They Say, I Say Templates for Agreeing and Disagreeing

From They Say, I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein

They Say I Say

(Use quotation marks if you copy the wording;
always use the author’s name or the “Title” if no author is
given)

Signaling these are someone else’s views Explaining Quotations

 X offered a harsh critique of ______  Basically, X is saying ___________.
for___________.  In other words, X believes ___________.
 Many people assumed that  In making this comment, X argues that
______________. __________.
 X acknowledges that _________.  X is insisting that ____________.
 X argues that ___________.  X’s point is that __________.
 X believes that ___________.
 X denies/does not deny that _________. Agreeing
 X claims that ___________.  X is right that…
 X complains that ___________.  I agree because…
 X concedes that __________.  I completely agree with X because…
 X emphasizes that ___________.
 X insists that __________. Disagreeing, With Reasons
 X observes that __________.  I think X is mistaken because she overlooks
 X questions whether ___________. __________.
 X refutes the claim that __________.  X’s claim that __________ rests upon the
 X reminds us that ___________. questionable assumption that __________.
 X reports that __________.  I disagree with X’s view that __________
 X suggests that __________. because…
 X urges us to __________.  X contradicts herself/can’t have if both
ways. On one hand she argues _________.
 According to X, “___________.”
But on the other hand, she also says
 In X’s view, “_____________.”
___________.
 By focusing on __________, X overlooks
Tying in another They Say
the deeper problem of __________.
 X agrees, saying, “____________.”
 My own view, however, is that…
 X disagrees when he writes,
 However, it is simply not true that…
“____________.”
 X agrees that __________.
Agreeing and Disagreeing Simultaneously
 X complicates matters furter when he
 Although I agree with X up to a point, I
writes, “_______.”
cannot accept his overall conclusion that
__________.
 Although I disagree with much that X says,
I fully endorse his final conclusion that
__________.
 Though I agree that ___________, I still
insist that ___________.