One of the things I’ve noticed about my job as generalist writing tutor is that it often requires difficult explanations. Most often, these will be grammatical or stylistic. After 20 or so years of being conditioned into the structure of the English language, there are many things which I definitely know, but don’t really know; I can follow them but can’t really explain why. From working on written feedbacks for the last year and a half or so I’ve worked at the University Center for Writing-based Learning (UCWbL), I have a general list of stylistic and grammatical patterns that need this kind of difficult explanations — a list I’d like to share with you today (dear reader).
First, Second, & Third person
I’ve noticed that a lot of this discussion boils down to issues of formality and convention. The most common issue with this in papers that I see will be the common use of “you” to imply “people in general.” As you may know, convention instead dictates something like “one” or “the individual” will be used for circumstances like this to avoid second person and use a more general third person perspective.
How I explain this to writers is generally through a reference to accuracy, because of the nature of essays being objectively-focused. In other words, academic writing regardless of the discipline is most often objective and analytical writing, wherein the writer attempts to elucidate what they mean as clearly and literally as possible. Because of this, “you” perhaps violates convention for a specific reason, namely that it is inaccurate because it refers directly to the reader, who is rarely the topic of discussion (if they are then they most likely shouldn’t be).
Metaphorical / Proverbial / Language
Much like first, second, and third person, the issue with metaphorical writing in essays at its core relates to the objective focus of essay writing. And of course this works as a convention as well, but I think that the main reason is the confusion that metaphors or proverbial speech can create–rather than stating things literally they can evoke a subjective experience of the reader which only dilutes the point.
As such, I usually explain problems of this domain in the same way–by describing the objective focus of essays, and how metaphors and proverbial language can detract from that. I often also state how, in genres like poetry and creative writing, metaphors can be useful for this very same reason. Since they evoke the reader’s subjectivity in some way, creating a different experience for each reader, they can allow for a more meaningful, and slightly more ambiguous, interaction with language based on that context. But within an argument-driven analysis, ambiguity is the enemy.
I typically caution against proverbial language for this same reason, but it can also often create clichés. Clichéd language is definitely to some degree metaphorical as well, but it also can struggle to impress or engage readers. Of course, I’m not advising anyone to insult or diminish the work of their writers, but instead I encourage others to point to the inaccuracy of proverbial speech, how it’s metaphorical, etc., and work from there.
Moving Forward
While I know that this sort of conversation can be difficult to end on one thing that you might do as a tutor, I hope that it encourages you to lean into the strengths that your writer shows while also considering what you can do to educate yourself further. Would learning more about various aspects of English allow you to explain it in new and exciting ways? What ways can you rethink the use of first, second, and third person in academic writing? How might this change your own writing process?