A-manual-for-writers-of-research-papers-theses-and-dissertations

11.1.6 Choose Active or Passive Verbs to Reflect the Previous PrinciplesYou may recall advice to avoid passive verbs—good advice, when a passive verb forces youto write a sentence that contradicts the principles we have discussed, as in the second sentenceof this passage:12a. Global warming may have many catastrophic effects. Tropical diseases and destructive insect life evennorth of the Canadian border could be increased passive verbby this climatic change.That second sentence opens with an eleven-word subject conveying new information:Tropical diseases . . . Canadian border. It is the subject of a passive verb, be increased, andthat verb is followed by a short, familiar bit of information from the sentence before: by thisclimatic change. That sentence would be clearer if its verb were active:12b. Global warming may have many catastrophic effects. This climatic change could increase active verbtropicaldiseases and destructive insect life even north of the Canadian border.Now the subject is familiar, and the new information in the longer phrase is at the end. In thiscase, the active verb is the right choice.But if you never make a verb passive, you'll write sentences that contradict the old-newprinciple. We saw an example in (10a):10a. New questions about the nature of the universe have been raised by scientists studying black holes in space.The collapse of a dead star into a point perhaps no larger than a marble creates active verba black hole. So muchmatter squeezed into so little volume changes the fabric of space around it in odd ways.The verb in the second sentence is active, but the passage flows better when it's passive:10b. New questions about the nature of the universe have been raised by scientists studying black holes in space.A black hole is created passive verbby the collapse of a dead star into a point no larger than a marble. So muchmatter squeezed into so little volume changes the fabric of space around it in odd ways.Readers prefer a subject that is short, concrete, and familiar, regardless of its following verb.So choose active or passive, depending on which gives you the right kind of subject: short,concrete, and familiar. You can best judge how your readers will respond to your writing ifyou have someone read it back to you. If that person stumbles or seems to drone, you can betthat your readers will like your prose less than you do.11.1.7 Use First Person Pronouns AppropriatelyAlmost everyone has heard the advice to avoid using I or we in academic writing. In fact,opinions differ on this. Some teachers tell students never to use I, because it makes theirwriting “subjective.” Others encourage using I as a way to make writing more lively andpersonal.