LESSON 29 “THIS I BELIEVE”

INTRODUCTION
 Writer’s Prompt:
• “If you bow at all, bow low.”
• Chinese proverb

• “There can be no happiness if the things we believe in

are different from the things we do.”
• Freya Madeline Stark

• “Smile and the world smiles with you.”

• Pepsi Commercial
 Writer’s Prompt
• What gets you through life? What is your
personal philosophy in 25 words or less?
 Assignment
• “This I Believe” essay
• Final Exam
 “This I Believe”
• Personal Essay
• 1.5 to 2 pages
• Double spaced
• Arial/11pt.
• Rubric
• The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable
Men and Women
The Beatles Live On
Macklin Levine
The History of “This I Believe”
 This I Believe
• From 1951–1955, Edward R. Murrow hosted This I
Believe, a daily radio program that reached 39 million
listeners. On this broadcast, Americans—both well
known and unknown—read five-minute essays about
their personal philosophy of life.

• They shared insights about individual values that

shaped their daily actions. The first volume of This I
Believe essays, published in 1952, sold 300,000 copies
—more than any other book in the U. S. during that
year except for the Bible.
 Introduction - continued

• In fact, these Murrow broadcasts were so popular

that curriculum was even developed to encourage
American high school students to compose essays
about their most significant personal beliefs.
 Edward R. Murrow
• Edward R. Murrow (1908 –1965) was an
American journalist He first came to
prominence with a series of radio news
broadcasts during World War II, which were
followed by millions of listeners in the United
States and Canada.
• Historians consider him among journalism's
greatest figures; Murrow hired a top-flight
cadre of war correspondents and was noted for
honesty and integrity in delivering the news.
• A pioneer of television news broadcasting,
Murrow produced a series of TV news reports
that helped lead to the censure of Senator
Joseph McCarthy.
Edward R. Murrow
and Mcarthyism
 Harry Truman
• Harry S. Truman (1884 –1972) was the
thirty-third President of the United
States (1945–1953).
• As the thirty-fourth vice president, he
succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt, who
died less than three months after he
began his fourth term. Truman, whose
demeanor was very different from that
of the patrician Roosevelt, was a
folksy, unassuming president.
• He popularized such phrases as "The
buck stops here" and "If you can't
stand the heat, you better get out of the
kitchen.“
Vietnam Veteran
 This I Believe
William F. Buckley Jr.
 Some more examples…
• Read and Discuss
“This I Believe” Essays