4.1: Weeding "You" Out Introduction and Reading

Summary: The point of this lesson is to observe and practice an aspect of formal, academic writing—to write in the third person so that the audience can be slightly removed from the reading and not feel judged.

Introduction:

The second-person perspective is who the first person is having a conversation with. I will address you. You are reading this. You are asking, ‘Why am I reading this?’” It is very direct, of course. Often when we speak one-on-one with friends and relatives, we use a lot of second-person pronouns because that is our audience. If our audience does not understand something--the perspective, the topic, the tone, or the subject--they can ask in person.

The third person is used for someone removed from the first or second person—someone not ‘us’ or 'me' or 'you' but ‘them,’ ‘they,’ ‘he,’ ‘she,’ or 'that chair,' 'the students,' 'her friend,' 'Angel,' 'Dr. Salgado,' 'my cats,' and 'Sal.' For academic text, strive for third-person usage. Readers are not as familiar with their writers as they are with their friends and family. They certainly can't ask questions about perspective and expect immediate answers.

As you read the first text, note the ways it makes you feel. While reading the second text, note how the second person (“you”, “your”, etc.) is changed to the more impersonal third person use--not just pronouns like “it”, “they”, and “them", but also nouns such as "workers", "students", "readers", "citizens", "drivers", etc.  Note how the sentences are changed to make this distinction as well. Note how it, also, makes you feel.

First Text:

This city is not made for people with mobility impairments, which include physically disabled, elderly, and blind people. You would know that if you tried to step in their shoes or wheels or at least talked to them. The list of ways in which your city does not meet the minimum requirements for disabled people to get around easily is long, but you are responsible for knowing what they are. For starters, you don’t have elevators at many of your train stations, and existing ones often break down. Secondly, have you tried to walk around town in a wheelchair or without vision? If you did, you would notice that many of the sidewalks are inaccessible. You can’t even walk around many sidewalks in some communities, let alone drive wheels over them because the pavement is in such bad shape. Many of the ADA-compliant ramps that allow wheelchairs are blocked during the winter by shoveled snow or ice and in the rest of the seasons by cars, or they are in disrepair. If you’re blind, you’ll also have the additional problem of not being sure when to cross the street as most traffic lights in the city lack sufficient audible supports. In short, you are not doing enough to make the city safe for disabled people.

Second Text:

This city is not made for people with mobility impairments, which include physically disabled, elderly, and blind people. Many are not aware of this due to a lack of contact with the disabled and elderly communities. Although the list of ways in which City Hall does not meet the minimum requirements for disabled people to get around easily is long, citizens should be aware of these lacks as residents and taxpayers. For starters, many train stations lack elevators, and existing ones often break down. Secondly, many sidewalks are inaccessible. Because the pavement is in such bad shape, residents who are blind, wheelchair-bound, and have other walking difficulties cannot walk on several sidewalks in some communities, let alone drive their wheels over them. Many of the ADA-compliant ramps that allow wheelchairs are blocked during the winter by shoveled snow or ice and in the rest of the seasons by other cars, or they are in disrepair. Blind pedestrians also have the additional problem of not being sure when to cross the street as most traffic lights in the city lack sufficient audible supports. In short, City Hall is not doing enough to make the city safe for disabled people.