How to List/Transition from Interests?

[Fockatar]

Forgive the odd title, not sure how to phrase it. I suspect this might be more problematic for Humanities students, though I'm unsure.

Basically, when listing interests how to go about doing it without sounding like you have the verbal aptitude of a 4 year old. There are only so many times one can write "I am interested in....I am also interested......xyz also interests me". You're going to seem asinine...

Any tips?

[Bearcat1]

Try something like, "I am interested in X. I would like to explore Y as it relates to X. Questions that arise from X and Y are 123, which also warrant further investigation." I don't think you need to explicitly state that you are interested in each idea. If you start with a whole section on your interests, it will be implied that anything you bring up or question you state is something you would be interested in. And if each of those things are at least mildly related, maybe say, "For my doctoral work, I am interested in BIGGER IDEA." Then go on to break that down into the components that actually interest you. That "bigger idea" part could also be the way to tie in the professor(s) you want to work with, if you use their fields. I hope that helps a little!

[Fockatar]

Yes that would work indeed actually. I had considered that. I'm basically looking for alternative styles, and also trying to find the right balance in terms of not making the SOP look over saturated. It really is an artform, writing one of these....