College Composition / Unit 18 CMP 0433 short lesson, about 20 seconds

First Person in Academic Writing

Captions available

The idea

First person, I and we, is common in personal genres such as narratives and profiles, and it appears in some academic writing.

Scientists increasingly write "We conducted a survey," and reflective essays use I by design.

Phrases such as "I think" and "in my opinion" usually add nothing to an argumentative claim; the thesis already states your view.

Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.