Aphorisms: An Optional Prompt for Today

If you've already got an idea for your argument essay, you may spend this whole class period developing this idea and working on your draft.

If you're still searching for something to delve into, see if this prompt helps lead you to a topic worth arguing about:

A couple of weeks ago, we discussed aphorism as a rhetorical strategy in an argument essay: the author frames a debatable claim as if it were a truth universally acknowledged, in the form of a succinct statement or assertion, sweeping in scope. Some examples from our readings this semester include Fitzgerald ("in a real dark night of the soul it is always three o'clock in the morning, day after day") and Stevenson ("There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy"). Robert J. Zimmer, president of the University of Chicago, opens his personal statement in an aphoristic vein: "Questioning, not deference, is the route to clarity."

Think of an aphorism you've encountered before in your life, and contemplate it critically. Do you believe it? Do you agree with its assumptions? Does it reflect something important about your experience in life? Or does it seem to you misguided, simplistic, or otherwise wrong? Write a couple of paragraphs sorting through your thoughts about this aphorism, and see if a position emerges that might become the basis for a more extensive argument.

Here are some examples of well-known aphorisms, if you can't think of one off the top of your head:

"That which does not kill me makes me stronger" (Friedrich Nietzsche)

"Comparison is the thief of joy" (attributed to Theodore Roosevelt)

"If you want a thing done well, do it yourself" (attributed to Napoleon)

"Melancholy is an appetite no misery satisfies."

"Life's tragedy is that we get old too soon and wise too late."

"The slope contains many wonders not found at the summit" (Marty Rubin)

"We find comfort among those who agree with us; growth among those who don't."

"It's better to die on your feet than live on your knees" (Emiliano Zapato)

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely" (attributed to Lord Acton)

OR

Compose your own aphorism, either using a familiar one as a point of departure, or to sum up and articulate an idea or "truth" that you have gained from your own experience. Try to express your idea as compactly and succinctly as possible--make it "quotable"--and then write a paragraph or two illustrating or elaborating on your original aphorism.