1、Chapter 2: Generating Detail for Personal Statements IntroductionI am writing for myself and strangers.This is the only way that I can do it.Gertrude SteinI remember writing my first resume. It was a few years before the days of the personal computer, and my typewriter had just one unattractive font
2、 but also had a fancy function key that allowed for italic type. So I decided my resume would stand out if I did it in all italic type. Then I reasoned that a particular section would stand out even more if I typed everything in all capital letters and all italic type (thankfully, my typewriter didn
3、t have boldface). In composing my “Experience” section, Id had so many part-time menial jobs in high school and college that I couldnt figure out how to format the section without losing detail, so I naively came up with the self-styled strategy of just making my “Experience” section one long narrat
4、ive sentence in one bulky paragraph (in all italics, of course), with each job description separated by ellipsis dots.Obviously, it was pretty pathetic. Heres a mercifully short excerpt from “Experience,” just as I originally wrote it and in its original form:worked for a concrete block company movi
5、ng concrete blocks . . . painted inside/outside of house . . . worked for YMCA at unskilled labor positions . . . worked weekends for the All American Cleaning Company . . . did evening restaurant work. . . various cleaning jobs for private home owners . . .In writing my resume, I had unwittingly ma
6、de up my own rules of form and content, ignoring all the tried and true models available, and I told myself that I was just being creative and unique. Thus, I ignored my own ability to be selective and sidestepped practical conventions. For my poor reader, Im sure that reading my resume involved bot
7、h abundant confusion and significant eye strain.Ignoring the practical details of writingparticularly when composing a personal statement or application essay, where the conventions are well-established and the needs of the readers are well-knownjust doesnt make sense. Further, the consequences of n
8、ot studying and following the practical conventions for writing personal statements are substantial, potentially changing the course of your life.So use this chapter to answer the common questions many students have about writing personal essays, and realize that such an essay is a professional and
9、public document to be viewed critically by the eyes of strangers, not a private and personal exercise in creative self-indulgence.Defining the Personal StatementBecause a personal statement is unlike other documents you write in college, many students struggle with understanding the fundamentals of
10、its definition. First off, dont let the term itself confuse yousome application materials will use other terms such as “personal essay,” “reflective essay,” “statement of purpose,” or “narrative.” Regardless of the term used, such essays are defined by their comment elements, as detailed below.One o
11、f the best extended definitions of the personal statement Ive seen appears on a website from the Fellowships Office at Bryn Mawr (see the article “Advice from Fellowship Foundations “). Below I offer a condensed version adapted from that website.A personal statement is: A picture. Provide a snapshot
12、 of who you are as a person. An invitation. Your job is to “bridge the assumed distance of strangers.” Invite your reader to get to know you. An indication of your priorities and judgment. Your selection of material reveals your priorities and ability to discern effectively. A story, or more precise
13、ly, your story. The personal statement allows you room for creative, meaningful self-reflection.A personal statement is not: An academic paper with you as the subject. The objective distance of academic writing disengages the reader from you in a personal statement. A resume in narrative form. Other
14、 parts of your application, which might include a resume, already tell readers about your accomplishments. A personal statement must reveal and interpret well beyond a resume. A journal entry. A common mistake is allowing your personal statement to read like a diary. Share only relevant material sel
15、ectively, in a voice that remains both individual and professional. A plea or justification. Dont beg and dont defend the (incorrect) assertion that you are more worthy than other candidatesit only backfires.Of course, nuances to this definition may be added based on the circumstances. For instance,
16、 at times an application might require three different essays with highly specific parameters, and perhaps one of these essays involves a personal narrative while another poses you a philosophical question to answer. Always look to the application itself to determine the degree to which the definiti
17、ons above apply, and know that when there is a series of questions in an application at least one of them is usually designed to elicit a personal essay from you.Issues of Length and FormNormally, the length of a personal statement will be dictated by the application500 words or 800 words are typica
18、l limits, as are one-page or two-page limits. If youre given, say, a count of 1,500 words, you need not write to the maximum length, but to compose only one-half of the word count might be an opportunity missed. In any case, what matters most is that the material you present conforms as closely as p
19、ossible to these word or space restrictionsparts of your application might literally not be read if you violate the rulesand that your presentation is aesthetically pleasing and easy to read. To achieve these goals, I promote the following tips: If your personal statement is a stand-alone document w
20、ithin your application, open it with a simple heading such as “Personal Statement for Janet Lerner.” Thus, if your documents would get separated somehow, they could more easily be reassembled. If there are any pages to your essay beyond one, number them, and perhaps include your name on those pages
21、as well. Choose a publishing font that is highly readable, such as Times or Bookman. Some fonts allow for more tightness to the text, which is fine as long as the essay remains readable. Ideally, use no more than a 12-point size and no less than a 10-point size, favoring the larger, and use the same
22、 font size throughout the document. Allow for ample enough margins that the reader isnt distracted by cramped-looking text. Margins of at least one inch are standard. Single space your text, skipping a line between paragraphs. You can indent paragraph beginnings or not, as long as youre consistent.A
23、t times, especially when you fill out an application electronically or have to cut and paste, word limits will be defined by physical space. In such a case, keep enough white space between your text and the application text that the material isnt crowded, and choose a font different from that used i
24、n the application if possible. Also, if your application is electronic and requires you to cut and paste text or conform to a word or character count, check the material that you input carefully to be certain that its complete and reads just as you wish it to. In some cases, you may lose special cha
25、racters or paragraph breaks, and words over the maximum allowable count may be cut off. The safest practice is to proofread anything you send electronically within the very form in which it is sent.Selecting DetailFor most writers, one of the first struggles in personal essays is selecting detail, t
26、hen the second struggle is figuring out what material to de-select. Obviously, especially if you have just 500 words, only one or two meaty examples per paragraph will be possible. To generate and select relevant detail, the following guidelines will almost always apply.Read the Question or Prompt C
27、arefully to Extract Definitive CriteriaAlways begin by discerning the criteria of the question itself. Sometimes youll just be given a broad sweeping statement such as “Discuss those personal qualities you think will aid the committee in making its decision.” Such a statement is highly open to inter
28、pretation, yet there is definitely a wrong way to go about answering it as wellfor instance, discussing your charm, financial hardship, or ability as a magician would be completely off target. More often, youll be given a more concrete, clear prompt with criteria imbedded. For the sake of context, h
29、eres a typical sort of prompt:In no more than 800 words, discuss your personal motivations, academic interests, relevant research or experience, long-term objectives, and your specific interest in attending Mythic University.In this case, a typical response would be to follow with one paragraph devo
30、ted to each of the discussion points, with a savvy writer using the diction of each criterion within topic sentences for focus and context. Some writers would opt to be more creative in their approach, but even so a reader should not feel that any part of the question has been dodged.Articulate a Pe
31、rsonal or Professional InspirationSome writers open their statement with an inspiring quote or a narrative (discussed further in Chapter 3), while others make a comment about their academic discipline. What matters is that readers have clear context through your opening, and that we understand immed
32、iately that you are talking about something of motivational meaning to you. Briefly sketch out a positive influence: a memorable self-defining experience, a high school or college project that ignited deeper interest, an inspiring teacher or role model, a relative who followed a career path that you
33、 emulateeven a core theme that will carry through the rest of your essay. Always remember the typical fundamental goal of the opening: to provide a quick, meaningful snapshot of who you are as a person.Discuss your Academic Background or Research as a Set of Learned SkillsAgain, some writers might d
34、esire to be creative throughout their personal statement, but a more traditional route is to open the second or third paragraph with a discussion of academic background or research in relation to skills you have acquired. Certainly, work experience could be relevant as well, especially if you were a
35、 teaching assistant for a class and you plan on holding an assistantship in graduate school, but you must be careful not to rehearse resume-like details about any jobs youve held. Readers will be most interested in specific, skills-oriented detail: lab techniques acquired; analytical tools used; par
36、ticipation in team decision-making; journal research and publication experience; oral presentation skills. Think in relation to those skills most valued in your discipline, and describe your background in a way that highlights those attributes.Many writers approach a discussion of their background b
37、y forecasting ahead to what they wish to study in graduate school, employing their past experiences to project future aptitude. For example, in Chapter 4 of this handbook, one writer uses these sentences to describe his thesis research:My project involves the taphonomy, stratigraphy, and identificat
38、ion of a middle-Ordovician coral bioherm as well as its bryozoan constituents. The research is now well underway, involving many aspects of a sound paleontological study: sampling, analysis, identification, and finalization into a report.Clearly, the writers intention here is to wed his present and
39、the futureto project ahead to graduate research within his field of paleontology. By focusing on the techniques and skills relevant to his academic field while describing his thesis project, he lays the foundation for his intended future area of research.In many cases, especially if you apply for a
40、national scholarship or to a sciences program, you may be expected to discuss your research interests and background thoroughly as the heart of your personal essay. Specific details that might be included in these cases are the hypothesis of your undergraduate research, the exact nature of a researc
41、h question you would like to focus on in graduate school, and even the name of a professor you would like to work with in graduate school and a rationale for how you made that choice.Establish Some Long-Term ObjectivesSome students hesitate greatly over this criterion, feeling as though theyre committing to an unbreakable covenant, while others reach too high or actually get too specific“I intend to win a Nobel Peace
