Personal Statement - English Literature 3

Why do you want to study this course or subject?

My passion for literature comes from its ability to so directly seize my imagination. It can present worlds beyond that which we have experienced and continually encourages me to develop and question my ideas. For me, the beauty of language is that it can explore our world with elegance and poignancy. ‘Hamlet’ captivates me because its language is so rich with questions of morality and mortality. My compulsion to gain a deeper understanding of a text comes from an admiration of its complexity.

Poetry is one of my main passions. I find it to be the most direct synthesis of individual thought. It continually inspires me and opens my mind to new ideas. Charles Simic said, ‘Poetry is a place where all the fundamental questions are asked about the human condition’. My biggest inspiration has come from the Beat Poets: I identify strongly with their feelings of conflict between the individual and modern industrial society and their search for new ways of thinking. Ginsberg is one of my favourite poets, particularly his poem, ‘The Sunflower Sutra’. I find his love for that which is so ugly, fascinating: he perseveres in seeing beauty with an almost reckless optimism, all the while surrounded by a world that is detestable in so many ways. The theme of seeing beauty in that which is ordinary is reflected in my art interests, particularly Edward Hopper and Dmitri Cavanderm (which I have explored in my own work). As well as with Ginsberg, I love how writers, such as T.S. Elliot and other modernist poets, use and juxtapose unusual imagery to present ideas.

Literature is a vehicle we can use to venture through past and present worlds but it is also a medium we can use to help construct the world of the future. To me, it is a gift and a blessing.

How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?

My approach to Literature has been widened by studying the disciplines of art and sociology. These have enabled me to develop a holistic understanding of the human condition through an exploration of a range of contexts behind writing. How writers portray male masculinity fascinates me, such as Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’ and through characters Biff and Willy Lowman, from ‘Death of a Salesman’; characters whose male identities contend with cultural expectations at the time. Stemming from these and other novels such as ‘1984’, as well as ‘Brave New World’, I am interested in how writers react to, and present political ideas: Orwell’s totalitarian nightmare, or Miller’s vicious attack on the ‘American Dream’ and the flaws within modern American capitalism. With one of my favourite poets and also jazz musician Gil Scott-Heron, I have found it incredibly interesting to research the context surrounding his work -Black Liberation and the racial contentions of the period. My sociological background has been key here in enabling me to better analyse the presentation of characters and their contexts, whether set in the past or the future.

What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?

I have a very active interest in creative writing and last year, from over a hundred applicants of 16-21 year olds, I was selected as one of fifteen to join Yorkshire’s Writing Squad. With the squad I have attended day-school workshops as well as having my own writing reviewed. I have been strongly encouraged to explore my own expression and would like to develop my own skills into performance poetry and hopefully publish some of my work. I am looking for opportunities to carry my creative writing forward into higher education and beyond, as well as enhancing it with what I learn from other writers.

In my school I have co-established a Sixth Form Reading Group; I perform in the school choir alongside teaching myself acoustic guitar. Outside of school I am a qualified BSAC scuba diver; I have dived in England and abroad. I’m an avid rock climber and an experienced unicycler –I entered the British Unicycle Trials and Street competitions of 2007- as well as helping to establish a nationwide unicycling organisation (NUTs –Northern Unicycle Trial sessions).

Universities applied to:

• Cambridge
• Birmingham
• King's College London
• UCL
• Bristol

How personal statements have changed?

The current personal statement format, with three 'scaffolding' questions, was introduced by Ucas in September 2025. This personal statement was submitted before then, using the old essay-style format. It has been carefully edited into the three-question format, with all of the original wording kept.

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