在大学论文写作界，最大的误解是，大学论文是复杂的、棘手的任务，你只能通过几个小时的痛苦劳动来完成。好消息:这是完全错误的。
College Essay-Writing
The truth is that the college essay is simple.It doesn't need to be creative.It doesn't need to bewitty.It doesn't require fancy vocabulary.What it does needis to show you'll be SUCCESSFUL in college and beyond.(This blog post walksyou through how to make the case you'll succeed by aligning your essaywith the 5 traits colleges look for in applicants.)And,it's got to answer all the partsof the prompt.But that's about it.
事实上，大学论文很简单。它不需要创造性。它不需要诙谐。它不需要花哨的词汇。它所需要的是证明你会在大学和以后取得成功。(这篇博客将告诉你如何通过将你的文章与大学在申请人身上寻找的5个特质相匹配来证明你会成功。)它必须回答所有的提示。但仅此而已。
To show why this is actually astraight-forward process—in fact,one you can ace in just aboutfour hours for your longest one(see Myth 8 below)—we're goingto debunk the top eight myths about college essays.All the myths are relatedto that fundamental misconception about essays being complex—isn't it niceknowing that,for once,the truth is much simpler?
为了说明为什么这是一个很简单的过程——事实上，你可以在4个小时内完成你最长的一篇论文(见误区8)——我们将揭穿关于大学论文的8大误区。所有的误区都与关于文章复杂的基本误解有关——知道了这一次真相更简单，不是很好吗?
Myth 1:CollegeEssays Are About Showcasing Excellent Writing Skills
误区1:大学论文是用来展示优秀的写作技巧的
Reality:Essays are about showcasing your abilityto succeed in college and beyond.This means content matters:Your growth,whatyou've learned and why it makes you an ambitious,creative,motivated personwith great values.
事实:论文是用来展示你在大学以及以后取得成功的能力。这意味着内容很重要:你的成长，你学到了什么，为什么它让你成为一个雄心勃勃、有创造力、有上进心的人，拥有伟大的价值观。
What doesn't matter is style—with theexception of clarity.Clear writing scores points."Creative"writingalmost always costs points.That includes beautiful metaphors,clever analogiesand the rest of the literary arsenal that many students worry about showingoff.Time and energy devoted to this extraneous style stuff is leading youastray:Stay focused on clearly illustrating the experiences that prove you'llbe successful in college and beyond.
重要的是风格——除了清晰性。书写清晰可得分。“创意”写作几乎总是要付出分数。花在这些无关的文体上的时间和精力会让你误入歧途:要专注于清楚地说明那些能证明你在大学和以后会成功的经历。
Myth 2:ReadingStrong Example Essays Will Set You on the Right Path
误区2:阅读优秀的范例文章会让你走上正确的道路
Reality:Please don't.Here's what's most likelygoing to happen—and we say this because we've seen it so many times:You'regoing to latch on to the flashy parts in the essay that are actually extraneousto what makes it work.
现实:请不要。这是最有可能发生的事情——我们这么说是因为我们已经见过很多次了:你要抓住文章中浮华的部分，而这些部分实际上是无关紧要的。
As we said in Myth 1,descriptive languageis a distraction.It's the content that matters.But it's really hard not tolet a lovely turn of phrase turn your head when reading someone else's words.If you must read a sample essay,put on your Admissions Officer hat,and lookfor evidence that the student will be successful and exemplify the five traits.
正如我们在误区1中所说的，描述性的语言会分散注意力。重要的是内容。但是当你读别人的话的时候，你很难不被这些可爱的短语所吸引。如果你必须要读一篇范文，那就戴上你的招生官的帽子，寻找能证明你的学生将会成功的证据，并能证明你具备这五个特质。
Myth 3:ThePersonal Essay Is the Place to Tell Your Life Story
误区3:个人短文是讲述你的人生故事的地方
Reality:Your family background is rarely the most compellingthing about you.Instead,focus on experiences related to the five traits.
事实:你的家庭背景很少是你最引人注目的东西。相反，应该关注与这五种特质相关的经历。
Myth 4:First YouChoose Your Prompt,Then You Write Your Essay
误区4:首先你选择你的主题，然后写你的文章
Reality:Nope.The first thing you need to do isthink through what experiences in your life show you can succeed in college andbeyond.Once you've figured out what you want to say,scroll through yourprompt choices,and select the one(s)that let you say it.(In fact,even ifthe college doesn't give you a choice,this is a good method to make sure youranswer focuses on what matters.)
现实:不。你需要做的第一件事是思考你在生活中哪些经历能让你在大学或以后取得成功。一旦你想说什么，滚动你的提示选项，并选择一个(几个)让你说。(事实上，即使学校不给你选择的机会，这也是一个让你的答案集中在重要的事情上的好方法。)
Myth 5:Strong Essays Use Formal Writing and Impressive Vocab Words
误区5:优秀的文章使用正式的写作和令人印象深刻的词汇
Reality:Think of a college admissionsofficer.Think of all the essays they have to read.So many!!Now,give thatpoor soul a break.Stand out by being that essay that gets straight to thepoint,and wins their heart in the process.Great essays use a conversationaltone,including contractions(ex:"don't,""can't"),everyday words,the first person(I,me,my),and short,easy-to-follow sentences.Even sentence fragments,on occasion.Their focus ison succinctly telling a powerful story.A general rule of thumb–only use acomplex or compound sentence once every three sentences(max).
现实:想想大学招生官。想想他们要读的文章。这么多!!现在，饶了那个可怜的灵魂吧。写一篇直击主题的文章，从而赢得对方的好感，从而脱颖而出。优秀的文章使用对话式的语气，包括缩写(例如:“don’t，”“can’t”)，日常用语，第一人称(I,me,my)，以及简短、易于理解的句子。有时甚至是句子片段。他们的重点是简洁地讲述一个有力的故事。一个基本的经验法则——每三句话只使用一次复合句或复合句(最多)。
A note on adjectives:As Mark Twain once said,"If youcatch an adjective,kill it."Adjectives tend to weaken writing.In anydraft,go through and cut every instance of very,great,extremely,amazing and other superlatives.They just don't add value.The only adjectives you should keep are descriptive ones(ex:secretive,blue,box-shaped).
关于形容词的注解:正如马克·吐温曾经说过的，“如果你抓住了一个形容词，把它杀死。”形容词会削弱写作效果。在任何一份草稿中，都要仔细检查并删除非常、伟大、极其、惊人和其他最高级的每一个实例。它们只是不能增加价值。你只应该保留描述性的形容词(例如:神秘的，蓝色的，盒子形的)。
Myth 6:InSomething as High-Stakes as a College Essay,Students Always Answer the Promptin Full
误区6:在写大学论文这样高风险的事情上，学生总是会完整地回答问题
Reality:Admissions officers invariably tell us howoften they get essays that leave parts of the prompt unanswered.Colleges don'task questions they don't want the answers to.Yet smart,motivated studentsleave critical parts out all the time.Avoid this mistake by carefullyoutlining your answer to each prompt with clear notes for each part of thequestion.And,double check that you fully answered each question every timeyou review a draft.
事实:招生官员总是告诉我们，他们收到的论文有多少次没有回答部分问题。大学不会问他们不想要答案的问题。然而，聪明、积极的学生总是忽略关键的部分。为了避免这个错误，你可以仔细地列出每个题目的答案，并清楚地记下问题的每一部分。并且，每次看草稿的时候，都要仔细检查你是否回答了每个问题。
Myth 7:It'sAlways a Great Idea to Get Feedback from the Smart,Wise Grown-Ups Who Know You Well
误区7:从了解你的聪明的成年人那里获得反馈总是一个好主意
Reality:This is a great way to go on a wild goosechase.Most grownups—like most students—buy into that big misconception weled with in the intro.The one about college essays being complex,and needingbeautiful,much-polished language to succeed.If left to their own devices,these adults can lead you down language-y rabbit holes that do you more harmthan good.
现实:这是一个很好的方式去做徒劳的事情。大多数成年人——像大多数学生一样——都接受了我们在开场时就产生的那个巨大的误解。一篇关于大学论文复杂，需要优美的、经过润色的语言才能成功的文章。如果任其发展，这些成年人可能会把你带入对你弊大于利的“语言黑洞”。
Instead,choose one or two smart,kindadults,and ask them to focus on whether you've shown you can succeed in collegeand beyond.How?By having them answer three specific questions:
相反，你可以选择一两个聪明、善良的成年人，让他们关注你在大学和以后的生活中是否能够取得成功。如何?让他们回答三个具体的问题:
1.What did you learn about me?(e.g.personality traits,values,strengths)
你对我有什么了解?(例如性格特征、价值观、长处)
2.How could the content be more compelling?(i.e.what didn't you learn that you wanted to?)
怎样才能让内容更吸引人呢?(也就是说，什么是你想学却没学的?)
3.Is the essay well structured?How could itbe improved?
文章结构好吗?该如何改进呢?
Myth 8:College Essays Should Take Forever to Write and Rewrite
误区8:大学论文应该花很长时间来写和重写
Reality:Honing.Crafting.Refining.Yeah,thoseare great skills.You just don't need them here.As insane(andtoo-good-to-be-true)as it might sound,the entire process of writing yourlongest essay—the personal essay—should take about four hours spread acrossone week.Here's Prompt's process in a nutshell:
现实:珩磨。制作。精炼。是的，这些都是很棒的技能。你只是不需要他们在这里。这听起来很疯狂(而且好得令人难以置信)，但写你最长的一篇文章——个人文章——的整个过程需要在一周内花费大约四个小时。以下是Prompt的处理过程:
Day 1:Brainstorm content(45 minutes).
Day 2:Create an outline(30 minutes).
Day 3:Write the first draft(30 minutes).
Day 4:Revise,based on feedback(75 minutes).
Day 6:Get more feedback,and revise again(30 minutes).
Day 8:Final read-through and polish(30 minutes).
·第一天:头脑风暴内容(45分钟)。
·第二天:创建一个轮廓(30分钟)。
·第三天:写出第一稿(30分钟)。
·第四天:修改,基于反馈(75分钟)。
·第六天:获得更多反馈，再次修改(30分钟)。
·第八天:最后通读和修改润色(30分钟)。
The best way to get started on thisdelightfully short writing process is to walk through Prompt's freebrainstorming tools,which you can do by creating a free Prompt account and going to the Content tab.
要想开始这个愉快的简短写作过程，最好的方法是浏览一下Prompt的免费头脑风暴工具，你可以创建一个免费的Prompt帐户，然后转到Content标签页。