Avoiding the first and second person

Why not use “I?” Saying “I” in an essay inserts the writer, and

weakens the authority of the writer. We take it as a statement of fact when we read “An article written differently than the social norm should not be reprimanded because it is a tribute to a culture.” Clearly, this is the author’s opinion; however, we accept it as fact because it is written as a fact. “It baffles me that an article written differently than the social norm is reprimanded even though it’s to tribute a culture of such dialect” inserts you as the writer and reinforces the fact that it’s an opinion and makes it easy to discount. BE the authority.

Why not use “you?”Saying “you” assumes that you know what the reader does. (“You notice the dresser on the left.”)

You cannot know what the reader does.

Examples We are made to see the deplorable conditions suffered by black Americans.

African Americans suffered under deplorable conditions.

ExamplesThe article “Falling Back Into History: The Uncanny Trauma of Blackface Minstrelsy in Spike Lee's Bamboozled” really tries to make you focus on the aspect of whether the United States ever put slavery in the past or if the United States still has ways of remembering or reliving slavery.

ExamplesThe article “Falling Back Into History: The Uncanny Trauma of Blackface Minstrelsy in Spike Lee's Bamboozled” focuses on whether the United States still has ways of remembering or reliving slavery.

ExamplesWhile reading “Grotesque Laughter, Unburied Bodies, and History: Shape-shifting in Lewis Nordan's Wolf Whistle” I found myself nodding along in agreement with most of the things Pollack says.

ExamplesIt is hard not to agree with Pollack’s statements in “Grotesque Laughter, Unburied Bodies, and History: Shape-shifting in Lewis Nordan's Wolf Whistle.”

Pollack makes many astute claims in “Grotesque Laughter, Unburied Bodies, and History: Shape-shifting in Lewis Nordan's Wolf Whistle.”

ExamplesAfter reading this article there are a few things that I would like to address.

Some of the issues that should be addressed are . . . .