Essays and Point of View

Watch the online presentation to visualize POV

Points of View

    1st Person POV is indicated by the pronouns: I, me, we, us, my, mine, our, ours, myself, ourselves.

    The 1st Person POV is natural to use. The author may freely relate ideas from his own perspective. This works best in personal narratives as the perspective is relevant.

    But for an essay, which is trying to present some kind of argument or analysis, the opinions are automatically tainted as only personal and not relevant. Only authors with authority (having an advanced degree in the subject) can use 1^st person in an argumentative essay.

    2nd Person POV is recognized by the 2nd Person pronouns: you, your, yourself.

    The 2nd person is used with the other POVs. It cannot be used exclusively on its own. Second Person is used by teachers or those who give commands or instruct.

    Second Person is directed towards the reader. It relies on telling the reader what to think and tries to relate experiences based on the idea of a shared, common experience: "You know how you feel when you don't want to get up in the morning?" But people have different experiences, so this doesn’t work. People can also feel resentful at constantly being told what to think and do. Do not use second person in any kind of essay.

    3rd Person POV is recognized by the 3rd Person pronouns: he/she/it, him, her, they, theirs, his/hers/its, them, himself, herself, itself, themselves.

    3rd Person is a distant POV. It is used in a general way. It’s not personal like 1^st. It doesn’t address and alienate like 2^nd. 3rd Person is powerful because of its objectivity.

     In third person, the material is what's most important. In essays, the ideas and evidence are what persuade readers. Ideas stand on their own, seemingly like facts. So instead of "I believe red meat should be banned . . ." the author writes "Red meat should be banned because. . ."

    Anecdotes are used without the constant interruption of the author's presence. Third person allows readers to bring themselves to the essay while ideas and facts are related objectively.

    Using 3rd Person is difficult at first. Removing 1st and 2nd doesn't always work. Also, authors can sound pompous by saying"one can see” or “the author will.” Avoid such phrases. Move on to the idea.

    The best advice is simply to be aware of the pronouns. Train yourself to recognize when you use certain pronouns, and to know that you need to replace them. Also, your word processor's find (or search) feature can be quite useful in eliminating the 1st and 2nd Person.

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a way to generate ideas for writing. They help put thoughts to paper and help writers work through the process. This can take the form of freewriting, mind mapping, outlining, or other prewriting activities. Often people internalize a crucial step to brainstorming: asking questions.

 Brainstorm in-depth questions instead of topics

• Start with a broad, easy to come up with question:
• “What about ___?” or “What is ___ about?”
• “What is the nature of ___?”
• Question cannot be answered with yes or no.
• Ask how, why, and what questions that explain things
• Ask the question even if you know the answer
• Ask deeper follow-up questions
• Connect related questions to one another
• Overlap is expected don’t worry about precise organization.
• Keep asking questions until there aren’t anymore
• Don’t stop no matter how many questions there are.
• When the questions run out, it’s time for answers.
• Research and then write in answers to questions 

When you’ve written in your answers, you can start refining the brainstorm. Shift the focus from the broad question to one of the related questions. The answers will form a rough outline for a paper. Since all answers will lead back to the answer to the broad question that is your thesis statement.

Consider the examples using “Red Riding Hood”

Outline Format Brainstorm

What is the nature of the wolf?
I.    Why is he in the woods?

A.    Why is he alone?
B.    Why does he go to Grandma’s?
C.    Why does the wolf first talk with Red?

i.    Why does he talk to Red later?
ii.    Why do both talk about  hands/eyes/teeth?

II.    What kind of animal is the wolf?

A.    Why isn’t he more like an actual wolf?

i.    How does the wolf fit in with society?

a.    What is the nature of the society?

1.    How do Red & Grandma fit in society?

III.    What does the Wolf want?

A.    What desires does the Wolf have beyond hunger?

i.    What other types of appetites might he have?

a.    What emotions does the Wolf display?

1.    Why does the Wolf have emotions?

IV.    What is odd about the Wolf’s behavior?

A.    How can the Wolf talk?

i.    How intelligent is the Wolf?

a.    How does the Wolf know a shortcut through the woods?
b.    How does the Wolf know to deceive Grandma & Red?