Choosing the “best” point of view

1. Choosing the “best” point of view Creating a relationship with your reader

2. The rhetorical triangle The dynamic Object of study/topic (logos) format Purpose tone pt. of view evidence Writer (ethos) Reader (pathos)

3. One insight that the rhetorical lens offers • The reader’s sense of writer’s relationship to his/her topic results from the writer’s choice of point of view—in other words, from the “mapping” of a sense of intimacy OR distance in the relationship between the writer, the object of study, and the reader.

4. Point of view defined • Point of view here means NOT simply your personal opinion, but the way you project your perspective: • First person (I, me, my, mine) • Second person (you, your, yours) • Third person (all other nouns and the pronouns he, she, it/ him, her, them/ his, hers, its)

5. What point of view is this? • People often judge how successful themselves or other people are based on what they “have,” rather than on what they ‘do’. Even in the dictionary, success is defined as “the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like” All too often people look to others around them to validate whether or not they have been successful. • --Sara Shumway

6. And this? • I believe success is a state of being, and it is always relative. I believe it is important to feel successful while striving to become more successful. Being confident and proud does not cause someone to become complacent; it drives them to have more successes because they already know they can accomplish the goals they set for themselves. • --Sara Shumway

7. And this? • More than any other event in my life, one experience has led me to believe this statement is true:  I was kicking a soccer ball around before I could speak in complete sentences. During junior high, I played on the school team. I have always been an extremely competitive person. I love to win; however the most successful game I have ever had was one where not only did my team lose, but I didn’t even play during the final quarter of the game. • --Sara Shumway

8. Effects of first person • First person can create a close relationship with the reader and ask him or her to see the world your way. Some writers say first person helps them create a more “honest” voice. • First person can lend itself to lively writing and personal commentary, but sometimes description sounds forced in first-person. • However, first person can make a writer sound too self-involved and biased. Such viewpoints are often called “subjective.”

9. Effects of third personfrom Sharon Crowley’s Ancient Rhetorics • “Third-person voice establishes the greatest possible distance between reader and writer” (Crowley 103). • “Use of this grammatical person announces that its author, for whatever reasons, cannot afford too much intimacy with an audience” (Crowley 103). • Third person communicates the fact that you understand the requirement of professional objectivity.

10. Describe the POV of this intro • When it comes to success, there are many different viewpoints as to what it is or how it is achieved. A widely accepted view on success is hard work. It’s often believed that only through hard work and determination that success will become an outcome. It is also believed that success is only determined when you’re rolling in the big bucks and showing your bling! Bling! • --Seth Redd

11. What about here? • I’m here to say otherwise, success isn’t really success if you don’t feel successful, you don’t have to look successful you just have to feel successful. To feel successful and truly be successful there are three parts you should consider, hard work, positive attitude, and interest. In this essay I will describe each of these and their role in success. --Seth Redd

12. Effects of second person • The second person you has one of two effects depending on how you is used in the sentence. • 1. If you means a particular specific audience, it creates a sense of a writer talking to a particular set of people (and no others). SOMETIMES acceptable in academic writing. • 2. If you means “people in general,” it works as an informal 3rd person. Don’t use in academic writing. • 3. If you really means I, it works as a distancing first person. Don’t use in academic writing.

13. How do you establish ethos no matter what your point of view? • By getting informed about your topic and showing that you’ve thought about it. • By citing relevant facts and authoritative sources to demonstrate that you’ve “done your homework”

14. What else? • By using the vocabulary and the formats that your audience will understand or expect • By using the point of view that will help you achieve the right balance of authority and intimacy with your audience given your purpose and rhetorical situation. • By editing your work

15. Another important strategy • Let your readers know why they should pay attention to your document • Let your readers know what you want to accomplish with your document • Be fair, be accurate, and be careful • Anticipate what your readers will need to understand and believe you