conclusively that

Researchers have long assumed that


eminent scholar of cell biology, _

For instance, one


, assumed in

her seminal work on cell structures and functions, that fat cells

"Impossible," you say. "Your evidence must be skewed."

As

herself put it,"

leading scientist,

-.." (200-). Another

, argued that fat cells "..

....-." (200-).

Ultimately, when it came to the nature of fat, the basic assumption


M A K I N G CONCESSIONS WHILE STILL
S T A N D I N G YOUR G R O U N D

was that

(p. 85)

._

But a new body of research shows that fat cells are far more
complex and that

* Although I grant that .._

_., I still maintain that

Proponents of X are right to argue that


gerate when they claim that

While it is true that

But they exag-

But on the other

used to think

few decades] ._

These findings challenge dieters' common assumptions that

At first glance, teenagers appear to

(p. 97J

ESTABLISHINC WHY YOUH CLAIMS MATTER (pp. 94-95)

But recently [or within the past


suggests that

X matters/is important because

What this new research does, then, is correct the mistaken impres*

sion, held by many earlier researchers, that .-..-

Although X may seem trivial, it is in fact crucial in terms of today's


concern over

.. But on closer inspec-

tion

I N D I C A T I N G W H O CARES

.__

-. How-

ever, new research shows

On the one hand, I agree with X that

simply assume that the most successful athletes

-.

, it does not necessarily follow that

hand, I still insist that __.-

If sports enthusiasts stopped to think about it, many of them might

These findings challenge the work of earlier researchers, who

,;

tended to assume that

1 7 2

.1

Ultimately, what is at stake here is

1 7 3

INDEX

OF

Index of Templates

TEMPLATES

Contrast
although
but
by contrast
conversely
despite the fact that
even though
however
in contrast

These findings have important consequences for the broader


domain of

My discussion of X is in fact addressing the larger matter of

These conclusions/This discovery will have significant applications


in

-. as well as in ,.^.-

Although X may seem of concern to only a small group of

nevertheless
nonetheless
on the contrary
on the other hand
regardless
whereas
while
yet

, it should in fact concern anyone who cares about

Addition
also
and
besides
furthermore
in addition

in fact
indeed
moreover
so too

Concession
admittedly
although it is true that
granted
I concede that

of course
naturally
to be sure

for instance
specifically
to take a case in poin

.'

Example
after all
as an illustration
consider
for example

t
t1

Elaboration
actually
by extension
in short
that is
in other words

to put it another way


to put it bluntly
to put it succinctly
ultimately

C O M M O N L Y USED TRANSITIONS

Cause and Effect


accordingly
as a result
consequently
hence
it follows, then
Conclusion
as a result
consequently
hence
in conclusion, then
in short
in sum, then
it follows, then
Comparison
along the same lines
in the same way

since
so

then
therefore
thus

the upshot of all this, is that


therefore
thus
to sum up
to summarize

likewise
similarly
1 7 4

1 7 5

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