No. 26

Think carefully about the issue presented in thefollowing excerpt and the assignment below.

We often hear that we can learn much aboutsomeone or something just by casual observation.We are not required to look beneath the surface orto question how something seems. In fact, we areurged to trust our impressions, often our firstimpressions, of how a person or a situation seems tobe. Yet appearances can be misleading. What“seems” isn’t always what is.

Assignment: Is the way something seems to be not always the same as it actually is? Planand write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your positionwith reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

No. 27

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignmentbelow.

For a variety of reasons, people often make choices that have negative results. Later, theyregret these choices, finding out too late that bad choices can be costly. On the other hand,decisions that seem completely reasonable when they are made may also be the cause of laterdisappointment and suffering. What looks like a wonderful idea at one time can later seem likethe worst decision that could have been made. Good choices, too, can be costly.

Assignment: Are bad choices and good choices equally likely to have negativeconsequences? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue.Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies,experience, or observations.

No. 28

Think carefully about the issue presented in the following excerpt and the assignmentbelow.

The people we call heroes do not usually start out as unusual. Often they are ordinarypeople subject to ordinary human weaknesses — fear, doubt, and self-interest. In fact, they liveordinary lives until they distinguish themselves by having to deal with an injustice or a difficultsituation. Only then, when they must respond in thought and in action to an extraordinarychallenge, do people begin to know their strengths and weaknesses.

Assignment: Do people learn who they are only when they are forced into action? Plan andwrite an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position withreasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.