“I” is a singular pronoun that is used when the writer or speaker is referring to themselves. I bring this up because “I” is at the center of a question that I have recently been asked to address. That question is: when can we use I? Throughout my entire career as a student taking English and Writing courses, I have been taught to be weary of using the word “I”, based on the type of essays I would have to write, as well as the implications it brings. However, I have learned that it can be appropriate to use “I” when it fits the type of essay you are writing.
Clarifying My Statement
When I say “type of essay” where it is appropriate to say “I”, I am referring to a body of work that is from your perspective, or is about your opinion or response to a topic. For example, when writing a personal narrative from your perspective, you would use the word “I” to refer to yourself and how the writing is in your perspective. It can also be used in essays that use multiple perspectives including your own. The article “I Need You To Say “I”: Why First Person Is Important In College Writing” by Kate McKinney Maddalena talks about how the word “I” can be used to refer to your own thoughts and opinions when you are using evidence and sources from other people and their perspectives. You would also use “I” in responses to writings that are about specifically your opinion on a topic, such as how you feel about something, or what your stance is on a topic that has multiple sides. Overall, while there are places where you can use “I” in essays, there are reasons why you shouldn’t, and why it is often a term that used avoided in essays.
When we discussed the term “I”, we talked about how it used to establish writing as personal and taking place in the first person. When you don’t use the term “I” is when you are being objective and based in facts over emotions. In Maddalena’s article, the idea of being objective is talked about, where avoiding “I” allows the essay to rely solely on facts and research over personal opinions and experiences, thus preventing the essay from being biased to one side. Essays where you don’t use the term “I” are based on being objective and using facts and logic to persuade the reader instead of personal opinions, such as persuasive and informative essays. You would also avoid “I” in writing types like scientific reports that are not about you, but another outside topic. Overall, “I” is a term that can be used for many different purposes, whether to establish a mood, perspective, or general thought. How and when it is used can be a fork in the road if you are not being careful, but it shouldn’t be thought of as something that you should fear and worry about. It should be thought of as a literary device that, when used correctly, helps establishing key aspects of your writing.
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