Point of View
As soon as writers begin writing essays, they adopt, consciously or unconsciously, a persona, a point of view. After they adopt their points of view, good writers are careful to consistently use the same points of view all the way through the essay--unless they have a good reason to change those points of view. Below, various points of view are discussed.
First Person Singular
The first person singular point of view
revolves around the subject pronouns I, me, and my. The writers literally
place themselves in their compositions, writing from their own perceptions and
standpoints. This point of view is extremely handy to those writers who are in the process
of narrating stories that concern themselves. A good example is the sample three paragraph essay which appears in another area of
this OWL. Another example of the First Person Singular point of view follows: "There
are a lot of places I like to go when I go camping, but my favorite of them all is
probably Yosemite National Park in California..."
Second Person Singular or Plural
This is the infamous, informal "YOU" point of view. The pronouns representing this point of view are you (singular), you (plural), and your(s) (possessive). The problem with this point of view is that it has a tremendous pronoun reference problem. Readers don't know who the you refers to: them, everyone in the world, etc? In addition, this point of view has a pronoun agreement problem, for the pronoun you can be both singular and plural. Because of these two confusions, it is strongly recommended that points of view utilizing the second person singular or plural points of view be avoided. This point of view may only be used if it clearly refers to an identifiable antecedent and if it is clearly either singular or plural.
A good example of how this point of view may be effectively used is found in a letter to the editor of a newspaper or magazine. As long as the you pronouns effectively refer to editors of either publication, the use of the second person singular/plural point of view is appropriate. An example follows:
"Dear Editor:
After reading this letter, you may wish to change your opinion...."
But in the vast majority of essays, the you point of view has no place. It is too informal. Writers are duly cautioned: use this point of view with care!
Third Person Singular
The third person singular pronouns are he, she, it, and one. The points of view engendered by these pronouns are appropriate when writers are writing biographical sketches of a male or a female human being or when referring to singular entities such as, for example, a car or an animal: When Gary went to town, "he" drove carefully; Susan stumbled as "she" walked up the stairs; The car left the road as "it" rounded the curve at too fast a speed; The dog barked when "it (he or she)" heard a funny noise in the garage. These examples are clear, and entire essays or stories could be written from these points of view without err. But there is one serious problem with third person points of view, especially as they relate to gender.
When students write "Each student should read their homework assignment completely," they are making a pronoun agreement error. "Each student" is singular and, therefore, requires a singular pronoun. "Their" is plural. So let's change it to "he" or "she" or "he/she," you say? Hmmm! In order to avoid the gender mess above, writers frequently choose the plurals "they," "them," and/or "their" to solve this problem, trapping themselves into a pronoun agreement problem. So how is the riddle solved? By simply restating the antecedent in a plural form: "All students should read their homework assignments completely." Now, the pronoun's antecedent is plural, so the plural pronoun, "their," is appropriate.
Be careful with third person singular. You may find yourself caught, heaven forefend, in the "Gender Trap."
Third Person Plural
These pronouns--they, them, and their(s)--comprise the most formal of the points of view. The third person plural point of view is the point of view most commonly encountered in a formal piece of writing such as a research paper, for example. And most formal essays written in college composition courses utilize this point of view, as well. And since they, them, and their are not gender specific, the third person plural point of view resolves that issue nicely, too.
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