Essay Topics

Essay Topics Reflecting on those experiences will give you ideas for creative, unique ways you can portray them to admissions officers. Some places like the Common App will release the essay prompts from previous years, if you want to get an idea of what topics you might be asked to write about. A common application usually includes extracurricular activities, self-taught language courses, volunteering, your projects, training or hobbies. What makes all these hooks stand out is the element of curiosity that forces readers to wonder how the entire story unfolds. Reflect on experiences or turning points in your life that shaped your perception of the world. Once you've drafted your essay, reread and edit it more than once. Read your essay first to make sure that it says exactly what you want it to say. Then read it again for spelling and grammar errors. Once you've chosen the topic for you essay, write a first draft. Don't worry about making it perfect, just write down everything you can think of that relates to your topic. Also, you can recall some jokes or personal anecdote to dilute your story with catchy, humorous elements. Applicants who qualify for TruMerit Automatic Admission will have the admission essay requirement waived for admission review. For competitive scholarship consideration, all applicants are encouraged to submit an essay. Using Academized reliable service is the best way to ensure you get accepted to your chosen place of study. We know what admissions boards want and we know how to give it them while still using your voice and your ideas. Start your essay with a good quote or a statement that reflects your whole theme perfectly. Make sure you write real experiences and do not make up stories. Make sure that your essay does not exceed the maximum word and page length. This might mean cutting out whole sentences or it might mean using fewer words to say the same thing. Mash up a historical figure with a new time period, environment, location, or occupation, and tell us their story. Each year we email newly admitted and current College students and ask them for essay topics. We receive several hundred responses, many of which are eloquent, intriguing, or downright wacky. The University of Chicago has long been renowned for our provocative essay questions. Especially considering how short these essays usually are and that the general rule of thumb is to stick to just one point to expand on. And then there’s the danger of using too many clichés! Recount an incident in your life when this happened to you, and reflect on how the experience changed you. Start with a few lines that introduce the topic of your essay in a compelling and personal way. Unless otherwise specified, use 1.5 or double spacing for your essay, format it with a one-inch margin all around and clearly delineate your paragraphs using a single space tab. Editing and rewriting should be done in sections, and after you are satisfied that each of it is in order, move on to the next section. We think of them as an opportunity for students to tell us about themselves, their tastes, and their ambitions. They can be approached with utter seriousness, complete fancy, or something in between. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 91,698 times. Word counts depend on the college or university in question. Don't feel like you have to limit yourself to the five-paragraph intro, body, body, body, conclusion format. When it comes to telling your story and sharing how valuable your experience will be to a school, portray it in the format that will be the most attractive to the school. Don't try to copy someone else's tone in your writing. You don't have to sound like anyone else, you just have to sound like you. An easy way to write in your own voice is by avoiding clichés. Don't use phrases that you've heard repeated over and over, unless you can put your own, creative spin on them. For example, your essay might focus on a situation where you found yourself questioning or challenging one of your own beliefs.

Cordelias Confidence The Impact of King Lears Youngest Daughters Self-Assurance - Literature Essay Samples

In the first scene of the first act of King Lear Cordelia, Lears youngest daughter, is banished from his sight forever. As per his decree, she does not return to the stage until the end of the drama. Yet Cordelias actions and attitude reverberate throughout the play, revealing Lears motivations and conveying Shakespeares message to the audience. Specifically, her character is used to illustrate the importance of being self-assured. Contrasted with Cordelias confident perseverance, it becomes clear that Lears self-doubt is responsible for his inability to rule and his eventual downfall. The actions taken by the king and his daughter clearly show their sharply contrasting levels of confidence. The implications of this divide are manifest in the reactions of other characters and in the unexpected transfer of power from Lear to Cordelia. This emphasis on attitude also speaks to one of the plays larger themes; the ultimate importance of internal motivation and individual action.King Lear opens with Lear preparing to divide his kingdom among his three daughters. But when Cordelia refuses to indulge her father in his request for a verbal qualification of her love she is banished. The lands and the power are subsequently divided between the two remaining daughter, both of whom are more than willing help bolster their fathers ego. But at soon as Cordelia leaves Lears world begins to fall apart. The daughters to whom he gave everything oust him, and subsequently Lear goes mad. By the time Cordelia returns to rescue her father the kingdom is in a state of totally chaos. Through everything Cordelia remains strong and self-confident, holding fast in the wind of her fathers rage and her sisters hate. It is her personal empowerment that allows her to keep on in the face of adversity so powerful it drives the insecure king mad.As they follow this plot the audience is forced to wonder why such powerful adversity is surmounted by a little girl rather than a mighty sovereign. I ndeed, it seems very strange that Lears last and least should turn out to be a woman of such strength (I.i.82) The answer is that Shakespeare purposefully ascribes this quality to the most insubstantial character in the play, to illustrate just how important attitude is. Cordelias station could not be more trivial: she is a woman, she is the youngest of her siblings, and she is repeatedly described as being physically small. The self-confidence that she displays is the only power that she possesses. Because she is able to endure so much with only that power it is clear to the audience that the question of self-belief is one of absolute importance.Cordelias empowered attitude is most vividly displayed in the first scene of the play. King Lear tells his daughter that he wants to each of them to tell him how much they love their father so that he can divide his kingdom accordingly. It is vital to note that at this point Cordelia has more at stake than either of her sisters. For Go neril and Regan the portion they receive from the king is simply a matter of power and material possession. Conversely, the land Cordelia will receive is her dowry. This fact is made quite apparent when Lear who points out that Cordelias suitors are both come to the kingdom to seek her hand in marriage. But even with this added incentive Cordelia is not compelled to placate the king with false flattery. Because she has nothing to gain by not telling Lear what he wants to hear, we can only assume that Cordelia is motivated by her integrity. In fact, Cordelia is in faces great peril, because of her defiance. Unlike her sisters, she is yet unmarried, and would therefore have nowhere to go if cast out of the kingdom. Cordelias willingness to risk so much in order to uphold her ideals shows the audience that she is truly a self-confident individual.Her poise is highlighted again at the end of this first scene when Cordelia and her husband to be are left alone with her two wicked sisters . Though she is younger than they are, smaller than they are, and now disfavored and powerless in their realm she is not intimidated by them. In fact she offers the a thinly veiled threat, who cover faults, at last shame derides. (I.i.281) Once again, Cordelia shows that she is not a puppet of circumstance; she is confident regardless of the situation that finds herself in. Lears contrasting lack of confidence is all too clear in this first scene. His decision to make his daughters verbalize their love in return for their portion of the kingdom is nothing more than a royal ego-trip. Similarly, the severe reaction Lear has to Cordelias silence can only be explained by a negative self-image that leaves him dependent on outside approval. This dependence leaves him vulnerable to those around him, crippling his ability to lead effectively.But nowhere is Lears insecurity more conspicuous and unsettling then in his monologue of Act II, scene iv. Stripped of his entourage and his power t o command Lear falters: I will have such revenges on you both,That all the world shall  ­ I will do such things  ­ What they are, yet I know not; but they shall beThe terrors of the earth! (II.iv.275)Suddenly Lear is drowning in his anger; helplessly flailing about a sea of frustration and confusion. His threats are overblown, so overblown that they seem child-like. Indeed, like a child, Lear cannot even complete his sentences. After this speech there can be no question that without the trappings kingship Lear is totally powerless. Once again the audience must ask how a man so vulnerable could ever have reigned over a kingdom. ***Kent France react to Cordelia proving that she acts out of self-confident pride***Shakespeare emphasizes the importance of self-confidence through a series of role reversals that see young, small, feminine Cordelia attain much of the power that is lost to her father, the king. In these examples the audience is shown how will power and strength of char acter can overcome natural determinism. In scene one Lear informs his Regan and Goneril that he will maintain one hundred knights in his service once he has passed on the crown. In the early parts of the play such attendants surround Lear constantly, ready to act on his command. But no sooner has Lear passed on his crown then his entourage is taken away from him. The two daughters to whom he gave everything take away his last vestiges of sovereignty. Lears insecurity lead him to give power to the daughters who stroked his ego, rather than to the one that truly loved him. With that in mind it is easy to see how Lears insecurity contributed to his loss of power. When Cordelia comes to retrieve he lost father she commands, A century send forth that they may look for Lear (IV.iv.6) It is no coincidence that she commands a battalion of one hundred men. On the contrary, Shakespeare is telling the audience that the power Lear once had has been transferred to Cordelia. What Lears self-dou bt had lost his young daughters self-confidence has won. A more touching image, which conveys the same idea, takes place at the end of act four, when Lear has returned to his senses. Here Lear stops Cordelia from bowing to him and instead he lowers himself before her. The aged king willingly bows to his littlest daughter. Though it is done on a much more personal, and emotionally significant level, this scene also conveys the power of Cordelias self-belief. By never compromising her integrity, even when there was much to be lost, Cordelia has earned the respect and admiration of her father the king. Here he has finally realized that his ego is to blame for all of his problems; in bowing to her he acknowledges that she had what was needed to reign successfully all along. The notion that self-confidence leads to triumph seems, thus far, to be a compelling one. Yet, one might be tempted to think that the murder of Cordelia undermines the entire theory. After all, if Cordelia and Lear both end up dead what compels us to think that her attitude was better in the first place? One might easily conclude that Shakespeare contrasts Lear and Cordelia, only so show the audience that regardless of anything actions they take the characters are merely pawns of fate. But why then does the playwright bother to illustrate the prominent differences in self-image and its divergent effects? The answer to this question can be found in act five scene two, where Cordelia speaks of confronting her evil sisters, until Lear convinces her that they are not worth thinking about. In this exchange the audience sees a subdued battle between Cordelias confrontational self-assurance and Lears passive timidity. When Cordelia acquiesces, going quietly with her father as a prisoner, Lears self-doubt has won. Though they are happy, Cordelia is no longer in full possession of the sense of personal empowerment that characterizes her throughout the play. With this scene is mind it is clear that Cord elias death supports, rather than undermines, the theme that power and success require confidence. The theme brought out by Cordelias character implies that self-assurance is more powerful than any natural state, be it age, size, or rank. This notion supports the larger thesis that self-determination is more powerful than fate which runs throughout the tragedy. As Edmund proclaims in act one, scene two, I should have been that I am (rough and lecherous) had the maidenliest star in the firmament twinkled on my bastardizing. Here he rejects fates power to control him, asstering himself as the master of his own fate. Edmunds tendency to evil in spite of his birth is much like Cordelias rise to authority despite the position that she was born into. Though she is a young female,Cordelias actions illustrate Shakespeares message, that every man can and must take responsibility for their own destiny.