And Yet

Distinguishing What You Say from What They Say

Determine Who Is Saying What in the Texts You Read
Templates for Signaling Who Is Saying What in Your Own Writing
· X argues ______.
· According to both X and Y, ______.
· Politicians, X argues, should ______.
· Most athletes will tell you that ______.
· My own view, however, is that ______.
· I agree, as X may not realize, that ______.

It is a good idea to mix first-person assertions with ones like the following:
· X is right that ______.
· The evidence shows that ______.
· X’s assertion that ______ does not fit the facts.
· Anyone familiar with _____ should agree that ______.

· But ______ are real, and are arguably the most significant factor in ______.

Templates for Embedding Voice Markers
· X overlooks what I consider an important point about ______.
· My own view is that what X insists is a ______ is in fact a ______.
· I wholeheartedly endorse what X calls ______.
· These conclusions, which X discusses in _____, add weight to the argument that ______.

When writers fail to use voice-marking devices like these, their summaries of others’ views tend to become confused with their own ideas---and vice versa.