Playing around with an idea about how Tolkien’s works relates to the challenges I’ve faced and my eventual passion toward math. Is this too cliche or is correlating your essay with a book something that’s generally discouraged? I’m still a tad unfamiliar with college essay writing in general since I’m an international.
You’ve heard all about college essay no-nos, I’m sure (like Death, Disease and Divorce being taboo subjects). And yet, year after year, there have been actual essays that break these rules, with spectacular effects. Just google Victoria Oswald Harvard, and you’ll see a piece of writing about death, disease, implied divorce, and a piece of furniture - and it was good enough for the Harvard’s gods of admission.
Avoid cheesiness, poor logic, worn-out tropes. Be open to constructive criticism after you ask several people to read it. Start early, very early.
Thanks. Yeah, I’ve heard that the Harry Potter trope is super overused which was why I was making sure it wasn’t the same for LOTR.
You can certainly try this. But bear in mind, it’s not a typical hs essay, it’s for admissions. You want the points you make to be relevant to adcoms. Does it show the traits they want to find, etc.
And the affection for LOTR needs to be a smaller, starter point.
The problem with examples of what worked for others is they’re often singular examples.
I think I should have expressed myself more clearly in my previous post. What I was trying to say is that the more an essay goes into the risky territory (be it taboos, or overused references - and LOTR is certainly that), the larger the premium on excellent writing skills and unique perspectives.
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Makes sense. I’ll keep that in mind.