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Can You Write an Essay in First Person?

• October 2, 2021

Yes, you can write an essay in first person. A personal essay requires you to use pronouns such as I, me, and my. However, you shouldn’t use first-person in your academic writing if your tutor specifically discouraged the use of these words.

When Should You Use First Person in Academic Writing?

1. attempting to position yourself in the writing.

In some of your writing projects, you’ll need to describe how your conducted research or presented thoughts to build on or differ with the work of others, in which case you’ll use “I,” “we,” “my,” or “our.” In that case, if your aim is to claim authority on the subject, first person such as referring to your experience as a doctor or engineer may help you do so.

2. Instructions from your teacher

Teachers, in my experience, normally urge their learners to avoid using the pronouns “I” or “me” (or “we,” “us,” “my,” and “our”) because they are frequently misused. Other “rules” that can apply to other rules are not even true. For instance, some teachers discourage using preposition at the end of a sentence. Other want learners to never start a sentence with the words “And,” “But,” or “Because.”  

These aren’t hard and fast rules.

Rather, they are strategic pieces of advice that some teachers could convert into “laws” because students, well, need guidance (or at least many teachers think they do).

While none of these rules should be followed universally, they do offer students with a framework that, in many cases, aids in the production of well-written essays.

3. When writing a speech

Speech writing is part of academic writing. When writing a speech, using first person is usually encouraged because it allows the writer/speaker to establish a sense of connection with the listener. This, in turn, makes the speech sincere and captivating.

For resumes , you need to avoid first person. For examples, under “Experience,” you could write something like this: ‘volunteered as a child psychologist.’ Resumes do not use “I” or other first person styles of writing. 

Some other examples of when personal experiences can be incorporated in academic writing:

• Anecdotes. In some circumstances, quick descriptions of experiences you’ve had or experienced might help illustrate a point you’re making or a theory you’re debating. For example, writers frequently utilize a real or hypothetical incident to demonstrate abstract ideas and principles in philosophical arguments.
• Personal interests. Referring to individual passions can assist explain why you’re interested in a topic or even establish some degree of authority on it.
• Admission essays.  Some writing contexts, such as application essays for colleges and universities, explicitly demand for personal experience to be discussed.

How Do You Determine Whether to Use “I” Based on Academic Guidelines?

1. the field of study.

Which areas of study allow you to use the word “I”?

Because the laws for using first person are never rigid, it’s always better to check with your instructor if you’re unsure. However, there are certain common standards to follow.

Science subjects

Scientists have always avoided using the first person because they believe it interferes with the sense of impartiality and impersonality they are attempting to convey. However, in certain circumstances, standards appear to be evolving, such as when a scientific writer describes a project she is working on or situates that endeavor within previous research on the issue.

Check with your scientific teacher to see if using the pronoun “I” is acceptable in his or her class.

Social sciences

The same logic scientists use to avoid using “I” applies here too. However, first person is becoming increasingly popular, especially when an author is describing his or her own idea or point of view.

In the humanities, check with your instructor to see if you should use the pronoun “I.” The goal of humanities writing is to provide your own interpretation of language, ideas, or a work of art. Assertiveness is valued in many disciplines, and agency (who is doing what) is emphasized, therefore the first person is often—but not always—appropriate.

When authors decide to use the first person in a less effective approach, they might say things like “I think,” “I feel,” or “I believe,” as if the phrase might stand in for a meaningful defense of an argument.

Readers expect you to completely defend, support, and illustrate your arguments, even if they are typically interested in your position in the humanities subjects.

Personal belief or opinion is rarely enough to persuade a reader; you’ll need evidence of some sort to persuade them.

A short note about the second person pronoun “you”:

When your goal is to appear conversational and friendly because it suits your aim, as it is in this handout designed to offer helpful information, or in a letter or speech, using the word “you” can help you achieve exactly that. However, “you” sounds unduly conversational in most academic writing settings, as in an assertion like “when reading the poem ‘The Wasteland,’ you get a sense of emptiness.” The word “you” sounds extremely conversational in this context. “The poem ‘The Wasteland’ generates a sensation of emptiness,” the sentence should read.

Alternatives to the second person pronoun, such as “one,” “the reader,” or “people,” are virtually usually used in academic writing.

What about Using “I” for Personal Experiences In Academic Writing?

Whether or not personal experience is required in academic writing is a question that relies on the context and goal. Personal experience will likely detract from your purpose, particularly in writings that seek to study an objective concept or data, such as science articles, or in papers for a discipline that specifically tries to minimize researcher’s opinion and presence, such as anthropology studies. However, you may need to explicitly contextualize your role as a researcher in connection to your research topic at times.

If your goal is to show your own reaction to a work of art, provide examples of how a concept or theory may be used in real life, or use personal experience as proof or a demonstration of an abstract principle, personal experience may have a place in your academic writing.

When you use personal experience effectively, you should keep it in service of your argument rather than allowing it to become an end in itself or take over the paper.

It’s also preferable to keep your real or hypothetical anecdotes short, but they can help enhance arguments that need solid examples or just a little more explanations to drive home.

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Encyclopedia for Writers

Composing with ai, using first person in an academic essay: when is it okay.

• CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 by Jenna Pack Sheffield

Related Concepts: Academic Writing – How to Write for the Academic Community ; First-Person Point of View ; Rhetorical Analysis; Rhetorical Stance ; The First Person ; Voice

In order to determine whether or not you can speak or write from the first-person point of view, you need to engage in rhetorical analysis. You need to question whether your audience values and accepts the first person as a legitimate rhetorical stance. Source:Many times, high school students are told not to use first person (“I,” “we,” “my,” “us,” and so forth) in their essays. As a college student, you should realize that this is a rule that can and should be broken—at the right time, of course.

By now, you’ve probably written a personal essay, memoir, or narrative that used first person. After all, how could you write a personal essay about yourself, for instance, without using the dreaded “I” word?

However, academic essays differ from personal essays; they are typically researched and use a formal tone . Because of these differences, when students write an academic essay, they quickly shy away from first person because of what they have been told in high school or because they believe that first person feels too informal for an intellectual, researched text. While first person can definitely be overused in academic essays (which is likely why your teachers tell you not to use it), there are moments in a paper when it is not only appropriate, but also more effective and/or persuasive to use first person. The following are a few instances in which it is appropriate to use first person in an academic essay:

• Including a personal anecdote: You have more than likely been told that you need a strong “hook” to draw your readers in during an introduction. Sometimes, the best hook is a personal anecdote, or a short amusing story about yourself. In this situation, it would seem unnatural not to use first-person pronouns such as “I” and “myself.” Your readers will appreciate the personal touch and will want to keep reading! (For more information about incorporating personal anecdotes into your writing, see “ Employing Narrative in an Essay .”)
• Establishing your credibility ( ethos ): Ethos is a term stemming back to Ancient Greece that essentially means “character” in the sense of trustworthiness or credibility. A writer can establish her ethos by convincing the reader that she is trustworthy source. Oftentimes, the best way to do that is to get personal—tell the reader a little bit about yourself. (For more information about ethos, see “ Ethos .”)For instance, let’s say you are writing an essay arguing that dance is a sport. Using the occasional personal pronoun to let your audience know that you, in fact, are a classically trained dancer—and have the muscles and scars to prove it—goes a long way in establishing your credibility and proving your argument. And this use of first person will not distract or annoy your readers because it is purposeful.
• Clarifying passive constructions : Often, when writers try to avoid using first person in essays, they end up creating confusing, passive sentences . For instance, let’s say I am writing an essay about different word processing technologies, and I want to make the point that I am using Microsoft Word to write this essay. If I tried to avoid first-person pronouns, my sentence might read: “Right now, this essay is being written in Microsoft Word.” While this sentence is not wrong, it is what we call passive—the subject of the sentence is being acted upon because there is no one performing the action. To most people, this sentence sounds better: “Right now, I am writing this essay in Microsoft Word.” Do you see the difference? In this case, using first person makes your writing clearer.
• Stating your position in relation to others: Sometimes, especially in an argumentative essay, it is necessary to state your opinion on the topic . Readers want to know where you stand, and it is sometimes helpful to assert yourself by putting your own opinions into the essay. You can imagine the passive sentences (see above) that might occur if you try to state your argument without using the word “I.” The key here is to use first person sparingly. Use personal pronouns enough to get your point across clearly without inundating your readers with this language.

Now, the above list is certainly not exhaustive. The best thing to do is to use your good judgment, and you can always check with your instructor if you are unsure of his or her perspective on the issue. Ultimately, if you feel that using first person has a purpose or will have a strategic effect on your audience, then it is probably fine to use first-person pronouns. Just be sure not to overuse this language, at the risk of sounding narcissistic, self-centered, or unaware of others’ opinions on a topic.

Recommended Readings:

• A Synthesis of Professor Perspectives on Using First and Third Person in Academic Writing
• Finding the Bunny: How to Make a Personal Connection to Your Writing
• First-Person Point of View

Brevity – Say More with Less

Clarity (in Speech and Writing)

Coherence – How to Achieve Coherence in Writing

Flow – How to Create Flow in Writing

Inclusivity – Inclusive Language

The Elements of Style – The DNA of Powerful Writing

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