Literarias Siglo XXI

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CONTENIDO

Gana autor español premio de relato corto

El futuro del libro electrónico y el de papel, por Google

Los escritores que más dinero ganan

Rumba catalana con salsa gitana

Escuchen (luego del speech introductorio) al grupo musical catalán Estrellas de Gracia en "Córtate la lengua chivato". Para que los chivatos de Cuba de todos los tiempos sepan que la justicia los alcanzará algún día. Luego, disfruten de "Kikiribú".

Actualidades

●Curso de locución y presentación de Radio y TV

●Tenerife acoge la IV Cumbre de Editores Independientes Latinoamericanos

●Actividades del Centro Cultural Español de Miami. Pronta inauguración de nueva sede

●Actividades del Pen

Novedades Literarias y Periodísticas

FRASE

Hemingway

Festival: "El más parecido

a Hemingway

    2011"

           Ganador

Entrevista a Hemingway en la TV cubana en 1954

al ganar el Nobel de Literatura

Descubra los nuevos libros

ESCRITORES

Cuentos

El sabueso que lo haría famoso,

por Juan Alborná Salado

(Miami-EUA)

ReporterosConFronteras

67 asamblea de la SIP en Lima

(Miami-EUA)

Ámbito literario madrileño

D.H. Lawrence: la sensualidad narrativa de un escritor irracionalista, por Pedro García Cueto

(Madrid-ESPAÑA)

"You" or the Second Person

Point-of-View

in College Essays

The second person

The use of the second person point-of-view, or "you" in college essays leads to lower grades and perhaps even failure.

There is something very comfortable about using the second person point -of- view in writing. It seems to fit like an old, buttery-soft pair of boots, a classic torn-to-smithereens pair of jeans, or an old tee shirt, vintage of another era. Yet composition using the point of view of "you," is much too comfortable for academic and professional writing. Good writing teachers are downright allergic to the second person point- of- view.

Decades of Fighting "You," the Second Person Point- of -View

I have been teaching writing for over two decades, and I've been fighting "you."

Writers are diverse and come to class with myriad goals. Some want to become famous writers; others write for self discovery; however, most write to survive college or an employment scenario. For the largest group, writing for a professor can be chilling; it implies starched phoniness that will change their composition styles, thus potentially attacking person-hood. Writing, after all, is as personal as one's breath and blood.

Some writing instructors try to clone writers, which is both counterproductive and deeply unfortunate. Our job, in fact, is to set writers free, to liberate their voices. At the same time, we must acknowledge that there is a dress code for professional essay writing. In high school, many writers are told that they cannot use the first person point- of- view, yet great essayists do this all the time. Employment of the first person is not new; we have enjoyed it for centuries. On the other hand, it is a professor's choice to forbid first person essays in his or her class. Given this, the third person point- of- view can never fail a college writer.

Writing instructors are just as diverse as students. Therefore, it is important to prepare writers to face the most conservative audiences. I like to explain this approach as, " dressing up the essay." All of us have the capacity to enhance appearance without becoming someone else. Few of us would wear those torn- to -smithereens- jeans to get married; the vintage tee shirt, faded and plucked from a drawer of honeysuckle sachet, probably would not fit a job interview. In fact, common sense tells us that we can change slightly to adapt to our circumstances to survive and ultimately thrive in particular situations.

Consider the Chameleon

The chameleon is a wondrous reptile. It changes the hues of its hide to blend with surroundings, enhancing self-bioengineered potential for adaptation, and ultimately survival. At the same time, the chameleon always remains itself; it does not become another animal. Maybe the most successful writers on Earth have chameleons as totem animals, for they are able to able to conform to task requirements without losing themselves. These writers find that the challenge of such minor adaptation helps to uncover hidden talents of the greater, if not infinite self.

So, it is clear that any writer can remain true to his or her own voice, while dropping the use of "you." I suggest working with the third person point-of-view whenever possible, since it gives the writer great creative and logical distance from the subject matter. Also, the first person point -of -view can have drawbacks and requires a subtle touch. The constant repetition of "I, I, I" can drive a reader mad, much like the sloppy repetition of "you" or "yours."

A penchant for "you" gives an otherwise professional-sounding essay a slovenly edge

College essayists are not writing letters, and their professors are not their buddies. This writing relationship becomes apparent through choosing the right point-of-view, first. Indeed, it sets an appropriate tone.

"You" also reflects back on the reader, which in most cases proves to be untrue and illogical.While this makes crystalline sense in a letter, it can make the reader of the essay feel uncomfortable. For example, "You know you are in love when you feel it!" Hey, grammatically, the writer is talking to me and no doubt making great assumptions. It is sad that the writer was trained not to say, "I know when I am in love; I can feel it."

Students may end up paying for bad grammar into their middle years. College has never been more expensive. The burden that this phenomenon has placed on today's students is palpable. If students today seem more grade-hungry than in the past, it is for good reason. Most are paying approximately two thousand dollars for each undergraduate course, making failure a cause for possible financial devastation.

The Second Person Point- of -View Sabotages Grades

When students use the second person point of view from composition, they sabotage their grades, turning what might be a gleaming A or B into a C, or even an F. Formalizing the essay through the use of the third person point- of- view saves money and defeats academic stress.

Maria Jacketti, Ph.D, es escritora, poeta, profesora universitaria, traductora, directora de "Mountain Laurel Consultants: Especialistas en traducciones del español al inglés". English Professor en Penn State University. Director of Graduate Creative Writing Programs de Warnborough College Ireland.