Classics Personal Statement Example 4

The study of languages and their related cultures provides an excellent vista through which to understand humanity.

From the literary to the political, the historical to the cultural, I appreciate the various components of exploring linguistic traditions. As a result, I studied Latin for two years, which culminated in an A grade at A2 Level, with no previous background.

Engaging with the Arabic language will strengthen my linguistic capability and uncover for me a whole new world, which possessed significant connection with the ancient Graeco-Roman legacy which I have explored.

Studying history, I discovered it is considerably more vast than mere narrative. I have seen how certain incidents were causative of both continuity and change. Reading Murphy's 'The Arab Revolt', I was amazed at how the Ottoman Empire's decline and the Arab Revolt resulted from a local desire for self-determination as well as wider geopolitical factors.

Wilson's biography of T.E. Lawrence provided a fascinating revisionist account, portraying him as a pawn of both Arab freedom and British colonialism, powerfully reassessing his image as an autonomous hero. Most recently, I have found reading the first volume of Hodgson's 'The Venture of Islam' at once intellectually challenging and stimulating.

Exploring the Russian Revolution brought to my attention remarkable commonalities with current events in the Arab world. In the course of my study, I hope to examine how premodern and modern societies have developed political systems, especially in terms of creating representative forms of government.

From city-states and Bedouin tribal allegiance to modern dictatorships, societies' political arrangements are a gateway to understanding them.

As a blogger, I am curious about the impact of technology on the Arab world. The question of whether social media has bridged or divided the East and the West is one I find to be of considerable interest.

In my experience, literature - ancient or modern - gives us important insights into cultures. In Ovid's works, I learned about love as consuming (a key component of pre-Islamic Arab poetry) and in the 'Aeneid,' of the archetypal warrior.

In Cicero's 'In Verrem' I inferred the rightful code for a Roman governor and discovered in Sallust's writing the audacity of a conspiratorial few. I appreciated Shelley's unique employment of the Romanticism of the East with elements of the Gothic in her 'Frankenstein'. My ability to rapidly assimilate information will ensure my successful academic development and the honing of my research abilities.

My extracurricular involvement proves my wider engagement: through my intellectual curiosity, I was invited to contribute to a university research paper. Inspired by Roman rhetoric, I set up and ran my school's debating society and represented the school as a barrister in a national competition.

In this connection, I also hope to explore the rich Arab rhetorical tradition, especially through the linguistic analysis of rhetorical modes.

Currently, I have enrolled with an Arabic institute to gain preparedness for my university study. Upon gaining sufficient fluency, I hope to then strengthen my spoken Arabic through conversation with more advanced speakers.

Studying Arabic will unlock for me a significant civilisation in world history, politics, science and the arts and one that has intrigued Orientalists for centuries. Arabic has contributed to the Western tradition, often in imperceptible ways.

For example, a number of works in the Western canon that were lost in their original were rediscovered preserved in Arabic translation. The exploration of the interaction between different peoples and times is a facet of historical inquiry that I enjoy.

A university degree course in this area would equip me with the skills and knowledge to utilise my understanding of the classical Western world in a wider global, historical context to facilitate my pursuit of postgraduate studies.