ACADEMIC WRITING WRITING IN THE THIRD PERSON ACADEMIC STANDARDS When composing academic writing you need to write in the ‘THIRD PERSON’. Therefore,
you need to avoid using the terms ‘I’, ‘my’, ‘me’ (First person).
Please refer to the following examples -
WRITTEN IN THE FIRST PERSON – NOT academic standard In my fridge, a milk carton has a photographic image of cows on it. Shown in a green field on a
sunny day, the cows look ‘fresh’ and ‘happy’, so I think of them as ‘healthy’. Such photographic
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practice in academic writing.
are significant in how I see the product.
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WRITTEN IN THE THIRD PERSON – Academic standard -
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images are hardly artistic statements (for a start they are in my fridge, not a gallery), but they
A photographic image of cows on a milk carton in the fridge, shown in a green field on a sunny
day, makes the cows look fresh, happy and healthy. Such photographic images are hardly
artistic statements, but they are significant in how a product is seen.
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Written in the third person without using the terms ‘I’
and ‘my’.
WRITTEN IN THE FIRST PERSON - NOT academic standard "I first heard about this coastal island two years ago, when the newspapers reported the worst
oil spill in recent history. To me, the story had the impact of a footnote - evidence of my urban
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ebbed”.
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WRITTEN IN THE THIRD PERSON - Academic standard -
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snobbishness. Luckily, the mess of that has since been cleaned up; its last ugly ripple has
"Local residents of the coastal island province suffered an ecological disaster in 2006, in the
form of an oil spill that was reported by national newspapers to be worst in the country's history.
STUDY SKILLS INFORMATION – THIRD PERSON
ACADEMIC YEAR 2016-17
SU EM SANS
Cleaning up took two years, after which they were finally able to go back to advertising their
island's beach sands as 'pure' and its soil, 'fertile’”.
WRITTEN IN THE FIRST PERSON – NOT academic standard Responding to the opinion of somebody else I am interested in Smith’s view that it commonplace to photograph people or even subjects that
are well known. I agree with Smith that it is more fascinating to photograph people and subjects
that are barely known. I think Smith wanted to take photographs of more unusual subjects
because - - - - - - - - -.
WRITTEN IN THE THIRD PERSON – Academic standard Responding to the opinion of somebody else Smith’s view that it commonplace to photograph people or even subjects that are well known is
quite convincing. It is more fascinating to photograph people and subjects that are barely
known. Smith wanted to take photographs of more unusual subjects because - - - - - - - - -.
FIRST PERSON –
‘I think - - - - - - -‘
THIRD PERSON –
‘It could be argued that - - - - - - -‘
FIRST PERSON –
‘I looked at Henry James who said that - - - - - - -‘
THIRD PERSON –
‘Henry James said that - - - - - - -‘
FIRST PERSON –
‘I considered that - - - - - - -‘
THIRD PERSON –
‘However, another way of considering this is - - - - - - -‘
STUDY SKILLS INFORMATION – THIRD PERSON
ACADEMIC YEAR 2016-17
SU EM SANS
PAST AND PRESENT TENSE –

When you insert a quotation within your essay you need to introduce it eg: Adrian Forty argues that - - - - - - - - - - -

If the person you are referencing is alive you would use the present tense eg: Adrian Forty argues that - - - - - - - - - or Adrian Forty believes that - - - - -

If the person you are referencing is dead you would use the past tense eg: Adrian Forty argued that - - - - - - - - - or Adrian Forty believed that - - - - -

If you are introducing your Essay you would use the present tense eg: The purpose of this Essay will be to explore - - - - or This Essay will explore --
STUDY SKILLS INFORMATION – THIRD PERSON
ACADEMIC YEAR 2016-17
SU EM SANS