Essays that Work

1
Essays that Work

• Convey a real and memorable sense of the
  applicant
• Are honest and distinguish the applicant from any
  other applicant
• Give a vivid sense of your personality
• Show a clear statement of what you believe
• Reveal how you discovered what you value

2
What to Write About

• Colleges will give you prompts which fall into
  several major topic areas
• Why go to college? Why to our college?
• Who are you?
• What you think of yourself, self-knowledge, is a
  pre-requisite for understanding the world
• Be honest and search for qualities you have

3
Pre-writing gathering ideas

• Tell us a story about yourself
• This helps suggest your values, and clarify
  attitudes
• Focus on a specific incident or event
• Dont make the story a lecture with a point
  (becomes moralistic)
• What is important to you?

4
Pre-writing continued Spawning Ideas

• Begin keeping a journal (anything that catches
  your eyes or earswrite it down!)
• Try free-writing, non-stop writing for 10 15
  minutes a day
• Re-read your free-writing and circle ideas or
  phrases you like that seem as if they might be
  good essay topics
• List write a list of items down quickly, such as
  a list of people important to you, or a list of
  books you have read

5
Spawning Ideas (continued)

• Create a timeline of your lifelifelong themes,
  key events, and personal interests may appear
  that can be essay topics
• Brainstorm with a friend, teacher, coach, parent
  sometimes the power of working with someone else
  will help you come up with a topic

6
How do we write?

• We write in three stages
• We are playful inventors (prewriting/brainstorming
  )
• We are shapers of our experiences
• (story-tellers)
• We are editors of what we have written

7
Assumptions about Writing

• I must know what to write before I begin
• I begin by restating the question
• I try to make the first draft the final draft

• I discover what I think by writing
• I begin by engaging my reader
• I write and rewrite until I find my true voice

8
Assumptions about Writing (continued)

• It is impressive to use big words
• I keep my readers interest by postponing my real
  point until the end
• More is better.

• The right words often a small word are always
  best
• I dont keep my reader guessing. I aim to make
  every sentence interesting.
• Less is more. Precision is better than volume.

9
Peer Reviews

• Questions you can have your reader answer about
  your essay
• What stands out most in this draft?
• Whats your favorite part? How can I build upon
  it?
• If you could change one part, what would you
  change?
• Which words or phrases do you remember?
• What do you want to hear more about?
• Describe the voice you hear in the draft?

10
Brainstorming Activities Share with each other
one minute per topic

• The day I discovered I could.
• My most important/cherished family tradition is
• If you could balance on a tightrope, over what
  landscape would you walk? (no net)
• Continued on next slide

11
Brainstorming Activities (continued)

• Propose your own original theory to explain one
  of the sixteen mysteries below. Your theory
  doesnt have to be testable or even probable
  just be sure it is your own and gives us an
  impression of how you think about the world
• Love
• The College Rankings in US News and World Report
• Gray
• The Beginning of Everything

12
Some essays to consider

• The attached essays are ones from This I
  believe, a series on NPR, which exemplify
  distinct personalities and creative ways to tell
  ones own story!