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English Personal Statement
As C.S. Lewis wrote, “Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it”. I think that engaging with literature is to a certain extent escapism: it ensures a reader’s integration into the fictional events presented. It creates a realm in which characters’ motivations can be believed in and debated, and themes can be extracted and contemplated. However, it is not merely reading but studying literature – understanding and considering everything I can about a text – which I find enjoyable. I also love English because when reading, or writing a response to, a literary text I have the opportunity to use the English language. Rarely have I found wording more apt or more of a joy to read than the rapturous prose of ‘Lolita’. Nabokov’s writing style, for example his “arabesques of lighted windows”, had so much of an impact on me that I found it harder to wholly condemn the novel’s nefarious protagonist.
Even though literature can be enjoyed and interpreted without knowledge of a text beyond its own contents, I feel that context is important for gaining maximum insight into a publication. When studying ‘Paradise Lost’ I found my knowledge of the English Civil War, gained from my history A-level studies, particularly useful for understanding more about the time in which Milton was writing. In a similar vein, clarity about the implied message in dystopian fiction such as ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ can be found with an awareness of the state of the world when the book was written, and of the author’s personal views. I have been fortunate enough to have seen various dramas in performance, including several RSC productions. The version of ‘Twelfth Night’ that I saw made the character Feste far more prominent than he appeared to be in Shakespeare’s text, and so gave me additional insight into his role and characterisation. I only realised the extent of the humour in ‘The History Boys’ and (predominantly in the final scene) the pathos Bennett evokes in his audience when I went to see a production.
In school, I have shared my love of literature by volunteering with a paired reading scheme, and I have also read dramatic texts with groups of lower school students. Making literature more accessible to others was rewarding and reminded me of how literature can be approached at a simpler level. In terms of my own ability, I have been awarded a total of four annual school achievement awards, including two for English. I have demonstrated that I have the capacity and drive to undertake the degree of independent study that reading English at university would involve, as my AS level in Critical Thinking was achieved after a distance learning course which required effective self-motivation and organisational skills on my part to complete. In addition to going to the theatre, in my spare time I take pleasure in visiting art galleries such as the Tate Modern in London, and I have even benefited from visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. I also love writing my own fiction (mostly short stories). As well as very much enjoying, and finding satisfaction in, constructing my own creative expression, I find that doing so gives me additional insight into others’ work. This is because it makes forms and techniques used more apparent to me as I find I have a greater understanding of the creation of literature from an authorial perspective. Last year, I won the school creative writing prize.
Whilst English literature can be capable of providing an escape, I think that the way it is central to my life both now and in the future is of far more importance. I relish developing my own ideas and interpretations about literature, and am excited about the scope for diverse and insightful discussion that university can offer me.
Universities Applied to:
- Cambridge - AAA
- Durham - Unsuccessful
- Lancaster - ABB
- Leicester - ABB
- Sheffield - AAB
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