The article “’I need you to say ‘I”: Why First Person is Important in College Writing” by Kate McKinney Maddalena discusses the importance of using first person in your own writings. She believes that there is a right and wrong time to use “I” in your pieces. She provided clear examples of when to use it and when to not use it. I can agree with the examples she provided because there were many times last fall semester where my English professor had us summarize articles without the use of “I” to get us used to not being objective.
Keeping our opinion out of things makes your writing come across more sophisticated. When you are able to use “I” in the response section of your summaries don’t shy away from using it. Use it and use it with full confidence when you do. This is one major piece of advice I was told by my English professor and now that I heard the reasoning why from Kate, I completely agree. By excluding the use of my own opinion it made me a stronger writer in the sense that I had to limit myself to what was available and what wasn’t.
I agree with everything that Kate had to say in this article, one of the main points being there is a time and place to use your voice. Of course using your point of view is important and holds meaning, but for certain assignments and tasks people simply don’t care about your opinions. They look for the facts and the true meaning behind things. I believe that it gives a personal feeling to your work because it gives insight on your experiences and thoughts. The word “I” may be small but it holds a lot of power and I believe that we should be taught how and when to use it.
Leave a Reply