Graduate School Statement of Purpose

General Organization
Who you are, your intention in pursuing graduate study
More than simply: I love to read
Your academic trajectory
Intellectual interests
What background do I already have?
Work youve done: papers interested in preparing for publication
Dissertation: I would like to examine the relationship between X and Y
Make it open-ended
Other non-dissertation areas of interest
Secondary research, creative projects
How you see them as informing one another
If youre coming from a different discipline, how will that discipline shed
light on your new area of study
Their Program and Your Career Goals
Why you want a PhD from their University
How it will help you to achieve your career goals
How your research responds to departmental disciplinary needs
How your goals align with theirs, their mission, research interests,
approach to literature
How teaching assistantship will help you to achieve your career goals
Libraries, cultural opportunities in the area
Library of Congress, Folger Shakespeare Theatre, etc.
Clear, direct statement articulating why you want to study there and how this program
can help you achieve your goals.
Demonstrate that you are in it for the long haul, will overcome obstacles
More than just I want to teach college

Things to Consider:
Audience and Purpose
Think: Whos reading the letters?
Mission Statements
How you fit in with them
Familiarity with critical theory and field of literature
See what theyve published
Tailor your goals to their goals
Propriety
Do you reference wanting to study with ___?
Disagreement about this point
Best policy: dont
 Mention particular area of interest, show that your research interests coincide
with theirs
Multiple faculty with similar research interests
Tone and Style
Convey Enthusiasm!
A sense of who you are as an individual (show vs. tell)
Adopt a persona: favorite professor
Balance
Lively and professional
Confident but not cocky
Informed and Prepared but open
Theyre not expecting you to know everything before you start
Do show that youre invested and in it for the long haul
Pepper with 1st generation college student, disabled veteran
Non-literature programs: rhet/comp, library science, humanities

How have your previous studies prepared you for their program?
 Writing Your CV

What is a CV and how is it different than a resume?

Includes more information; its exhaustive in its scope and should capture the entirety of
your academic trajectory (basically so that you audience can see where youre going and
where youve been)
Should be formatted in standard typeface (without being bland)

What information should be included and into how much depth should I go?
Contact information (obviously)
If you havent created a website yet, do so. Weebly and Wordpress offer intuitive
and free tools that allow you to create a professional looking website quickly.
Furthermore, you receive analytics on how many people are viewing your site
(which is helpful, but nerve wracking).
What if Ive already presented information on my statement of purpose?
It depends how detailed you were on the statement of purpose. If you only
included a sentence or two about your thesis, feel free to include a more in-depth
discussion. If, however,
Should I explain any of the projects Im associated with?
Sure. Especially if the projects are relevant to your field of study or are hot trends
in academia (digital humanities, for example). If youve been involved with an
organization like STD that has standardized roles and responsibilities, you
wouldnt want to be overly verbose about your work, as its likely that the
admissions committee would be familiar with the responsibilities

In what order do I present the information?

What ideas and experiences do you want to highlight?
What is your schools focus?
Do you want to position yourself and a scholar, a teacher, or a hybrid of
the two?
This will determine what information is presented where
Contact information and education always go first
Typically, you will include a brief synopsis of your thesis project. If, however, you didnt
complete a thesis option, you can move on to other ideas.
If youre attending a school at the forefront of a particular field (say University of
Chicago for critical thought or UNC-Chapel Hill for Southern Studies) its not a
bad idea to list your research interests first to draw attention there.
Youll want to highlight both your teaching and research experience. Which order is up to
you. Should you be applying for a teaching assistantship its best to list that information
first. On the other hand, if you want a research fellowship it would behoove you to place
your research portfolio at the forefront of your documents.
 If you dont have either, thats fine - you wont be the first to apply to graduate
school without these experiences. Its important, however, to relay what sorts of
other experiences you can bring to the table.
If youve been a part of student government, helped plan workshops or
conferences, substitute taught a class, or helped a professor with research you
can note all of this information.
Further, if you have a (at least pseudo) literary blog, you can list that.
You should not the professional organizations to which you belong
This would be groups like the MLA, SAMLA, PCA/ACA, SSSL, Emily Dickinson
Society
If youve received funding or acclaim for any of your projects be sure to highlight that
Funding and awards from outside organizations should be highlighted more
prominently than those from within your institution

References
The final item to include on your CV is a list of references
Be sure to ask your references far in advance if they would be willing to write
letters and respond to requests for information about you
The reference entry should include the references name, position, phone
number, and email. Include additional information only if the school to which
youre applying asks for it (and if your reference is comfortable with you sharing
that information)