CHAPTER 13 / ESSAY WRITING PRACTICE 493
Sample Essays: Practice Essay 7
Consider carefully the issue discussed in the following passage, then write an essay that answers the
question posed in the assignment.Some people spend their lives waiting for the one great challenge that will define
them. Every society needs such people, who forge into the unknown and lay new foun-
dations. But society also depends very much on those who meet the small challenges,
like feeding mouths and minds and hearts.Assignment: Are we defined more by great challenges in our lives or by small, everyday
challenges?Write an essay in which you answer this question and discuss your
point of view on this issue. Support your position logically with examples from
literature, the arts, history, politics, science and technology, current events, or your
experience or observation.Sample: 5 points out of 6
Whether a challenge is “great” or “small” depends on your attitude and position in life. A problem that seems
inconsequential to a parent might be a very important transition for the child. Regardless, I think that what
defines people is how they deal with things that they themselves don’t actually regard as a big deal. For instance,
how a person acknowledges others or solves little everyday problems. Anyone can rise to a big occasion, but it
takes a big person to rise to little occasions.
When I think of people I want to emulate, I think of a person who is defined by little challenges: my mom.
There is no more considerate person in the world. Even though she is often stressed out from her job and from
raising two kids, she always finds time to do something nice for someone every day. Sometimes she will bake a
cake and send it over to our elderly neighbor, just because she wants an excuse to go over and say hello and
because she knows how a good sweet can brighten someone’s day. My mom also writes beautiful thank you
notes on nice stationery after every event she attends to thank the host or hostess. She could send a quick e-mail,
but she knows that the little extra effort is worth it.
When you pay attention to the little things, they can become big things. For instance, when diplomats or
heads of state show kindness and respect to their counterparts, they help to solve the bigger problems like war
and trade disagreements. Sometimes I am amazed when I hear a president or a prime minister speaking disre-
spectfully of another nation’s leader. A wise leader always shows kindness and respect to other leaders, even
those he or she disagrees with, because, at least, those leaders represent many other decent people. Wars and
conflicts are often the result of fears that arise because leaders don’t perform the common courtesies that they
could use to put their opponent’s minds at ease.
When I think about little everyday kindnesses, I also think about “Catcher in the Rye” by J. D. Salinger.
Holden Caulfield, the protagonist, is boy who thinks that all of the adults and most of the kids around him at
his prep school are “phonies,” but in reality Holden is simply too immature to build meaningful relationships
with others. He doesn’t yet understand the importance of being kind to others, at least not until he takes his little
sister to the zoo. Then he realizes that he really can care for something, and he nearly cries just watching her
ride the carousel.
Holden learned that the only way to be happy is to care about something or someone, and to respect that
thing or person. I wish that more people could learn that lesson, and just show a little bit of kindness to the
people they meet every day.
Evaluation:This very competent essay argues persuasively that “it takes a big person to rise to little occasions.” The
examples of the author’s mother, world leaders, and Holden Caulfield support the author’s thesis that even small
actions that show consideration for others can be very important not only in resolving disputes but also in main-
taining a sense of self-worth. The essay is generally well-organized and coherent, although the conclusion is under-
developed and the example of Holden Caulfield could be more substantially explained. The author uses language
competently, and varies sentence structure effectively.