Hi everyone! First of all, I’m currently pursuing my Masters in Comparative Literature, and I’ll be applying to Comparative Literature Ph.D. programs next fall.
I’ve already begun to work on my writing sample in preparation for the 2019-2020 application season; it’s an assignment for one of my courses, and I figured that I would kill two birds with one stone.
Here’s the deal: my essay is in English, obviously, but I’m comparing two Lusophone authors. This means that all of my citations will be in Portuguese and that at least half of my sources will be in Portuguese, as well. Since I’m applying to Comparative Literature programs, is it a problem that the entire essay won’t be in English? Should I include an ad hoc translation of the texts and source materials in the footnotes? Or, is this expected in a Comp Lit writing sample, and I’m just overthinking the situation?
Thanks in advance for any and all advice!