Hard times!

Hi! Long time lurker. Thanks so much for this offer. As a/an (potential) applicant from the Global South, I already feel like I am going to the dogs. The whole process seems so gruelling. Any help from any quarter would be lovely! Also, it would be really helpful to get hold of a paper (of course published) or even a skeleton of one that has gotten anyone into grad school. Though I am mostly interested in visual cultures, films, comics studies, affect theory, and a bit of postcolonial/decolonial theory, any written sample would be great! Thanks!