With the previous section in mind, you should also know that some instructors proclaim that the passive voice signals sloppy, lazy thinking. These instructors argue that writers who overuse the passive voice have not fully thought through what they are discussing and that this makes for imprecise arguments. Consider these sentences from papers on American history:
The working class was marginalized.
African Americans were discriminated against.
Women were not treated as equals.
Such sentences lack the precision and connection to context and causes that mark rigorous thinking. The reader learns little about the systems, conditions, human decisions, and contradictions that produced these groups’ experiences of oppression. And so the reader—the instructor—questions the writer’s understanding of these things.
It is especially important to be sure that your thesis statement is clear and precise, so think twice before using the passive voice in your thesis.
In papers where you discuss the work of an author—e.g., a historian or writer of literature—you can also strengthen your writing by not relying on the passive as a crutch when summarizing plots or arguments. Instead of writing:
It is argued that…
or Tom and Huck are portrayed as…
or And then the link between X and Y is made, showing that…
you can heighten the level of your analysis by explicitly connecting an author with these statements:
Anderson argues that…
Twain portrays Tom and Huck as…
Ishiguro draws a link between X and Y to show that…
By avoiding passive constructions in these situations, you can demonstrate a more thorough understanding of the material you discuss.