<p>I’m writing about how a major illness I had, has changed/affected my life. I want to make it powerful, but I don’t want to make it “pitiful.” I mean like, how do I write about the painful part without sounding like I’m trying to get the adcom to “feel sorry” for me? I’m not sure if I’m making sense. I’m not trying tell some sentimental story about how horrible things were, you know? I’m hoping to tell about how I turned something negative into something positive. Let me know if you need more information, and I’d appreciate any advice/suggestions that you have. Thank you.</p>
<p>ok, perhaps instead of writing to the illness, talk about how you overcame it… by showing your strengths and your qualities you divert attention away from feelings of pity, think about it, if someone recognizes your ability to do something, that would well overshadow any “i was sick feel bad for me” sentiments… write to the positives!</p>
<p>I recently read a book titled <em>Letter to a Man In the Fire</em>, by Reynolds Price, about his battle with cancer, a battle that left him paralyzed. He described the physical effects in a dispassionate, straightforward way, and talked about his emotional pain similarly. It was more powerful because he did not dramatize it, even though the reader knew he had suffered. I doubt you have time to read the book, (sometime do, if you get a chance) but this technique might be helpful to you.</p>
<p>I agree with momof3. Her approach is discussed, and an example given, at the following site at UVa:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/writingtheessay.html[/url]”>http://www.virginia.edu/undergradadmission/writingtheessay.html</a></p>
<p>A well-written example of how to talk about how cancer (or whatever your illness was) changes your life is Lance Armstrong’s <em>It’s Not About the Bike</em>. I very much like his perspective of “I got cancer, I was determined to beat it, it nearly beat me, that sucked, I lived, it changed me.” It’s far from dispassionate; in fact, it’s his passion that makes the book work. </p>
<p>The adcom will only pity you if you ask for pity; if you work at him/her recognizing the changes the illness wrought, you’ll get there.</p>
<p>Good luck with it.</p>
<p>ok, pretty generic advice here, but write how you feel…</p>
<p>you say you don’t want their pity, well if you truly have that state of mind it’ll show in your essay</p>