Personal Statement help

[Brown_Bear]

I've drafted my Statement of Purposes, and writing sample, and now have a couple of *Personal Statements* to compose for some of these English doctoral programs. One of these wants a personal statement, and the other wants a diversity statement. How should I go about constructing these? What should I avoid, or emphasize? Should I just read the directions verbatim and follow it to a "t" ? I've spent so long on SOPs that I am having a slightly hard time adjusting my reference point.

Thank you.

[snorkles]

The personal statement is fairly open to what you want it to be, I think. It should be about you, and there are certain things that only you can say. A cliche to avoid is to talk about your love of literature or how you came to love it. What makes you interesting? Things like that. A quick note about the diversity statement: I'd be careful not to come across as having a savior complex. It's a tough document to write, especially if you come from a traditionally privileged background. Be honest and don't pretend to offer the program an aspect of diversity that's not true to your experience.