Can an essay of thoughts cause you to think? Reports reveal the passive thoughts of the writer’s mind. When we read the article, we think about the ideas, and the writer’s thoughts become our present tense.

Simply put, thinking is present, and thought is the past tense of thinking.

The distinction between thinking and feeling (cognition and emotion) is fundamental to what the mind does. Feelings represent demands upon the thinking of the mind. The work of reason is thinking.

Essays are short, informative pieces of writing that focus on a specific, chosen topic that comes in four traditional forms. An expository essay requires no accurate written analysis, just presenting facts or positions on that topic.

Descriptive essays only require that a writer paint a picture using words that put a reader inside the scene as if they're experiencing it themselves.

A narrative essay tells a story of a personal experience, and an analysis of what the writer learned from that experience may be included.

A persuasive essay requires a writer to make arguments that support their point and include their analysis of those points to conclude. I prefer a persuasive essay mixed with a narrative using personal experience.

In my book, Why Life Stories Change: As You Look At Your Own Life Story, You See Yourself Differently, I used personal stories and observations from my own life to show how a life story shapes our identity and how each time we re-tell the story we see those same events differently (changing the narrative) and by doing so change our self-identity.

Thought Quotes

“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself.

“But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.