"I"

After class today, Nikki asked me if you are allowed to use the first-person singular pronoun "I" in your posts. It is a great question because I know that many writing teachers prohibit the use of this word in formal writing. And, since I made clear that your posts must be formal, I can certainly understand why the question arose. The easy answer is, of course you can use "I." And, tomorrow in class, I want to discuss the relationship between a formal paper and this curious pronoun.

Remember that by 8:00 pm tonight, you need to have your own blog, email me the url, and post a short reflection on your relationship to blogging and to writing in general. A colleague with whom I often collaborate drew my attention to this article which may help you get started with your first post. Feel free to write a brief response to the question of the "I" when you discuss your relationship to writing and blogging.

Also, this same colleague taught an advanced composition course in summer session I with blogs--much of his experience and experiments have inspired my ideas for our class. Please see one of his early posts on what constitutes a good blog. I think you'll find it useful and again, these are all topics we'll take up in class this week and beyond.