Dalhousie Letters
Jan. 24th, 2003 03:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonaldFor Dalhousie I need two letters: the first letter is a 500-word explanation of my academic interests, the second letter is a brief explanation of elements of my academic career which might not be evident from my transcript.
Graduate Coordinator
Department of English
Dalhousie University
6135 University Avenue
Room 1186
Halifax, NS
To whom it may concern:
I'm Randy McDonald, a student at the University of Prince Edward Island who is currently preparing for my master's degree in English literature. For a variety of reasons, including Dalhousie University's excellent reputation and the city of Halifax's numerous attractions, I would be interested in pursuing at least the first phase of my career as a graduate student at Dalhousie, beginning in the 2003-2004 academic year.
Over the course of my academic career, I have developed a strong interest in examining the interactions between sociological realities and Canadian literatures, of the impact that cultural, geographical, and economic realities have upon individual literary works and the formation of broader literary canons. I believe very strongly that it is important to introduce insights from other disciplines--history, linguistics, the social sciences--to the study of literary works in order to gain a better understanding of these works' external contexts and their internal workings, such as could not be provided by a simple reading of the text without reference to the environment in which it was composed.
So far, I have found that this approach has produced numerous interesting results. I have apply this theory to my Honours English essay, which is a comparative study of representative works from different Canadian regional literatures, seen through the perspectives of Immanuel Wallerstein's world-systems theory (which posits a threefold division of the world economy between a rich core, a poor periphery, and an intermediate semiperiphery) and Alexander Gershenkron's theory of economic development (which argues that societies somewhat less developed than the most advanced societies are innately well-positioned to quickly surpass their prototypes). My essay's thesis is that Canadian regional literatures, based in economically marginal societies and regions, are often characterized by attempts to try to establish their autonomous existence from the Canadian centre--for instance, in Ringuet's Thirty Acres Euchariste Moisan tries to make a living as a farmer in a still conservative and Roman Catholic rural French Canada. I have found that in the three novels examined in my essay, however, this effort fails; the most positive result from the marginal perspective is in Surfacing, where the surfacer leaves the northern forest with a few particular insights to share with the rest of Canada.
As a graduate student, I would be interested in expanding upon the insights that I have acquired in researching and writing my Honours Essay to other works of Canadian literature, particularly texts of novel and novella length. Frederick Philip Grove's Settlers of the Marsh, Joy Kogawa's Obasan, Antonine Maillet's Pélagie, and Alistair MacLeod's No Great Mischief come to mind as texts which could benefit from this approach.
Sincerely,
Randy McDonald
Graduate Coordinator
Department of English
Dalhousie University
6135 University Avenue
Room 1186
Halifax, NS
To whom it may concern:
I feel it is important to address several elements of my undergraduate academic career:
I graduated in May of 2002 from the University of Prince Edward Island with a Bachelor of Arts, with majors in English and Anthropology. However, I returned to UPEI in the 2002-2003 academic year to complete my Honours English essay, so upgrading my English major to an Honours English major, and to acquire a History minor.
In light of my excellent understanding of the French language, acquired by my participation in the late French Immersion program on Prince Edward Island from Grades 7 through 12, I chose to opt not to take the four foreign-language courses required until recently for an Honours English major. Instead, I opted for a combined written and oral exam administered by the Department of Modern Languages. I passed this exam; confirmation can be acquired from Dr. Shannon Murray <smurray@upei.ca>.
Although I've always placed a high priority on achieving excellence in my various undergraduate courses, I have not limited my curiosity to the subjects indicated by my academic transcript. I consider myself (and my considered by others) to have a good layman's understanding of a wide variety of subjects, including economics, political science, and religious studies.
I hope that this may clear up any questions remaining about my undergraduate academic career.
Sincerely,
Randy McDonald
Thoughts?
Graduate Coordinator
Department of English
Dalhousie University
6135 University Avenue
Room 1186
Halifax, NS
To whom it may concern:
I'm Randy McDonald, a student at the University of Prince Edward Island who is currently preparing for my master's degree in English literature. For a variety of reasons, including Dalhousie University's excellent reputation and the city of Halifax's numerous attractions, I would be interested in pursuing at least the first phase of my career as a graduate student at Dalhousie, beginning in the 2003-2004 academic year.
Over the course of my academic career, I have developed a strong interest in examining the interactions between sociological realities and Canadian literatures, of the impact that cultural, geographical, and economic realities have upon individual literary works and the formation of broader literary canons. I believe very strongly that it is important to introduce insights from other disciplines--history, linguistics, the social sciences--to the study of literary works in order to gain a better understanding of these works' external contexts and their internal workings, such as could not be provided by a simple reading of the text without reference to the environment in which it was composed.
So far, I have found that this approach has produced numerous interesting results. I have apply this theory to my Honours English essay, which is a comparative study of representative works from different Canadian regional literatures, seen through the perspectives of Immanuel Wallerstein's world-systems theory (which posits a threefold division of the world economy between a rich core, a poor periphery, and an intermediate semiperiphery) and Alexander Gershenkron's theory of economic development (which argues that societies somewhat less developed than the most advanced societies are innately well-positioned to quickly surpass their prototypes). My essay's thesis is that Canadian regional literatures, based in economically marginal societies and regions, are often characterized by attempts to try to establish their autonomous existence from the Canadian centre--for instance, in Ringuet's Thirty Acres Euchariste Moisan tries to make a living as a farmer in a still conservative and Roman Catholic rural French Canada. I have found that in the three novels examined in my essay, however, this effort fails; the most positive result from the marginal perspective is in Surfacing, where the surfacer leaves the northern forest with a few particular insights to share with the rest of Canada.
As a graduate student, I would be interested in expanding upon the insights that I have acquired in researching and writing my Honours Essay to other works of Canadian literature, particularly texts of novel and novella length. Frederick Philip Grove's Settlers of the Marsh, Joy Kogawa's Obasan, Antonine Maillet's Pélagie, and Alistair MacLeod's No Great Mischief come to mind as texts which could benefit from this approach.
Sincerely,
Randy McDonald
Graduate Coordinator
Department of English
Dalhousie University
6135 University Avenue
Room 1186
Halifax, NS
To whom it may concern:
I feel it is important to address several elements of my undergraduate academic career:
I graduated in May of 2002 from the University of Prince Edward Island with a Bachelor of Arts, with majors in English and Anthropology. However, I returned to UPEI in the 2002-2003 academic year to complete my Honours English essay, so upgrading my English major to an Honours English major, and to acquire a History minor.
In light of my excellent understanding of the French language, acquired by my participation in the late French Immersion program on Prince Edward Island from Grades 7 through 12, I chose to opt not to take the four foreign-language courses required until recently for an Honours English major. Instead, I opted for a combined written and oral exam administered by the Department of Modern Languages. I passed this exam; confirmation can be acquired from Dr. Shannon Murray <smurray@upei.ca>.
Although I've always placed a high priority on achieving excellence in my various undergraduate courses, I have not limited my curiosity to the subjects indicated by my academic transcript. I consider myself (and my considered by others) to have a good layman's understanding of a wide variety of subjects, including economics, political science, and religious studies.
I hope that this may clear up any questions remaining about my undergraduate academic career.
Sincerely,
Randy McDonald
Thoughts?
