How to Write a Laws of Life Essay

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How to Write a Laws of Life Essay

• Presented by
• Linda Williams
• ILT, Camden High

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Laws of Life Essay

• Class assignment Write a Laws of Life essay
• Remember Socrates words The unexamined life
  is not worth living.
• The purpose of a Laws of Life essay is to reflect
  on a truth about life that you have learned.

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Steps for Writing

• Tip 1 Think about a personal experience that
  taught you a truth of life.
• This doesnt need to be an earth-shattering
  event but it should be an event that taught you
  something a truth or lesson which you have
  continued to live by.

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Steps for Writing

• Tip 2
• Get specific
• The best essays describe one specific situation
  that was a turning point in the individuals
  thinking.

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Steps for Writing

• Specifics you should include
• Details you remember vividly smells, sights,
  sounds, tastes, and feelings
• Direct quotes words you and others actually
  said at the time (reconstruct if your memory
  isnt perfect)

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Steps for Writing

• Tip 3
• Find a maxim
• Choose a saying that immediately rings true for
  you. Choose one that is the logical lesson from
  the life event you discuss. You can search for
  an appropriate maxim based on the topic of your
  life lesson . . . Honesty, faith, charity, etc.

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What is a maxim?

• A maxim is a wise or pithy saying that contains
  words of truth or lasting meaning.
• Certain sayings youll read just make great sense
  to you immediatelyand this is the sort of maxim
  you want.

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Choosing a maxim

• Some maxims deal with love and friendship
• It is better to love than be loved.
• St. Francis
• Love thy neighbor as thyself.
• Matthew 1919
• (The Golden Rule)
• Love conquers all things. Virgil

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Some Maxims Deal with Determination Persistence

• If at first you dont succeed, try, try again.
• -- William Hickson
• By asserting our will, many a closed door will
  open before us.
• -- Seyyed Hossein Nasr

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More Maxims on Effort

• Failing to plan is planning
• to fail.
• Benjamin Franklin
• It is better to light a single candle than to
  curse the darkness.
• Motto of the Christophers
• What the mind can conceive, it
• can achieve.
• Anonymous

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Other Maxims Discuss Courage and Integrity

• I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by
  making me hate him.
• Booker T. Washington
• You cannot discover new oceans until you have
  the courage to lose sight of the shore.
• Anonymous
• Youre either part of the problem or part of the
  solution.
• Eldridge Cleaver

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Find the Right Maxim

• Your teacher will give you a handout with maxims
  on it.
• Research and find more maxims on these web sites
• www.bartleby.com
• www.motivationalquotes.com
• www.quotegeek.com
• www.quoteland.com
• www.wiseoldsayings.com

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Other Sources for Maxims

• Some books are excellent sources of maxims
• Bartletts Book of Familiar Quotations
• Chicken Soup Book Series
• Aesops Fables
• Try also thinking of --
• Grandparents maxims or favorite sayings
• Favorite stories, proverbs, Bible parables, or
  sermons

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Checklist for Laws of Life Essay

• Based on a personal experience
• Contains details of the event sights, sounds,
  tastes, touches, smells
• Uses direct quotes of key characters comments
• Includes a maxim
• 500 words-700 words at least 1 ½ - 2 pages
  typed, double-spaced
• Cover sheet with your name -- Dont put your
  name on the essay itself.

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Meet Ivy Merck
Camden Countys First Runner-Up, State of
Georgia Ivy Merck, sophomore during the 2003-2004
school year, placed second in the state and won
1000 for her essay on this maxim A brook
would lose its song if God removed the rocks.
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Excerpts from Ivys Essay . . .
A brook would lose its song if God removed the
rocks. . . The rocks we face every day prepare
us for struggles we may face later in life. They
help to form our song, or character. . . .
This past year was difficult for my family. With
my dads salary, my brother and my mother in
college, and my mother unable to get a job, we
were having some financial problems.
. . . When Mom gets a job became a universal
motto in our home when something was needed . . .
Throughout the year, I grew immensely in
character and maturity . . . The rocks we met
during the course of the year pulled my family
closer to each other and taught us to work
together.
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Some Excerpts from OtherWinning Essays

• Grand prizewinner
• for Georgia, 2003
• Mark Seymour
• Marks essay explains how he learned the truth of
  the maxim Discipline is the key to success.
• Upon transferring to a private military academy,
  Mark had a lot of adjustments

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Mark Seymour writes . . .

• Reluctantly, I said my goodbyes to my
  family, and I was left alone in this new
  unfamiliar place. Scared and confused, I was
  escorted back to my dorm where two senior
  officers stood waiting for my arrival. Not
  knowing who they were, I walked in, puffed out my
  chest, and told them to get out of my room. This
  was my first lesson in respect. After being what
  I like to call barked at to the point of
  embarrassment, I did my pushups.

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Some Excerpts from Winning Essays

• Second-place prizewinner, 2003, for Georgia
• Dominique Fears
• Dominique Fears grew up in a home where her
  parents sold drugs. Read an excerpt from her
  state second-prize essay

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Excerpt from Second-Place Prizewinning Essay

• As far back as I can remember, growing
  up was repulsive. Often I watched drug deals
  being completed right in my own home. I knew
  that my parents used the money for drug sales to
  feed and clothe my sister and me. We moved
  around a lot in order to keep the police off of
  our trail, but that did not hinder me from making
  good grades in school. I began reading books to
  escape the day-to-day frustrations of instability
  . . .
• Dominique learned that even though she was
  growing up in a place where dreams are
  deferred, she could still beat the odds.

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