Using 'I' in Essay Writing

One of the most typical questions in essay writing is whether the writer should use ‘I’ when writing a report, a term paper or a custom essay. In other words, should the essay be objective or personal? Are you supposed to express your own opinion on the matter.

The majority of tutors ban usage of ‘I’ in writing. However in many cases the student is welcome to include his/her opinion, experience and thoughts. Let’s examine when it’s appropriate to use ‘I’ and when it’s not.

When writing a research paper, no ‘I’ is traditionally accepted. The writer presents a research, therefore no personal opinions, only facts, reliable data, names of experts, writers and sources etc. Other genres of writing allow using ‘I’, for example if you possess an experience in the issue you discuss in your essay, why not include your own observations and conclusions based on personal experience? In this case it’s appropriate to expose your feelings and include them into your essay.

The main reason for not using ‘I’ in writing is the lack of objectivity it implies. Serious writing pieces must rely on serious and objective information, thus ‘I’ is even prohibited in this case. If you’re not sure whether you should write ‘I’ in your essay, you’d better use other words and word combinations which can substitute ‘I’: ‘may we suggest that…’, ‘we consider this issue to be of a high importance’. You can also avoid using ‘I’ by restructuring the sentence.

Tags: 123 help with essay, college essay writing help, essay writing help