750 1000 words 3
Description of assignment: Intellectual Autobiography (100 points): A 750-1,000 word statement that, in part, responds to William Cronon’s “Only Connect†essay.
Essay is largely about how your personal experience and commitments converge with and support your academic interests. One way to think of this assignment is as a way to reflect on your intellectual values, where they come from, and how you hope your education (at CPP and beyond, if you intend to pursue graduate study) will help you cultivate them further. In doing so, you should use the ideas in Cronon’s “Only Connect†essay as “jumping off†points.
Although you can certainly use this assignment to explore the influences and life experiences that have molded you into the person you are today, this is not a literacy narrative; you should not describe a single event and its after effects. Instead, you might ask yourself the following questions: How has your education shaped your life? Has your family influenced your attitude towards education? Were you raised to value curiosity? Literacy? Beauty? Which points of Cronon do you relate to the most? Consider your intellectual values, and think about which ones you see reflected in the Cronon piece.