Why Essay
why essay，大致上问学生“你为什么想来我们这所学校？” “我们这里哪里吸引你？”等等。在这种问题面前就很容易区分学生是否真的对这所学校有passion 或fit。要回答好这类问题申请者必须表现出对学校的了解，学校文化／氛围的认可，和对自己未来展望的认知。
第一步：了解学校
通过各种渠道去了解这个学校的特色，找出这个学校吸引你目光的地方，不论大小。
1) 大学官网 2) US News 3) Princeton review 4) 校友 5) 学校的巡展活动
6) Collegeconfidential
第二步: 了解自己
一般情况下当申请者写到whyessay 的时候应该已经到了申请中期，也就是说已经通过头脑风暴或自我反思已经在一定程度上了解了自己。如果没有的话，花几分钟时间过一下自己的过往活动，起码得知自己性格和学术上的长处和短处在哪里。
第三步: 将学校吸引眼球的点缩减成特质并联系自己
当申请者挖掘出那么一，两个吸引点后，要学会透过表面看事情本质。因为学校的特色和申请者不可能有直接关系，但是这个特色代表的意义可能和申请者自己的追求不谋而合，就会形成一个fit。
e.g.威斯康辛麦迪逊分校（University of Wisconsin–Madison）的工程学院标出他们已经连续6年每年都出产超过100个专利。申请者当然不能说这100个专利和自己有什么关系，大部分的申请者不可能有自己的专利，而且就算有也和威斯康辛的100个专利无关。但是透过威斯康辛骄傲地标出自己100个专利出产可以总结出什么这个学校特别专注实验和实践。相信那实验和实践这两个特色是很容易和学生自己产生共鸣的吧。同时，当申请者已经把本质挖掘到这个地步，一般情况下写出来的答案也不会特别空泛。
所以，在很久前就知道自己的兴趣所在，有目的地开展课外活动，写Essay的时候就倍感轻松呢 !
第四步；融合和证明
证明不能只靠说的。当前三步骤做完后就剩下去创造一篇有力度的文章去证明申请者的fit了。在这里每个申请者都有自己的风格和习惯。
之前做的一切research、自我反省都是为了找到自己和学校的联系点，列出你峥嵘岁月中熠熠闪光的经历，折服招生官吧！祝大家好运！
以下是TOP60大学中部分需要递交Why Essay！
1 耶鲁大学
2 哥伦比亚大学
3 芝加哥大学
4 宾夕法尼亚大学
5 西北大学
6 布朗大学
7 莱斯大学
8 圣母大学
9 卡内基梅隆大学
10 塔夫茨大学
11 乔治亚理工学院
12 理海大学
13 波士顿大学
14 杜兰大学
15 南方卫理公会大学
16 雪城大学
UC Essays
加州大学系统的两篇文章应该是众多申请者都会遇到的，相对于很多大学的文书来说，UC的文书问题应该是属于比较直接的。要求是两篇加起来不得超过1000字，两道题目任意分配字数，但是任何一篇不得少于250字。
第一道题目
描述你来自的世界，并告诉我们你的世界如何塑造了你的梦想和追求。
一个17，18岁的少年除非有特别的成长经历不然他的世界就是靠他的学校，家庭，和社区所塑造的。所以在这里不需要担心会不会写家庭很俗套，因为这是必然的。
但是想提醒申请者不要写我的世界是中国，然后写中国传统美德，因为一个17岁小孩很难靠自己一个人去代表整个文化文明。
其实这道题目更加重要的是后面半句，你的梦想和追求。我建议申请者先去寻找自己的梦想，这个梦想可以是学术的，个人的，也可以是和社会相关的。找到梦想后去反思这个梦想的起源就可以找到世界和这个梦想的关系了。（总是有了目标就很容易推进了呢，小编一日三省吾生，早饭吃什么，午饭吃什么，晚饭吃什么，好烦恼的。如果说想好吃卤肉饭，那就只要想，是早饭吃呢，还是午饭，晚饭吃？是不是容易多了？）
第二道题目
描述一个自身的品质，能力，成就，贡献，或经历。为什么这个经历对你很重要？
这篇文章更加靠近真正意义的个人陈述。谨记大学是希望通过文书来了解申请者的为人，所以这一篇必须要达到个人化。这一篇文章也要透露出申请者的成长和反思，并运用语言去展示给大学看你的成长。分析你的行为所带来对自身和他人的影响，并表述出你的批判式思维能力。
Community Essay
这类的题目范例有如:
University of Michigan
Everyone belongs to many differentcommunities and/or groups defined by (among other things) shared geography,religion, ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race,
ideology, or intellectual heritage. Choose one of the communities to which you belong, and describe thatcommunity and your place within it. Brown
We all exist within communities or groups of various sizes,origins, and purposes; pick one and tell us why it is important to you, and how it has shaped you. Community essay问题主要分两部分，第一部分是描述这个你所归属的社区群体，第二部分是这个community对你的影响。同学们很容易苦恼找不到合适的community写。建议大家不要被这个词限制住了，这个“社区”不一定要是学校的社团，或是志愿者团队这些，而可以是更广泛的在兴趣上理念上志同道合的圈子。比如我往年的学生就有写过如网上的化学实验论坛，美剧翻译团队等等。主要是在于这个地方给你的归属感源自哪里？文章中需要学生有联系自身的解释。
实在想不到，就回顾一下一周内，花时间最多的地方是哪里？最开心的时候一般是在参与什么活动？别说睡觉吃饭打游戏啊（╯－＿－）╯╧╧而文章的第二部分，通过这样的一个圈子／环境，你的个人成长在哪里？很多同学一听到团队就会想着说我锻炼了领导能力，组织能力和团队合作能力，这当然可以是一个方向；但为了体现你选择写的community的独特性，我一般推荐学生写一些更personal的成长，如对于自己的认识的加深，思考模式的形成等等。
嗯，严肃脸，一个人的成熟不是对每件事情都有自己的看法，而是有自己成型的三观体系对看待不同的人、事！
TOP60大学中部分需要递交Community Essay的：麻省理工学院、塔夫茨大学 Activity Essay
这类的题目范例有如rinceton, Rice, Vassar and etc.：Pleasebriefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiencesthat was particularly meaningful to you. USC: Briefly describe a non-academic pursuit (such as service tocommunity or family, a club or sport, or work, etc.,) that best illustrates whoyou are, and why it is important to you.
活动文章一般都比较短100-200字之间，在写的时候可以先考虑其他的文章提到的关于你的方面，然后选择一个可以没有提到的侧面写。活动应该选择一个比较长时间的追求的，不应该是只做过一次性的活动。活动不一定要是个人成就，奖项或是对社区有重大影响的，往年不乏有学生写最平常的活动如跑步，写作，瑜伽等对他们的意义录取的。（不一定要去山区支教好几个假期，也不一定要每个双休日都在敬老院服务，坚持写作和运动都是表现你毅力、自我控制和时间规划的有力佐证，事不贵在难，贵在坚持！） 活动文章字数本来就比较少，需要注意不要一味地描写活动的细节。招生官其实并不注重如何拉好小提琴，或是辩论比赛有几轮，各个辩手的职责在哪里，他们注重你在这个活动中具体做了什么，为什么这个活动对你重要，它对你有什么样的影响。（注意重点，一定要以自己的成长或感受为重！）
以下是TOP60大学中需要递交Acitivity Essay～
1 普林斯顿大学
2 哥伦比亚大学
3 莱斯大学
4 范德堡大学
5 宾州州立大学帕克校区
第二篇：essay 题目
2005.3
2005.3 prompt1
We must seriously question the idea of majority rule. The majority grinned and jeered when Columbus said the world was round. The majority threw him into a dungeon for his discoveries. Where is the logic in the notion that the opinion held by a majority of people should have the power to influence our decisions? Adapted from James A. Reed, "Majority Rule"
Assignment: Is the opinion of the majority—in government or in any other circumstances—a poor guide? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation.
2005.3 prompt2
―Given the importance of human creativity, one would think it should have a high priority among our concerns. But if we look at the reality, we see a different picture. Basic scientific research is minimized in favor of immediate practical applications. The arts are increasingly seen as dispensable luxuries. Yet as competition heats up around the globe, exactly the opposite strategy is needed.‖
Adapted from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention
Assignment: Is creativity needed more than ever in the world today? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2005.3 prompt3
Even scientists know that absolute objectivity has yet to be attained. It's the same for absolute truth. But, as many news reporters have observed, the idea of
objectivity as a guiding principle is too valuable to be abandoned. Without it, the pursuit of knowledge is hopelessly lost.
Adapted from ―Focusing Our Values,‖ Nieman Reports
Assignment: Are people better at making observations, discoveries, and decisions if they remain neutral and impartial? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation. 2005.3 prompt4
If you think that what you do is your own business, you are wrong. In this world your conduct affects not only you but the conduct of other people as well. If you behave
in a way that is considered unacceptable and other people copy your behavior, you are responsible for the consequences.
Adapted from Margaret Banning, ―Letter to Susan‖
Assignment: Is a person responsible, through the example he or she sets, for the behavior of other people? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation.
2005.3
2005.5 prompt1
Alone we can afford to be wholly whatever we are and to feel whatever we feel absolutely. With others we are busy wondering what does my companion see or think of this, and what do I think of it? The original impact of our feelings gets lost or reduced.
Adapted from May Sarton, The Rewards of Living a Solitary Life
Assignment: Does worrying too much about other people’s opinions prevent us from seeing things clearly? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2005.06
2005.6 prompt1
Many persons believe that to move up the ladder of success and achievement, they must forget the past, repress it, and relinquish it. But others have just the opposite view. They see old memories as a chance to reckon with the past and integrate past and present. ——Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot
Assignment: Do memories hinder or help people in their effort to learn from the past and succeed in the present? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation.
2005.6 prompt2
I cannot comprehend those who emphasize or recognize only what is useful. I am concerned that learning for learning's sake is no longer considered desirable, that everything we do and think must be directed toward the solution of a practical problem. More and more we seem to try to teach how to make a good living and not
how to live a good life. ——Philip D. Jordan
Assignment: Do people put too much emphasis on learning practical skills? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation.
2005.6 prompt3
Most of our schools are not facing up to their responsibilities. We must begin to ask ourselves whether educators should help students address the critical moral choices and social issues of our time. Schools have responsibilities beyond training people for jobs and getting students into college. ——Svi Shapiro
Assignment: Should schools help students understand moral choices and social issues? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation.
2005.6 prompt4
The media not only transmit information and culture, they also decide what information is important. In that way, they help to shape culture and values. ——Alison Bernstein
Assignment: Do newspapers, magazines, television, radio, movies, the Internet, and other media determine what is important to most people? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation.
2005.10
2005.10 prompt1
1. Success in life is largely a matter of luck. It has little correlation with merit. And in all fields of life there have always been people of great merit who did not succeed. Karl Popper, Popper Selections 2. As Colin Powell said, ―there are no secrets to success. Don’t waste time looking for them. Success is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.‖ Adapted from Barry Farber, ―Selling Points‖ Assignment: Is success in life earned or do people succeed because they are lucky? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2005.10 prompt2
1. Celebrities have the power to attract ―communities‖ of like-minded followers;
they provide an identity that people can connect to and call their own. Celebrities are trusted; they stand for certain ideas and values to which followers can express allegiance. Adapted from William Greider, Who Will Tell the People?
2. Admiration for celebrities is often accompanied by contempt for ―average‖
people. As we focus on the famous, other people become less important to us. The world becomes populated with a few ―some bodies‖ and an excess of ―near-nobodies.‖ Adapted from Norman Solomon and Jeff Cohen, Wizards of Media Oz
Assignment: Is society’s admiration for famous people beneficial or harmful? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2005.10 prompt3
Nowadays nothing is private: our culture has become too confessional and self-expressive. People think that to hide one’s thoughts or feelings is to pretend not to have those thoughts or feelings. They assume that honesty requires one to express every inclination and impulse.
Adapted from J. David Velleman, ―The genesis of Shame‖
Assignment: Should people make more of an effort to keep some things private?
2005.11
2005.11 prompt1
No excerpt.
Assignment: Should our perceptions of beauty be influenced by the perceptions of beauty of other people? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation.
2005.11 prompt2
There are situations where flattery is mandatory: The bride is always beautiful. If we look at someone's artwork, we are obliged to say something complimentary to the artist. If we visit someone with a new baby, we are required to say the infant is cute. In such situations, to say nothing is interpreted as rudeness. We compliment each other because we understand that flattery makes life run smoothly.
Adapted from Richard Stengel, You're Too Kind: A brief History of Flattery Assignment: Is praising others, even if the praise is excessive or undeserved, a
necessary part of life? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation.
2005.11 prompt3
No excerpt.
Assignment: Is conflict helpful? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation.
2005.11 prompt4
What explains our increasing obsession with money and the things it can buy? It seems as though the acquisition of money is gradually replacing real measures of success, such as integrity, honesty, skill, and hard work.
Adapted from Alan Durning, "Limiting Consumption: Toward a Sustainable Culture"
Assignment: Has the acquisition of money and possessions replaced more meaningful ways of measuring our achievements? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2005.12
2005.12 prompt1
We like to think that if someone has ―the right stuff,‖ he or she will naturally rise to the top. But it isn’t true. In that same that acting talent doesn’t guarantee stardom, the capacity for leadership doesn’t guarantee that one will run a corporation or a government. In fact, at least in our time, genuine achievement is not highly valued, and those who are skilled at achieving greatness are not necessarily those who are ready to lead.
Adapted from Warren Bennis, On Becoming a Leader
Assignment:
Are leaders necessarily people who are most capable of leadership?
2005.12 prompt2
How valuable is history for our generation? On the surface this question is not as easy as it once might have been, for there is a widespread belief that history may no longer the relevant to modern life. We live, after all, in an age that appears very different from the world that came before us.
Stephen Vaughn, ―History: Is It Relevant?‖
Assignment:
Is knowledge of the past no longer useful for us today?
2005.12 Prompt3
The free expression of thoughts and opinions is one of humanity’s most precious rights. Every citizen must be able to speak, write, and publish freely, provided that he or she is help accountable for the abuse of this liberty in cases determined by the law.
Adapted from Thomas Paine, Rights of Man
Assignment:
Is it necessary to limit or put restrictions on freedom of thought and expression?
2005.12 Prompt4
Progress is likely to slow down once science and technology have met our basic human needs. New developments in science and technology will not continue to produce more societal benefits. In fact, the promise that scien e and technology will continue to benefit us is increasingly doubtful when so many individuals find their lives changing in ways they cannot control and in directions they do not desire. Adapted from Daniel Sarewitz, ―Social Change and Science Policy‖
Assignment:
Do the benefits of scientific and technological developments come at the cost of undesirable changes to people’s lives?
2006.01
2006.1 prompt1
A colleague of the great scientist James Watson remarked that Watson was always ―lounging around, arguing about problems instead of doing experiments.‖ He concluded that ―there is more than one way of doing good science.‖ It was Watson’s form of idleness, the scientist went on to say, that allowed him to solve ―the greatest of all biological problems: the discovery of the structure of DNA.‖ It is a point worth remembering in a society overly concerned with efficiency.
Adapted from John C. Polanyi, ―understanding Discovery‖
Assignment: Do people accomplish more when they are allowed to do things in their own way? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2006.1 prompt2
I do not feel terrible about my mistakes, though I grieve the pain they have sometimes caused others. Our lives are ―experiments with truth,‖ and in an experiment negative results are lat least as important as successes. I have no idea how I would have learned the truth about myself and my calling without the mistakes I have made.
Adapted from Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak
Assignment: Is it necessary to make mistakes, even when doing so has negative consequences for other people? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2006.1 prompt3
An actor, when his cue came, was unable to move onto the stage. He said,‖I can’t get in, the chair is in the way.‖ And the producer said,‖ Use the difficulty. If it’s a drama, pick the chair up and smash it. If it’s a comedy, fall over it.‖ From this experience the actor concluded that in any situation in life that is negative. There is something positive you can do with it.
Adapted from Lawrence Eisenberg, ―Came Scrutiny’
Assignment: Can any obstacle or disadvantage be turned into something good? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from our reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2006.1 prompt4
Every important discovery results from patience, perseverance, and concentration--sometimes continuing for months or years--on one specific subject.
A person who wants to discover a new truth must remain absorbed by that one subject, must pay no attention to any thought that is unrelated to the problem. Adapted from Santiago Ramon Cajal, Advice for a Young Investigator Assignment: Are all important discoveries the result of focusing on one subject? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation.
2006.05
2006.5 prompt1
Some people claim that each individual is solely responsible for what happens to him or her. But the claim that we ought to take absolute responsibility for the kinds of people we are and the kinds of lives we lead suggests that we have complete control over our lives. We do not. The circumstances of our lives can make it more or less impossible to make certain kinds of choices.
Adapted from Gordon D. Marino, I Think You Should Be Responsible; Me, I’m Not So Sure.
Assignment: Are we free to make our own decisions or are we limited in the choices we can make?
2006.5 prompt2
Certainly anyone who insists on condemning all lies should think about what would happen if we could reliably tell when our family, friends, colleagues, and
government leaders were deceiving us. It is tempting to think that the world would become a better place without the deceptions that seem to interfere with our
attempts are genuine communication. On the other hand, perhaps there is such a thing as too much honesty.
Adapted from Allison Kornet, ―The Truth About Lying‖
Assignment:
Would the world be a better place if everyone always told the complete truth? 2006.5 prompt3
It is not that people dislike being part of a community; it is just that they care about their individual freedoms more. People value neighborliness and social interaction until being part of a group requires them to limit their freedom for the larger good of the group. But a community or group cannot function effectively unless people are willing to set aside their personal interests.
Adapted from Warren Johnson, The Future Is Not What It Used To Be
Assignment:
Does the success of a community – whether it is a class, a team, a family, a nation, or any other group – depend upon people’s willingness to limit their personal interests?
2006.5 prompt4
There is an old saying: ―A person with one watch knows what time it is; a person with two watches isn’t so sure.‖ In other words, a person who looks at an object or event from two different angles sees something different from each position. Moreover, two or more people looking at the same thing may each perceive something different. In other words, truth, like beauty, may lie in the eye of the beholder.
Adapted from Gregory D. Foster, ―Ethics: Time to Revisit the Basics‖
Assignment:
Does the truth change depending on how people look at things?
2006.6 prompt1
We measure our progress as a civilization by what we see as advances in technology, which seem more significant than such concerns as education and the condition of the natural world. Still, I would prefer to be a part of a community that judged itself on the happiness of its members rather than on the development of new technology.
——Thomas Moore
Assignment: Does a strong commitment to technological progress cause a society to neglect other values, such as education and the protection of the environment? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation.
2006.6 prompt2
People are often told to obey the rules. In reality, these rules are not permanent: what is right at a given point in time may be declared wrong at another time and vice versa. The world changes so rapidly that rules are out-of-date almost as soon as they are created. People cannot rely on established guidelines to determine what they should and should not do.
——Gregory D. Foster
Assignment: Are established rules too limited to guide people in real-life situations? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation.
2006.6 prompt3
I suspect that like many people who watch their diet, exercise regularly, and check the weather report before leaving the house, I am a little too concerned with controlling what can't be fully controlled. I know I am doing the sensible thing. But I sometimes think that the more reckless among us may have something to teach the rest of us about freedom. Perhaps there is something good about taking chances against our better judgments.
——Melvin Konner
Assignment: Is it sometimes better to take risks than to follow a more reasonable course of action? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on
this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation.
2006.6 prompt4
It is rare to find an objective and independent viewpoint on style, literature, politics, or any other matter. Many people's opinions are formed through their associations with others. It is our nature to conform; conformity is a force that few can successfully resist. We give in to the human instinct to go along with the crowd and to have its approval.
——Mark Twain
Assignment: Do we tend to accept the opinions of others instead of developing our own independent ideas? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation.
2006.10
2006.10 prompt1
While some people promote competition as the only way to achieve success, others emphasize the power of cooperation. Intense rivalry at work or play or engaging in competition involving ideas or skills may indeed drive people either to avoid failure or to achieve important victories. In a complex world, however, cooperation is much more likely to produce significant, lasting accomplishments.
Assignment:
competition? Do people achieve more success by cooperation than by
2006.10 prompt2
Sometimes it is necessary to challenge what people in authority claim to be true. Although some respect for authority is, no doubt, necessary in order for any group or organization to function, questioning the people in charge-even if they are
experts or leaders in their fields-makes us better thinkers. It forces all concerned to defend old ideas and decisions and to consider new ones. Sometimes it can even correct old errors in thought and put an end to wrong actions.
Assignment: Is it important to question the ideas and decisions of people in positions of authority?
2006.10 prompt3
We don't really learn anything properly until there is a problem, until we make a mistake, until something fails to go as we had hoped. When everything is working
well, with no problems or failures, what incentive do we have to try something new? We are only motivated to learn when we experience difficulties.
Adapted from Alain de Botton, How Proust Can Change Your Life: Not a Novel Assignment: Does true learning only occur when we experience difficulties? 2006.10 prompt4
There are two kinds of pretending. There is the bad kind, as when a person falsely promises to be your friend. But there is also a good kind, where the pretense eventually turns into the real thing. For example, when you are not feeling
particularly friendly, the best thing you can do, very often, is to act in a friendly manner. In a few minutes, you may really be feeling friendlier.
Adapted from a book by C. S. Lewis
Assignment: Can deception—pretending that something is true when it is not—sometimes have good results?
2006.11 prompt1
It is wrong to think of ourselves as indispensable. We would love to think that our contributions are essential, but we are mistaken if we think that any one person has made the world what it is today. The contributions of individual people are seldom as important or as necessary as we think they are.
Assignment: Do we put too much value on the ideas or actions of individual people? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation.
2006.11 prompt2
Many people deny that stories about characters and events that are not real can teach us about ourselves or about the world around us. They claim that literature does not offer us worthwhile information about the real world. These people argue that the feelings and ideas we gain from books and stories obstruct, rather than contribute to, clear thought.
Adapted from Jennifer L. McMahon, "The Function of Fiction"
Assignment: Can books and stories about characters and events that are not real teach us anything useful? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation.
2006.11 prompt3
"No one is perfect." There are few among us who would disagree with this familiar
statement. Certain that perfection is an impossible goal, many people willingly accept flaws and shortcomings in themselves and others. Yet such behavior leads to failure. People can only succeed if they try to achieve perfection in everything they do.
Assignment: Can people achieve success only if they aim to be perfect? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation.
2006.11 prompt4
Everybody has some choice. People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want and, if they can't find them, make them.
Adapted from George Bernard Shaw, Mrs. Warren's Profession
Assignment: Do success and happiness depend on the choices people make rather than on factors beyond their control? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observation.
2006.12
2006.12 prompt1
In order to be the most productive and successful people that we are capable of being, we must be willing to ignore the opinions of others. It is only when we are completely indifferent to others' opinions of us—when we are not concerned about how others think of us—that we can achieve our most important goals.
Assignment: Are people more likely to be productive and successful when they ignore the opinions of others?
2006.12 prompt2
In many circumstances, optimism—the expectation that one's ideas and plans will always turn out for the best—is unwarranted. In these situations what is needed is not an upbeat view but a realistic one. There are times when people need to take a tough-minded view of the possibilities of success, give up, and invest their energies elsewhere rather than find reasons to continue to pursue the original project or idea. Adapted from Martin E. P. Seligman, Learned Optimism
Assignment: Is it better for people to be realistic or optimistic?
2006.12 prompt3
It is easy to make judgments about people and their actions when we do not know anything about their circumstances or what motivated them to take those actions. But we should look beyond a person's actions. When people do things that we consider outrageous, inconsiderate, or harmful, we should try to understand why they acted as they did.
Assignment: Is it important to try to understand people's motivations before judging their actions?
2006.12 prompt4
Abraham Lincoln said, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." In other words, our personal level of satisfaction is entirely within our control. Otherwise, why would the same experience disappoint one person but delight another? Happiness is not an accident but a choice.
Assignment: Is happiness something over which people have no control, or can people choose to be happy?
2007.01
2007.1 prompt1
Many people believe that our government should do more to solve our problems. After all, how can one individual create more jobs or make roads safer or improve the schools or help to provide any of the other benefits that we have come to enjoy? And yet expecting that the government—rather than individuals—should always come up with the solutions to society's ills may have made us less self-reliant, undermining our independence and self-sufficiency.
Assignment:
Should people take more responsibility for solving problems that affect their communities or the nation in general?
2007.1 prompt2
Most human beings spend their lives doing work they hate and work that the world does not need. It is of prime importance that you learn early what you want to do and whether or not the world needs this service. The return from your work must be the satisfaction that work brings you and the world’s need of that work. Income is not money, it is satisfaction; it is creation; it is beauty.
Adapted from W E. B. Du Bios, The Autobiography of W. E. B. Du Bois: A Soliloquy on Viewing My Life from the Last Decade of Its First Century.
Assignment: Is it more important to do work that one finds fulfilling or work that
pays well?
2007.1 prompt3
The education people receive does not occur primarily in school. Young people are formed by their experiences with parents, teachers, peers, and even strangers on the street, and by the sports teams they play for, the shopping malls they frequent, the songs they hear, and the shows they watch. Schools, while certainly important, constitute only a relatively small part of education.
Adapted from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, "Education for the Twenty-First Century" Assignment: Is education primarily the result of influences other than school? 2007.1 prompt4
If we are dissatisfied with our circumstances, we think about changing them. But the most important and effective changes—in our attitude—hardly occur to us. In other words, we should worry not about how to alter the world around us for the better but about how to change ourselves in order to fit into that world. Adapted from Michael Hymers, "Wittgenstein, Pessimism and Politics"
Assignment: Is it better to change one's attitude than to change one's circumstances?
2007.03
2007.3 prompt1
From the time people are very young, they are urged to get along with others, to try to "fit in." Indeed, people are often rewarded for being agreeable and obedient. But this approach is misguided because it promotes uniformity instead of encouraging people to be unique and different. Differences among people give each of us greater perspective and allow us to make better judgments.
Assignment:
Is it more valuable for people to fit in than to be unique and different?
2007.3 prompt2
It is easy to imagine that events and experiences in our lives will be perfect, but no matter how good something turns out to be, it can never live up to our expectations. Reality never matches our imaginations. For that reason, we should make sure our plans and goals are modest and attainable. We are much better off when reality surpasses our expectations and something turns out better than we thought it would.
Adapted from Baltasar Gracián y Morales, The Art of Worldly Wisdom
Assignment:
Is it best to have low expectations and to set goals we are sure of achieving? 2007.3 prompt3
Every event has consequences that are potentially beneficial. We may not always be happy about an experience, but we should at least gain in some way from it. For example, the worldwide gasoline shortage in the early 1970's created many
hardships but inspired efforts to conserve energy. Whether the gains are large or small, there is something positive or useful for us in everything that happens to us. Assignment:
Do we really benefit from every event or experience in some way?
2007.05
2007.5 prompt1
Materialism: it’s the thing that everybody loves to hate. Few aspects of modern life have been more criticized than materialism. But let’s face it: materialism—acquiring possessions and spending money—is a vital source of meaning and happiness in our time. People may criticize modern society for being too materialistic, but the fact remains that most of us spend most of our energy producing and consuming more and more stuff.
Adapted from James Twitchell, ―Two Cheers for Materialism‖
Assignment: Should modern society be criticized for being materialistic? 2007.5 prompt2
Knowledge is power. In agriculture, medicine, and industry, for example,
knowledge has liberated us from hunger, disease, and tedious labor. Today,
however, our knowledge has become so powerful that it is beyond our control. We know how to do many things, but we do not know where, when, or even whether this know-how should be used.
Assignment: Can knowledge be a burden rather than a benefit?
2007.5 prompt3
We do not take the time to determine right from wrong. Reflecting on the difference between right and wrong is hard work. It is so much easier to follow the crowd, going along with what is popular rather than risking the disapproval of others by voicing an objection of any kind.
Adapted from Stephen J. Carter, Integrity
Assignment: Is it always best to determine one's own views of right and wrong, or can we benefit from following the crowd?
2007.5 prompt4
It is often the case that revealing the complete truth may bring trouble—discomfort, embarrassment, sadness, or even harm—to oneself or to another person. In these circumstances, it is better not to express our real thoughts and feelings. Whether or not we should tell the truth, therefore, depends on the circumstances. Assignment: Do circumstances determine whether or not we should tell the truth?
2007.06
2007.6 prompt1
People are happy only when they have their minds fixed on some goal other than their own happiness. Happiness comes when people focus instead on the happiness of others, on the improvement of humanity, on some course of action that is
followed not as a means to anything else but as an end in itself. Aiming at something other than their own happiness, they find happiness along the way. The only way to be happy is to pursue some goal external to your own happiness.
Adapted from John Stuart Mill, Autobiography
Assignment:
Are people more likely to be happy if they focus on goals other than their own happiness?
2007.6 prompt2
Heroes may seem old-fashioned today. Many people are cynical and seem to enjoy discrediting role models more than creating new ones or cherishing those they already have. Some people, moreover, object to the very idea of heroes, arguing that we should not exalt individuals who, after all, are only flesh and blood, just like the rest of us. But we desperately need heroes—to teach us, to captivate us through their words and deeds, to inspire us to greatness.
Adapted from Psychology Today, "How To Be Great! What Does It Take To Be A Hero?"
Assignment:
Is there a value in celebrating certain individuals as heroes?
2007.6 prompt3
The advancements that have been made over the past hundred years or more are too numerous to count. But has there been progress? Some people would say that the vast number of advancements tells us we have made progress. Others, however, disagree, saying that more is not necessarily better and that real progress—in politics, literature, the arts, science and technology, or any other field—can be achieved only when an advancement truly improves the quality of our lives.
Assignment:
Have modern advancements truly improved the quality of people's lives? 2007.6 prompt4
It is not true that prosperity is better for people than adversity. When people are thriving and content, they seldom feel the need to look for ways to improve
themselves or their situation. Hardship, on the other hand, forces people to closely examine—and possibly change—their own lives and even the lives of others.
Misfortune rather than prosperity helps people to gain a greater understanding of themselves and the world around them.
Assignment:
Do people truly benefit from hardship and misfortune?
2007.10
2007.10 prompt1
A person does not simply "receive" his or her identity. Identity is much more than the name or features one is born with. True identity is something people must create for themselves by making choices that are significant and that require a courageous commitment in the face of challenges. Identity means having ideas and values that one lives by.
Adapted from Thomas Merton, Contemplation in a World of Action
Assignment:
Is identity something people are born with or given, or is it something people create for themselves?
2007.10 prompt2
We value uniqueness and originality, but it seems that everywhere we turn, we are surrounded by ideas and things that are copies or even copies of copies. Writers, artists, and
musicians seek new ideas for paintings, books, songs, and movies, but many sadly realize, "It's been done." The same is true for scientists, scholars, and
businesspeople. Everyone wants to create something new, but at best we can hope only to repeat or imitate what has already been done.
Assignment:
Can people ever be truly original?
2007.10 prompt3
All people who have achieved greatness in something knew, what they excelled at. These people identified the skills that made them special—good judgment, or courage, or a special artistic or literary talent—and focused on developing these skills. Yet most people achieve superiority in nothing because they fail to identify and develop their greatest attribute.
Adapted from Baltasar Gracian y Morales, The Art of Worldly Wisdom
Assignment: Do people achieve greatness only by finding out what they are especially good at and developing that attribute above all else?
2007.10 prompt4
Having many admirers is one way to become a celebrity, but it is not the way to become a hero. Heroes are self-made. Yet in our daily lives we see no difference between "celebrities" and "heroes." For this reason, we deprive ourselves of real role models. We should admire heroes—people who are famous because they are great—but not celebrities—people who simply seem great because they are famous. Adapted from Daniel Boorstin, The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America Assignment:
Should we admire heroes but not celebrities?
2007.11
2007.11 prompt1
People today have so many choices. For instance, thirty years ago most television viewers could choose from only a few channels; today there are more than a
hundred channels available. And choices do not just abound when it comes to the media. People have more options in almost every area of life. With so much to choose from, how can we not be happy?
Assignment:
Does having a large number of options to choose from make people happy? 2007.11 prompt2
We are often urged to solve problems by ignoring traditional approaches and by finding solutions that are innovative or unconventional. We are encouraged to be creative and to trust that a new way of thinking will yield new insights. But
innovation may be impractical and unnecessary. The best ways of fixing problems are often the tried–and–true ways.
Assignment:
Is it always necessary to find new solutions to problems?
2007.11 prompt3
Many people consider the arts—literature, music, painting, and other creative activities—unnecessary because they provide us with nothing more than
entertainment. Yet the arts are extremely valuable because they have much to teach us about the world around us and also because they help people find meaning in life.
Assignment:
Is the main value of the arts to teach us about the world around us?
2007.11 prompt4
All people judge or criticize the ideas and actions of others. At times, these criticisms hurt or embarrass the people receiving them. Other criticisms seem to be intended to make the critics appear superior. And yet criticism is essential to our success as individuals and as a society.
Adapted from Ken Petress, "Constructive Criticism: A Tool for Improvement" Assignment:
Is criticism—judging or finding fault with the ideas and actions of others—essential for personal well-being and social progress?
2007.12
2007.12 prompt1
The first problem for all of us is not to learn but to unlearn. We hold on to ideas that were accepted in the past, and we are afraid to give them up. Preconceptions about what is right or wrong, true or false, good or bad are embedded so deeply in our thinking that we honestly may not know that they are there. Whether it's women's role in society or the role of our country in the world, the old assumptions just don't work anymore.
Adapted from Gloria Steinem, "A New Egalitarian Lifestyle"
Assignment:
Do people need to "unlearn," or reject, many of their assumptions and ideas? 2007.12 prompt2
Our determination to pursue truth by setting up a fight between two sides leads us to believe that every issue has two sides—no more, no less. If we know both sides of an issue, all of the relevant information will emerge, and the best case will be made for each side. But this process does not always lead to the truth. Often the truth is somewhere in the complex middle, not the oversimplified extremes. Adapted from Deborah Tannen, The Argument Culture
Assignment:
Should people choose one of two opposing sides of an issue, or is the truth usually found "in the middle"?
2007.12 prompt3
All around us appearances are mistaken for reality. Clever advertisements create favorable impressions but say little or nothing about the products they promote. In stores, colorful packages are often better than their contents. In the media, how certain entertainers, politicians, and other public figures appear is more important than their abilities. All too often, what we think we see becomes far more important than what really is.
Assignment:
Do images and impressions have too much of an effect on people?
2007.12 prompt4
Until fairly recently, technological innovations and inventions were intended to serve basic human needs or desires. Today, however, the most important and urgent problem confronting us is no longer the satisfaction of basic needs. The primary purpose of modern technology is to solve the unintended problems caused by the technology of years past.
Adapted from Dennis Gabor, Innovations: Scientific, Technological, and Social Assignment:
Is the most important purpose of technology today different from what it was in the past?
2008.01
2008.1 prompt1
It is better to try to be original than to merely imitate others. People should always try to say, write, think, or creat something new. There is little value in merely repeating what has been done before, People who merely copy or use the ideas and inventions of others, no matter how successful they may be, have never achieved anything significant.
Assignment: Is it always better to be original that to imitate or use the ideas of others?
2008.1 prompt2
Often we see people who persist in trying to achieve a particular goal, even when all the evidence indicates that they will be unlikely to achieve it. When they succeed, we consider them courageous for having overcome impossible obstacles. But when they fail, we think of them as headstrong, foolhardy, and bent on self-destruction. To many people, great effort is only worthwhile when it results in success. Adapted from Gilbert Brim, "Ambition"
Assignment:
Is the effort involved in pursuing any goal valuable, even if the goal is not reached? 2008.1 prompt3
Newness has become our obsession. Novelty is more interesting to us than
continuing with whatever is "tried and true." We discard the old so we can acquire the most recent model, the latest version, the newest and most improved formula. Often, we replace what is useful just because it is no longer new. Not only with
material goods but also with cultural values, we prefer whatever is the latest trend. Assignment:
Should people always prefer new things, ideas, or values to those of the past? 2008.1 prompt4
Since we live in a global society, surely we should view ourselves as citizens of the whole world. But instead, people choose to identify and associate with smaller and more familiar groups. People think of themselves as belonging to families, nations, cultures, and generations—or as belonging to smaller groups whose members share ideas, views, or common experiences. All of these kinds of groups may offer people a feeling of security but also prevent them from learning or experiencing anything new.
Assignment:
Is there any value for people to belong only to a group or groups with which they have something in common?
2008.03
2008.3 prompt1
Organizations or groups that share a common goal often mention teamwork as their secret to success by insisting that people in the group work together for the good of the entire group. However, by requiring each individual to accept the decisions of the others in the group, organizations may discourage the expression of individual talent. Ultimately, a group is most successful when all of its members are encouraged to pursue their own goals and interests.
Assignment:
Are organizations or groups most successful when their members pursue individual wishes and goals?
2008.3 prompt2
Being loyal—faithful or dedicated to someone or something—is not always easy. People often have conflicting loyalties, and there are no guidelines that help them decide to what or whom they should be loyal. Moreover, people are often loyal to something bad. Still, loyalty is one of the essential attributes a person must have and must demand of others.
Adapted from James Carville, Stickin': The Case for Loyalty
Assignment:
Should people always be loyal?
2008.3 prompt3
Winning feels forever fabulous. But you can learn more from losing than from
winning. Losing prepares you for setback and tragedy more than winning ever can. Moreover, loss invites reflection and a change of strategies. In the process of recovering from your losses, you learn how to avoid them the next time. Adapted from Pat Conroy, My Losing Season
Assignment:
Do people learn more from losing than from winning? Plan and write an essay in
which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2008.05
2008.5 prompt1
Technological advances have freed society from tiresome labor, such as washing clothes by hand, hauling heavy loads, and wlking long distances, and have given people increased access to information and entertainment. Yet, when given a choice, many people still resist using modern conveniences. There must be something to be gained from not using technology.
Assignment: Are there benefits to be gained from avoiding the use of modern technology, even when using it would make life easier?
2008.5 prompt2
From talent contests to the Olympics to the Nobel and Pulitzer prizes, we constantly seek to reward those who are "number one." This emphasis on recognizing the winner creates the impression that other competitors, despite working hard and well, have lost. In many cases, however, the difference between the winner and the losers is slight. The wrong person may even be selected as the winner. Awards and prizes merely distract us from valuable qualities possessed by others besides the winners.
Assignment: Do people place too much emphasis on winning? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue.
2008.5 prompt3
There are those who believe that everything we do is inspired by the desire for power in its various forms. They maintain that our actions are nothing but expressions of a striving for power. In this view, even when we act kindly toward other people, we are motivated, whether we know it or not, by a desire to have some control over their lives, for our act of kindness puts them partially in our power. AAdapted from Leszek Kolakowski, Freedom, Fame, Lying, and Betrayal: Essays on Everyday Life)
Assignment: Are people's actions motivated primarily by a desire for power over others? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue.
2008.5 prompt4
Common sense suggests an obvious division between the past and present,
between history and current events. In many cases, however, this boundary is not clear cut because earlier events are not locked away in the past. Events from history remain alive through people's memories and through books, films, and other media. For both individuals and groups, incidents from the past continue to influence the present—sometimes positively and sometimes negatively.
Assignment: Do incidents from the past continue to influence the present?
2008.06
2008.6 prompt1
Most of us are convinced that fame brings happiness. Fame, it seems, is among the things people most desire. We believe that to be famous, for whatever reason, is to prove oneself and confirm that one matters in the world. And yet those who are already famous often complain of the terrible burden of fame. In fact, making the achievement of fame one's life goal involves commitments of time and effort that are usually wasted.
Adapted from Leszek Kolakowski, Freedom, Fame, Lying, and Betrayal: Essays on Everyday Life
Assignment: Does fame bring happiness, or are people who are not famous more likely to be happy? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue.
2008.6 prompt2
A society composed of men and women who are not bound by convention—in other words, they do not act according to what others say or do—is far more lively than one in which all people behave alike. When each person's character is developed individually and differences of opinion are acceptable, it is beneficial to interact with new people because they are not mere replicas of those whom one has already met. Adapted from Bertrand Russell, The Conquest of Happiness
Assignment: Is it better for a society when people act as individuals rather than copying the ideas and opinions of others? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue.
2008.6 prompt3
When someone has the same ideas or views as most people do, we tend to believe that the person is reasonable and correct. Often, however, views that are considered reasonable or commonsensical are anything but sensible. Many widely held views regarding current events, science, education, arts and literature, and many other topics ultimately prove to be wrong. The fact that an idea or view is
widespread—held by many people—does not make it right.
Assignment: Are widely held views often wrong, or are such views more likely to be correct? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue.
2008.10
2008.10 prompt1
We are frequently told that compromise is the best way for people to work out their differences. When people compromise, with each side losing a little in order to reach a satisfactory agreement, both sides can continue to live in harmony. However, compromise can work only when the issues at stake are not that important. Compromise does not work when there is a genuine difference of opinion about strongly held principles or ideas.
Assignment: Is compromise always the best way to resolve a conflict?
2008.10 prompt2
People usually assume that the quality of a decision is directly related to the time and effort that went into making it. We believe that we are always better off gathering as much information as possible and then spending as much time as possible analyzing that information. But there are times when making a quick judgment is the best thing to do. Decisions made quickly can be as good as decisions made slowly and cautiously.
Adapted from Malcolm Gladwell, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking Assignment: Are decisions made quickly just as good as decisions made slowly and carefully?
2008.10 prompt3
It is unrealistic to think that any group of people—a family, a committee, a company, a city—can function peacefully and productively without some kind of authority. The needs and interests of the individuals who make up any group are too varied for its members to operate as a unit without having someone to make the final decisions. Somebody has to be in charge; somebody has to be ultimately responsible.
Assignment: Can a group of people function effectively without someone being in charge?
2008.10 prompt4
Governments, businesses, groups, or people reveal themselves by how they act, not by what they say. A company may claim to value its customers, or a politician may claim to be committed to a cause, but what do their actions say? People or groups may state what they wish were true or what they think others want to hear, but it is their actions that reveal their true values.
Assignment: Do actions, not words, reveal a person or group’s true attitudes and intentions?
2008.11 prompt1
2008. 11 Prompt 1
If an old tradition is still around today, we can assume that it deserves to remain in existence. Well-established customs, styles that are still popular, and ideas that people still find sensible survive because these traditions are strong enough to survive. Continuity guarantees quality. Old-fashioned hospitality, old-fashioned politeness, old-fashioned honor in business—all these traditions have qualities of survival. Fortunately, these will always be with us.
Adapted from Jacob Braude, Jacob Braude's Second Encyclopedia of Stories, Quotations, and Anecdotes
Assignment:
Do all established traditions deserve to remain in existence? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2008. 11 Prompt 2
We cannot appreciate what we have for its own merit. We see ourselves as fortunate only when we have as much as, or more than, other people. Thus, our judgment of what represents an appropriate limit on anything—on wealth or status or
possessions—is never arrived at independently. Instead, we compare ourselves to other people, always wondering if what we have is enough.
Adapted from Alain de Botton, Status Anxiety
Assignment:
Do people need to compare themselves with others in order to appreciate what they have? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2008. 11 Prompt 3
On the surface, censorship seems objectionable because it limits our freedom. But all societies need to suppress or restrict information that is offensive or potentially harmful. People depend on the establishment of some limits, some way of making distinctions between what is right and what is wrong. Censorship is actually
beneficial to a society because it helps to establish ideals of what is proper in such areas as art, music, and literature.
Assignment:
Should society limit people's exposure to some kinds of information or forms of expression? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2008. 11 Prompt 4
Independent people—those who rely on themselves rather than on others—get what they want through their own efforts. Interdependent people combine their efforts with the efforts of others to achieve their goals. To be most effective, people need to be interdependent. People who do not think and act interdependently may achieve individual success, but they will not be good leaders or team players. Adapted from Stephen R. Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People Assignment:
Is it necessary for people to combine their efforts with those of others in order to be most effective? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2008.12
2008.12 prompt1
The biggest difference between people who succeed at any difficult undertaking and those who do not is not ability but persistence. Many extremely talented people give up when obstacles arise. After all, who wants to face failure? It is often said about highly successful people that they are just ordinary individuals who kept on trying, who did not give up.
Adapted from Tom Morris, True Success: A New Philosophy of Excellence. Assignment: Is perspective more important than ability in determining a person’s success? Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2008.12 prompt2
Whether it is a child pouting to get ice cream or a politician using emotionally charged language to influence potential supporters, all people use some form of acting to achieve whatever ends they seek. Public figures of all kinds would have sort, unsuccessful careers without the aid of acting. Acting-consciously assuming a role in order to achieve some purpose- is a tool people use to protect their interests and gain advantages in every aspect of life.
Adapted from Marlon Brando, Foreword to The Technique of Acting by Stella Adler Assignment: Is acting an essential part of everyday life? Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2008.12 prompt3
When people are very enthusiastic—always willing and eager to meet new challenges or give undivided support to ideas or projects—they are likely to be rewarded. They often work harder and enjoy their work more than do those who are more restrained. But there are limits to how enthusiastic people should be. People should always question and doubt, since too much enthusiasm can prevent people from considering better ideas, goals, or courses of action.
Assignment: Can people have too much enthusiasm? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2008.12 prompt4
Why do people help others? Many philosophers and psychologists claim that everything people do, no matter how noble and beneficial to others, is really directed toward the ultimate goal of self-benefit. According to this view, helping others is always motivated by the prospect of some benefit to the helper, however
small, and not out of genuine concern for the welfare of another.
Adapted from C. Daniel Batson, The Altruism Question
Assignment: Do we only help others in order to help ourselves in some way? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2009.1 prompt1
Planning lets people impose order on the chaotic processes of making or doing something new. Toomuch planning, however, can lead people to follow the same predetermined course of action, to do things the same way they were done before. Creative thinking is about breaking free from the way that things have always been. That is why it is vital for people to know the difference between good planning and too much planning.
Adapted from Twyla Tharp. The Creative Habit
Assignment: Does planning interfere with creativity?
2009.1 prompt2
Most people underestimate their own abilities. They tend to remember their failures more vividly than their successes, and for this reason they have unrealistically low expectations about what they are capable of. Those individuals who distinguish themselves through great accomplishments are usually no more talented than the average person: they simply set higher standards for themselves, since they have higher expectations about what they can do.
Assignment: Do highly accomplished people achieve more than others mainly because they expect more of themselves?
2009.1 prompt3
People are taught that they should not go back on their decisions. In fact, our society supports the notion that to change your mind is evidence of weakness and unreliability, leading many people to say, ―Once I decide, I decide!‖ But why do people make such a statement? If factors, feelings, and ideas change, isn’t the ability to make a new decision evidence of flexibility, adaptability, and strength? Assignment: Should people change their decisions when circumstances change, or it is always best for them to stick with their original decisions.
2009.1 prompt4
The history of human achievement is filled with stories of people who persevere, refusing to give up in the struggle to meet their goals. Artists and scientists, for instance, may struggle for years without any apparent progress or reward before they finally succeed. However, it is important to recognize that perseverance does not always yield beneficial results.
Adapted from Robert H. Lauer and Jeanette C. Lauer, Watersheds
Assignment:
Is striving to achieve a goal always the best course of action, or should people give up if they are not making progress? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2009.03
2009.3 prompt1
Many people believe that being honest and honorable limits their options, their opportunities, their very ability to succeed. Unfortunately, in today's me-first culture, ethics may be the only thing people choose to live without! They believe they have only two choices: (1) to win by doing whatever it takes, even if it is wrong, or (2) to be ethical and therefore lose. Few people set out to be dishonest, but nobody wants to lose.sat
Adapted from John C. Maxwell, There's No Such Thing as "Business" Ethics Assignment:
Does being ethical make it hard to be successful? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2009.3 prompt2
Whatever happened to good manners? Many books and articles have been written about the lack of common courtesy and old-fashioned politeness in today's society. From spoiled children acting out in restaurants to so-called experts yelling at each other on cable news shows, people seem less concerned with good manners and
civilized behavior than ever before. On the other hand, if people really want to change the world for the better, they have to risk being seen as impolite or uncivil. Assignment:
Is it sometimes necessary to be impolite? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2009.3 prompt3
No excerpt
Assignment:
Should we limit our use of the term "courage" to acts in which people risk their own well-being for the sake of others or to uphold a value?
2009.05
2009.5 prompt1: Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
There are good reasons to pay attention to people who are older or more experienced than we are, even if their opinions on important issues are very different from ours. Of course, not every person older than us is worth learning from, while many young people are. But if the only people we listen to are our age and are likely to see things the same way we do, we will miss out on something important Assignment: Should we pay more attention to people who are older and more experienced than we are? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations
2009.5 prompt2
Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignment below.
Good decision making generally requires people to think carefully and logically and to pay attention to practical details. However, people who depend on their feelings and emotions to make important decisions are not likely to spend hours gathering information, making lists, considering all possible outcomes, and so forth. When comparing the advantages or disadvantages of one course of action to another, these people ask themselves, "What do my feelings tell me?"
Assignment: Should people let their feelings guide them when they make important decisions? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2009.5 prompt3
Thanks to great advancements in technology, we live today in a world in which knowledge is more readily available to greater numbers of people than ever before in history. Having more and better technology, however, has not made people wiser or more understanding. Indeed, people are so overloaded with information today that they have become less, rather than more, able to make sense of the world around them than our ancestors ever were
Assignment: Has today's abundance of information only made it more difficult for us to understand the world around us? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.
2009.5 prompt4
People define themselves by work, by what they "do." When one person asks another, "What do you do?" the answer always refers to a job or profession: "I'm a doctor, an accountant, a farmer." I've often wondered what would happen if we changed the question to, "Who are you?" or, "What kind of person are you?" or even, "What do you do for fun?"
Adapted from Stephan Rechtschaffen, Time Shifting;
Assignment: Are people best defined by what they do? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations
2009.06
2009.6 prompt1
The discovery that someone we admire has done something wrong is always disappointing and disillusioning. Yet even when people we consider heroes have been tarnished by their faults, they are no less valuable than people who appear perfect. When we learn that an admired person, even one who is seemingly perfect, has behaved in less than admirable ways, we discover a complex truth: great ideas and great deeds come from imperfect people like ourselves.
Assignment:
Do we benefit from learning about the flaws of people we admire and respect? 2009.6 promtp2
Some people say you should be content with what you have and accept who you are. But it is possible that too much self-acceptance can turn into self-satisfied lack of ambition. People should always strive to improve themselves and to have more in their lives—friends, things, opportunities. After all, where would we be if great people, both in history and in our own time, did not try to have more and to improve themselves?
Assignment:
Is it best for people to accept who they are and what they have, or Should people always strive to better themselves?
2009.6 prompt 3
So-called common sense determines what people should wear, whom they should respect, which rules they should follow, and what kind of life they should lead. Common sense is considered obvious and natural, too sensible to question. But people's common sense decisions may turn out to be wrong, even if they are thought to be correct according to the judgment of vast majorities of people. Adapted from Alain de Botton, The Consolations of Philosophy
Assignment:
Can common sense be trusted and accepted, or should it be questioned? 2009.6 prompt 4
Winning does not require people to be against someone else; people can reach their goals through cooperation just as well as they can through competition. Winning is not always the result of selfish individualism. People achieve happiness by
cooperating with others to increase the happiness of all, rather than by winning at others' expense. Ours is not a world in which the price of one person's happiness is someone else's unhappiness.
Adapted from Gilbert Brim, Ambition
Assignment:
When some people win, must others lose, or are these situations in which everyone wins?
2009.10
2009.10 prompt 1
Both in society and in our own lives, today's problems are serious and require serious solutions. Increasingly, however, people are taught to laugh at things that aren't usually funny and to cope with difficult situations by using humor. They are even advised to surround themselves with funny people. There is strong evidence that laughter can actually improve health and help fight disease.
Adapted from Marshall Brain, How Laughter Works
Assignment:
Is using humor the best way to approach difficult situations and problems? 2009.10 prompt 2
Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one. You need one because you are human. You didn't come from nowhere. Before you, around you, and, presumably, after you, there are others. Even if you live alone and even if your solitude is by your own choice, you still cannot do without a network or a family.
Adapted from Jane Howard, All Happy Clans Are Alike: In Search of the Good Family Assignment:
Does everyone, even people who choose to live alone, need a network or family?
2009.10 prompt 3
Good news is, for the most part, no news. It is not sufficiently compelling or important to make leading stories and front pages in the media, certainly not as often as bad news. Bad news sells, or so it seems from the books, newspapers, and television reports that fill our lives. But in this endless focus on the bad, the media present a distorted view of the world.
Adapted from Richard B. McKenzie, The Paradox of Progress: Can Americans Regain Their Confidence in a Prosperous Future?
Assignment:
Do books, newspapers, and other media focus too much on bad news?
2009.10 prompt 4
People distinguish between knowledge and action and pursue them separately,
believing that one must know everything about a problem before one can take any action on it. This idea that people should put knowledge first and save action for later is not new. There have always been people who waste precious hours of their lives in this manner, saying that they will wait until they truly know ail there is to know before putting their knowledge into practice.
Assignment:
Is it better for people to know everything they can about something before taking action, or should they act first and get more information later?
2009.11
2009.11 prompt 1
Popular culture refers to television shows, movies, books, musical selections, artworks, products, activities, and events that appeal to the interests and desires of large numbers of people. Popular culture tells us a lot about the people of a society. Some people may criticize popular culture or deny its influence on their lives, but one thing is clear: popular culture typically displays the ideas and principles that people value most.
Assignment:
Are the values of a society most clearly revealed in its popular culture?
2009.11 prompt 2
Some people ruin their chances of achieving success or refrain from attaining a goal because they have learned that success is selfish. But they should not feel guilty about trying to achieve their own goals. People who act on their inner desires—their greatest wishes and ambitions—only make their own and other people's lives better and are more likely to benefit society. Imagine how much better the world would be if everyone could be happy and fulfilled.
Adapted from Sheri O. Zampelli, From Sabotage to Succes
Assignment:
Do society and other people benefit when individuals pursue their own goals? 2009.11 prompt 3
No matter how much people try and how much they believe in themselves, everyone encounters situations in which it is impossible to succeed. People are often advised, "Never give up," but sometimes, when it seems as though success will not be achieved, they should stop trying, learn from the experience, and move on. Adapted from Phyllis George, Never Say Never
Assignment:
Is it better for people to stop trying when they feel certain they will not succeed?
2009. 12
2009.12 prompt1
Thanks to the Internet, the word "friendship" now has a much broader meaning. No longer are the bonds of friendship limited to telephone conversations, shared activities, or speaking face-to-face. In this day and age, very close friendships can be formed without the people ever meeting and by simply typing words on a screen. Adapted from Sharon Hendricks, "A Broader Definition of Friendship"
Assignment:
Is it easier now to form friendships than ever before?
2009.12 prompt2
An Internet phone service is offering unlimited free telephone calls for anyone who signs up. There is only one catch: the company will use software to listen to customers' phone conversations and then send customers advertisements based on what they have been talking about. For example, if they talk about movies with their friends, advertisements for movies will appear on their computer screens. Commentators have voiced concern about customers' giving up their privacy in exchange for phone service.
Assignment:
Should people give up their privacy in exchange for convenience or free services? 2009.12 prompt3
People are often criticized for working out their own ideas before learning all that others have discovered about a problem or subject. But those people are right; it is possible to know too much, especially at first. The time for thorough inquiry and extensive research is later, after you have made your own discoveries and come to your own conclusions.
Adapted from Charles Horton Cooley, Life and the Student
Assignment:
Is it better for people to work out their own ideas on a problem or issue before learning how others have approached it?
2010. 01
2010.1 prompt 1
External constraints—factors that limit people’s plans and projects—can create
stress, but this stress is not always bad and may even be necessary. In fact, the pressure of deadlines, budgets, rules, and the demands imposed by others can push people to accomplish things that they would find impossible to accomplish with unlimited time, money, and the absence of pressure.
Adapted from Jena Pincott, Success: Advice for AchievingYour Goals from Remarkably Accomplished People.
Assignment:
Do the demands of others tend to make people more productive than they would be without such pressure?
2010.1 Prompt2
Are people entitled to have their own opinions? Yes and no. People can have virtually any opinion, no matter how illogical, uninformed, or foolish. But this does not mean that they are entitled to have their uninformed opinions taken seriously or that their opinions should be considered as valuable as informed opinions. Opinions are valuable only when they are backed up by thorough knowledge of the subject. Assignment:
Should all people’s opinions be valued equally, or should only informed opinions be taken seriously?
2010.1 Prompt3
There are books that try to show the world as it is and books that try to show the world as it should or could be. Which sort of books should we be offering children and reading ourselves? One answer is the argument for the value of truth, for ―telling it like it is.‖ Writers could promote certain positive ideals by being less realistic, but all of us—especially children—have a right to be told the truth.
Adapted from Claudia Mills, ―The Ethics of Representation: Realism and Idealism in Children’s Fiction‖
Assignment:
Should books portray the world as it is or as it should be?
2010.1 Prompt4
Great discoveries often occur when a person explores the unknown, venturing far from what is familiar. But important breakthroughs--innovative solutions to difficult problems, for example--can also result when people take the time to look closely at their daily surroundings. In fact, the greatest discoveries often occur when people recognize in their familiar surroundings certain opportunities that others have overlooked or when people recognize that the way things have always been done is unjust or ineffective or unnecessary.
Assignment:
Do people make the greatest discoveries by exploring what is unfamiliar to them or by paying close attention to what seems familiar?
2010. 05
2010. 5 Prompt 1
People make decisions all the time. Some of these decisions may seem to be minor and inconsequential—whether to read a book or to not attend a meeting while
others are obviously more important. But even though the important decisions are likely to have equally important consequences, people should not treat casually or overlook the small decisions. The so-called small decisions have the greatest impact on our lives.
Assignment:
Do small decisions often have major consequences?
2010. 5 Prompt 2
A well-known company recently proposed setting aside every Friday as a day with no e-mail-based communication. On these e-mail-free Fridays, employees would be encouraged to refrain completely from reading or sending e-mail or text messages and advised instead to call each other or talk in person. This idea can work for everyone. If each week we set aside time to actually talk to one another, our communications will be less impersonal and more effective and satisfying. Assignment:
Is talking the most effective and satisfying way of communicating with others? 2010. 5 Prompt 3
Our distant ancestors survived because they were physically active, hunting wild animals and gathering fruits and vegetables over large areas of land. Modern life, however, is characterized by physical inactivity. Given the resulting health problems and the tremendous cost of treating them, the government should work with schools and businesses to ensure that people eat the right foods and get enough exercise each day.
Assignment:
Should the government be responsible for making sure that people lead healthy lives?
2010. 5 Prompt 4
In business, the term "personal brand" describes how companies define themselves and differentiate their products from those of other companies. People, too, are often advised to develop a kind of personal brand or style—to make themselves stand out from other people by developing unique characteristics. Nowadays, people who want to be successful in school, at work, or in their personal
relationships must emphasize their differences from their peers in the same way that companies emphasize their differences from their competitors.
Assignment:
Do people succeed by emphasizing their differences from other people?
2010. 6 Prompt1
No excerpt
Assignment:
Is it wrong to use the word "courage" to describe those behaviors that are ordinary or self-interested?
2010. 10 Prompt4
Assignment:
Should people adapt to the new environment, or should they remain who they are?
2011. 1 Prompt4
Assignment:
Does the process values more than outcome?
2011.5.7
2011.6.4