english personal statement?? help!

i thought i was finished with my personal statement and would be able to send it off this week, and the teacher who hadbeen working with me on it said she thought it was ready, and i trust her seeing as she is experienced, and an english teacher, and also went to oxford (not necessarily relevant but hey she knows what snooty people like) so yea i thought ok, if you say im done im done. but today i showed my application to the teacher who applications go through, and she basically was like yeah its good, but all the texts youve written about are set texts - even though they arent ones we study at my school - theyre just too predicatable or the uni will assume that its your set text even if its not? i wrote about frankenstein and wise children, but also a portrait of the artist as a young man and 1984. i would LOVE to write more but i really dont have the space and i dont know if i can face deleting what i wrote about those texts and coming up with something else, tbh i dont even think i have anything better in me.
she said that it was like a catalogue of A level texts ???? i dont think its that bad but its completely demolished my peace of mind

Reply 1

The Empire Odyssey

Original post by EmergencyBagels

I don't think they demolished it. Don't worry about it too much. However, I do know what they mean - they are all very predictable, cliche texts to write about. In my personal statement I chose to write about Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell, Maurice by EM Forster and Paradise Lost by John Milton. All of which I read for pleasure and thoroughly enjoyed. Haven't read all of Paradise Lost of course! But I still enjoyed reading them over the summer so I decided to mention them and stand out of the crowd rather than going for the typical Gothic/Victorian text like Frakenstein, Dorian Gray or Jane Eyre. And the typical modern/dystopian novels like Brave New World or 1984. It's just too cliche. You need to expand your knowledge and appreciated of Literature through reading some texts that you've never heard of or what's not as well known.

Is there any chance you could read at least one novel or just read a few of someone's poems from an anthology. Or even just swapping one prose from a drama text would be ideal! Remember it's to help you and set you apart from all the dozen Personal Statements they will read over the next upcoming months!

Reply 2

Carnationlilyrose

Original post by EmergencyBagels

Look here about what they expect to see in a ps and why:
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2012563&p=37765516#post37765516

Reply 3

EmergencyBagels

this makes me feel sick

Reply 4

acollins_

Original post by EmergencyBagels

this makes me feel sick

Honestly I feel exactly the same, panicking so much that my PS for English is sub-standard now!

I think, the thing is, if you're happy with your personal statement and you've had predominantly positive feedback, you kind of have to trust your gut instinct. Rather than stressing yourself out trying to read a 500 page novel just so you can put it on your PS (I was doing that at one point with Don Quixote until my tutor told me I was being insane), just... I'm not sure, have faith?

It sounds like such a cliché and I'm rambling now, but from what I've read, it sounds like you'll be fine! :smile:

Reply 5

EmergencyBagels

yea, i mean i havent read anything like don quixote or just anything that interesting really. i did have something about the ballad of reading gaol which my teacher told me to get rid of because of word count, but thats not even that impressive so i dunno. whatever. who even wants to go to university anyway, guys? hahah ahha ha.

Reply 6

EmergencyBagels

i mean i also have stuff on ovid and the iliad and the aeneid but thats mainly bcaus they actually my set texts for classics so

Reply 7

toronto353

Original post by EmergencyBagels

i mean i also have stuff on ovid and the iliad and the aeneid but thats mainly bcaus they actually my set texts for classics so

I would be careful including them both because they are set texts, but mainly because they're Greco-Roman texts and therefore I wouldn't say suitable for an English (Literature I presume) personal statement. Additionally, they're also a little obvious as texts. The Empire Odyssey has offered some great advice. In short, don't panic, but do think about what you're including, why you're including it and what you find interesting abut the works which you've mentioned. Do they have common themes which you could explore for example?