Essay Assignment #2: 

Writing to Explain and Support an Opinion or Belief

First Draft Due September 29th (minimum 3 pages):

Bumper sticker wisdom should not be overlooked. One popular bumper sticker asks, “How do you know you have a mind if you never change it?” This question suggests that change is a natural part of any healthy process of intellectual and personal development. For this essay assignment, you will reflect on an opinion or belief that you have, at one time or another, changed your mind about. Or, you may write about an opinion or belief that you are questioning right now. Flash back over your past—past beliefs, past opinions, past ideas. Think of some opinion or belief that has changed over time, or of some opinion or belief that is in the process of changing now.

First, describe that opinion or belief. Then, articulate what caused the change in your mind (or, what is causing you to currently question an opinion or belief)? Was it sudden or did it evolve over time? Did the change in your mind cause any change in your behavior or change in your relationships? Did it lead you (or is it leading you) to a new opinion or belief? Is this opinion or belief still evolving? In the artistic discipline you practice, have you ever abandoned a particular technique or embraced one? Either artistically, or personally, have you ever left off one way of doing things and started doing something completely different for some reason? Why? What caused the change? Some people are raised in certain religious communities, and then change their religion or abandon it altogether when they get older. 

Some people are raised by politically conservative or politically liberal parents and form opinions opposite to those of their parents. Some filmmakers begin their careers using only professional actors and then decide that nonprofessional actors produce fresher performances. The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein started out using very fancy, specialized language to communicate his ideas, and then decided that he should only write using plain, simple language. The writer Djuana Barnes at one point in her career thought that drinking heavily and living wildly helped her write novels, but as she got older, she believed that she could only be creative by abstaining entirely from alcohol and drugs. Artist Marcel Duchamp began his career doing lovely cubist paintings and then became critical of certain practices in the art world, after which he began signing his name to everyday found objects instead.

Address your essay to a group of people who think or believe something that you used to think or believe but no longer do entirely. Explain what you used to think, why it changed, and what you think now. If applicable, describe any behavior changes or changes in artistic practice that went along with this change of mind.  

** Always, always back up your thoughts with some example, quote, or explanation.