Something American professors might not understand

[edost]

I've got a dilemma. I've translated part of my MA thesis into English, but it's about an Israeli show. I'm not sure how understandable it is to American admission committees. I thought of translating a seminar paper I wrote about the United States, which would be much easier for Americans to understand, obviously. However, wouldn't programs expect that, if I have a thesis, the thesis (or part of it) would be my sample?

So, should I work my ass off to make the excerpt from the thesis more understandable, or translate the seminar paper?

[qbtacoma]

How big is the cultural gap here? Is it possible to sacrifice some of your word count for a paragraph or a page explaining basic plot, well-known cultural symbols/figures, etc?

[edost]

It's a sketch show, so there is no plot. I guess I can make it more accessible by removing references to specific characters and focusing on general themes, so it won't be confusing.

[Sigaba]

How big is the cultural gap here?

It's a sketch show...so it won't be confusing.

Will your intended audience understand the difference between a sketch and a skit?

[edost]

Will your intended audience understand the difference between a sketch and a skit?

That's not the kind of misunderstanding that concerns me. The sketches are about Israeli stuff - Israeli politics, Israeli culture, Israeli celebrities, etc. Those are the things American admissions committee members are unfamiliar with and might get confused by.

[qbtacoma]

It sounds like this problem might be best solved by annotations or footnotes in the text itself. For example: "By lighting on fire the underpants of Joe Shmo (a well-known critic of recent underpants sizing legislation), the sketch points out the inherent hypocrisy of Shmo's rhetoric." Or whatever.

This might depend on your writing style, however - sometimes little asides like that can interrupt the flow of writing, in which case the page introduction at the beginning might be a better idea.

[edost]

"By lighting on fire the underpants of Joe Shmo (a well-known critic of recent underpants sizing legislation), the sketch points out the inherent hypocrisy of Shmo's rhetoric."

Oh, so you've seen the show! Just kidding...

Seriously, though, thanks for the advice. I'm going to use my discussion section as the writing sample, so it should be kind of general, without too many references to specific characters, but when I do reference something like that, I'll explain the context.

[laura_b]

Is this a rhetorical criticism? If so, you should have a description of the artifact in the paper already. That should be enough for them to understand your analysis.

[uromastyx]

I didn't submit my thesis. Always submit your best work.