美國大學(xué)文書：名家教你如何寫出出色的文書？

發(fā)布時(shí)間：2015-04-09     來源：美國留學(xué)

美國留學(xué)申請，出色的文書是非常重要的，下面名家教你如何寫出出色的文書，一起看看吧！

Keith Todd是號稱“南部的哈佛”的萊斯大學(xué)(Rice University) 的招生部主任。這是他幾年前在一份教育雜志上發(fā)表的文章。我覺得言之有物，對學(xué)生和家長都有參考價(jià)值，所以翻成中文給大家。希望能夠有所幫助。

美國大學(xué)申請作文之我見

我們這些招生的人試圖將二維的申請材料轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)閷W(xué)生的三維肖像，希望通過他們的寫作來洞悉學(xué)生的情況。不過在此之前，學(xué)生必須將立體的自我變成紙上或屏幕上有意義的寫作 – 這個(gè)任務(wù)比我們的更加艱巨。

作為一個(gè)當(dāng)過英文老師的人，我很理解任何一個(gè)人面對空白紙頁所產(chǎn)生的焦慮，特別是當(dāng)要寫的與自己有關(guān)，而如果寫的是大學(xué)申請作文就更是如此。我想分享有關(guān)大學(xué)申請作文(有時(shí)也被稱為“個(gè)人聲明”Personal Statement)的一些想法。我的第一個(gè)建議是你應(yīng)該把升學(xué)作文當(dāng)作潛在的強(qiáng)勢位置 (place of power)。大學(xué)申請的其他部分都是相當(dāng)間接的或統(tǒng)計(jì)類的：比如考試分?jǐn)?shù)，學(xué)校成績，推薦信。但是寫作部分是由你來決定把自己的哪一方面展示給招生委員會(huì)。在所有申請材料中，這一部分你有完全的控制。

很多學(xué)生感到很緊 張，因?yàn)樗麄冇X得寫作，特別是創(chuàng)意寫作，不是他們的最強(qiáng)項(xiàng)。我要強(qiáng)調(diào)的是：升學(xué)作文不是文學(xué)比賽。我讀過許多抒情，有詩意的升學(xué)作文，但很多卻沒有告訴我 有關(guān)這個(gè)學(xué)生的任何實(shí)質(zhì)性的東西，這些文章對學(xué)生的錄取并沒有幫助。另一方面，在我?guī)椭浫〉墓こ處熤杏泻芏嗖⒉皇俏磥淼耐心?莫里森或約翰-厄普代克(作家)。他們只是聰明的年輕人，以一種清晰，可讀，簡潔，有組織的方式，寫出自己的信念，價(jià)值觀，雄心，或者生活經(jīng)歷。

我遇到的另一個(gè)升學(xué)作文的神話是：你必須有一個(gè)很"大"的故事，最好是情感跌蕩起伏的故事。到目前為止的職業(yè)生涯中我已經(jīng)閱讀了超過兩萬份申請作文，我的感覺是，大多數(shù)申請人有著相當(dāng)非戲劇性生活 - 為 什么不呢?他們都非常年輕。大多數(shù)受過良好到優(yōu)秀的教育。大多數(shù)有著幸福的童年和少年。只有少數(shù)擁有不同尋常的人生經(jīng)歷，通常由于自己所不能控制的好運(yùn)氣 或壞運(yùn)氣。的確，我也讀過一些讓我感動(dòng)作文，有關(guān)家人去世，父母離異，克服坎坷的童年或戰(zhàn)勝一種可怕的疾病。但是，即使是感人的作文也必需是一個(gè)“有效力”(effective) 的作文，能傳達(dá)一些有關(guān)作者的智力能力以及是否為進(jìn)入我的學(xué)校做好了準(zhǔn)備的信息。

我讀過的最好的升學(xué)作文是那些有一個(gè)明確而獨(dú)特的聲音，幫助我更清楚地看到和理解這個(gè)學(xué)生的文章。即使是最平淡最普通的生活也是可以被仔細(xì)觀察的。有一篇作文多年來一直常讓我想起。它的作者是一個(gè)住在同一個(gè)地方，去了個(gè)好學(xué)校，似乎有著幸福生活的學(xué)生 -沒有什么 戲劇性。她寫到自己和母親有一個(gè)習(xí)慣：每天早上，就她們兩個(gè)人一起吃早餐。通過這個(gè)日常事件她了解到自己的母親的那些她從未想到過的事情，進(jìn)而使她們的關(guān) 系得以成長和深化。正如我所說，重要的并不在于故事的本身，而在于你如何使你的生活和你的觀察在我們這些讀者面前變的鮮活起來。

最后一點(diǎn)建議： 不僅僅是修改，而是給自己足夠的時(shí)間來修改。把你的文章放到邊上一兩天時(shí)間，然后再重新讀它，可能會(huì)有很大的區(qū)別。大學(xué)錄取官有一種可以感受到一篇文章是 否是很匆忙的，堆砌到一起，沒有認(rèn)真考慮的第六感覺。邀請朋友，父母或老師讀你的文章并給你反饋。你的作文應(yīng)該是自己的聲音，不是你父母的聲音，更不是你認(rèn)為招生委員會(huì)所希望看到的，想象中的完美學(xué)生的聲音。留足夠的時(shí)間反復(fù)閱讀自己的寫作，試驗(yàn)不同的寫法，而不因最后期限將至感到恐慌。忠實(shí)于自己所有不完美的，獨(dú)特的方面：苦思冥想，政治活躍，多愁善感，理想主義，搖擺不定，事事好奇。如果你是一個(gè)妙趣橫生的作者，不妨運(yùn)用一點(diǎn)小幽默。但是如果你不知道你寫出來的是否好笑 -- 最好不要拿升學(xué)作文當(dāng)試驗(yàn)品。祝你好運(yùn)!

Some thoughts on the Application Essay

We admissions people try to turn two-dimensional applications into three-dimensional portraits of students, hoping to gain insight into a student through his or her writing. Before that, though, students must try to turn their three-dimensional selves into meaningful writing on the page or screen – a more daunting task than ours.

Having taught English, I’m familiar with the anxiety the blank page causes in any writer, especially writing about oneself, and even more especially for a college application. I want to share a few thoughts about the college application essay (or “personal statement,” as you’ll often see it called). My first recommendation is that you think of the written application as a potential place of power. Everything else in the application is rather indirect or statistical: a test score, a letter grade, a recommendation letter. But in the written portions, you get to determine exactly what you want the admission committee to know about you. It is the one place in the application process where you are most clearly in charge.

Many students get nervous because they feel writing, particular creative writing, is not their strongest suit. I can say emphatically that the admission essay is not a literary contest. I have read many lyrical, poetic essays that did not tell me anything of substance about the student, so they did not advance the student’s case for admission. On the other hand, many of the engineers I have helped admit are not the next Toni Morrison or John Updike. They are simply smart young people who write clearly, readably, and in an organized, short format, about their beliefs, values, ambitions, or life experiences.

Another myth I’ve encountered is that you have to have a big story, and preferably an emotionally fraught one. Having read upward of 20,000 applications so far in my career, my sense is that most of our applicants have had fairly undramatic lives – and why not? They are all quite young. Most have had good to excellent educations. Most have had happy upbringings. And only a small number have had highly unusual life experiences, usually due to good or bad luck, not of their own doing. Yes, I have read essays that moved me, about a death in the family, the divorce of parents, overcoming a rough childhood or a terrible disease. But even a moving essay needs to be an effective essay, one that communicates something about its author’s intellectual abilities and readiness to attend my college.

Some of the best essays I’ve read were those that simply had a clear, individual voice, that helped me see and understand the student more clearly. Even the least exciting, most average life can be carefully and well observed. One essay that has stuck with me for years was written by a student who had lived in one place, attended a good school, and seemed to have a happy family life – no drama. But she wrote about the habit she and her mother developed of having breakfast together, just the two of them, every morning, how this daily encounter helped her learn things about her mother she’d never imagined, and how their relationship grew and deepened as a result. As I said, the impact is not in the story itself, but in how you make your life and your observations come alive for us as readers.

One last bit of advice: don’t just revise, but give yourself time to revise. Just setting your writing aside for a day or two, then approaching it afresh, can make a big difference. Admission officers have a sixth sense for writing that feels rushed, thrown together, not carefully considered. Have a friend, parent, or teacher read over your work and give you feedback. Make sure your writing is in your own voice, not your parent’s voice, and certainly not the voice of that imaginary Perfect Student you think the admission committee wants to see. Give yourself time to see your own writing, to test out approaches, to not feel panicky under deadline. Be yourself in all your unperfected, unique aspects: be ruminative, politically engaged, pensive, idealistic, undecided, curious. If you’re an amusing writer, don’t be afraid to use a little humor. But if you’re not sure if you’re funny in print – please don’t start with the college essay. Good luck!

美國留學(xué)：www.0138.net.cn

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