Letter to Editor

The article "Diversity's False Solace", written by Walter Benn Michaels focuses on racial diversity, how it affects students of all colors and backgrounds, and how it is used to avert the public to social and economic inequality. Michaels refers to U.I.C's great reputation concerning this matter. U.I.C is, "ranked among the top 10 universities in the country for the diversity of the student body." This does not necessarily include diversity in class. While Michaels believes that there is value in ethnic and racial diversity, and also that affirmative action is needed, he also says that it is used to make universities seem like they are being fair to all and that they are allowing all students to be accepted if they try hard enough. Sadly Michaels says that this is not the case, as class diversity at universities is almost non-existent. Michaels says that while people of different races are accepted because of affirmative action, others are being turned down because of not even being able to apply because of the influx of those who did become accepted because of affirmative action, or because of financial problems. He goes on to conclude that because so many people and universities focus on racial inequality and racism, they think that these are the only problems that we need to solve. Diversity is "a rich people's solution." This means that as long as people focus on race, class will not be addressed. I agree with Michaels in that he is correct in asserting that racial diversity is more focused on at universities than class diversity. The rich who are not always necessarily as smart as the poor will get in to a university because of their wealth. Like Michaels says, "The fact that it doesn't help to be white to get into Harvard replaces the much more fundamental fact that it does help to be rich and it's virtually essential not to be poor." I think that it is wrong that people who cannot pay are the ones who cannot go, when there are rich people, and those who are accepted because of affirmative action, who are not even intellectually qualified. However, "as long as the left (liberals) continues to worry about diversity, the right (conservatives) won't have to worry about inequality."

Tactics used in letters to author

1. The they say is present
2. quotations are referenced and the writer either confirms it to be true, or they disprove it.
3. The writer agrees with the author, and adds to what he/she said
4. The writer disagrees with the author and states why he/she does so.
5. The writer agrees yet to a certain degree does not completely support everthing, and the writer explains what that is.
6. Summary is used, then they respond to it with I say.
7. The writer uses accurate support for their statement.
8. The writer concludes with a strong point and with specific details.

The effects of the media in America

The name of the book I chose was "Media Effects", written by Bryant Zillman, and edited by Jennings Bryant and Dolf Zillman.

They say: In the preface of this book Zillman talks about other scholar's opinions on the media, and how they thought on adding information to his book. They say that it is important to include advertising and media as well as the "fright effect" that the media has on people. They go on and say that what Zillman has so far is an accurate description of the media and it's long and short term effects on American citizens.

I say: In the preface Zillman talks about the chapters which he included in the book. His chapters include the news media, violence in media, sex in media, and the internet and print media. He says that it is very important to know of how the different types of subjects in the media, and the different types of media itself, can have both a possitive and negative light. He also says that as long as there are people the media will continue to influence their beleifs, actions, and opinions.

intro and chapter 1 summary

In the intro to "They say I say" the authors introduce templates meant to help a writer in developing their organization skills. Writing is essential in society today and Birkenstein and Graff want to give writers a helpful guide in making his or her writing as successful and effective as possible. The templates are meant to just be guides. Trying to use them without extra information will result in an incoherent paper. That is why it is necessary to mention and describe your main point, or view, and to support it with your own information. Both authors believe that through these templates a writer is able to more easily express his or her views or opinions. While some people argue that templates hinder one's creative writing the authors believe the opposite to be true. All in all, they want to introduce the writer to new creative ideas of writing. What works for some may not work for all, but in my opinion the templates are very useful in helping me to organize my thoughts and ideas and put them into a coherent piece of writing. These templates offer something that I think is the most important thing to have in an essay. That would be structure. Structure is necessary in order to make a good piece of writing and through these templates creating structure is easily accessible.

Chapter 1 of "They say I say" focuses on what "they say". This means that in order to write an effective essay it is important to not only make your own point clear, but to also talk about what other people think on the matter. In this way you are connecting and comparing your own views with or against someone else's. This is what leads to your response. After summarizing what "they think", you are now able to make a response that is now more logical and meaningful. Birkenstein and Graff also want to help develop the writer's skills into a more advanced level. This is through eliminating the one sided writing which is commonly found in students papers. The question "so what' is important because you just don't want to state what other people feel on this matter, you also want to state your own opinion. However, it is important to not just state only your opinion without any reference. I agree with this type of writing. It is much more effective to your paper if you reference to what you are either agreeing or disagreeing with, than to just make a laundry list full of facts, as my history teacher used to say. There must be a balance between what "they say", and what "I say". Graff and Birkenstein make this clear in chapter 1, as it is an important recurring theme in all genres of writing.

They say I say Chapter 1

In chapter one of "They say I say" the moves that matter in academic writing, Gerald Graff and Kathy Birkenstein talk about the most important thing to include in your writing, which would be to give your writing a point, and to show the significance and relationship it has to your thesis. Specifically Graff and Birkenstein use the example of a speaker referencing Doctor X. The speaker says that Doctor X is important, but he does not connect Doctor X with the areas of discipline in which he spoke of. They go on to mention that the order in which things are presented is very important as it is needed to keep the attention of the audience. They advise us to start with" what others are saying" before we go into our own opinions on the matter. Summarizing what "they say" is important to develop one's writing. The templates given are there to help the writer connect what their own idea is to the larger picture and already held beliefs.

I agree that that it is important to state the other side in one's writing. In my view the templates that the authors recommend are very useful in helping you set up the proper approach to introducing the other side. For instance a standard view template, such as " many people assume that," is a good way to start the other side in addition to creating a broader sense of the topic being discussed. I would argue that in order to accurately describe your own ideas it is necessary to compare them to others' thoughts and feelings on the matter. Overall then that is why I believe getting the "They say" of the writing included is useful in complimenting your own ideas as well as developing a relationship with other people's opinions or thoughts.

They say I say intro

In the introduction to "They say I say" The moves that matter in academic writing, Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein provide templates designed to help give writers an easier structure in order to generate their writing. Specifically, Graff and Birkenstein argue that the types of writing templates they offer are able to give the writer an idea of how to approach the way in which they write giving them structure. As the authors themselves put it "One uses these to further his or hers creativity. Although some people believe that templates hinder the originality of the one writing, Graff and Birkenstein insist that the templates are to be used as only a guide. In sum then their views is that these templates are here to prepare and help the writer.

I agree. In my view the types of templates that the authors recommend are very useful and help get the writer started. For instance using the the words "on the one hand, or on the other hand" are very useful in developing one's argument, in addition to referring back to another persons opinion. This way both sides of the argument are actively in the writing. Some might object, of course, on the grounds that templates can be used as a complete writing. In this way they are seen as a shortcut and are not helping to develop the writers ability. Yet I would argue that templates are not developed enough to give the writer something complete, and the writer must therefore fill it in with their own opinions and creativity. Overall I believe that templates are very useful- an important point to make given would be that everyone at one point or another in their lives used a template to help get them started.

My template

The reason that I picked such a plain template, is because, one this is my first time creating a blog and I don't know all the different things you can do just yet, and two I don't really like flashy things as I am a plain rational thinking person. I am a humble person who is not used to much attention, therefore I do not try to attract much attention.

Michael Della Croce
College Writing
8/28/07
Exercise 1.1


An occasion in which writing helped me to accomplish something important would be when I wrote an essay in order to get a scholarship from the Sons of Italy organization. I had heard about it from both the organization and my parents, and I decided that this would help me in paying for my college experience. I was also interested in the rich history and culture of Italians and I wanted to let the organization know just how great we were, and how much we contributed to the world in the past, present, and how we will in the future. The essay was to be about why I am proud to be Italian, and what it means to me to be Italian.
I began first by talking about the ancient Romans, and how they helped shape the future with their innovations and discoveries. From both conquest and exploration they made the map of the world and it’s boundaries. I connected with this the fact that since I was also Italian I could also accomplish great feats. I wrote that this was one of the reasons why I was proud to be Italian. To me being Italian meant so many things. I wrote that I have the blood of a conqueror, lover, artist, cook, scientist….etc. There was just so much to talk about. I talked about the many hardships that we faced when coming to America, how we tolerated them, and finally overcame most of them. To this day there are still stereotypes being portrayed, and Italians are still being made fun of, but I wrote that this would not effect us as we are a resilient people. I used persuasive writing and emphasized the good aspects of Italians rather than the bad. I did not mention gangsters, or Italy’s involvement in World War Two as that would prove to dishearten my audience and I would lose favor with them.
Through writing I was able to more easily describe how I felt about my culture. My goal was to prove to the organization that I was proud to be an Italian, and to also make them proud of themselves. Writing in this way not only helped me to win my scholarship, but it also made me appreciate just how great my culture really is. My writing accomplished what I strived for , and to me writing is a very valuable tool to express one’s opinion, to make a point, or to just show your appreciation for your heritage.