Choose one quotation:
A. Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together. (Vincent Van Gogh)
B. I will not let someone walk through my mind with their dirty feet. (Mahatma Gandhi)
C. Turn your wounds into wisdom. (Oprah Winfrey)
D. Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes. (Oscar Wilde)
E. How little a thing can make us happy when we feel that we have earned it. (Mark Twain)
F. A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. (Francis Bacon)
G. The first duty of love is to listen. (Paul Tillich)
H. Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame. (Benjamin Franklin)
I. The biggest problem in the world: we draw the circle of our family too small. We need to draw it larger every day. (Mother Teresa)
J. We must not say every mistake is a foolish one. (Cicero)
K. A single conversation across the table from a wise person is worth more than a month’s study of books (Chinese proverb).
L. Never trust your tongue when your heart is bitter (Samuel J. Hurwitt).
M. The cave that you fear holds the treasure you seek (Joseph Campbell).
N. Duty makes us do things well, but love makes us do them beautifully (Phillips Brooks).
O. Wisdom is learning what to overlook (William James).
P. A goal without a plan is just a wish.
Q. Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors (African proverb).
Your thesis should answer this question: How did this event help you to grow, to achieve some new insight or wisdom, or to overcome some obstacle in your life?
Note that this topic/assignment is asking three things of you: (a) to respond to the quotation, (b) to tell your story, and (c) to make a point by explaining HOW these events have changed you. Your assignment is to choose the most important details and develop them into an essay that will leave your readers with a vivid impression of your experience and an understanding of the significance of the event. Don’t just tell your story without making your point. Think about why the experience was significant: Did it challenge your feelings/beliefs about something? Did some aspect of your life change as a result? Did you discover something about yourself or others? Keep in mind that there should be a reason why you have chosen this particular topic; that reason will become your thesis, located in the introduction to let your readers know why you are showing them this incident or sequence of events.
Your essay must be at least 750 words long, but closer to 1000 words would be more appropriate. (Shorter essays will not pass.) Your essay should be at least 5 paragraphs long. Avoid short paragraphs. Your typical paragraph will be about 12-15 sentences long. No paragraph can be shorter than 10 sentences.
