Second Person Address
Scoring Pattern
you / your / you're + moral or prescriptive framing→direct reader targeting
Definition
A measure of how heavily a text uses 'you,' 'your,' and 'you're' to address the reader directly, particularly in a prescriptive or moralizing tone. Second person address transforms abstract moral claims into personal confrontation — it puts the reader in the dock. Score 0 means no second person; score 5 means relentless 'you' targeting the reader. Neutral instructional 'you' (as in a recipe or technical manual) is excluded; what matters is whether the 'you' carries moral weight or advisory pressure.
Examples
Example 1
You know what the right thing is. Your silence speaks volumes. You're complicit whether you admit it or not.
Relentless "you/your/you're" that makes the reader the subject of moral judgment — each sentence tightens the prosecutorial focus.
Example 2
Your children are watching. Your choices define you. Your legacy is being written right now.
Three "your" constructions that escalate from observation to judgment to urgency — the second person creates inescapable personal accountability.
Example 3
You can look away, but you can't unsee it. You can stay quiet, but you can't unknow it.
Advocacy rhetoric pattern
Parallel "you can... but you can't" structures that use second person to trap the reader — acknowledging the possibility of avoidance while denying its moral validity.
AI Detection Note
AI uses second person address frequently but typically in a warm, encouraging register ('You can do this!', 'Your goals matter') rather than the morally confrontational register that scores high on the SPI. Human sermonic second person is accusatory or exhortative; AI second person is supportive and advisory. The emotional register of the 'you' matters more than its frequency.
See how your writing scores on the Sermonic-Preachy Index
Analyze Your Text