Lesson #3 Analyzing: Everything Is Stated As Fact

When writing a literary analysis of a text you should never use first or second person words in your analysis. These words include the following:

First person:
1. I
2.Me
3. My
4. We
5. Us
6. Our

Second person:
1. You
2. Your
3. Yours

A writer’s goal should be to steer away from these words at all cost and focusing on using third person words only such as the following:

Third person:
1. He
2. Her
3. His
4. She
5. Them
6. They
7. Themselves
8. It (controversial)

Before I go further, I would like to cover why “it” can be controversial to use. Most critiques, examiners, or teachers would rather a writer explain what “it” is than use the word “it”. The best time to use the word “it” is when the writer has already identified within the paragraph what “it” is before using the word. Other words besides the ones listed above would be using the pronouns of person, place or things. In other words, using the name of what “it” is.

For example,

Bad: I believe that we are going to experience cooler weather coming later this week.
Good: Later this week the students at Pomona High School will experience cooler weather.

The bad example expresses someone’s opinion verses the good example stating what’s going to happen as a fact which is what writers should be doing when writing a literary analysis. Only the facts matter and staying on the topic that was started is very important. Leading to tangents in a literary analysis takes away from the important issue that was originally brought up and makes it seem less than what it should be. Although an analysis may be influenced by personal beliefs, an analysis tends to be based more in facts and patterns than thoughts and emotions.