This one is Montage Essay, “Essence Object” Type


In the intro of this essay, there are some descriptions that seem fiction-like and are ultimately unimportant to the main idea. Sentences that describe Mrs. Brewer's appearance or phrases describing how their teacher stood up after talking to them ultimately don't contribute to the story. Although these provide "context," the only context that admissions are interested in is context and details which have a purpose. Avoid writing like fiction books, which describe all the characters and settings, and instead only describe exactly what is needed to "go somewhere" in your essay.


This essay has a strong hook which captivates the reader by making them ask a question: "What are these lunch-time horror stories?" By sparking the reader's imagination early on, you can draw them into your writing and be more engaged. However, ultimately this is somewhat of a letdown because these intriguing "lunch-time horror stories" are never described. Although it may not be completely necessary for the main point, describing one example or hinting at it more closely would be satisfying for the reader and still connect to the main idea of storytelling. One idea is to replace the conclusion with a reference to these "lunch-time horror stories" more vividly, which would be a satisfying ending that also could connect to filmmaking and storytelling. In general, anticipate what the reader will be looking for, and either use that expectation to your advantage by subverting it, or give them what they want as a satisfying, meaningful conclusion.

College seniors, we're just about ONE MONTH away from most Early Action application deadlines. If you're not busy writing supplemental essays, you should be!Whether you’re sharing more about extracurricular activity, explaining your career goals, or expressing enthusiasm for a specific school, supplemental essays are chance to showcase the more personal aspects of your story. Don't save this key opportunity to the last minute.

Another Montage Essay, “I Love/I Know” Type

However! There’s a caveat. The point of reading college essay examples isn’t to copy them or even to get inspiration from them. It’s to analyze them and apply what you’ve learned to your own college essay.

To help you do that, our team of former admissions officers has taken this super-comprehensive compilation of college essay examples and pointed out exactly what you need to know before you start writing.

Alongside our categorization and grades, our former admissions officers have also annotated the essays and provided concrete feedback about what works and what could be improved.

This author manages to tie in their activity of producing films and reference them specifically ("Cardboard Castles") by connecting them to their main point. Instead of listing their activities or referencing them out-of-the-blue, they show how these accomplishments are perfect examples of a greater message. In this case, that message is how meaningful it is to connect with others through storytelling. To write about your activities and achievements without seeming arbitrary or boastful, make them have a specific purpose in your essay: connect to a value, idea, or use them as examples to show something.


Here are some questions to ask yourself when writing montage essays:

The writer here uses what we call a "sacred practice" format in the , and they do it well. It's easy to see the meaning music holds in the writer's life. Importantly, this isn't an essay about Anna. It's an essay about the writer. More specifically, it's an essay about the writer's journey as a musician—and the ambiguity and imperfection that comes with it. By the end of the essay, the writer has come full circle. Throughout the essay, the writer also uses strong, creative language and a tight narrative pacing. Grade: A!

Montage Reloaded: From Russian Avant-Garde to the Audiovisual Essay

To summarize: your college essays don’t exist in a vacuum. Your admissions officers learn about who you are from your entire application, and your college essays are the place where you get to tell them exactly what you want them to know. You should write them in a way that creates balance among the other parts of your application.

Montage Reloaded: From Russian Avant-Garde to the Audiovisual Essay".

What do all of these points have in common? They revolve around your . We’ve written more extensively about core strengths in our . But for now, just know this: your college essays should tell admissions officers something positive about yourself. They want to know who you are, what motivates you, and why you would be an active contributor to their campus.

Montage Reloaded: From Russian Avant-Garde to the Audiovisual Essay.

However, though Vertov may not have intended it, his film actually carries a strong political connotation. He depicts the USSR as a fantastically capable human machine, and glorifies it as such. Workers travel to and from work diligently, and the cycle of life is featured throughout the film, continuing smoothly and predictably. What more can one ask for from their government? While Eisenstein actually provides little to no documentation of a working Soviet society other than to contrast it from its predecessor through inference alone, Vertov makes the young conglomerate nation look like a powerful engine, incapable of disruption. For this, communist officials should have worshipped him. His film truly makes the USSR appear to be a fully functional, idealist society. Granted, not every scene is dominated by exuberance or utter corporal perfection, but that fact is what makes his film so credible. By highlighting both the bad and the terrific aspects of Soviet society, his film appears much more truthful; that subtlety grants it power. The most brilliant propaganda (art) is not overt because it must be believable.

Amarillo Montage; a Photographic Essay"

The true power, however, is not in the information, but in its presentation. Educated minds have been aware, since the dawn of modern science, that the results of almost any meaningful experiment can be twisted or turned, downplayed or highlighted in order to produce a desired, but completely variable, effect on individuals or large populations. (On this subject, Professor, scientist, and environmental activist David Suzuki once said, “Education has failed to convey the most important lesson that science can teach: skepticism.) Popular media, too, has oft been criticized for its biased reporting, or lack of journalistic ethics. In a perfect world, if all information proved empirically true, society would not have this problem. The goal of merging truth and reporting is regarded highly by passionate idealists around the world, and it always will be, but it is a goal that will truthfully, according to this biased essayist, never be met. In fact, it is a goal whose means of achievement will remain impossible until humans have become like gods, omnisciently walking the earth, invulnerable to deception. At this point, however, there will be no need for the transmitting of information. When humans are omniscient, what more could we learn?