This I Believe
The Assignment:Throughout the semester, I wrote several essays in my LA101H class. One of the essays I wrote was assigned to be a "This I Believe" essay, which was also delivered orally as a presentation to the class.
"This I Believe" is a series in NPR that started in the 1950s. In essence, these speeches highlight the belief held by the Ancient Greeks that opinions are public, not private. An opinion was not a belief of an individual, but of a community; opinions were shared, public forms of fact. They used to be advice shared among people, not private beliefs that one keeps to oneself. A "This I Believe" speech encompasses a statement of personal belief through a brief, personal story. In the words of the original This I Believe host Edward R. Murrow, they are "personal philosophies." Written in a lively, memorable, and personal voice, "This I Believe" speeches accomplish today what the opinions of the Ancient Greeks accomplished in their time. To view my "This I Believe" essay, click here or on the title above.
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My Reflection: This essay shows my voice in its most personal and conversational style. As the topic and idea of the speech is more intimate and personal than other subjects, this speech represents me not only as a student, writer, and person, but also as a family member and thinker. One of the strengths of this speech is its ability to take a story, person, and concept very close to me and extend it to others in a relatable way. It tells a story that is specific to me, but has an underlying message that can apply to whoever listens or reads it. I was able to characterize my grandfather and myself as his granddaughter in a solemn situation while keeping a lighthearted tone and engaging the reader/listener through subtle foreshadowing, repetition, and speech in the first person.
In light of what I have learned this semester, I have made slightly changed the essay. To make certain phrases more powerful, I separated them into shorter paragraphs. This way, a reader can concentrate more on the message of those sentences alone, as opposed to grouping them in with a longer paragraph. The message of that smaller section can be combined with the overall message of the piece and add additional meaning and build on the overarching idea instead of only contribute more to one idea. Ideas can synthesize and resonate with the reader to strengthen the more obvious ideas I present. I also changed the wording of some sentences to make them clearer to readers. Some sentences were cluttered with unnecessary words that did not serve a purpose in strengthening the message or describing the story. Keeping the same idea in mind, I decided to choose another clearer, more artistic way of presenting it in writing. |