College Composition / Unit 18 CMP 0435 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Third Person
Captions available
The idea
Third person, he, she, it and they, is customary in most academic writing, including research papers, reports and analyses.
In practice
Third person emphasizes the information instead of the writer: "Hikers argue that bikes erode trails" rather than "I think bikes erode trails."
Where people slip
Third person is a convention, not a guarantee of objectivity; biased claims are still biased in third person.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
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