Chapter 13 Summary

In the first part you are learning about keeping the point of view consistent in person and number. It will consist of first person (I or we), second person (you), or third person (he, she, it, one or they). The I (or we) point of view emphasizes the writer and is a good choice for informal letters and writings based primarily on personal experience. The you point of view emphasizes the reader and works well for giving advice or explaining how to do something. The third person point of view emphasizes the subject and is appropriate in formal academic and professional writing. When you are having trouble with the point of view you will tend to shift confusingly from one to another. The solution is to choose suitable perspective and then stay with it.
Consistent verb tenses clearly establish the time of the actions being described. When a passage begins in one tense and then shifts without warning and for no reason the readers are distracted and confused. It also affects when you do an unnecessary shift with a mood and voice. There are three moods in English: the indicative, used for facts, opinions, and questions; the imperative, used for orders, or advice; and the subjunctive, used in certain contexts to express wishes or conditions contrary to fact. With voice there is active or passive. If you don’t use those terms write again your readers will be left with asking why.
The last part is on sudden shifts from indirect to direct questions or quotations. An indirect question reports a question without asking it and direct questions asks it directly. Sentences that contain shifts are impossible to punctuate because indirect questions must end with a period and direct questions must end with a question mark.
This chapter was informative because there are times where I don’t shift very well and end up leaving my reader asking a why. It was a shorter chapter but it was straight to the point and helped me with many examples on each subtitle. I look forward to using this chapter to help me with the upcoming chapters and essays.