A Mutual Dependence:

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A Study of Objectivity in Nonfiction Writing

We have created objective (although highly contextualized) ideals of writing that include measures of appropriate voice, vocabulary, evidence, and arrangement of ideas.  So while writing is very personal, or subjective, it creates an object space, a place apart from the individual and we measure it against objective standards derived from the context.

What images spring to mind when you hear the word objective?  Webster’s New World Thesaurus describes the term as “existing independently of the mind” and “eliminating the human equation” (515).  The Colorado State Writing Guide tells writers, “This means you should not inject your opinion of the source [. . . .]  Your attitude towards the source, negative or positive, shouldn't be readily apparent to your readers” (1). 

Objectivity is a shared responsibility when dealing with a college level curriculum.  First and foremost, students are responsible for their own work, but they may never learn the difference between plagiarism, paraphrasing and original ideas if a professor does not take the initiative to clarify.  On the Responsible Rhetorics web site, contributing creators examine writing in both the academic and professional realms.  Objectivity is a necessary element of both types, because if students do not learn how to master the concept in their academic papers, they will never be able to successfully handle it in writing careers. 

Academic expectations vary from professor to professor, sometimes causing confusion.  Nick Carbone, a faculty member of George Mason University’s communications department, suggests always deferring to the individual professor when questions arise:
        Whether pronoun agreement and gender, or rules about paragraph length, or when to use ‘I,’ 
        there are a slew of writing 'rules’ that come and go depending upon the teacher.  I tell students – 
        and teachers this when I do workshops – that teachers usually have their own internal style sheet 
        and  ‘house’ rules for what constitutes correct writing.  And that’s not unusual [. . . .]  [T]eachers 
        don’t often realize how much they’ve internalized and how much what they’ve internalized is 
        not always shared.  (1)
Carbone goes on to construct a list of questions that students should be asking, but the concern remains:  Would they have to ask at all if there was not such a problem with internalization?

While working at the Radford University and George Mason University writing centers, I have seen many students struggle with the concept of objectivity.  I have helped with personal reflective essays in which the author rarely refers to him- or herself, and then only in the third person.  Then there are the research papers with unsubstantiated claims and no cited sources.  It was this very problem that birthed my own thoughts on the different aspects of objectivity:  How can students separate themselves from their work in order to provide a fair critiqe ("Of Writer's & Editors")?  When and where is it appropriate to incorporate the self ("The Controversial I")?  Is it important to use gender-specific language in writing ("He Said/She Said")?  And finally, how are these elements applied in professional positions ("In the Real World")?  
 

• Of Writers & Editors:  the trick of self-editing for students
• The Controversial "I":  the appropriateness of the first person pronoun
• He Said/She Said:  the use of gender-sensitive language
• In the Real World:  applying objectivity in writing professions
• Bibliography