can you refer to yourself in a persuasive essay?

Question

can you say " I think" or "I believe" or anything refering to yourself in a persuasive essay?

Answer 1

Maya, there are two issues here.

1. Though not all teachers agree, writers usually write clearer prose when they don't rule out the first person--that is, when they use the pronouns I, me, my, etc. Sometimes the alternative is to use a stilted construction in the passage voice, e.g., "It is assumed that . . ." rather than honestly saying, "I assume that . . ." Most grammar checking programs call attention to passive voice because it omits specifying the subject of the sentence.

2. The problem with "I think" or "I believe" is that you are signaling an opinion, rather than a claim about objective reality. An opinion is a self-report, and self-reports fail to persuade. For example, if you say, "I think smoking is bad," you are reporting on your feelings, not on smoking. But if you say, "Smoking is bad because it causes cancer," you are expressing values with factual evidence, and that is persuasive.

If this or another answer here proves helpful in your research, you can encourage good answers by choosing one answer as the "best answer."

Cheers,
Bruce

Answer 2

A persuasive essay is always more persuasive when you take yourself out of its context. Yes you are trying to convince the reader of YOUR view, but you need facts and evidence to back up WHY your view should be considered.

Use the 3rd person but say "According to x, y, and z evidence, this is why b viewpoint should be considered over viewpoint a."

Answer 3

No you should not use first person in an essay... stick with third and you should be good

Answer 4

It depends on who your trying to persaude and what you are persuding about. if you are trying to persude a rule change for a lot a people you should use us students or me and my other employies ect. Other wise it is okay.

Answer 5

Depends on if its meant to be written in the MLA format or not.