1. “This I Believe” 2 poems to open This I Believe overview Examples

2. Scholars Logic does well at school; And Reason answers every questions right; Poll-parrot Memory unwinds her spool; And Copy-cat keeps Teacher well in sight: The Heart’s a truant; nothing does by rule; Safe in its wisdom, is taken for a fool; Nods through the morning on the dunce’s stool; And wakes to dream all night. Walter de la Mare When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer WHEN I heard the learn’d astronomer; When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me; When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them; When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room, How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick; Till rising and gliding out, I wander’d off by myself, In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars. Walt Whitman

3. Working with the two poems 1.Begin by analyzing each poem in the same we have: 1.Begin the story (narrative and imagery) 2.Continue with tone, repetition (focus), and conclusion 2.When taken together, what do the poets— Whitman and De Mare—have to say about school?

4. Reading / Editing College Essays In small groups, please read your essays. As an editor, you are looking for: 1.How well the writer engaged the topic 2.If the writing is interesting 3.If it is clear technically sound the ideas link together

5. National Public Radio’s “This I Believe” Essay Overview History Introduction from Murrow Einstein, Rittenburg, and Earle The website Your task: find, read, print, and bring in three essays you like.

6. What the essay is and what it is not This writing is a personal essay It is your insight, your perspective on something that applies to you but probably applies to a lot of us. This essay is not a personal memoir Your relationship with an person This essay is not personal narrative Your relationship with an event

7. PERSONAL ESSAY Communicates the significance of a central idea or insight that has a deep personal meaning to the writer Purpose is more reflective, although the tone may sound persuasive Development of the piece is based upon the writer’s personal experiences or anecdotes Written in first person; more conversational or entertaining in style Appears in an essay or Op-ed format More subjective in tone Rarely requires documentation More informal in tone, language, and subject matter TRANSACTIVE WRITING Conveys information to a reader who knows less than the writer; may attempt to persuade a reader to take a particular action or believe a certain way Purpose is more persuasive, an attempt to convince others to agree with the writer’s position Development of the piece is based upon research from credible sources Written in third person; more issue driven and formal or academic in style Appears in a real world form such as a letter, an editorial, or a feature article More objective in tone Often requires documentation More formal in tone, language, and topic selection

8. Homework Go to thisibelieve.org Peruse different essays: – Find, read, print, and bring in three