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TeddyWestSide

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Everything posted by TeddyWestSide

  1. Things got a little jumbled there when topics got merged so I am just reposting what is up above. I hope it is more specific about what I want to do with my project. I am fascinated with the struggle we all have connecting, and it is only going to get more difficult. As technology spreads and becomes more available more people are entering this new marketplace of ideas. Technology has changed how we connect many times, and now the spread and availability of the internet is bringing new communication tools to massive new numbers, circumventing the attempts to stifle expression and exchange of information. In China, Weibo has 100 million more active users than twitter has worldwide, and with the spread of Virtual Private Networks we are soon to see an incredible need for communication with people from diverse backgrounds. To facilitate better communication and understanding of people with strikingly different experiences I will first use Deconstruction to break down axiomatic views of other groups so they can be replaced with more inclusive ways of discussing our experiences. I will do this through the use of American Modernist writers and their fascination with internal thought processes and the exceptional variance within every human life. Authors that I am interested in include: Sherwood Anderson, Gertrude Stein, Hemingway, and Faulkner. These authors pushed for something new in their writing and this extends to how they represent thought. This highlights the differences in not just what we think but also what leads someone to having that thought. This time period and group of writers is an important resource for those trying to build relationships and strengthen communication. I became interested in connecting and understanding groups that had previously felt closed to me during my undergraduate career. A quarter long class on Hemingway changed how I felt about our responsibility to try and connect to people. Instead of being a class just about Hemingway’s works, it was also about how people saw the writer and the difficulty he had in expressing who he really was. I had the opportunity to listen to his son speak to our class and it became clear how damaging feeling unheard can be. During my graduate program I continued to enroll in American literature classes, but I was also exposed to more critical theory. The Deconstructionist ideas of Derrida have proven to be of great interest to my work. The ability for this branch of theory to break down preconceptions by confronting prejudice or restrictive thinking as being merely an axiom that needs to be investigated can be exactly what is needed to start a conversation. Teaching has meant a great deal to me and I have found the students to be both inspiring and an example of how important it is to bring cultures together through effective communication. The next step is to get my PhD, so I can work with students of all levels. A faculty member I would love to work with is Dr. -- --. Her work on Flannery O'Connor and how her life as an author intersects with the time she wrote in was a fascinating use of history which I would like to incorporate into my own writing.
  2. Thank you for all your feedback! I will think about this. I do agree with what you have said.
  3. I am fascinated with the struggle we all have connecting, and it is only going to get more difficult. As technology spreads and becomes more available more people are entering this new marketplace of ideas. Technology has changed how we connect many times, and now the spread and availability of the internet is bringing new communication tools to massive new numbers, circumventing the attempts to stifle expression and exchange of information. In China, Weibo has 100 million more active users than twitter has worldwide, and with the spread of Virtual Private Networks we are soon to see an incredible need for communication with people from diverse backgrounds. To facilitate better communication and understanding of people with strikingly different experiences I will first use Deconstruction to break down axiomatic views of other groups so they can be replaced with more inclusive ways of discussing our experiences. I will do this through the use of American Modernist writers and their fascination with internal thought processes and the exceptional variance within every human life. Authors that I am interested in include: Sherwood Anderson, Gertrude Stein, Hemingway, and Faulkner. These authors pushed for something new in their writing and this extends to how they represent thought. This highlights the differences in not just what we think but also what leads someone to having that thought. This time period and group of writers is an important resource for those trying to build relationships and strengthen communication. I became interested in connecting and understanding groups that had previously felt closed to me during my undergraduate career. A quarter long class on Hemingway changed how I felt about our responsibility to try and connect to people. Instead of being a class just about Hemingway’s works, it was also about how people saw the writer and the difficulty he had in expressing who he really was. I had the opportunity to listen to his son speak to our class and it became clear how damaging feeling unheard can be. During my graduate program I continued to enroll in American literature classes, but I was also exposed to more critical theory. The Deconstructionist ideas of Derrida have proven to be of great interest to my work. The ability for this branch of theory to break down preconceptions by confronting prejudice or restrictive thinking as being merely an axiom that needs to be investigated can be exactly what is needed to start a conversation. Teaching has meant a great deal to me and I have found the students in Southern California to be both inspiring and an example of how important it is to bring cultures together through effective communication. The next step is to get my PhD, so I can work with students of all levels. A faculty member I would love to work with is Dr. -- --. Her work on Flannery O'Connor and how her life as an author intersects with the time she wrote in was a fascinating use of history which I would like to incorporate into my own writing.
  4. I thought I would go ahead and make some small changes and get some feedback. I tried to be more specific about exactly what my project would look like. I also changed the end a bit but really that section is a place holder before I do deeper research for the school but I do agree it is too broad at this time. Also this is for PhD program in Lit with a focus on American Modernism. As before I am attaching every draft just in case you are interested Statement of purpose rough 4.docx Statement of purpose rough 1.docx Statement of purpose rough 2.docx Statement of purpose rough 3.docx
  5. I think that makes sense, thank you. Do you think just taking the second to last paragraph and moving it to the first and just keeping everything else in order would help? Then it would go: Topic, why I am interested, undergrad, grad, fit.
  6. aaaaaand just a text version here for ya: I am fascinated with the struggle we all have connecting, and it is only going to get more difficult. As technology spreads and becomes more available more people are entering this new marketplace of ideas. Technology has changed how we connect many times, and now the spread and availability of the internet is bringing new communication tools to massive new numbers, circumventing the attempts to stifle expression and exchange of information. In China, Weibo has 100 million more active users than twitter has worldwide, and with the spread of Virtual Private Networks we are soon to see an incredible need for communication with people from diverse backgrounds. I became interested in connecting and understanding groups that had previously felt closed to me during my undergraduate career. A quarter long class on Hemingway changed how I felt about our responsibility to try and connect to people. Instead of being a class just about Hemingway’s works, it was also about how people saw the writer and the difficulty he had in expressing who he really was. I had the opportunity to listen to his son speak to our class and it became clear how damaging feeling unheard can be. I continued to enroll in American literature classes in my graduate program, but I was also exposed to more critical theory. The Deconstructionist ideas of Derrida have proven to be of great interest to my work. The ability for this branch of theory to break down preconceptions by confronting prejudice or restrictive thinking as being merely an axiom that needs to be investigated can be exactly what is needed to start a conversation. I want to bring deconstruction to American modernism to examine and break down how we communicate. The push that modernism makes to better understand and represent the thought process and interrelation of its characters is the best example we have in literature. Authors that I am interested in include: Sherwood Anderson, Gertrude Stein, Hemingway, and Faulkner. By focusing on how unique each internal dialog is and the difficulties this brings to characters trying to connect I will build a better lexicon for readers and people entering with their ideas from diverse backgrounds. A push needs to be made now to create a space where this multitude of new voices can be more than heard, but understood and accepted. I have enjoyed teaching immensely and have found the students I have in Southern California to be both inspiring and an example of how important it is to bring cultures together through effective communication. The next step is to get my PhD, so I can work with students of all levels. A faculty member I would love to work with is Dr. -- --. Her work on Flannery O'Connor and how her life as an author intersects with the time she wrote in echoes my writing sample. My experience at both large and smaller campuses has set me up for success at any school, and that won’t be any different at .
  7. Hi all, I have my third draft here hoping for some feedback. I have not gone through this super closely for grammar, but I am hoping for feedback on the content. I think it is getting better each time, so I am attaching the other drafts if anyone is interested in this process so far. It is right at the word limit so I can't add but I can change. Thanks! Statement of purpose rough 2.docx Statement of purpose rough 3.docx Statement of purpose rough 1.docx
  8. I have gone back and forth with this. Many places say to have something small that shows your personality and why you are drawn to the subject and others say to stick to the research you want to do. Does anyone know if this is something that has a convention that has changed and maybe I am looking at older advise?
  9. I worried about just the same thing. What I was trying to do is show that I received A's in multiple classes that involved American Lit but I was not sure of the best way to say this. I am a bit confused by your example, so did you give your percentage in all classes related to the cold war regardless of department? I was trying to do something similar but it must not have come across.
  10. and here is a copy and paste. Any feedback is appreciated! When I was young I would do something that I did not realize was strange until I got older. I would put a book in my pocket and ride my bike to a park so I could climb a tree and read. Something about being away from my bustling house full of people and so high up off the ground made me happy. At the time all I knew was that I wanted to be alone, later I realized I wanted to be alone because I struggled to build connections to the people around me. I was lucky because I found myself reading about other people and their lives. I learned how different people are and how important it is that we strive for connection. This fascination with communication and connection has followed me into adulthood, and it seems to be even more important. As we gain new technology that allows for people all over the world to communicate we also deal with new barriers. New forms of communication all come with their own conventions and this will bring its own set of challenges. As more voices than ever can be heard, the importance of understanding our limitations in how we connect and what we need to do to overcome this will come to the forefront. I will continue the work my writing sample begins in communication and connection with further study of American modernists. The push that modernism makes to better understand and represent the thought process and interrelation of its characters is the best example we have in literature. Authors that I am interested in include Sherwood Anderson, Gertrude Stein, Hemingway, and Faulkner. As an undergraduate I received high marks in American fiction focusing on Dickinson, 553 – 20 Century US Fiction and Hemmingway, 564 – Major Authors, American. As a graduate I continued to be exposed to American literature as well as taking on critical thinking and classics. I received high marks in 514 – American English, 545 Literary Critical Thinking, and 540 Restoration and 18th Century Literature (Milton and His Heirs). I am incredibly excited at the opportunity to live in a different area of the country and to learn something new about myself as well as the people of New York. A faculty member I would love to work with is Dr. Susan Edmunds. Her work on Flannery O'Connor and how her life as an author intersects with the time she wrote in echoes my writing sample. My experience at both large and smaller campuses has set me up for success at any school, and that won’t be any different at .
  11. I am attaching my first and my second draft just in case you are interested in where it started. This draft is a complete rewrite based on the help I got last time I posted. I think this is moving in the right direction and I feel like the feedback has really been helpful so please lend me a hand again! This is just under 500 which is the limit for my shorter SOP and I will have room to add a bit for the schools that allow 700 words. Statement of purpose rough 2.docx Statement of purpose rough 1.docx
  12. First thank you both for your answers and I will get to work on your suggestions. About this. I am not sure what you mean. I want to teach at the university level and everyone I had at that level had a PhD. I already have my masters in Lit, so are you suggesting I get an Edd? From my experience that would not help me get a teaching position at the level I want. The part about being more specific I agree with you both and I am trying to find my way towards how I can express myself in that direction so my second effort will focus on that. Thank you for your time.
  13. I am also just going to post my SOP here so it is easier to look through: Name Washington State University English PHD Program 10 January 2018 English Modernism We all come to the situations in our lives so drastically different because of the experiences and background that we have had. Marlow tells us that we will not ever be able to really communicate, “No, it’s impossible. It’s impossible to tell anyone what it feels like to be you. It’s impossible. We live the same way that we dream—alone.” What makes literature so powerful is that even for fleeting moments it allows the reader to feel something outside of their own experience. I want to look deeply into how modernist literature offers a connection to others. The modernist push to make everything new gave different avenues for personal connection, and deeply personal looks into how we think and organize our thoughts can give the reader a new way to understand and build empathy. My writing sample discusses how silence and estrangement in characters can breed connection and acceptance in readers, and I will further my research and work into how modernism has drastically changed the way we view our isolation from others. I went to The Ohio State University for my undergraduate work where I was fortunate to have a variety of classes to choose from in my field. Standout classes for me were the two that focused on just one author for the quarter. I took one class on Emily Dickinson and another on Ernest Hemingway. I loved diving deep into both the writing as well as the person and the time in which they wrote. I think it set me up for success in my more focused graduate classes as well as making me an enormous fan of both writers. I took French one through four and look forward to distinguishing myself in this language going forward. I saw my GPA rise in my last two years of undergraduate work, and it continued to improve when I started my graduate program as I further adapted to working and going to school. I moved and soon started at California State University Dominguez Hills. The graduate program erased any doubts I had about wanting to teach at the highest level. This has made me extremely excited to come to *Washington State University to continue my education. The discussion in class was inspiring. We developed a community with a small group of around twenty students coming together all with similar goals and drive. I was happy to join the English Graduate Association as we revamped the entire outfit. What was once a group that seldom met became a thriving community that supported not only the other graduate students but who also worked with lower level students giving workshops. I took classes on theory and all eras of literature. I was forced to grow as a writer and a student, but I met the challenge graduating on time after sitting comprehensive exams. After graduation I quickly accepted a position as an adjunct instructor at two community colleges. **** both gave me an opportunity to find out who I am as a teacher. I crafted my own syllabus for English 101, 1B, and 495. Besides teaching the basics I have been fortunate to have some great works approved for my students. We have read Notes of a Native son, Heart of Darkness, Slaughter House Five, and The Things They Carried. All of these have helped students understand the struggles of other people, and through my teaching plans I hope to inspire students to be open and accepting of people’s failures and difficulties. I am incredibly excited at the opportunity to live in a different area of the country and to learn something new about myself as well as the people of *Washington. A faculty member I would love to work with is *Dr. *** Edmunds. *Her work on *Flannery O'Connor and how her life as an author intersects with the time she wrote in echoes my writing sample. My experience at both a large and smaller campuses have set me up for success at any school, and that won’t be any different at* .
  14. Hi everyone, first time poster long time lurker. I will try to keep this post as short as possible. This is my second round of applications to PhD programs so I am hoping to get some help with my statement of purpose. Please do not worry about hurting my feelings or giving feedback that might seem too harsh, I am here to get better. This SOP needs to be under 750 words so it is pretty close at almost 700. My thought process going into this is that I need to detail four things: Myself, undergrad and grad school, recent work, and academic interest. The criteria I am trying to keep in mind as I write is to stick to: Focus, Fit, and Future. I am worried I might be talking too much about undergrad and grad school with too little about my academic interest as it is for the most part combined with my intro in the first paragraph. I also am interested if mentioning the professor I would like to work with needs a more substantial section. I plan on adding more but I don't have that much room. This is the framework for what I will send to 6 schools so that is why there are *'s in there for me to remember to change parts of what it says. I know this is frowned upon but I think I will be changing enough in each section is make it feel like it isn't just being mass mailed out. Also I don't know how much different it could be for each school but I have reached out to them to see if there is any part of the program I could research more of and mention but other ways to personalize it would be great. Statement of purpose rough.docx
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