College Level Preparatory
Changing Attitudes (Expository)
As we mature, our attitudes often change, and we learn to view things differently. Think about an important change in your attitude toward a person, a group of people, or a set of ideas, values or traditions.
Write an essay in which you contrast your earlier attitude with the attitude you now hold. Explain why the change has taken place.
Coping with Hostility (Expository)
Describe an experience in which you had to cope with resentment or hostility from others or one in which you expressed the same attitudes toward someone else. Explain how or why the situation developed and how you felt about it, reacted to it, or dealt with it.
Different Worldviews (Expository)
Write an essay about someone you have met whose way of life or view of the world differs greatly from your own. Describe in detail how that person's lifestyle or view of the world differs from yours. Discuss what you have learned about yourself from having come in contact with that person.
Difficult Undertaking (Expository)
We have all undertaken something, either voluntarily or by assignment, that we have later found too difficult to handle. Write an essay about a subject or task in your own life that you have discovered was too difficult for you. In your essay tell what you attempted and how you came to be involved in it. Describe what happened and explain why you were unable to see the effort through or why it was so difficult.
Doing Things We Don't Enjoy (Expository)
Sometimes we choose to do things that we do not really enjoy — jogging, studying, eating the right foods, and so on.
Describe something you do by choice that you really do not enjoy. Explain why you continue to do it. Discuss the changes that might occur in your life if you were to stop this activity.
High-School Jobs (Expository)
Many students have jobs while they are still in high school. School administrators, parents and even teen-agers themselves debate the value of working while in high school.
Discuss some arguments for and against high-school students working and explain your position. Support your views with examples from your own experience or that of people you know.
Holidays (Expository)
We observe many different holidays. Think about a holiday or official celebration that you would like to see changed in some way or even eliminated altogether.
Write an essay in which you propose that this holiday be either changed or eliminated. Give convincing reasons to support your argument.
Insight Through Crisis (Expository)
People often gain insight into their own personalities from stressful situations such as going through a family crisis, taking a test in school, or being the only stranger in a group of people.
Describe a stressful situation you have experienced and tell what it revealed to you about yourself. Explain how this revelation has changed your perception of yourself in some aspect of your life or activities.
One Major Change (Expository)
At times we may think about what could have or would have been different in our lives if persons or events had been different. Suppose that you had the power to bring about one major change in your life. Tell what change you would have made and why you would have made it.
Resisting a Popular Viewpoint (Expository)
Write an essay describing an occasion on which you privately or openly resisted a viewpoint that had become popular with your friends and acquaintances, or one on which you felt that actions taken by them were wrong. Describe the situation, explain why you disagreed with the group, and tell how you handled the situation.