Writing Sample Woes

[robulousrebus]

So, quick background: my undergraduate institution didn't have a linguistics department, so I designed my own major. I was able to take some bona fide linguistics courses (masters level) when I studied abroad, and will be attending the LSA Institute this summer to bolster my experience.

I'll be applying to graduate programs in linguistics this fall. My major concern at the moment is my writing sample. My undergraduate institution was a liberal arts college with very little research opportunity. My most well-received paper in undergrad was an term paper for an English class on Ulysses. The paper is all about Joyce's language, but it's sort of pseudolinguistics in the sense that it's not rigorously researched or cited (it's an English paper using a linguistics framework to back up a point about the novel.) I think the paper is conceptually solid, interesting and well-written, and gives a good sense of how I think. But I'm afraid that using it as a writing sample may backfire on me if it's too uncomfortably close to linguistics without actually being a linguistics paper.

I know many people apply without a specifically Linguistics background and have to make do with only semi-relevant writing samples. Anyone who has experience with applying from outside the field and/or picking a writing sample, do you think that this one is a risky choice? 

[fuzzylogician]

The relevant question will be if there is someone at each school you're applying to who will be able to read the paper and evaluate it both in terms of writing (easier) and in terms of content (less obvious). If the answer is no, then you might run the risk of having your writing sample not being appreciated because the readers simply aren't experts in the field the paper's written in. You obviously know this, hence your concern. It'll be a bit hard to guess whether such a person exists without knowing what schools you're applying to and what your interests are, but based on your description, my guess would be that this is not the ideal writing sample. A paper that isn't rigorously researched or cited, as you put it, isn't what adcoms will be looking for. I wonder if there might be a way to leverage one of your contacts from abroad or to get started at the LSA and produce a paper that you could get some feedback on over the summer/early fall that would be a better match with your prospective programs. 

[robulousrebus]

Thanks so much for your helpful reply! I'm hoping some usable writing will come from the LSA this summer. Or I may attempt a re-write of this paper with more research to bolster it.

[fuzzylogician]

Good luck! 

[TheLeoLinguist]

I ran into a similar issue and ultimately I decided to work on a linguistics project by myself. It's harder without institutional support, but not impossible