Sometimes I wish I lived in a world where speaking was a bit more like writing, that way I could delete all of the mumbo-jumbo, all of the stuttering and the mispronounced terms, and fill in all of my uncertainties with artistic metacommentary. Alas, I was born into a world where templates for talking take the form of rambles and run-ons, or at least fears of food lodged into teeth, and the paranoia of the need to Listerine. At least when writing, I have confidence to express myself, and even revise and change my opinion on the matter before anyone else has the chance to see what I initially thru-up on the word document.
They Say I Say as a whole has been a refreshing reminder, as well as an unexpectedly informative book that whittles down writing to its rhetorical roots. I think that the purpose of any aesthetic expression stems from a desire to understand and be understood. All too often our thoughts are fragmented with clutter, and all too often the clutter is spilled out in ways that are not at all comprehensible. Graff and Birkenstein lay out a guide that clarifies matters for not just the academic writer, but anyone who has the desire to think critically.
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