Created by EJ Belcher
Last updated December 2003
The Controversial "I":

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the appropriateness of the first person pronoun

What about incorporating objectivity into the actual writing process itself?  In his abstract, Dietrich Rathjens lists “The Seven Components of Clarity in Technical Writing” as:
        1. brevity (being concise and direct), 2. accuracy (quantifying everything), 3. 
        completeness of technical data and grammatical construction, 4. emphasis 
        (establishing priorities on information given), 5. consistency (referring to the 
        same information with the same words), 6. order (presenting information 
        logically)” (1).
Of course, all these elements can work together to effectively make up the final component -- objectivity -- which Rathejens describes as “avoiding personalizing text or using colorful language” (42).

The Plain Text:  Writing for Business web site states that the best way to ensure a readership is for a writer to concentrate on "just the facts."  Working in writing centers has taught me that many students believe that one way of being more factual is to use the passive voice.  Too much passive voice removes the human factor and all sense of action from a piece – two vital elements in soft news journalism, such as interviews, previews and reviews.  For example:  I enjoyed the performance vs The performance was enjoyable.  While the second sentence omits the controversial “I,” it also leaves the reader asking, Who enjoyed the performance?  The reviewer?  The audience?  The sponsors?

The Guidelines to Technical Essays goes on to give an alternative to writing completely in the passive voice, saying, “The use of the first person pronoun ‘I’ should be avoided, though, since [it is] normally used by famous and important researchers.  Instead, ‘we’ or ‘the team’ are preferable in scientific articles” (1).  To relate this back to the performance example, the writer could use this approach to reword his or her sentence, saying, Based on the seven minute standing ovation, the audience clearly enjoyed the performance.  This support from “an outside source” allows the reviewer to relay a positive opinion of the event without directly placing him or herself into the article.  On the other hand, unlike scientific articles, op-ed pieces such as this should allow for the inclusion of self, regardless of whether or not the writer is established.

Of course there are two sides to every story, and Charles Darling, a professor of English at Capital Community College in Hartford, Connecticut, takes the opposite view.  On his web page, “Maintaining Objectivity,” he cites places – such as e-mails, letters and personal essays – where the use of “I” is not only appropriate, but it would sound awkward not to incorporate it.  Darling writes:
        On the other hand, to avoid any hints of subjective bias or a ‘this is just little 
        ol’ me talking’ tone, most academic prose should feel as objective as 
        possible.   One easy test of objectivity in writing is the use of the 
        first-person singular.  Text in which I shows up over and over again will 
        feel weighted with subjectivity, not objectivity [. . . .]  Writing objectively also 
        means writing fairly.  What you feel about a poem, say, can never actually be
       wrong.  Feelings can, of course be based on misconceptions, but the feelings 
        themselves are neither right nor wrong.  This makes it important to express
        things as if they were objective findings, not personal feelings, as what 
        happens to some reader (any reader), not what happened to me.  Another 
        part of objectivity is avoiding evaluation:  it is the writer’s business to point 
        out how something works.  In doing so, we imply whether or not it works
        well [. . . .]  Having said this, we should be reminded that even in a largely 
        third-person, objective essay the use of the first-person is not automatically 
        to be despised.  (3-4)
The trick is finding a balance, so that the self can be a strengthening element, not a detrimental one.  For example, "Based on my research, I believe that the first person singular can work in academic pieces as long as the paper is not saturated with it."