(no subject)

[labellementeuse]

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.

Comments

[chattycheese.livejournal.com]

I'll play devil's advocate and say I hate it. It bothers me, and I know it's just personal preference but I've read so many bad essays that use extensive first person and don't back up their statements and are obviously just making something up that I just can't stand it.

Of course, this may be because I do all my writing in chemistry, and they don't like first person in the very slightest.

However, I avoid it in ALL my writing, even for humanities classes and don't seem to have a problem. I too hate the "This essay will talk about X, Y, and Z" construct, I try to end my introduction with one or two declamatory statements that touch on every point in order nice and pretty.

Still, though. First person and I are not friends in formal writing. I've seen it in lots of biology papers of late (let's not discuss how much I hate that part of research), but I find myself judging them a little bit- even if the paper came from Science.