Hey guys...Please critique the last of my chicago essays,it's really urgent!Thanks:)
University of Chicago
Supplemental essay.
"Dog and cat. Coffee and tea .Great Gatsby and Catcher in the Rye. Everyone knows there are two types of people in the world. What are they?"
There are two types of people in the world. Those who thought the world would end in the year 2000 and those who didn't.
It was the year 1999.Apart from being preoccupied with sky-blue Levi's/Guess jeans, mullets, tie and dye shirts and the sitcom "friends", the world was also nervously contemplating the unspeakable. The world, as we knew it, would logically have to come to an end. Two thousand, being the round figure it was, and indeed being divisible exactly by ten (a widely held analysis) was a sure sign that the time had come for us to perish. Dim the lights. Cue the tension music. Thunder and lightning.
So the world was split into two kinds of people .Camp" It's all over!" and camp" We shall live." The two groups had two completely different ideologies. Over on camp "It's all over", speculation was the fuel for the death train. Because death was now imminent, people went to the extremes to squeeze every modicum of worldly pleasure out of the few remaining moments on the planet. Inheritances were cashed and the proceeds pumped into island holidays. More straws were plunged into coconuts than ever before. Precious art was sold for a pittance or even given away." We won't need these we we're going! "I remember my aunt saying of her beautiful granite sculptures. Scores were settled, hatchets were buried and fearsome confessions uttered. It was all over.
Meanwhile on camp" We shall live", the atmosphere was noticeably more relaxed. Until, of course, it was discovered that computers, as we knew them, would go berserk. Experts concluded in no uncertain terms that due to the Dot com /http: serial downgrade|#en source&##Port, it was imperative and urgent that computers be loaded with a cutting edge software to guard against the cyber onslaught of Armageddon.Otherwise, they would have to be thrown away or burnt en masse.Many like myself in Zimbabwe who did not own computers at the time secretly wondered whether our digital watches would succumb to the same fate. We had to wait to wait and see.
On the morning of January 1st, 2000, the sun was shining brightly, the birds were chirping happily and the clouds were as crisp as ever. And umm...No. No we had not died in our sleep and yes, the tedium of Y2K compliance had generally been both futile and unnecessary. Diaphragms worldwide heaved a mighty sigh of relief." It was a miscalculation!" declared the Y2K guys."Oh, sorry, we made a mistake. So the world must end in 2100 then!" the end-of-the -world -guys announced. Both camps were wrong. No need for alarm. Both arguments had fallen flat. There was no winner. It was a stalemate. We could all relax.
So there you have it. There are two types of people in the world, those who thought the world would end in the year 2000 and those who didn't .We all thought one thing or the other: Either death, or life without the PC.Ten years later, we're still around. In the end, I'm glad both groups lived.
Oh wow, I love your idea. And the way it's written.
I don't know how the university will take it, though. I don't know what they want. But I suppose they'd remember it, so that's half the battle won:)
Thanks for your comments!The challenge was their topics,they are very bizarre!The alternative was"Find x" so I was completely confused!I hope it's taken well:)
I know, I wrote the 'find x' topic, and then decided that I'm not applying to UChicago. The topics are ridiculous, but fun to write:).
Hi.
This essay is definitely interesting to read. The language and style of this essay is excellent. Transitions between paragraphs are smooth. The entire essay is clear and easy to understand.
However, I think this essay is a little bit 'far' from your own life. However bizarre college essay topic is, I think we'll still have to produce an essay that shows our own personality. The only two times 'you' are brought up in the essay is the part about your aunt and your digital watch. This makes your essay sound much less personal, which I think is something we need to avoid. I think you can improve this by introducing 'you' first in the 'we shall live camp' and make yourself the center of all the observations that you have described. This way you are much more involved. Maybe you can try to squeeze yourself somewhere in the concluding paragraphs too!
G L~
So, this essay is about if we will have to continue our lives without the PC?
There are 2 types of people in the world... which type are you?! You went through the entire essay without telling us which side you are on. I think that defeats the whole purpose of the essay. So add a personal connection to the story that you are telling and it will become ten times better.
Thanks for your comments guys:)I think I misunderstood the topic.It says" there are two types of people in the world,what are THEY?"Is this question asking for my view of the world or is it asking for a personal story?.I took it to mean that I should define people in the world according to their preference of one thing or idea over the other.Is this it or am I lost completely?I need your help!
Here's my view of the topic: the fact that they have given such abstract topics means that they are up for interpretation, however you choose. It's just a good idea to write something you have a personal connection with, it tells the reader more about you.
Here's what I took the 'find x' thing to mean: a personal journey, possibly an unresolved one, with the end an abstract 'x'. Likewise, there was one that went something like 'If you had the power to dissolve one ting in the world, what would you dissolve and what solvent would you use' and I thought that would mean a quality in the world that you dislike and the way you would hide it or bury it or whatever.
If you've got the time to, just give it a break and return to it in a while, hope for serendipity, cause I think that really is the best way to do this. Possibly switch topics, write something else, give yourself some distance and then try again. It's too abstract to think logically. If you don't have time, list all the events in your life where you made a choice. The other type of people in the world are people who made the other choice.
That's just my interpretation of the topics though, there are a million other ways to. Hope this helped!
I think that essay is really interesting and fun to read. I don't really know how the college will interpret it but i do like it a lot! I think it's too hard to follow and little abstract but you have the right idea, just continue and build from there
