I made this video after reading one too many student papers in a single night that used four or more “they” constructions that were too vague to understand. It’s a pernicious habit of students, and it’s difficult to convince them that it’s a bad writing habit worth breaking. I hope this video helps you, and me.
Update: I used this video in class, which I don’t normally do, today. Usually I give kids a link to the video, and expect them to use it if they need it. The report on how it went is embedded here.
[…] I taught a class in a rather odd way, for me. I introduced the concept of The Unassigned “They” at the start of class, showed about the first three minutes of my video, showed them the problem […]