1. Finding Your Message From: Reviving the Essay by Gretchen Bernabei
Truisms
Finding Your Message
From: Reviving the Essay
by Gretchen Bernabei

2. Truisms
A truism helps you locate and identify one real belief, full of passion and experience, from a prompt.
A truism helps you transform a prompt into something of your own, something true, something a reader will sit up and notice.
Some truisms will not be real truisms, but will be about specific people or incidents.
Truisms are not about specific people or incidents.

3. Truisms
A truism is something that is true about all people in general.
Ex: I have a friend named Kanye. (That’s not a truism about all people in general.)
Ex: Kids need friends. (That’s a truism; it’s true about all people in general.)

4. Nobody gets along all the time.
Truisms
Nobody gets along all the time.

5. Everybody has sad times.
Truisms
Everybody has sad times.

6. Truisms
I like sitting by myself.

7. It hurts a person’s feelings to be left out.
Truisms
It hurts a person’s feelings to be left out.

8. Truism
Some things don’t last forever.

9. Sometimes the simplest pleasures in life are the best.
Truisms
Sometimes the simplest pleasures in life are the best.

10. Truism

11. Everybody understands power.
Truisms
Everybody understands power.

12. Truism

13. People create their own punishment.
Truisms
People create their own punishment.

14. Create Your Own Truisms
You are going to create two truisms of your own – See example to the right.
Add a photo to each truism. Make sure the photo fits in with the truism
Remember: A truism is something that is true about ALL people in general.
It hurts a person’s feelings to be left out.