Have you ever wondered why people use “I” in more formal writing pieces? Do you think that it is okay to talk in first person when it comes to bigger writing assignments such as essays? Were you told as a student that you were not allowed to use “I” in your writing? In the article, “I Need You to Say ‘I’” Why Writing in First Person Is Important in College Writing” by Kate McKinney Maddalena she navigates the importance of using “I”. Maddalena does this by listing all the reasons why with examples. I found it really interesting that Maddalena is encouraging us, students, to write in the first person. At a certain point in my education, I was told to refrain from talking in first person when it came to my writing. Now that I am in college, I find myself avoiding talking in first person throughout my writing because of what I have been told in the past. One thing that I really liked about this article, was that explained when and how to use the first person to further prove your point. An example of this is, is when Maddalena discusses how to use “I” without it sounding like an opinion. She states how instead of saying “I think the sky is blue,” you would say “The sky is blue.” (Maddalena, 182). Based on this, I can tell that one statement is more assertive and confident than the other statement. Another example that really allowed to put the pieces together was, “From my position standing on the earth’s surface in the daytime, I see the sky as blue.” (Maddalena, 182). This is important because it shows that using “I” can be professional. The statement shows how one can add their observation in first person while still executing higher-level thinking. After reading this, it made me realize that incorporating first person in assignments is not a negative thing. Maddalena listed the key points to doing this properly without it sounding like an opinion on the matter, more so like a fact. I am not sure how comfortable I will feel doing this moving forward because it is wired in my brain to “I-less-ness”, but I will definitely try doing so.
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