“This I Believe” Personal Essay
Name: ______________________________ Pd. __
Assignment: Write a short personal essay explaining your strongest personal belief.
Objective: Before reading Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, you have the chance to reflect on and express what you
think is most important in life.
Your essay must:
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 a core belief.
Use a personal story that connects to your belief: Be specific and be concrete. Think of your own experiences,
relationship, and family. Tell of the things you know that no one else does. Your story does not need to be heart-warming
or gut-wrenching—it can even be funny—but it should be real.
Be brief: Keep people’s attention by writing concisely and vividly. Get the most out of every word and sentence and avoid
wordiness. Your essay should be around 300-500 words: 3-5 minutes when spoken.
Be positive: Avoid preaching or editorializing. You are not trying to persuade others to agree with you; you are only trying
to express your ideas. Write about what you do believe, not what you don’t believe.
Be personal: Use your own voice. Write in words and phrases that are comfortable for you to speak. Read your essay
aloud to yourself several times, and revise it until you find the words, tone and story that truly echo your belief and your
voice.
The rough draft is due: _______________
Your final draft is due: _______________ You will read your final draft in class on this day.
This project will be worth 30 points: 25 points for the written essay, and 5 points for sharing in class.
***The presentation element of this project is important, because it helps to show the strength of your convictions, and
lets us all learn more about each other--creating a more positive classroom community.***
This I Believe Essay Scoring Rubric- Turn this sheet in with your final draft
5
4
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5
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3
5
4
3
5
4
3
5
4
3
The essay develops a belief or insight that is significant to the writer and the author clearly cares about this belief.
The essay states a belief or insight, but rather than developing this idea, the writer merely repeats it, and doesn’t show much
conviction.
The essay is not clearly focused on one belief or insight, or the writer seems indifferent to this belief.
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The writer illustrates this belief or insight with concrete personal experiences.
These experiences develop the reader’s understanding of the belief and why it is important to the writer.
The writer uses personal experiences, but they don’t seem related to the belief or do not develop it further.
There are few concrete experiences or the experiences are not clearly linked to the belief.
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The tone of the essay is personal and reflective, not persuasive or argumentative. The voice is engaging, natural, and real.
The essay is written with an engaging, natural voice, but the tone tends toward persuasion or argument.
The essay is mainly persuasive in tone.
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The opening is interesting and engages the reader. The closing leaves the reader with a clear sense of the main idea.
The opening and closing are clear and well-defined, but not as compelling or thought-provoking.
The opening and closing are bland or not well-defined.
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The prose is fluid, not wordy. The essay contains no grammar or spelling problems. The essay conforms to length and
formatting standards.
The prose may be slightly wordier or awkward. Spelling and grammar errors are minor. The essay conforms to length and
formatting standards.
There are major problems with prose, spelling and grammar, or the essay does not conform to length and formatting
standards.
Essay is read aloud (5 points) ______
Total: _____/30