From middle school through high school, the use of “I” in any kind of writing was forbidden. We were told that we have to avoid using it all costs. But why is this? Isn’t the whole point of using “I” is to show the flexibility of our arguments. The article “”I Need You To Say ‘I’”: Why First Person Is Important In College Writing” by Kate McKinney Maddalena talks about this in length. The key to it is to not go crazy with “I”.
Maddalena expresses that to have clarifying opinions and claims is important for the reader to understand who’s saying what, first person is a great way to do that. When you use “I”, it allows you to express your opinion on what you believe in a certain topic. Of course this isn’t for everything to be written about, but it’s good to know when it feels necessary. Never use it once, as it’d confuse the reader and it completely messes up the point of view. You never want to ruin the point of view.
It’s always good to think about when and where to use “I”. It’s absolutely useful especially when the prompt calls for it, but it also allows for interesting perspectives. You may have seen it be used when an author is trying to differentiate their opinion from another source, or when their opinion in an argument needs to be claimed. It’s always nice to experiment with different types of perspectives or to learn how to write in a different way that isn’t stating just facts.
Ultimately, the usage of “I” isn’t something to shy away from, and it’s not something thats bad. There are ways that it can be used properly and can sound amazing it papers. No one should shy away from using it, but it also shouldn’t be used too much. There needs to be a balance of it and people should use it more. It’s nothing to be feared and can make for an interesting prompt and paper.
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