How to Write a Great Statement of Purpose英文

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1、HowtoWriteaGreatStatementofPurposeVinceGoteraEnglishLanguageandLiteratureUniversityofNorthernIowaJanuary2006TheStatementofPurposerequiredbygradschoolsisprobablythehardestthingyouwilleverwrite.(Incidentally,thestatementofpurposemayalsobecalledanApplicationEssay,ObjectivesforGraduateStud

2、y,PersonalBackground,CoverLetter,orsomecomparabletitle.)Iwouldguessvirtuallyallgrad-schoolapplicants,whentheywritetheirfirstdraftofthestatementofpurpose,willgetitwrong.Muchofwhatyouhavelearnedaboutwritingandalsoabouthowtopresentyourselfwillleadyouastray.Forexample,here'sanopeningtoatyp

3、icalfirstdraft:IamapplyingtotheMasterofFineArtsprogramincreativewritingattheUniversityofOkobojibecauseIbelievemywritingwillblossomatyourprogramsinceitisaplacewhereIwillbechallengedandIcanhonemywritingskills.How'sthat?It'sclear,it'sdirect,andit"strokes"theMFAprogram,right?Wrong.Allofiti

4、sobviousandextraneous.TheadmissionscommitteeknowsyouareapplyingtotheirMFAprogrambecauseeveryoneinthestacksofapplicationstheyarereadingisapplyingforthesamething.Theadmissionscommitteewillalsoknowthatyourwritingwill"blossom"theresincetheyfeeltheyhaveastrongprogram.Ofcourseyouwillbechalle

5、nged—allundergradsgoingontoagradprogramwillbechallenged,nomatterhowwell-preparedtheythinktheyare.Andofcoursethenewgradstudentwill"hone[her]writingskills"—isn'tthatthemainpurposeoftheMFAprogram?Let'sassumetherequiredlengthofthisparticularprogram'sstatementofpurposeis300words.Well,withth

6、isopeningyouwillhaveusedup15%ofyourspacesayingvirtuallynothing.15%!Infact,notonlyisthisopeningparagraphobvious,extraneous,andspace-stealing,it'sboring!Imaginewho'sreadingthisandwhere:fiveprofessors"locked"inaroomwith500applications.Doyouthinkthisopeningparagraphwillcommandtheirattentio

7、n?Willtheyreadtherestofthisstatementofpurposewithanopenmindthatthisapplicantisthekindofstudenttheywant?Willtheyrememberthisapplicationlater?Youbethejudge.Rememberwhatyoulearnedinfirst-yearcomposition?Youneeda"hook."Aformerstudentofmineapplyingtoenteramaster'sprograminlibraryscienceha