Post 7: Comparing and Contrasting High School to College Academic Writing
In high school, our teachers strongly advise you stay far far away from the word "I". Especially if we are writing argumentative essays. This makes no sense to me at all, I mean how is it possible to argue my opinion without using "I". Also, persuasive writings are very complicated not being able to use "I". In fact, Maddalena writes in her essay "First person can help you express, very simply, who "says" what" (183). Exactly like Maddalena says, writing in first person helps the writer fully express what they are writing about. It can also help majorly when writing an argumentative or persuasive essay.
Maddalena, Kate. ""I need you to say 'I'": Why First Person Is Important in College Writing." Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, edited by Charles Lowe et al., Parlor Press, 2010, pp. 180-189.
I understand how hard that must have been to avoid the word I, that is very new to me maybe your teacher was trying to get you guys out of some repetitive habit that they have seen in their students or kind of take something normal away to kind of see what other route you would take in your writing maybe?
ReplyDeleteAt my high school, I was unfortanutely never taught to steer away from the overusage of "I". It's a bad habit that I've developed. College is definitely different because it's teaching me to not overuse "I" and first person point of views like I usually do. It focuses more on the research, citations, structure of the essay, and the delivery of all 3.
ReplyDeleteYou have made the point that High School teachers strictly make sure that students stay away from using "I" when writing their essays and I totally agree with that. There is so much that can be done with essays even from a first person point of view and you learn that is depth when you experience college academic writing.
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