"I" in academic and scholarly writing

[rm]

This is not a search for advice. This is a point of curiosity to me, because my education was sort of extreme and obsessive on this point, and it occurs to me that perhaps other fifth-graders were not scarred for life by writing papers that said things like "this author feels that Disney World would be an idea summer vacation destination for her family."

So, inquiring minds and all that....

[Poll #1563413]

Comments

[browneyedgirl65.livejournal.com]

I was taught not to do it...not in an obsessive manner, but the point was clear, both in K-12 and university classes. Somewhere along the line though, and no thanks to formal education, I've reached the point where I think it's really up to the author -- and it will work (or not; more often not) depending on just how good a writer the author is, what point is being made, and why the author has decided to inject her or him self directly into the work.

[browneyedgirl65.livejournal.com]

(By way of background, I have a Masters degree (CS), was enrolled in a PhD program and have written several peer reviewed articles for journals in my degree. To this day I have remained employed in the academic world though I'm staff rather than faculty.)