You are reading ESPN
the Magazine. You like reading that magazine. They generally have interesting
and well written articles. The topics are broader then what is available on
many of the other conventional media sources and the they dive deeper into issues
that are not based solely around the results of the latest game. You enjoy that
view of sports.
While you are
reading this article you come to the realization that it is written entirely in
second person. That is an unconventional perspective for a written report,
especially nonfiction. You never really see second person used in other forms
of media. Novels, newspapers, sociological nonfiction, and radio do not use
second person. It is really only written sports commentary in which it appears.
You realize you don't really like second person. It doesn't add anything to the
reporting, and the strange phrasing distracts from some of the points.
You wonder why they
insist on using this style. Does one of the editors of the Magazine just really
love second person? Was the author trying to show off his technical
proficiency? You hope you this doesn't become a bigger trend. You could not
stand having to read lots of different pieces written this way.
You think to
yourself that hopefully it is just this one authors signature style. Something
he uses to try and get people to remember him. You hope once ESPN the Magazine
realizes how annoying it is to read something written in second person they
will have a talking to with the author. They will convince him to go back to
first person or switch to third person. You think that if the author insists on
writing in second person he should really just quit writing magazine articles
and start written screen plays.
You really do not
like the use of second person perspective.
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