Help with my English Homework? PLEASE!!!

Question

Part of the "They Say, I Say" book. Chapter 3 "As He Himself Puts It"

 

Exercise One: Find a published piece of writing that quotes something that "they say". How has the writer integrated the quotation into his or her own text? How has he or she introduced the quotation, 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?

 

I am not in APLAC, but my teacher does teach in the APLAC style. I am not really good in English 11, but I am trying to understand what it means by 'a published piece of writing that quotes something that they say.'

 

Could you please help me?

Thank you,

Lena

 

P.S. here is a link to a pdf file of the chapter: https://gsw1120.wikispaces.com/file/view/As-He-Himself-Puts-It.pdf

Answer 1

Hi Lena--

 

When they say "a published piece of writing," they mean something from a book, news article, legitimate website, etc. (not just a random tweet or facebook status...)

 

I think the point of the question is to explore why "they say" is sort of weak when you compare it to a specific person.

 

For example, if an article starts with "They say the earth's temperature is rising each year," it's not as powerful as an article that says, "Meteorologist Lena Leener, a world-renowned expert on climate change, states that the earth's average temperature is rising each year."

 

So your assignment seems to be to find an article that has some "they say" generalities going on, and use the arguments in "as he himself says" to show why the article you found is not as strong as it could be.

 

I guess they didn't give you any advice on HOW to find such an article...? Maybe think of some things that you believe because "they say..." and then look them up, like:

 

"They say that teenagers need more sleep," or "they say that fast food is not healthy," etc. You would probably find some articles, but they wouldn't be as strong as the ones that can tell you SPECIFICALLY who said what.

 

Hope any of this makes sense. (It's a pretty weirdly-written assignment, but it makes a good point... and I think I need a copy of that book!)

 

Matt way back east in New York