THE Essay

Colleges & Universities Harvard University
1

<p>hey
i was wondering how formal essays to HYP has to be? My essay isn’t totally formal but isnt radically freeform either. Sometimes, (rarely) i have capital letters in the middle of my sentences for emphasis, like “…he was That Person…”, not because i cant spell, but for the literary effect. I also have sentences without verbs etc, but the capital letters are more important. Do you think i can do this?</p>

<p>When I first gave my essay to a teacher, it was formal and stuck to structure. then she edited it for me, and now it’s more succinct (with short sentences without verbs etc) and she kept the capital letters in. I quite like this version 'cause i think it grabs people’s attention more. Now i’ve given this to another teacher, and she totally hates my capitals, calling it what “fourth graders do before they’ve learn to spell” and she doesn’t like my short sentences either. She thinks that the essay has to be fairly formal and she’s putting a lot of pressure on me to change it. Do you think I should?</p>

2

<p>Don’t lose yourself in other people’s criticisms.</p>

3

<p>jeez
just be yourself</p>

4

<p>Which ever one you like more.</p>

5

<p>yeh i like my one more…i think i’ll pretend to change it but really won’t. It’s annoying though, how two teachers can tell me one thing and another tell me something else.</p>

6

<p>Yeah…I wrote two essays and one teacher like my first and the other liked my second…they were about two totally different things. But I ended up picking the one I had more fun writing.</p>