For most of our education, we have learned the consequences of using the first person in our writing. Teachers around the United States have taught their students the importance of not using “I” when they learn how to write a paper. Most students grow up and keep with them the idea that they should not use this kind of vocabulary. With Kate McKenney Maddalena we learn why we should include the first person in our writing assignments. We learn how this helps us become better at writing and will help students understand the importance of it.
The reason most students around the United States do not include this kind of language in their writing assignments is because of the idea that became. Teachers taught their students that not using “I” made their papers look “formal” and more professional. According to Maddalena, most students and professional workers tend to avoid first-person writing as a way to avoid including personal experiences or perspectives in the paper. This does not mean that a person’s experiences or ideas should not be included but they tend to believe that a paper that includes this does not communicate the same message.
Why should people use “I”?
First, one of the first examples that Maddalena used in her paper was in the case of scientific papers. The use of first-person language is important because it helps you differentiate whose idea you are writing about. When writing a research paper and you are using a scholar’s article, the ideas or interpretations of the information are different between you (the researcher) and the actual researcher. For this same reason, Maddalena explains that it’s important for students to use “I” so people who will read the paper later will not have trouble differentiating their ideas and the authors.
Another thing that was mentioned in the article as well is that first-person language was used to make transitions smoother. It tends to be hard the idea of transitioning from one idea to the next one when writing a paper. For the same reason, the author explains why the use of “I” is so important. As was mentioned by the author, it shouldn’t be a paper full of the first person. Instead, it should be a paper where the use of first-person language makes the reading easier for the audience. The goal of this vocabulary as mentioned before is to make the transition from one idea to the next one without the audience feeling like they lost track.
Finally, an important thing Maddalena mentioned in the article is that it depends on the person writing the paper. Some examples were shared in the article where different authors presented the results of their investigation. One of the authors used the first person throughout the whole paper. In his case, it made the process easier for the audience to understand and the paper made sense after completing it. Another case was that the author used “I” only on certain parts of the paper. Going back to the previous point stated above, the author used this language as a way of transitioning from one idea to the next without making it harder for the audience. The last example shared in the lecture showed a woman not using the first person in their paper to the end. In her case, it made sense to just use it in the “Discussion” section of the paper. The reason for this is that it is a summary of all of the ideas mentioned in the paper. In this section, they needed to interpret their findings and what they meant to the audience so the use of “I” was inevitable.
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