“I” bad! No more ‘First Person’ and no more pseudo-substitutes!
Let “me” give it a try. Whoops…
Introduction
The following blog will address the mechanics of scholarly writing in regards to the cessation of the use of first person pronouns. Further, a careful experiment of writing without said pronouns, but rather with a personal perspective, may lead to the conclusion that a scholarly paper will evidence clear thinking and good writing.
Francis and Stroud (2013) argue that the premise behind refraining from using a first person pronoun in a scholarly paper “conveys the idea that the position taken in the paper are unsubstantiated opinion(s)” (para 1). Rather, they purport that the goal of abstaining from such use is that the paper will be, in fact, a scholarly paper worthy of merit.
The Experiment
The experiment was carried out while writing “Legal and Ethical Dimensions of Learning Organizations” (Walker, 2014). Criteria for the document states, “Revise the entire paper so that it is succinct yet complete, meets APA requirements, and does not use the first person pronoun (or its substitute, ‘the writer’)” (Handout, 2014). Astute readers should know that the citations, quotes, words, sequences, and ideas are written from a first-person perspective (Francis & Stroud, 2013) — One would hope. 🙂
First, an initial read through provided a number of absent signal phrase clues. “Signal phrases make the distinction between writer and source clear for the audience” (Handout, 2009). Notice the preceding quote fails to effectively provide the reader a clue identifying when the source is speaking and when the writer is speaking.
Second, the paper had a large amount of weak signal phrases. For example, the verb ‘said’ was replaced with a more reader-interesting verb ‘asserted’. Notice that the verb phrase appropriately characterized the context of the idea borrowed by Walker (2014).
- “Argyris (1985) asserted, “Espoused theory and theory-in-use may be consistent or inconsistent, and the agent may or may not be aware of any inconsistency (p. 82).”(p. 4).
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is so much easier to say “I” rather than struggle with creative ways to relate personal perspective rather than succumb to the easy out of using personal pronouns. However, the practice of refraining from the first person pronoun or the pseudo-substitute will generate a scholarly paper bolstered with analysis and evidence as well as reflect clear thinking and good writing.
Oh yeah … And “I” had fun doing this assignment! (Whoops, I digress).
References
8306 Unit 5 Theories and principles of organizational change. [Course handout]. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.capella.edu/.
Francis, J.B., & Stroud, K.M. (2013). Capella University. Retrieved from http://www.capella.edu/.
Walker, B., (2014). Legal and ethical dimensions of learning organizations. Capella University: EDD8306, u04a01, November 9, 2014.