Subjects and Strategies

Essay Prompt: Read the article below. Then write an essay that answers the questions that follow.

Article: According to long-term research conducted by psychologists at the University of California, our personalities stay pretty much the same throughout our lives. The study found that personality traits were already established in children as young as five or six years old. These early traits can be used to predict adult behavior. For example, subjects in the study who were talkative as children were fluent speakers as adults. They were also highly intelligent and interested in intellectual matters. Children who weren’t very talkative grew up to be the type of person who always seeks advice from or depends on others. As adults, they also tended to give up easily when faced with obstacles, and were awkward in social

situations. The head of the study concluded, “Personality is a part of us, a part of our biology. Our personality follows us across time and contexts.”

Questions:

(1) As the article states, do you think our personalities are really established at such a young age?

(2) Do you think it’s possible to change our personality? (3) If so, how can we do it?

Essay Prompt: Think of a time or experience when you learned something very important about yourself and life in general.