In the article, “I Need You to Say “I”: Why First Person Is Important in College Writing” by Kate McKinney Maddalena speaks on how using first person in your writing is important. The author first dives in and discusses the learning criteria that we were taught in school, which is to not use “I” in some writings. This can be writing a professional paper where you don’t want to use “I” because as the articles stated, “avoiding personal pronouns forces you to be objective.” As I was reading this it rang a bell to me when most of my teachers would tell me not to use “I” in some of my writings. Besides the reason for professional purposes, people are not going to take your writing seriously if the word “I” is there. They are going to look at it as an opinion more than a fact.
But, the author mentions that using “I” in your writing can be a good thing. For example, it allows you to project your voice. In most college essays, the topic is usually about yourself. In this particular aspect, it is important to use the word “I.” It is also important to describe yourself and the skills that you bring to the table and if you achieve this you can get a spot in that school. Also, at the beginning of the article, it mentions how we shouldn’t use “I” in our essay when it comes to writing a professional argument point but as I was reading more into the article, you can use first person but use differently. For instance, “the sky is blue” instead of “I think that the sky is blue.” In other words, using a different word to replace the use of “I” but having the same meaning in a way.
In conclusion, this article has changed my mindset because I would believe that using the word “I” in a sentence is a bad thing but it’s not. We shouldn’t be afraid to express our thoughts and ideas. But instead, use this in your writing so other people can feel inspired or motivated. Also, the people reading your paper can learn something. Writing with the pronoun “I” can give you a voice.
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