"This I Believe"
Dear Students,
Our next writing assignment is designed to help you in two specific ways:
1. This is a short essay—350-500 words. Your goal will be to succinctly, clearly,
and eloquently express your ideas—it can be challenging, but it will force you to
choose your words WISELY.
2. This essay will also ask you write about your own beliefs; you'll have to tap into
your ideas, values, passions. In doing so, you'll continue to learn more about
yourself.
The "This I Believe" series began on NPR in the 1950's. I'm going to ask you to peruse
the website to become familiar with the style of the essay, the types of beliefs that people
write about, and with the "guidelines" for writing this essay.
First, start at their homepage at http://thisibelieve.org/index.php. There's a brief
introduction after the heading "A public dialogue on belief—one essay at a time." What
might this heading indicate? After reading the introductory paragraph, read a sampling of
the essays on this page. Today, there are some interesting ones on "Cashiers, Clerks and
Servers."
Then, look at the tips on writing at http://thisibelieve.org/essaywritingtips.html. Pay
special attention to #3!
Thanks for all the hard work you guys are putting into this class. I am very proud of each
and every one of you!
Mrs. Smith