What is second person, and why should I avoid using it

1
What is second person, and why should I avoid
using it?
2
Six speakers in English

• Singular
• First person
• I, my, mine, me
• Second person
• You, your, yours
• Third person
• He, she, it, her, hers, him, his, its

• Plural
• First person
• We, us
• Second person
• You, your, yours
• Third person
• They, their, them, theirs

3
When do I use first person?

• First person speakers are used to convey what the
  author is thinking.
• I was impressed by the flooring in Old Main.
• Roger threw the ball to me.

4
Redundancy

• First person speaker use can become redundant,
  silly, and filler material, though.
• I think that, I believe that, and I see that all
  are redundant because of course the author
  thinks, believes, or sees the ideas the author is
  writing. Avoid first person to avoid the
  redundancies and filler fluff.

5
Narrative

• Frequently, first person voicing results in a
  narrative about wrestling with ideas rather than
  an analysis or evaluation of the ideas.

6
When do I use second person?

• An author uses second person to indicate or
  command the audience.
• Lets look closely at the criticism.
• You should do your best.

7
Bossy Audience Awareness

• Second person speaker use becomes problematic
  when the author forgets the audience is reading.
• You should stop beating your children.
• (I have no children to beat!)
• You should find the husband that best fits you.
• (My wife and I would be confused if this
  happens!)

8
You

• Second person forms, including commands with an
  understood (You), should not appear in your
  essays because the assumptions made inherently by
  the use of this speaker are always false, thus
  undercutting the validity of your arguments.

9
When should I use third person?

• The third person speakers are the main voicing to
  use.
• The short story reverberates with the torment of
  a troubled love affair.
• Mandys passion falls short of Louiss desire.

10
Effect

• The effect of using a third person speaker is to
  shift the focus of the essay from you, the
  author, and me, the audience, to the ideas
  themselves. Since the essay is a tool to wrestle
  with ideas, the third person speaker is a conduit
  to the ideas, more so than first or second person.