Flashlight batteries lasted around twenty hours in the 1980s. I know this because I had to change mine at least once every two weeks, having used up the juice hiding under my covers reading Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters when I should have been asleep, resting for the rigors of elementary school. Though at the time I could not explain my fascination with literature within the theoretical framework I now possess, reading literature then elicited the same excitement I now feel while entertaining the prospect of making literature my life's work. My passion for literature still thrives, though it naturally now moves in a more theoretical and specialized direction. As a Ph.D. candidate, I aspire to expand my study of 19th- and early 20th-century American literature by engaging in close readings of texts to illuminate the larger cultural and social considerations of the author, especially issues concerning national and gender identity.

American literature of the late 19th- and early 20th-century particularly interests me because of its self-consciousness and intensive interaction with its social and historical context. Survey theory classes provided me with the background to support and articulate my approach to American literature of this period: reading contextually and intertextually, focusing intensely on the historical and social backgrounds, and exploring history's role in writing literature and literature's manifold ways of writing (and re-writing) history.

A class in feminist and gender theory at Kenyon further exposed me to theoretical concepts focusing on specific cultural artifacts (inter- and extra-textual) to examine the historical development of gendered public and private spheres. Furthermore, I selected courses to supplement my English classes by providing me a broader perspective on cultural and historical concerns. My art history minor enabled me to delve into issues surrounding the production of visual art, adding to my knowledge of the cultural climate informing the production of literature. In "American Art, Pre-1900" I explored issues intersecting in painting and literature: the idea of the frontier as a hotbed of social anarchy, America as a reincarnation of the Roman Empire with more auspicious beginnings, and the relegation of female artists to the domestic realm -- because by transgressing to production they threatened the entrenched patriarchy.

My first major research endeavor incorporated many of my areas of interest in a project I designed entitled “Rome in the Nineteenth Century Literary Imagination.” In conjunction with Italian professor Lorraine Richardson and funded by a McGregor Summer Scholar grant, this summer research project explored Rome as both a mythic legend and as a practical, cosmopolitan home to Gilded Age writers, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry James, Edith Wharton, and Mark Twain. I lived in Rome for the duration of the project to study the fruits of the cultural immersion these writers produced. Moreover, I used Hawthorne's "The Marble Faun" rather than a Baedeker as my guidebook in preparing materials for my presentation of the project to students and faculty upon my return to Kenyon.

My interests in extracting themes and issues from cultural observations and literary texts culminated with my honors thesis, "Hawthorne and James: Constructions of Women in Rome." In my paper, for which I received a distinction award and a rank of high honors, I focused on the links between the authors' conceptions of American womanhood and American females traveling to Rome in "The Marble Faun" and "Daisy Miller." Hawthorne and James present stereotypical, idealized women who travel to Rome only to fall from innocence into a devastating experience. On close examination of the texts, however, these deceptively simple stereotypes of American womanhood do not hold.

I argue that both authors reject these "types" as inadequate and complicate the gendered identities of Hilda and Daisy by transporting them to Rome. In doing so, Hawthorne and James expose contradictions and anxieties about the imprecise boundaries between masculinity and femininity, Protestantism and Catholicism, and innocence and corruption. These specific cultural encounters reveal the insecurities that Hawthorne and James harbored about American institutions, and I explore in particular why neither Hawthorne nor James allow his heroine to remain unchanged by their trips to Rome.

Building on my undergraduate work, I took two classes at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at New York University this past summer. Hence, I am excited to continue working at the graduate level, further exploring 19th- and 20th-century American literature and extending my knowledge of Renaissance and Enlightenment authors and the modernists who sandwich my area of focus.

My two research projects provided valuable insights into research and writing, but one of the most rewarding experiences at Kenyon came in teaching undergraduate students as an assistant teacher in an introductory Italian course. Moreover, this experience helped confirm my desire to continue teaching. Friendships with Kenyon professors have also significantly impacted my career direction by challenging me and guiding my intellectual development. I look forward to teaching and research opportunities as a graduate student and plan to continue professionally within this field by becoming a professor at a university. I want to engage literary texts as both a student and a teacher, sharing and developing theories and interpretations within the dynamic intellectual community that this program will offer me.

點評：

作為文科類的PS，文章舍棄了文科類PS一貫喜歡采用的天馬行空般的華麗寫法，而是采用一種相對較平實的描述手法。文章一開頭就表明自己作為一個PhD的申請者，有自己明確的研究方向。

接下來的文章，作者把描述的重點放在了自己的興趣以及做過什么樣的研究方面，給讀者一個比較邏輯的思考引導：正因為自己的這種興趣以及這樣的研究經歷，所以可以推導出想要繼續深入研究的想法。也通過一些事例的運用，表現出自己是一個有想法，有明確目的而且有完成任務能力的人。旨在顯出自己優點以及表明自己具備一個合格的PhD申請者所需要具備的特點。

作為PhD申請的文章，作者也沒有試圖用生澀難懂的專業詞匯和專業理論去突現自己的知識豐富，使即使沒有很豐富文學背景的讀者也能看懂。

整篇文章都沒有什么華麗的語句，沒有靠夸張吸引人的故事，只是一些平實的描述，但卻可以成功地向讀者傳達作者對于文學的熱愛以及研究方面的能力。向招生委員們展現了的形象顯得真實可信。

譯文：

在８０年代，手電筒的電池大概能支撐２０個小時。對此我很清楚，因為我每隔２個星期就得給我的手電筒換電池。作息時間明確的小學住校時期，該用來睡覺的時間以及精力我都花在了閱讀簡.奧斯汀和勃朗特姐妹的作品上。雖然那時尚不能用我現在正在構建的理論框架去解釋我對文學的狂熱，但如今當我構思要把文學作為我畢生的事業時，依然一如當初讀那些文學作品時興奮。我對文學的興趣仍舊是很強烈的，不過可能現在這種興趣朝更理論化和更專業化的方向發展了。作為一個ＰｈＤ的申請者，我希望能研究１９世紀和２０世紀早期的美國文學。通過深入的閱讀文章，能更大程度地體會到作者對文化和社會的關注，尤其是作者對國家和男女平等的關注。

我對１９世紀和２０世紀早期的美國文學特別感興趣，是因為在那樣的社會和歷史背景下，作品反映了一種自我反思以及強烈的交互感。修過調查理論課程以后，我有能力去著手研究那個時期的美國文學: 根據上下文和進行互文性閱讀，重點關注歷史和社會背景，探索歷史在文學創作中扮演的角色以及在文學創作歷史上，文學復寫的方法。　

在肯楊學院修過一節女權主義和性別理論的課程以后，我更清楚了解到以某些特定的文化事件（文本和非文本）為中心的理論概念可以用于檢驗性別理念在公共以及私人領域的歷史發展。同時，我也選修了一些英語的課程以便能在文化和歷史方面有一個更開闊的視野。我副修的藝術歷史課程使我能夠深入研究視覺藝術作品周圍存在的問題，也增進了在文化氛圍影響文學作品方面的知識。在“美國藝術， 1900前”中，我研究什么割斷了美國繪畫和文學之間聯系，發現領域觀念是社會政治混亂的溫床。作為羅馬帝國的再現，美國有更好的開始，美國采取的是將女性藝術家圈定在國土的范圍內的措施，因為如果女性藝術家的作品在海外發表的話，他們害怕會影響確立的父權制。

我對于本專業的第一個研究是一個我參與了設計的項目，這個名為“19世紀文學想象中的羅馬”的項目包含了很多我感興趣的領域。通過與意大利教授洛林.理查森的交流，以及獲得麥格雷戈暑期學者的資助，我得以參加這個暑期的研究項目，該項目主要對神話傳說以及現實中的羅馬進行了研究：從流浪者之家到鍍金時代的作家，包括了納撒尼爾.霍桑，亨利.詹姆士，伊迪絲.沃頓和馬克.吐溫。完成項目的期間，我住在羅馬，研究了這些作家作品所創造出的文化氛圍。而且，返回肯楊之前，我在學生和老師面前作了一次陳述，我準備材料的依據是霍桑的“大理石牧神”，而不是羅馬的旅游指南。

從文化觀察報告和文學作品中總結主題和找出問題是我的一種興趣，這種興趣在寫我的榮譽學生論文“霍桑和詹姆士：羅馬婦女的社會地位”時得到了極大的滿足。這篇論文使我獲得特別獎勵和極高的贊揚，我將論文的重點放在了關注霍桑和詹姆士對美國婦女社會地位的觀點以及在大理石牧神和戴西.米勒這兩部作品中，美國婦女在羅馬遇到的事情之間的聯系上。霍桑和詹姆士創造的女性角色都是很直觀立體的理想化女性，羅馬之旅，她們經歷了從純真到墮落。更進一步地閱讀文章以后會發現：其實，這些虛構的簡單的美國婦女形象是不存在的。

我的論點是這兩個作者也認為這些形象是不存在，基于希爾達和戴西不完善和復雜的性別身份，作者才在文中安排她們的羅馬之行。通過這樣的情節安排，霍桑和詹姆士把男權主義和女權主義之間不明確的界限，新教教義和天主教教義，以及純真與墮落之間的矛盾和緊張關系曝露了出來。這些特殊的文化遭遇顯示了在美國的社會制度下，霍桑和詹姆士都產生了不安全感， 而我也特別解釋了為什么霍桑和詹姆士都讓他們各自的女主角在羅馬的旅行中改變。

有了本科學習的基礎，去年夏天我在紐約大學的文理學院上了2堂研究生的課程。為此，對于在博士生階段可以繼續我的研究我感到非常興奮。博士生階段的學習可以擴展我在19世紀和20世紀美國文學方面的研究領域，也增加了我對自己的研究重點：文藝復興和啟蒙時期的作家和現代主義者方面的認識。

我的兩個研究項目給予了我在研究和寫作方面的珍貴洞察力，但我在肯楊最珍貴的經歷之一就是作為助教給本科的學生上意大利語入門課。而且這份經歷使得我堅定了要繼續教書的想法。與肯楊教授之間的友誼也對我的職業規劃產生了較大的影響，他們挑戰我的同時也引導我朝專業方向發展。我期待在博士生階段可以有教書和做研究的機會，也計劃將來當一個大學的教授，在專業的領域方面繼續發展。我想以一個學生，同時也是老師的身份，在文學作品的世界里自由翱翔。博士生的課程將提供給我一些理論知識和演繹的能力，然后在這個動態的知識社會里，我將分享和發展我的這些理論和能力。