Oct. 13th, 2009

labellementeuse: a girl sits at a desk in front of a window, chewing a pencil (girl reading)
Hi folks! Question: how do we feel about the use of "I" in humanities papers? Someone (not a prof) has just read an essay for me and edited out every use of the first person. I understand that this is a valid response, but I personally find it frustrating. I think the passive voice is awkward, takes the life out of a text, and furthermore find it a dishonest attempt to obscure the context of the piece and its origin*; I find structures like "The rest of this essay will explore A, B, and C" idiotic. I have read plenty of articles that use "I" in the same way I do. Is this one of those "Do as I say not as I do until you have a PhD and tenure" things? I know it can be used badly, and sometimes I do (and then try to catch it on an editing pass), but I don't think every use of it ever is bad.

*This, if you were wondering, is What Is Wrong With Science Today.

Profile

labellementeuse: a girl sits at a desk in front of a window, chewing a pencil (Default)
worryingly jolly batman

October 2021

S M T W T F S
     12
3456789
10111213141516
1718192021 2223
24252627282930
31      

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jul. 6th, 2025 04:30 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios