Being Specific in Academic Writing When using third person pronouns (she, he, it, and they) in your writing, it can confuse the reader if these pronouns are used near the beginning of a sentence.
When writing your extended essay you should use language that is formal and academic in tone. The chart below gives you some idea of the differences between informal and formal essays. See the box below for examples of the differences in tone in informal and formal essays written on identical topics.
However, academic essays differ from personal essays; they are typically researched and use a formal tone. Because of these differences, when students write an academic essay, they quickly shy away from first person because of what they have been told in high school or because they believe that first person feels too informal for an intellectual, researched text.
Academic writing should be objective. If it is subjective or emotional, it will lose persuasiveness and may be regarded as relying on emotion rather than building a reasonable argument based on evidence. The language of academic writing should therefore be impersonal, and should not include personal pronouns, emotional language or informal speech.
Other writing situations: If you’re writing a speech, use of the first and even the second person (“you”) is generally encouraged because these personal pronouns can create a desirable sense of connection between speaker and listener and can contribute to the sense that the speaker is sincere and involved in the issue. If you’re writing a resume, though, avoid the first person.
Pronouns are used the same in formal writing just the same as. they're used in informal writing or speaking. Pronouns replace. nouns to make a sentence flow more smoothly.
Indefinite Pronouns. Using the masculine pronouns to refer to an indefinite pronoun (everybody, everyone, anybody, anyone) also has the effect of excluding women. In all but strictly formal uses, plural pronouns have become acceptable substitutes for the masculine singular. Original: Anyone who wants to go to the game should bring his money.