<p>Hey everyone, after months of stalking CC threads I've finally decided to join myself. I'm writing an essay for U Chicago and I chose this prompt:</p>
<p>ESSAY OPTION 4.
...I [was] eager to escape backward again, to be off to invent a past for the present." The Rose Rabbi by Daniel Stern
Present: pres·ent
1. Something that is offered, presented, or given as a gift.
Lets stick with this definition. Unusual presents, accidental presents, metaphorical presents, re-gifted presents, etc. pick any present you have ever received and invent a past for it.</p>
<p>I'm writing an essay about a pendant my late aunt gave me years ago, and about how it has a secret past where it belonged to royalty, was stolen by a chambermaid, something along those lines. I was wondering if it would be weird if I wrote it in third person? In the beginning I talk about my aunt and the village and home she lived in, and for the story part I want the pendant's past to be hidden, unknown even to me, and the only way I can do that is if I write in third person. Would it seem pretentious, distant, too storybook-like? I can't decide. I know it's quite unusual, and if I can pull it off maybe U Chicago would be into that sort of thing? Or should I just play it safe and somehow discover its past?</p>
<p>Why on earth would you want to “discover” its past when the directions to the essay topic state clearly that you are to invent one? This is an invitation to be creative, so do it. Go all out! </p>
<p>Oh, and here’s my middle-aged rant: I might have killed to write an essay like that one back when I was applying to schools. Instead, our topics were along the lines of “write about an influential person,” “tell about an experience that changed you.” Yawn…</p>
<p>I don’t think you understood what I meant. I will invent a past, but I want it to be a secret past that I don’t know about - thus, I’ll have to write in third person. If I write in first person, I’ll “discover” it’s invented past, so that I know about it.</p>
<p>Okay, gotcha. I think it’s fine to write in the third person. They want a creative essay, so I can’t imagine them putting constraints like requiring it to be in the first person. Ask your GC if you have doubts, though.</p>
<p>Great school (if a harsh climate)! Good luck to you.</p>
<p>But, in general, everything you write is a bit of a test. Whether it’s a short answer or an essay, they want to see what they can learn about you. So, rememember, they aren’t looking for your creative writing skills, (eg, if this were a short story assignment about the locket.) In that respect, I think 3rd person is tricky. I personally find writing in the first person an easier way to convey thoughts, values, and reactions. 3rd person is often more tell than “show.”</p>
<p>Well, I don’t know which is better. However, and with all respect to lookingforward, who certainly made a relevant point, I’m a bit surprised that you would back off of your idea so (seemingly) easily. And seemingly reluctantly. </p>
<p>This is something that you were excited about. Why don’t you think it over a bit more? Think about how you could take account of lookingforward’s comment but still make your idea work? </p>
<p>You can always use first person if you have to.</p>