<p>How do you keep college essays from sounding “corny”? </p>
<p>It seems to me, from looking at the topics: </p>
<p>What have you learned from __<strong><em>?
How did _</em></strong> made you a different person?
How did ____ have a significant influence on you and how did you change because of it?</p>
<p>All of this seems to me like it would be really corny. i.e. this happened, and I changed into a better person/matured because of it. Even if you were to tell an anecdote that would describe the change, or write flawlessly well to describe the change without expressly stating xyz happened and then I learned abc, it still seems to me any type of essay describing this would eventually be corny. </p>
<p>Help?</p>
<p>It’s only corny if you don’t believe in what you’re writing about. If one is cyncial enough everything positive can be viewed as corny. But I understand your concern. To avoid “corniness” avoid platitudes or cliches and use details. The themes of your essays can be of a tried and true natures which can be corny in some regad but it’s the execution or the embodiment of that theme that shouldn’t be corny. It’s okay to use “corny” themes, but don’t write them in a corny way. To illustrate with a corny example. Batman as a theme can be corny, but the execution of Batman The Animated Series is anything but corny (it’s one of the best shows I’ve ever followed), but the Adam West Batman (no offense to children of the 60s) is campy and corny.</p>
<p>To illustrate with a precise and salient example, “What have you learned from volunteering?” In this essay, do a good job in describing the volunteer situation. Make the details and points your own. Avoid brining in volunteering cliches such as “doing my part” or the “volunteering made me feel good inside”. Instead, describe why and how you got involved in a particular volunteer cause. Explain the life events that lead you up to that path. Describe volunteering in the way the Batman Animated Series would describe and avoid the POW,! WOW! ZAP! of the Adam West Batman, unless your genuine intent is to be zany because there is something genuine in that “corniness”. </p>
<p>Bottomline, I wouldn’t disparage corniness only if it “bores the reader” and "distract the reader from getting to know the real you or the real Batman.</p>
<p>I hope those two analogies helped. </p>
<p>Best of luck in writing your essay!!</p>
<p>James</p>