Prompt 1.
There are situations where flattery is mandatory: The bride is always beautiful. If we look at someone's artwork, we are obliged to say something complimentary to the artist. If we visit someone with a new baby, we are required to say the infant is cute. In such situations, to say nothing is interpreted as rudeness. We compliment each other because we understand that flattery makes life run moothly.
Adapted from Richard Stengel, You're Too Kind: A brief History of Flattery
Assignment: Is praising others, even if the praise is excessive or undeserved, a necessary part of life?
Prompt 2.
Beauty is not a quality in people or in objects themselves. It exists in the mind that perceives those objects, and each mind perceives beauty differently. To seek real beauty, in some absolute sense, is pointless. Where one person sees beauty, another may even see the opposite. For this reason, we all ought to accept our own perceptions of who or what is beautiful, and not be influenced by the perceptions of others.
Adapted from David Hume, "Of the Standard of Taste"
Assignment: Should we be influenced by others' perceptions of the beauty of people or things?
Prompt 3.
Conflict is not necessarily bad, and it does not necessarily indicate a failed interaction. It is a signal, a message that says, "Things aren't working around here. We've got to do something different." Thus, conflict can be a catalyst-a motivating force-encouraging people to interact and communicate in ways that are more satisfying. Conflict can actually benefit people by pushing them to make necessary changes.
Adapted from Beverly Potter, From Conflict to Cooperation
Assignment: Is conflict helpful?
Prompt 4.
What explains our increasing obsession with money and the things it can buy? It seems as though the acquisition of money is gradually replacing real measures of success, such as integrity, honesty, skill, and hard work.
Adapted from Alan Durning, “Limiting Consumption: Toward a Sustainable Culture"
Assignment: Has the acquisition of money and possessions replaced more meaningful ways of measuring our achievements?
2005 December ESSAY PROMPT
Prompt 1
We like to think that if someone has "the right stuff," he or she will naturally rise to the top. But it isn't true. In that same way that acting talent doesn't guarantee stardom, the capacity for leadership doesn't guarantee that one will run a corporation or a government. In fact, at least in our time, genuine achievement is not highly valued, and those who are skilled at achieving greatness are not necessarily those who are ready to lead.
Adapted from Warren Bennis, On Becoming a Leader
Assignment: Are leaders necessarily people who are most capable of leadership?
Prompt 2
How valuable is history for our generation? On the surface this question is not as easy as it once might have been, for there is a widespread belief that history may no longer be relevant to modern life. We live, after all, in an age that appears very different from the world that came before us.
Stephen Vaughn, "History: Is It Relevant?"
Assignment: Is knowledge of the past no longer useful for us today?
Prompt 3
The free expression! of thoughts and opinions is one of humanity's most precious rights. Every citizen must be able to speak, write, and publish freely, provided that he or she is held accountable for the abuse of this liberty in cases determined by the law.
Adapted from Thomas Paine, Rights of Man
Assignment: Is it necessary to limit or put restrictions on freedom of thought and expression!?
Prompt 4
Progress is likely to slow down once science and technology have met our basic human needs. New developments in science and technology will not continue to produce more societal benefits. In fact, the promise that science and technology will continue to benefit us is increasingly doubtful when so many individuals find their lives changing in ways they cannot control and in directions they do not desire.
Adapted from Daniel Sarewitz, "Social Change and Science Policy"
Assignment: Do the benefits of scientific and technological developments come at the cost of undesirable changes to people's lives?