RE4
WRITING IN THE THIRD PERSON
'Writers with an academic, scholarly approach write in a cool, controlled, often urbane manner. They do not
preach or harangue They sound rational, knowledgeable, and civilised.'
(Shirley Russell 1993)
Good writers credit their readers with the same degree of knowledge, education, discrimination and interest in
the subject as themselves. Often, they avoid the personal pronouns l/we/you/us, which are used by those who
wish to 'talk' to their readers (for instance, in informal letters, stories, instruction leaflets and guides).
Impersonal pronouns it or one, discuss the subject from a detached, scholarly point of view.
The key to academic writing is in the writing of verbs in their PASSIVE form, as opposed to their ACTIVE form.
Examples:
ACTIVE
I surveyed a group of employers whom I selected at random
'I surveyed' and 'I selected' are ACTIVE because (in this case) I did something to something (in this case
a group).
PASSIVE
A group of employers, who had been selected at random, were surveyed
OR
A group of randomly selected employers were surveyed
The employers had something done to them - ie. they did not do anything to anyone.
When checking your work, identify phrases which contain the words I, You, or We. If these phrases are not a
quotation, then the verbs are likely to be in the active form. The aim is to de-personalise the vocabulary.
Therefore the phrase should be re-arranged to omit all first/second person words. This is most easily done by
re-writing the verb in passive form (the technical term for this form is INTRANSITIVE - this means that the
verb does not need an object - it makes sense without.
Examples:
TRANSITIVE:
where the verb needs an object/objective phrase to make sense.
I questioned the proposal to charge fees (an objective phrase).
INTRANSITIVE:
The proposal to charge fees was questioned.
(intransitive form - does not need further explanation by expanding upon the sentence).
When writing reports or minutes it is common practice to omit the names of individuals unless it is especially
relevant to the reader.
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RE4
Example
Ms. Lane and Mr Jones argued against the notion of charging fees.
Ask yourself:
•
What is the main issue here? Is it Ms. Lane, Mr Jones or the disagreement?
•
Do readers need to know WHO disagreed?
•
Do the names detract from the issue?
The sentence could be rewritten in passive form:
'There was some discussion relating to the desirability of charging fees.’
The writer, in this case retains the integrity of the meaning of the disagreement whilst adopting an objective
stance.
A more literal re-write would be:
The notion against charging fees was argued'. (Intransitive form of the verb).
Names are irrelevant; in this case the aim of the minutes is to record the issues discussed and the decisions
taken, rather than to identify WHO was for or against.
This principle applies to reports, unless one is citing a quote or a reference.
In essay conclusions, you may be required to come to a judgement. The academic form of words should
take the objective view, consequently minimising the use of ‘I’ or 'me' or 'my'
e.g.
From:
'I don't believe that equality of opportunity means ignoring differences; I don't think that taking a gender-blind
or race-blind approach ensures equality of opportunity'
To:
'It is not that equality of opportunity means ignoring differences: taking a race-blind or gender-blind approach,
does not necessarily ensure equality of opportunity'.
The second passage asserts the writer's position on the question of equal opportunity. It is a conclusion
which, when it follows a sound analysis and a coherent discussion of the issues, has more authority than the
first.
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