They Say/I Say

I found this article to be very interesting and very true. In high school we had to do numerous persuasive papers. The thing that I had the most trouble on was putting myself in the other person's position. Although I had very strong facts and points that made my paper hard to argue against, I lacked empathy for the other side. This in fact made my paper very weak. This didn't necessarily make me a poor writer, it made me human. I think English classes should focus more on looking at the other side when assigning persuasive papers. I think a lot of people have difficulty putting themselves in the other side's shoes, especially when the topic is something they're passionate about.
Another thing I found interesting was the happy medium the author discussed. I wasn't always the boldest writer and I often found myself in the trap of all summary and no input. This was the safe route that always gave me a decent grade. Reading the article, I started to realize that my previous papers didn't depict my voice. After our first portfolio, I've come to realize that your voice is what makes your paper unique and simply summarizing doesn't bring out your true opinions. Not summarizing enough can also have a negative impact on your writing. Like most other things, you need to find a happy medium to complete a successful paper.