{"id":63,"date":"2021-08-13T12:22:36","date_gmt":"2021-08-13T16:22:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/advancedenglish\/chapter\/point-of-view\/"},"modified":"2021-08-13T12:22:36","modified_gmt":"2021-08-13T16:22:36","slug":"point-of-view","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/advancedenglish\/chapter\/point-of-view\/","title":{"raw":"Point of View","rendered":"Point of View"},"content":{"raw":"\nYour voice can\u2019t actually be heard when you write, but it can be conveyed through the words you choose, the order you place them in, and the point of view from which you write. When you decide to write something for a specific audience, you often know instinctively what tone of voice will be most appropriate for that audience: serious, professional, funny, friendly, neutral, etc.\n\nFor a discussion of analyzing an author\u2019s point of view when reading a text, see \"<a class=\"internal\" href=\"\/advancedenglish\/chapter\/tone-voice-and-point-of-view\/\">Point of View<\/a>.\"\n<h1>What is Point of View, and How Do I Know Which One to Use?<\/h1>\nPoint of view can be tricky, so this is a good question. Point of view is the perspective from which you\u2019re writing, and it dictates what your focus is. Consider the following examples:\n<ul>\n \t<li><strong><em>I<\/em> <\/strong>love watching the leaves change in the fall. (First person point of view)<\/li>\n \t<li><strong><em>You<\/em> <\/strong>will love watching the leaves change colour. (Second person)<\/li>\n \t<li><em><strong>The leaves<\/strong> <\/em>in fall turn many vibrant colours. (Third person)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nWhich of the above sentences focuses most clearly on the leaves? Third person, right? The first person sentence focuses on what \u201cI\u201d love and the second person sentence focuses on what \u201cyou\u201d will love.\n<ul>\n \t<li><strong>First person<\/strong> uses the following pronouns: I, me, my, us, we, myself, our, ours... any words that include the speaker\/writer turn the sentence into first person.<\/li>\n \t<li><strong>Second person<\/strong> uses any form of the word \u201cyou,\u201d which has the effect of addressing the reader.<\/li>\n \t<li><strong>Third person<\/strong> uses pronouns like he, she, it, they, or nouns... any words that direct the reader to a person or thing that is not the writer or reader turn the sentence into third person.<a id=\"fromFig3.2\"><\/a>[caption id=\"attachment_842\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"782\"]<img class=\"wp-image-842 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/advancedenglish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/358\/2021\/08\/Third-second-and-first-person.png\" alt=\"The three points of view. Image description linked in caption.\" width=\"782\" height=\"782\"> <a class=\"internal\" href=\"#toFig3.2\">[Image description]<\/a>[\/caption]<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1>When is it Okay to Use Each of These Points of View?<\/h1>\n<h2>Most Common: Third Person<\/h2>\nMany of your instructors will ask you to write in third person only and will want you to avoid first or second person. One important reason is that third person point of view focuses on a person or topic outside yourself or the reader, making it the most professional, academic, and objective way to write. The goal of third person point of view is to remove personal, subjective bias from your writing, at least in theory. Most of the writing you will do in academics will require you to focus on ideas, people, and issues outside yourself, so third person will be the most appropriate. This point of view also helps your readers stay focused on the topic instead of thinking about you or themselves.\n<h2>Occasional: First Person<\/h2>\nThe point of view you choose to write in will depend on your audience and purpose. If your goal is to relate to your audience in a personal way about a topic that you have experience with, then it may be appropriate to use first person point of view to share your experience and connect with your audience. Otherwise, first person may not be appropriate\u2014especially for the thesis statement. You want to eliminate the first person because it moves the focus to the writer rather than the main point. That weakens the point because it focuses on the least important aspect of the sentence and also because it sounds like a disclaimer. You might say \"I think\" because you're not sure, or \"I believe\" because you want to stress the point that this is only your opinion. Of course, it's okay to use a disclaimer if you really mean to do so, and it's also fine to use first person to render personal experience or give an anecdote.\n<h2>Least Common: Second Person<\/h2>\nSecond person is used least, especially in academic writing, because most of the time you will not know your audience well enough to write directly to them. The exception is if you\u2019re writing a letter or directing your writing to a very specific group whom you know well.\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">Notice that this textbook uses second person in this paragraph because it directly addresses you. It is okay to do this because the textbook wants <em>you<\/em> to do specific things, and its audience is reading and writing students.<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">The danger of using second person is that this point of view can implicate readers in your topic when you don\u2019t mean to do that. If you\u2019re talking about crime rates in your city, and you write something like, \u201cWhen you break into someone\u2019s house, this affects their property value,\u201d you are literally saying that the reader breaks into people\u2019s houses. Of course, that\u2019s not what you mean. You didn\u2019t intend to implicate the readers this way, but that\u2019s one possible consequence of using second person.<\/div>\n\n<hr>\n\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\n\nTip: If you're having a hard time getting started using third person in an academic essay, use your rough draft to write \"I think that\" or \"I believe\" and then delete these phrases in the final draft.\n\n<hr>\n\nDoes anything else affect the tone of your writing?\n\n<\/div>\nMany times writers are so focused on the ideas they want to convey that they forget the importance of something they may never think about: sentence variety. The length of your sentences matters. If you start every sentence with the same words, readers may get bored. If all of your sentences are short and choppy, your writing may sound unsophisticated or rushed. Some short sentences are nice though. They help readers\u2019 brains catch up. This is a lot to think about while you\u2019re writing your first draft though, so I recommend saving this concern for your second or third draft.\n\nVisit the Purdue OWL page, \"<a href=\"https:\/\/owl.english.purdue.edu\/owl\/resource\/573\/01\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Strategies for Variation<\/a>\"&nbsp;for some examples of sentence variety and exercises that will improve your sentence variety superpowers.\n<h3>Image Descriptions<\/h3>\n<a id=\"toFig3.2\"><\/a>Three circles labelled with the three points of view: third person, second person, and first person, and when to use them:\n<ul>\n \t<li>First person uses the pronouns I, me, us, we, my, ours, and mine, and conveys a personal tone for writing focused on the writer.<\/li>\n \t<li>Second person includes you, your, and yours, and conveys a direct tone used when the writer knows the reader well and is writing to them.<\/li>\n \t<li>Third person includes she, he, it, they, them, their, and theirs and conveys a more formal and universal tone for writing focused on events, issues, or people outside the reader and writer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<a class=\"internal\" href=\"#fromFig3.2\">[Return to Image]<\/a>\n<h3>Text Attributions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n \t<li>This chapter was adapted from \"<a class=\"internal\" href=\"https:\/\/openoregon.pressbooks.pub\/wrd\/chapter\/tone-voice-and-point-of-view\/\">Tone, Voice, and Point of View<\/a>\" in <em>The Word on College Reading and Writing <\/em>by Carol Burnell, Jaime Wood, Monique Babin, Susan Pesznecker, and Nicole Rosevear, which is licensed under a <a class=\"internal\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC 4.0 Licence<\/a>. Adapted by Allison Kilgannon.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Media Attributions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n \t<li>\"Point of View Circle\" by BCcampus is licensed under a <a class=\"internal\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY 4.0 Licence<\/a>. Based on an <a class=\"internal\" href=\"https:\/\/openoregon.pressbooks.pub\/app\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2017\/06\/points_of_view.png\">image<\/a> by Carol Burnell, Jaime Wood, Monique Babin, Susan Pesznecker, and Nicole Rosevear, which is licensed under a <a class=\"internal\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC 4.0 Licence<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","rendered":"<p>Your voice can\u2019t actually be heard when you write, but it can be conveyed through the words you choose, the order you place them in, and the point of view from which you write. When you decide to write something for a specific audience, you often know instinctively what tone of voice will be most appropriate for that audience: serious, professional, funny, friendly, neutral, etc.<\/p>\n<p>For a discussion of analyzing an author\u2019s point of view when reading a text, see &#8220;<a class=\"internal\" href=\"\/advancedenglish\/chapter\/tone-voice-and-point-of-view\/\">Point of View<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h1>What is Point of View, and How Do I Know Which One to Use?<\/h1>\n<p>Point of view can be tricky, so this is a good question. Point of view is the perspective from which you\u2019re writing, and it dictates what your focus is. Consider the following examples:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><em>I<\/em> <\/strong>love watching the leaves change in the fall. (First person point of view)<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>You<\/em> <\/strong>will love watching the leaves change colour. (Second person)<\/li>\n<li><em><strong>The leaves<\/strong> <\/em>in fall turn many vibrant colours. (Third person)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Which of the above sentences focuses most clearly on the leaves? Third person, right? The first person sentence focuses on what \u201cI\u201d love and the second person sentence focuses on what \u201cyou\u201d will love.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>First person<\/strong> uses the following pronouns: I, me, my, us, we, myself, our, ours&#8230; any words that include the speaker\/writer turn the sentence into first person.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Second person<\/strong> uses any form of the word \u201cyou,\u201d which has the effect of addressing the reader.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Third person<\/strong> uses pronouns like he, she, it, they, or nouns&#8230; any words that direct the reader to a person or thing that is not the writer or reader turn the sentence into third person.<a id=\"fromFig3.2\"><\/a><br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_842\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-842\" style=\"width: 782px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-842 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/advancedenglish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/358\/2021\/08\/Third-second-and-first-person.png\" alt=\"The three points of view. Image description linked in caption.\" width=\"782\" height=\"782\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-842\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a class=\"internal\" href=\"#toFig3.2\">[Image description]<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1>When is it Okay to Use Each of These Points of View?<\/h1>\n<h2>Most Common: Third Person<\/h2>\n<p>Many of your instructors will ask you to write in third person only and will want you to avoid first or second person. One important reason is that third person point of view focuses on a person or topic outside yourself or the reader, making it the most professional, academic, and objective way to write. The goal of third person point of view is to remove personal, subjective bias from your writing, at least in theory. Most of the writing you will do in academics will require you to focus on ideas, people, and issues outside yourself, so third person will be the most appropriate. This point of view also helps your readers stay focused on the topic instead of thinking about you or themselves.<\/p>\n<h2>Occasional: First Person<\/h2>\n<p>The point of view you choose to write in will depend on your audience and purpose. If your goal is to relate to your audience in a personal way about a topic that you have experience with, then it may be appropriate to use first person point of view to share your experience and connect with your audience. Otherwise, first person may not be appropriate\u2014especially for the thesis statement. You want to eliminate the first person because it moves the focus to the writer rather than the main point. That weakens the point because it focuses on the least important aspect of the sentence and also because it sounds like a disclaimer. You might say &#8220;I think&#8221; because you&#8217;re not sure, or &#8220;I believe&#8221; because you want to stress the point that this is only your opinion. Of course, it&#8217;s okay to use a disclaimer if you really mean to do so, and it&#8217;s also fine to use first person to render personal experience or give an anecdote.<\/p>\n<h2>Least Common: Second Person<\/h2>\n<p>Second person is used least, especially in academic writing, because most of the time you will not know your audience well enough to write directly to them. The exception is if you\u2019re writing a letter or directing your writing to a very specific group whom you know well.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">Notice that this textbook uses second person in this paragraph because it directly addresses you. It is okay to do this because the textbook wants <em>you<\/em> to do specific things, and its audience is reading and writing students.<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">The danger of using second person is that this point of view can implicate readers in your topic when you don\u2019t mean to do that. If you\u2019re talking about crime rates in your city, and you write something like, \u201cWhen you break into someone\u2019s house, this affects their property value,\u201d you are literally saying that the reader breaks into people\u2019s houses. Of course, that\u2019s not what you mean. You didn\u2019t intend to implicate the readers this way, but that\u2019s one possible consequence of using second person.<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\n<p>Tip: If you&#8217;re having a hard time getting started using third person in an academic essay, use your rough draft to write &#8220;I think that&#8221; or &#8220;I believe&#8221; and then delete these phrases in the final draft.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Does anything else affect the tone of your writing?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Many times writers are so focused on the ideas they want to convey that they forget the importance of something they may never think about: sentence variety. The length of your sentences matters. If you start every sentence with the same words, readers may get bored. If all of your sentences are short and choppy, your writing may sound unsophisticated or rushed. Some short sentences are nice though. They help readers\u2019 brains catch up. This is a lot to think about while you\u2019re writing your first draft though, so I recommend saving this concern for your second or third draft.<\/p>\n<p>Visit the Purdue OWL page, &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/owl.english.purdue.edu\/owl\/resource\/573\/01\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Strategies for Variation<\/a>&#8221;&nbsp;for some examples of sentence variety and exercises that will improve your sentence variety superpowers.<\/p>\n<h3>Image Descriptions<\/h3>\n<p><a id=\"toFig3.2\"><\/a>Three circles labelled with the three points of view: third person, second person, and first person, and when to use them:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>First person uses the pronouns I, me, us, we, my, ours, and mine, and conveys a personal tone for writing focused on the writer.<\/li>\n<li>Second person includes you, your, and yours, and conveys a direct tone used when the writer knows the reader well and is writing to them.<\/li>\n<li>Third person includes she, he, it, they, them, their, and theirs and conveys a more formal and universal tone for writing focused on events, issues, or people outside the reader and writer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a class=\"internal\" href=\"#fromFig3.2\">[Return to Image]<\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Text Attributions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>This chapter was adapted from &#8220;<a class=\"internal\" href=\"https:\/\/openoregon.pressbooks.pub\/wrd\/chapter\/tone-voice-and-point-of-view\/\">Tone, Voice, and Point of View<\/a>&#8221; in <em>The Word on College Reading and Writing <\/em>by Carol Burnell, Jaime Wood, Monique Babin, Susan Pesznecker, and Nicole Rosevear, which is licensed under a <a class=\"internal\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC 4.0 Licence<\/a>. Adapted by Allison Kilgannon.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Media Attributions<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Point of View Circle&#8221; by BCcampus is licensed under a <a class=\"internal\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY 4.0 Licence<\/a>. Based on an <a class=\"internal\" href=\"https:\/\/openoregon.pressbooks.pub\/app\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2017\/06\/points_of_view.png\">image<\/a> by Carol Burnell, Jaime Wood, Monique Babin, Susan Pesznecker, and Nicole Rosevear, which is licensed under a <a class=\"internal\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC 4.0 Licence<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"menu_order":6,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-63","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":51,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/advancedenglish\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/63","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/advancedenglish\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/advancedenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/advancedenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/advancedenglish\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/63\/revisions"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/advancedenglish\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/51"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/advancedenglish\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/63\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/advancedenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/advancedenglish\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=63"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/advancedenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=63"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/advancedenglish\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=63"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}