Project One: “This I Believe” Essay (15%)
This project is modeled on the radio feature of the same name, “This I Believe,” and asks you to sketch a personal belief that shapes your daily life. The belief that you choose to illustrate may not be entirely unique to you, but the way you present it should be personal and individualized. You may begin with a larger, general belief, but you will need to narrow it down to a particular life experience in order to demonstrate how that belief shapes your own life.
To begin, think about your day-to-day life. What influences your decisions, your outlook, and your interaction with your environment? What principles guide your life? After you’ve established one belief to focus on, you will then need to choose a specific, personal story to tell in order to illustrate this belief and how you live by it. The important thing is to be specific in your details; this is an essay that can only be written by you.
This is a short essay, so you will need to be concise and choose only the most important details necessary to describing your belief. You’ll want to have a good “lead,” a sentence or two that draws your reader in and sets up the topic. You’ll need to then state your belief. This should be followed by a story that shows your belief in action and demonstrates how your belief shapes your daily life. You have several options as to how you approach your topic; you can use humor, or you can take a more serious approach. Think about what style would best reflect your own personality, and best reflect the belief you choose to discuss, but be sure to avoid lecturing to your audience.
Essays must be between two (2) to three (3) pages. They must also be typed and double-spaced. We will follow the formatting guidelines for NPR’s “This I Believe” program, and I will highly encourage you to submit your essay to them. This gives the project a function outside of the classroom, and presents you with a larger audience.
Please consult the “This I Believe” webpage for more guidelines on to how to write a good essay, and to also read sample essays. http://www.thisibelieve.org
Grading Criteria: I will use these criteria when grading your essay:
• You have a clearly stated belief that guides your essay
• You use a specific story or experience and incorporate concrete details in order to illustrate how this belief shapes your life
• Your essay is personalized and unique to you and expresses your own voice
• Your essay is well organized and your thoughts developed in an effective manner
• Your essay stays within the length requirement
• Your essay shows signs of careful proofreading, with no grammatical or spelling errors
If you have questions, concerns, or need additional help, please come see me or visit the Writing Lab. Consult the Weekly Calendar on the course webpage for due dates.
The guidelines listed here are from the “This I Believe” webpage. Please keep these guidelines in mind as you start drafting your essay.
Tell a story: Be specific. Take your belief out of the ether and ground it in the events of your life. Consider moments when belief was formed or tested or changed. Think of your own experience, work, and family, and tell of the things you know that no one else does. Your story need not be heart-warming or gut-wrenching—it can even be funny—but it should be real. Make sure your story ties to the essence of your daily life philosophy and the shaping of your beliefs.
Be brief: Your statement should be between 350 and 500 words. That's about three minutes when read aloud at your natural pace.
Name your belief: If you can't name it in a sentence or two, your essay might not be about belief. Also, rather than writing a list, consider focusing on one core belief, because three minutes is a very short time.
Be positive: Please avoid preaching or editorializing. Tell us what you do believe, not what you don't believe. Avoid speaking in the editorial "we." Make your essay about you; speak in the first person.
Be personal: Write in words and phrases that are comfortable for you to speak. We recommend you read your essay aloud to yourself several times, and each time edit it and simplify it until you find the words, tone, and story that truly echo your belief and the way you speak.
Taken from: http://www.thisibelieve.org/essaywritingtips.html