You may already know that one of the main characteristics of the essay-argumentative text is the impersonality of language. To write texts in a more formal way, it is sometimes necessary to impersonalize them, that is, omit the agents of speech to hide our personal opinion and the various voices that make up a text. This type of posture serves to attenuate dialogue and contribute to an impersonal position on certain issues.
Want an example? Let's imagine the following situation: You are going to take a contest or entrance exam and the theme of the essay is “Reducing the age of criminal responsibility: do you agree?”. You probably have an opinion on the topic, which does not mean, however, that you need to write the defense of your point of view in the first person. You may have gone through some personal experience that justifies the development of your reasoning, but still thus, it is necessary to leave narrativization aside and choose elements that remove emotions and personal issues from their text.
Grammatically, there are several ways for you to achieve impersonal language in your text. For you to better understand the subject, Brasil Escola has prepared some writing tips that will certainly facilitate this process. Come on? Enjoy your reading and good studies!
Writing Techniques: The Impersonalization of Language
► Tip 1: Generalize the subject, placing it in the plural
This is an efficient way of distancing yourself from emotions and subjectivity in a dissertation-argumentative text. To do this, you should avoid first person (me) speech and adopt the use of first and third person plurals (us and them): expressions like scientists recognize, our conclusions and we seek to demonstrate are less personal than I recognize my conclusion and tried to demonstrate.
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► Tip 2: Hide the agent
Expressions like: it's important, it's necessary, it's indispensable, it's urgent they contribute to the purpose of neutrality, since they hide the agent of prayer. Who is it important to? Who is it needed for? For whom is it indispensable? For whom is it urgent? The questions remain unanswered because it is not possible to define the agent clearly, which neutralizes the discourse, in addition to making it more objective.
► Tip 3: Opt for an inanimate agent
This is another efficient way to impersonalize the language of the text. When opting for an inanimate agent, the responsibility for the action will be diluted, as it will not be possible to precisely identify its agent. Examples:
The company's board appointed a new coordinator.
Parliamentarians voted on a bill.
The government did not deliver the work.
► Tip 4: Grammatical use of indeterminate subject
By adopting this technique, you will not allow the reader to accurately identify the agent of the action. It is very useful especially when, in the text, there is some information of which you do not know the exact origin:
The importance of preserving nature is learned at school.
It was believed that Brazil would eradicate misery and poverty.
There is a lot of talk about the problem of violence.
► Tip 5: Use of passive voice
employ the passive voice it is another way that contributes a lot to the impersonalization of the speech. This happens because, when using the active voice, we present an explicit agent, while in the passive voice this agent may be hidden. See the examples:
The new discoveries about the cure for AIDS were made in Cuban study centers and laboratories.
The importance of handwriting in the learning process is being proven.
By Luana Castro
Graduated in Letters
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
PEREZ, Luana Castro Alves. "Writing Techniques: The Impersonalization of Language"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/redacao/tecnicas-redacao-impessoalizacao-linguagem.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
