<p>Hi everyone, I am a rising senior and was planning to write my essays over the summer. Poverty is an issue that means a lot to me and I even did a photographic documentary on poverty and travelled to Iran, Belize, Egypt and Russia to see and document poverty to spread word about it here in America. I had a few questions about my essay</p>
<li>Would it be too risky/political to make my personal statement about what figure in history has affected you and use Karl Marx? Is he too controvertial a figure even if I state that I disagree with what communism has become and the concept of revolution/violence to achieve equality?</li>
<li>Would it sound too much as if I am preaching instead of speaking about myself if I say in my intro “Not only is it contemptible, it is a surrender of one’s values to see injustice and allow it to thrive”?</li>
<li>Is it overall too risky a message in that conservative readers would see such an essay as too reverent of communism even if I chose to write the essay not on Marx but on my travels specifically or of the cause of fighting poverty?</li>
<li>Is it too cliche a topic?</li>
<li>Overall what do you think of the idea?</li>
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<p>Just a note, whichever I choose, I would make it centered on how I have been changed by my seeing poverty firsthand and the essay would be about me ultimately.</p>
<p>You seem to be trying to fit an idea you have for an essay into what you think may be the prompts for your applications. I would recommend that you wait until the applications become available. Then make sure your essay actually addresses the essay prompt and that it is an honest representation of you so that colleges can choose whether they think you’ll be a good fit. Avoid writing about “one” and just write about yourself.</p>
<p>Alot of people write about your topic. You should try to focus on one aspect that appeals to you and build upon that. If you are just going to talk about how misfortune people are, then your essay won’t make as much of an impact.</p>
<p>Alright, thanks I’ll focus it more on myself and how my experiences with poverty have impacted me but do you believe the issue is too political, especially if I speak about Marx in a positive light?</p>
<p>Although your readers aren’t especially likely to be conservative, choosing Marx seems like a particularly divisive route to go. If poverty is your passion project, you’re probably better served writing about someone who fought it on a grassroots level.</p>
<p>If poverty is your topic, why are you trying to squeeze Marx into the essay as well? You don’t have a lot of space in these essays to write about yourself, Marx and poverty all in the same essay. What prompt are you trying to address here?</p>