{"id":264,"date":"2017-12-07T03:29:00","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T03:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/csu-fyw-rhetoric\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=264"},"modified":"2022-07-27T18:15:19","modified_gmt":"2022-07-27T18:15:19","slug":"6-1-responding-to-a-text","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/csu-fyw-rhetoric\/chapter\/6-1-responding-to-a-text\/","title":{"rendered":"4.9 Tone, Voice, and Point of View"},"content":{"raw":"<h2>Tone, Voice, and Point of View<\/h2>\r\nYo! Wassup?\r\nHey, how you doin\u2019?\r\nHello, how are you today?\r\n\r\nWhich of the above greetings sounds most formal? Which sounds the most informal? What causes the change in tone?\r\n\r\nYour voice can\u2019t actually be heard when you write, but it can be conveyed through the words you choose, the order you place them in, and the point of view from which you write. When you decide to write something for a specific audience, you often know instinctively what tone of voice will be most appropriate for that audience: serious, professional, funny, friendly, neutral, etc.\r\n\r\nFor a discussion of analyzing an author\u2019s point of view when reading a text, see<span style=\"color: #008000\">\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/openoregon.pressbooks.pub\/wrd\/chapter\/point-of-view\/\" style=\"color: #008000\">Point of View<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>in the \u201cWriting about Texts\u201d section.\r\n<h2>What is point of view, and how do I know which one to use?<\/h2>\r\nPoint of view can be tricky, so this is a good question. Point of view is the perspective from which you\u2019re writing, and it dictates what your focus is. Consider the following examples:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>I love watching the leaves change in the fall. (First person point of view)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>You will love watching the leaves change color. (Second person)<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The leaves in fall turn many vibrant colors. (Third person)<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nWhich of the above sentences focuses most clearly on the leaves? Third person, right? The first person sentence focuses on what \u201cI\u201d love and the second person sentence focuses on what \u201cyou\u201d will love.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>First person<\/strong> uses the following pronouns: I, me, my, us, we, myself, our, ours\u2026. Any words that include the speaker\/writer turn the sentence into first person.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Second person<\/strong> uses any form of the word \u201cyou,\u201d which has the effect of addressing the reader.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Third person<\/strong> uses pronouns like he, she, it, they, them\u2026. Any words that direct the reader to a person or thing that is not the writer or reader turn the sentence into third person.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h2>That\u2019s a lot to think about. When is it okay to use each of these points of view?<\/h2>\r\n<div class=\"wp-nocaption alignnone wp-image-372\"><img class=\"alignnone wp-image-372\" src=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/csu-fyw-rhetoric\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2017\/11\/points_of_view.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"683\" \/><\/div>\r\nMany of your college instructors will ask you to write in third person only and will want you to avoid first or second person. Why do you think that is? One important reason is that third person point of view focuses on a person or topic outside yourself or the reader, making it the most professional, academic, and objective way to write. The goal of third person point of view is to remove personal, subjective bias from your writing, at least in theory. Most of the writing you will do in college will require you to focus on ideas, people, and issues outside yourself, so third person will be the most appropriate. This point of view also helps your readers stay focused on the topic instead of thinking about you or themselves.\r\n\r\nThe best answer to your question is that the point of view you choose to write in will depend on your audience and purpose. If your goal is to relate to your audience in a personal way about a topic that you have experience with, then it may be appropriate to use first person point of view to share your experience and connect with your audience.\r\n\r\nThe least commonly used point of view is second person, especially in academic writing, because most of the time you will not know your audience well enough to write directly to them. The exception is if you\u2019re writing a letter or directing your writing to a very specific group whom you know well. (Notice that I\u2019m using second person in this paragraph to directly address you. I feel okay about doing this because I want you to do specific things, and I have a pretty good idea who my audience is: reading and writing students.) The danger of using second person is that this point of view can implicate readers in your topic when you don\u2019t mean to do that. If you\u2019re talking about crime rates in your city, and you write something like, \u201cWhen you break into someone\u2019s house, this affects their property value,\u201d you are literally saying that the reader breaks into people\u2019s houses. Of course, that\u2019s not what you mean. You didn\u2019t intend to implicate the readers this way, but that\u2019s one possible consequence of using second person. In other words, you might accidentally say that readers have done something that they haven\u2019t or know, feel, or believe something that they don\u2019t.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-nocaption icon\"><img class=\"icon\" src=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/csu-fyw-rhetoric\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2017\/11\/Pro_Tip_Icon.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"159\" height=\"116\" \/><\/div>\r\nEven when you intend to use third person in an academic essay, it\u2019s fine in a rough draft to write \u201cI think that\u201d or \u201cI believe\u201d and then to delete these phrases in the\u00a0final draft. This is especially true for the thesis statement. You want to eliminate the first person from the final draft because it moves the focus\u2014the subject and verb of the sentence\u2014to the writer rather than the main point. That weakens the point because it focuses on the least important aspect of the sentence and also because it sounds like a disclaimer. I might say \u201cI think\u201d because I\u2019m not sure, or \u201cI believe\u201d because I want to stress the point\u00a0that this is only my opinion. Of course, it\u2019s okay to use a disclaimer if you really mean to do so, and it\u2019s also fine to use first person to render personal experience or give an anecdote.\r\n\r\n<hr \/>\r\n\r\n<h2>Does anything else affect the tone of my writing?<\/h2>\r\nYes! Many times writers are so focused on the ideas they want to convey that they forget the importance of something they may never think about: sentence variety. The length of your sentences matters. If you start every sentence with the same words, readers may get bored. If all of your sentences are short and choppy, your writing may sound unsophisticated or rushed. Some short sentences are nice though. They help readers\u2019 brains catch up. This is a lot to think about while you\u2019re writing your first draft though, so I recommend saving this concern for your second or third draft.\r\n\r\nVisit the Purdue OWL page, \u201c<span style=\"color: #008000\"><a href=\"https:\/\/owl.english.purdue.edu\/owl\/resource\/573\/01\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" style=\"color: #008000\">Strategies for Variation<\/a><\/span>\u201d\u00a0for some examples of sentence variety and exercises that will improve your sentence variety superpowers.","rendered":"<h2>Tone, Voice, and Point of View<\/h2>\n<p>Yo! Wassup?<br \/>\nHey, how you doin\u2019?<br \/>\nHello, how are you today?<\/p>\n<p>Which of the above greetings sounds most formal? Which sounds the most informal? What causes the change in tone?<\/p>\n<p>Your voice can\u2019t actually be heard when you write, but it can be conveyed through the words you choose, the order you place them in, and the point of view from which you write. When you decide to write something for a specific audience, you often know instinctively what tone of voice will be most appropriate for that audience: serious, professional, funny, friendly, neutral, etc.<\/p>\n<p>For a discussion of analyzing an author\u2019s point of view when reading a text, see<span style=\"color: #008000\">\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/openoregon.pressbooks.pub\/wrd\/chapter\/point-of-view\/\" style=\"color: #008000\">Point of View<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>in the \u201cWriting about Texts\u201d section.<\/p>\n<h2>What is point of view, and how do I know which one to use?<\/h2>\n<p>Point of view can be tricky, so this is a good question. Point of view is the perspective from which you\u2019re writing, and it dictates what your focus is. Consider the following examples:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I love watching the leaves change in the fall. (First person point of view)<\/li>\n<li>You will love watching the leaves change color. (Second person)<\/li>\n<li>The leaves in fall turn many vibrant colors. (Third person)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Which of the above sentences focuses most clearly on the leaves? Third person, right? The first person sentence focuses on what \u201cI\u201d love and the second person sentence focuses on what \u201cyou\u201d will love.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>First person<\/strong> uses the following pronouns: I, me, my, us, we, myself, our, ours\u2026. Any words that include the speaker\/writer turn the sentence into first person.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Second person<\/strong> uses any form of the word \u201cyou,\u201d which has the effect of addressing the reader.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Third person<\/strong> uses pronouns like he, she, it, they, them\u2026. Any words that direct the reader to a person or thing that is not the writer or reader turn the sentence into third person.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>That\u2019s a lot to think about. When is it okay to use each of these points of view?<\/h2>\n<div class=\"wp-nocaption alignnone wp-image-372\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-372\" src=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/csu-fyw-rhetoric\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2017\/11\/points_of_view.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"683\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Many of your college instructors will ask you to write in third person only and will want you to avoid first or second person. Why do you think that is? One important reason is that third person point of view focuses on a person or topic outside yourself or the reader, making it the most professional, academic, and objective way to write. The goal of third person point of view is to remove personal, subjective bias from your writing, at least in theory. Most of the writing you will do in college will require you to focus on ideas, people, and issues outside yourself, so third person will be the most appropriate. This point of view also helps your readers stay focused on the topic instead of thinking about you or themselves.<\/p>\n<p>The best answer to your question is that the point of view you choose to write in will depend on your audience and purpose. If your goal is to relate to your audience in a personal way about a topic that you have experience with, then it may be appropriate to use first person point of view to share your experience and connect with your audience.<\/p>\n<p>The least commonly used point of view is second person, especially in academic writing, because most of the time you will not know your audience well enough to write directly to them. The exception is if you\u2019re writing a letter or directing your writing to a very specific group whom you know well. (Notice that I\u2019m using second person in this paragraph to directly address you. I feel okay about doing this because I want you to do specific things, and I have a pretty good idea who my audience is: reading and writing students.) The danger of using second person is that this point of view can implicate readers in your topic when you don\u2019t mean to do that. If you\u2019re talking about crime rates in your city, and you write something like, \u201cWhen you break into someone\u2019s house, this affects their property value,\u201d you are literally saying that the reader breaks into people\u2019s houses. Of course, that\u2019s not what you mean. You didn\u2019t intend to implicate the readers this way, but that\u2019s one possible consequence of using second person. In other words, you might accidentally say that readers have done something that they haven\u2019t or know, feel, or believe something that they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<div class=\"wp-nocaption icon\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"icon\" src=\"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/csu-fyw-rhetoric\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2017\/11\/Pro_Tip_Icon.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"159\" height=\"116\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Even when you intend to use third person in an academic essay, it\u2019s fine in a rough draft to write \u201cI think that\u201d or \u201cI believe\u201d and then to delete these phrases in the\u00a0final draft. This is especially true for the thesis statement. You want to eliminate the first person from the final draft because it moves the focus\u2014the subject and verb of the sentence\u2014to the writer rather than the main point. That weakens the point because it focuses on the least important aspect of the sentence and also because it sounds like a disclaimer. I might say \u201cI think\u201d because I\u2019m not sure, or \u201cI believe\u201d because I want to stress the point\u00a0that this is only my opinion. Of course, it\u2019s okay to use a disclaimer if you really mean to do so, and it\u2019s also fine to use first person to render personal experience or give an anecdote.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Does anything else affect the tone of my writing?<\/h2>\n<p>Yes! Many times writers are so focused on the ideas they want to convey that they forget the importance of something they may never think about: sentence variety. The length of your sentences matters. If you start every sentence with the same words, readers may get bored. If all of your sentences are short and choppy, your writing may sound unsophisticated or rushed. Some short sentences are nice though. They help readers\u2019 brains catch up. This is a lot to think about while you\u2019re writing your first draft though, so I recommend saving this concern for your second or third draft.<\/p>\n<p>Visit the Purdue OWL page, \u201c<span style=\"color: #008000\"><a href=\"https:\/\/owl.english.purdue.edu\/owl\/resource\/573\/01\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" style=\"color: #008000\">Strategies for Variation<\/a><\/span>\u201d\u00a0for some examples of sentence variety and exercises that will improve your sentence variety superpowers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"menu_order":9,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":["monique-babin-carol-burnell-susan-pesznecker-nicole-rosevear-jaime-wood"],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[74],"license":[],"class_list":["post-264","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","contributor-monique-babin-carol-burnell-susan-pesznecker-nicole-rosevear-jaime-wood"],"part":532,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/csu-fyw-rhetoric\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/csu-fyw-rhetoric\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/csu-fyw-rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/csu-fyw-rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/csu-fyw-rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/csu-fyw-rhetoric\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1764,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/csu-fyw-rhetoric\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/264\/revisions\/1764"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/csu-fyw-rhetoric\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/532"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/csu-fyw-rhetoric\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/264\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/csu-fyw-rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/csu-fyw-rhetoric\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=264"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/csu-fyw-rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=264"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/csu-fyw-rhetoric\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}