You are being asked to write a short “This I Believe” essay just as those we have been reading. Your job is to explain a core belief that you have that shapes you in some significant way.
Below are the actual directions from the This I Believe project, including the original directions from the 1950s. Follow these excellent guidelines for writing your own “This I Believe” essay in 2021!
This I Believe Essay Writing Suggestions
Tell a story about you: Be specific. Take your belief out of the ether and ground it in the events that have shaped your core values. Consider moments when belief was formed or tested or changed. Think of your own experience, work, and family, and tell of the things you know that no one else does. Your story need not be heart-warming or gut-wrenchingit can even be funnybut it should be real. Make sure your story ties to the essence of your daily life philosophy and the shaping of your beliefs.
Be brief: Your statement should be between 400 and 500 words (that’s about 2 pages, typed double spaced).
Name your belief: If you cant name it in a sentence or two, your essay might not be about belief. Also, rather than writing a list, consider focusing on one core belief.
Be positive: Write about what you do believe, not what you dont believe. Avoid statements of religious dogma, preaching, or editorializing.
Be personal: Make your essay about you; speak in the first person. Avoid speaking in the editorial we. Tell a story from your own life; this is not an opinion piece about social ideals. Write in words and phrases that are comfortable for you to speak. We recommend you read your essay aloud to yourself several times, and each time edit it and simplify it until you find the words, tone, and story that truly echo your belief and the way you speak.
For this project, we are also guided by the original This I Believe series and the producers invitation to those who wrote essays in the 1950s. Their advice holds up well. Please consider it carefully in writing your piece.
In introducing the original series, host Edward R. Murrow said, Never has the need for personal philosophies of this kind been so urgent. We would argue that the need is as great now as it was 65 years ago.
The Original Invitation from This I Believe
This invites you to make a very great contribution: nothing less than a statement of your personal beliefs, of the values which rule your thought and action. Your essay should be about three minutes in length when read loud, written in a style as you yourself speak, and total no more than 500 words.
We know this is a tough job. What we want is so intimate that no one can write it for you. You must write it yourself, in the language most natural to you. We ask you to write in your own words and then record in your own voice. You may even find that it takes a request like this for you to reveal some of your own beliefs to yourself. If you set them down they may become of untold meaning to others.
We would like you to tell not only what you believe, but how you reached your beliefs, and if they have grown, what made them grow. This necessarily must be highly personal. That is what we anticipate and want.
It may help you in formulating your credo if we tell you also what we do not want. We do not want a sermon, religious or lay; we do not want editorializing or sectarianism or finger-pointing. We do not even want your views on the American way of life, or democracy or free enterprise. These are important but for another occasion. We want to know what you live by. And we want it in terms of I, not the editorial We.
Although this program is designed to express beliefs, it is not a religious program and is not concerned with any religious form whatever . . . .
[W]e do ask you to confine yourself to affirmatives: This means refraining from saying what you do not believe. Your beliefs may well have grown in clarity to you by a process of elimination and rejection, but for our part, we must avoid negative statements lest we become a medium for the criticism of beliefs, which is the very opposite of our purpose.
We are sure the statement we ask from you can have wide and lasting influence. Never has the need for personal philosophies of this kind been so urgent. Your belief, simply and sincerely spoken, is sure to stimulate and help those who hear it. We are confident it will enrich them. May we have your contribution?
Read the assignment directions AND ask questions about them
Brainstorm your topic–no rules, just write or draw or list or whatever gets your brain working on the topic
The 2 Rs = Read and Read some more
Draft
Use tutoring services
Read aloud and proofread your work
Essay Requirements
Your essay should be 400-500 words (that’s about 2 pages typed, double spaced)
Your essay should be in MLA document format.
You will need to submit your essay for tutoring.
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