8/28 Reader’s Response
– Many of them felt a new feeling at some point in their life
Ex. 1) Jackie Robinson’s “Free Minds and Hearts at Work”
“At the beginning of the World Series of 1947, I experienced a completely new emotion, when the National Anthem was played.”
2) Brian Greene’s “Science Nourishes the Mind and the Soul”
“One day when I was about 11, walking back to Public School 87 in Manhattan after our class visit to the Hayden Planetarium, I became overwhelmed by a feeling I’d never had before.”
3) Isabel Allende’s “In Giving I Connect with Others”
“I never had time to think about my beliefs until my 28-year-old daughter Paula fell ill.”
– Many of them had some sort of problem throughout their life
Ex. 1) Isabel Allende’s “In Giving I Connect with Others”
“..my 28-year-old daughter Paula fell ill. She was in a coma for a year and I took care of her at home, until she died in my arms in December of 1992.”
2) Eve Birch’s “The Art of Being a Neighbor”
“One year, through a series of unhappy events, it all fell apart. I found myself homeless and alone. I had my truck and $56.”
3) Jackie Robinson’s “Free Minds and Hearts at Work”
“On the field, for the first time in Atlanta, there were Negroes and whites. … Whatever obstacles I found made me fight all the harder.”
– Many of them wanted or worked towards something, or persuaded other to do the same thing
Ex. 1) Eve Birch’s “The Art of Being a Neighbor”
“I used to believe in the American dream that meant a job, a mortgage, cable, credit, warrantees, success. I wanted it and worked toward it like everyone else, all of us separately chasing the same thing.”
2) Jackie Robinson’s “Free Minds and Hearts at Work”
“And to myself I can say that, because progress is unalterable, many of today’s dogmas will have vanished by the time they grow into adults. I can say to my children: There is a chance for you. No guarantee, but a chance.”
The goals of a This I Believe essay are quite simple. If you wish to write an essay then you must be willing to portray a life philosophy that you believe in or follow. For some people, this philosophy has been caused by a new feeling or emotion they have experienced in life. For others this philosophy may have been created by a problem they have either suffered or overcame once or throughout their lifetime. The main goal of a This I Believe essay is not only to portray your personal life philosophy, but also to persuade the readers to work towards or believe in something much like you did as you showed in your This I Believe essay.