My very creative essay:

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
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<p>well, I finally mustered (haha) enough courage to post my mustard essay...</p>

<p>Tell me what you think.</p>

<p>Read the prompt carefully: Write an essay somehow inspired by super-huge mustard.</p>

<p>now my essay:</p>

<p>I Didn’t Have a Clue</p>

<p>“That Peacock sure is suspicious lookin’.” </p>

<p>I looked up at Scarlet as she filed her delicate nails and sneaked glances at the elegance of the refined, feathered and very English maiden standing in the corner.</p>

<p>“Ex – Excuse me?” I sputtered, having no clue(italics) as to how I had gotten here.
“Exactly!” “Who does she thinks she is, standing there, chattin’ up the colonel, tryin’ to look all lady-like. I can be lady-like, you know!”
“I’m sure you can, but can you tell me—”
“I can be sophisticated! Hell, I’m gorgeous!”
“Right you are, ma’am, however, I was wondering if you could tell me where exactly—”
“How come yur askin’ me all these questions? Why don’t you make yourself useful and look for a weapon.”
“A weapon?”
“That’s right, go in the Ballroom and look for a candlestick or somethin’ – I bet it was the Plum!”</p>

<p>As I diligently marched towards the massive door and moved the required 6 paces to the Ballroom, I got an irrepressible sense of dé•jà vu. I had done this before. Although, I dissented, I certainly would have remembered a vivacious southern belle donned in red, and I most certainly would have remembered shrinking four feet as even the dainty Peacock towered over me. As I opened the enormous Ballroom door (which did not, in fact, require any extra paces or steps–as some misinformed individuals might have you believe) my eyes fell upon a middle-aged man dressed impeccably in a bright green suit. With a face of a businessman and wrinkles to match, Mr. Green had a fixed smirk on his face and was constantly wagging his graying, millionaire-ish eyebrows, noticeably very content with himself. </p>

<p>As soon as The Colonel walked in, all the talking ceased. It seemed that this giant of a man had the power to command respect with merely a shake of his bushy head. This man seemed to radiate authority, and although his eyebrows were not as wealthy as Mr. Green’s, a gold and burgundy aura still surrounded him. This mustard-colored man, both in skin and cloth, spoke quite brusquely, “Now, I understand that this certainly is a tragedy, and all of you must grieve in the manner you feel best.”
I had yet to see anyone, at this point, shed a tear.
“But I must solemnly ask you to postpone your grief to a time after the culprit has been found.”
“Hear-hear,” Squeaked the mauve Professor in the corner. “It shall be most important to apprehend the wrongdoer, indeed.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered meekly, “But can someone please tell me what’s going on?” “Why, two of the house guests have been murdered—the twin brothers,” replied the maid incredulously, “Were-ever have you been?!”
“Well, actually I wanted to—”
“Yes! Who are you, child?” Asked the peacock-feathered maiden who had yet to disjoin herself from The Colonel.
“Oh, shush up, missy! He’s fine, in fact, I was having a very nice conversation with him earlier about politics, you know.” Scarlet proclaimed in her most pretentious of voices.
“Actually, I don’t care who you are, or what you(italics) were talking about, Ms. Scarlet; I have an engagement in the morning, and if we must continue to jabber, I’m afraid I will have to take my leave.” Mr. Green strolled to the desk to examine the drawers. “It seems apparent to me that whoever committed this crime had plenty of time on their hands and had figured that we would not have a clue(italics) as to how to find the culprit. I tend to agree with him—or her,” he shot a look at Scarlet, “since most of you are practically incompetent, I am going to the kitchen to solve this mystery by myself.”
At this point, everyone turned to The Colonel.
“Good idea,” The Colonel boomed, “Let the hunt begin!”</p>

<p>I walked out, resigned to the fact that I would have to become a character in this strange scene that had unfolded in front of me. I wanted to ask The Colonel where the dining room was, but the massive mustard-colored military man looked so intimidating that I had to reconsider.
“Mr. Colonel, sir?”
“Mustard’s the name. What do you want?” His voice resonated throughout the room.
“Please, Colonel Mustard, sir, I was wondering—”
“AH-HAH!” Mr. Green raced inside with a glistening blade dripping with blood.
“If I could please have everyone’s attention!” Mr. Green seemed absolutely ecstatic. “Through my keen observations of the Kitchen and Ballroom, I have found the culprit, the weapon, and the place of murder.”
A hush fell over the room.
“It is my belief that the BOY did it with this KNIFE in the KITCHEN not more than 20 feet away!”
I could almost hear the cartilage pop in everyone’s neck as all heads swiveled to look in my direction.
“W-what?” I sputtered “I- I didn’t do anything—I don’t even know why, where or how I am here(italics).”
“Then who did it?” Asked my political conversant, Scarlet.
The room went silent, each individual deeply lost in thought.
“MeeeeEEEEE,” shrieked the maid, her voice getting progressively louder. “I did it! OK? I did it!” suddenly the silent yet surly maid appeared ready to kill—seemingly again. She was donned in a white apron, her hair rapidly escaping from the confinement of her bun. “Those twins!” She spat, “with their matching clothes and identical speech. They drove me crazy! I said to myself, I said, ‘Listen, I’ll kill the Parker brothers in the morning and escape, and no-one will find me. It’s risky, sure, but I’ll roll the dice—it would be worth it’.” The maid slumped into a chair. “I guess this is it. I’m going to jail. I’m going to jail! I just have to wake up and smell the coffee. Wake up. Wake up.”
“It’s almost two o’clock, Archit, WAKE UP!” My mother stormed into my room. “Well?” she demanded. “What’s wrong with you?”
“I, uh, I was dreaming.” I stared back at her in amazement, she was wielding a kitchen knife and had ketchup on her apron.
“About what? And why are you looking at me like that?”
“I—I don’t have a clue(italics).”</p>

<p>I hope that all the references were obvious enough... Parker Brothers, rolling dice, mentioned 'clue' several times, the required steps/paces, etc...</p>

<p>With my luck, my adcom probably never played Clue and has no idea what i am talking about.. anyhow.. what do u think?</p>

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<p>I thought this was very well written. Definitely creative--I doubt that anyone who reads this will forget it. The only flaws I found were basic spelling mistakes (which are certainly "missable", I only saw the majority of them after looking back at several parts). Like me, you took a pretty big risk with your essay...however, Chicago is probably the most accepting school when it comes to risky essays so I think you should be all right.
Good Luck!</p>

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<p>Thanks a lot for your comments! what spelling errors did you notice?</p>

<p>Also, most importantly, do you think that it makes sense in context of the problem (super-huge mustard)? Was it easily understandable in reference to the 'clues' throughout the essay (mentioned 'clue', parker brothers, etc..)?</p>

<p>Thanks again for your comments!</p>

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<p>I hardly ever play clue and I caught on quickly enough.
Here's one spelling mistake: “Were-ever have you been?!”
I thought I had found two...but maybe not. I wouldn't worry about it.
Another thing that I wouldn't worry about: your essay making "sense in context of the problem" The directions were to "write an essay somehow inspired by super-huge mustard", which you did.</p>

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<p>This essay, of all those I've seen pasted on the U. of C. boards, would be most likely to merit someone a spot in Chicago come September. The witty references needed no explanation; I recognized every one just fine and laughed in my head as I read.</p>

<p>I found it extremely easy to create a little vignette of the Clue scene with the help of your imagery: this talent far outweighs the few spelling errors and hasty sentences in your essay.</p>

<p>Awesome job, archdelux. Hope you plan on attending if accepted. :)</p>

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<p>Thanks Brinestorm! I was counting on this essay to make up for my horrible class rank.. hope it works...</p>

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<p>any other comments/opinions?</p>

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<p>thumbs up, archdelux. i hope you get in!</p>

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<p>I only read the first part. I found it very tough going. It read to me like an indulgent blog entry. I think the most important thing is that you did not format it.</p>

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<p>an indulgent blog entry? what are you talking about, that was one creative essay!</p>

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<p>bettina:</p>

<p>well about the formatting - I did format it, though when i copy/pasted it here, the formatting went away. Why did you find it 'very tough going'?</p>

<p>Thanks for your comments.</p>

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<p>Oh, and thanks indytucker for your words of encouragement.. I hope i get in too.. </p>

<p>Do you think they might overlook a really bad class rank b/c of the essay?</p>

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<p>how bad? I'm kind of hoping the same thing...</p>

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<p>top 30%ish... My GPA isn't bad, but my school is very competitive, so my class rank is abysmal..</p>

<p>According to the stats, approx. 5% of their class is composed of students who are below the top 25%. I'm hoping that my essay pushes me into that catagory...</p>

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<p>yeah I'm in the top 20% or around there...my grades aren't that terrific either but my school is competitive and really doesn't have grade inflation. Anyone have an opinion on my essay (other essay post)?</p>

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<p>wow, your schools must really be competitive. I got in EA in the top 3% of my class, a lot of the other ea kids were right around there. You have a great essay so good luck, you'll probably need it. :-/</p>

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<p>I got EA at top 10% but my school doesnt weight grades so I think around half of the 30some people ahead of me have never touched an IB or AP class (I know the #1 kid hasnt)</p>

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<p>Very creative.</p>

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<p>thanks, loosecannon.. and I'm honored to be host to your very first post!</p>

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<p>yeah..i'm really hoping my essay makes up for my class rank/grades too.. it's a long shot but i sort of liked my essay, so we'll see, i guess. nervewrecking,though</p>