UVa Essay: What is your favorite word?
"Now, whilst your purpled hands do reek and smoke, fulfill your pleasure."
I'll never forget this line from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar; not because it's a beautiful line in a wonderful play, or because my tenth grade English teacher made me memorize the passage it came from, or because I connect with the sentiment in a creepy, masochistic way. I'll never forget this line because it is the quintessential example of my favorite word, cacophony.
Just like ethereal, nefarious, and zephyr, the sound of the word cacophony amalgamates (another great word) with its meaning to create an unforgettable whole. Cacophony is the place where form meets function. It is a beautiful, happy, wonderful place. I imagine it as a giant carnival with pretty music where everything is free.
While my enthusiasm for this word might be ridiculous, it is rooted in a more solid (though slightly pretentious) idea. Cacophony is the secret to art. See, it isn't just about the sound of a word matching its meaning; it's about the sound of someone's message matching their idea.
Use discordant sounds to convey an acrimonious idea. Use dark colors to shed light on a dark scene. Let the good be beautiful. Or, create something horrible, and call it wonderful, and watch the world learn from their own cognitive dissonance. This is the place where the look and the feel and the taste is also the whole and the meaning. Cacophony is in this place; this place is art.
Too pretentious? Maybe. And they idea kind of bores me now. *sigh* In fact I didn't even like it that much when I wrote it. But I have to write something.
Thanks for reading!
I think what you have so far is very good, but I also feel like your last paragraph has a lot of room to be expanded and made more meaningful.
Hope this helps! Also, please check out my short answer if you get a chance.
I'm not 100% sure of this, but I think admissions would prefer that you excise those contractions (e.g. I'll). It might make the essay seem too informal I guess XD.
Good use of vocabulary throughout the essay and I'm sure it matches your true "voice".
But I really think your conclusion needs more development. I don't know the character limit but I wouldn't worry about that right now and just expand the conclusion to make it more meaningful. You seem to elaborate on the idea quite a bit in the last paragraph but the message in the end kind of falls flat. I still didn't truly understand why it was so important to you from the last paragraph.
