"They Say / I Say" response

I find it really surprising; Graff and Birkenstein believe that your voice should be recognizable in a summary is extremely important. I have trouble maintaining my voice in papers already, so I wholeheartedly agree within the first paragraph when they say that your voice can be lost in summarizations. I think this will be really hard to fix since what you're summarizing isn't what you wrote but somebody else's work, and they deserve all the credit in a summary. However, voicing is a step in becoming a better writer. They also urge us to keep a balance between you and the author while staying focused, which is difficult but very true. Brittany's idea of a "happy medium" is exactly what they're suggesting in their essay. Although it is super hard to summarize an article that expresses differing opinions from what you believe, they are still right. You have to wait until a seperate part of the paper where you express your beliefs. Or you could just write one of those satirical essays they are talking about.... either works.

What I find most interesting though is their comment on "list summaries". Those 'they say' and 'i say' introductions in summaries are complete no-no's. While reading that, I started to wonder if this was a problem in my writing. I never even thought about that being a problem until now, and I know that a clear and interesting voice in my papers is missing sometimes. So, after reading this, I'm going to proof-read my short assignment that's due on Friday to see if I ever wrote one of these poor introductions in my summary. If I did, I will be really embarrassed. However, it will only make me a better writer. I suggest, not 'say', that you should do the same for your papers. Use the language and verbs suggested at the end of the essay.

By the way... did anyone catch the "they say" I wrote in my first paragraph? Wow...