In a paragraph or two,  no more than 300 words total, tell me a little about your origins-where you were born and raised, for instancedont give this too much thought, just write until you are near the word limit. 

Heres the challenge part: you cannot use any form of the verb to be in this short piece.  No am, is, are, was, were, be,  being nor been.   Shortcuts such as Im  are not accepted, either. 

Some students find this easy to write, and that is great.  Many others struggle and even do not catch each occurrence of to be-I often find a paragraph still with three or four uses of the verb. 

Is there anything wrong with the verb to be?  No. It is a fine verb, perhaps the most important (it is the most used) in English.  So why do this?  This makes us focus on diction (word choice) and syntax (word order), and mastering these linguistic areas is an important step in becoming a master communicator. 

I will give you an example.  Many of us might typically write or say, I was born in _____  in _____.  Currently, I am living in ______.  I will be attending _____ after I finish at PCCC.  I can write all this without to be:  In 1964, Helen and Saul Mitnick welcomed me into the world at Mountainside Hospital in Montclair, NJ. Currently, Bloomingdaleserves as my home base.  After finishing my PCCC studies, I hope to earn a degree from Rutgers University.   See, that wasnt so hard? J  Of course, you have more to write than that!  I look forward to reading these!  

  

Extra Credit:  if that wasnt enough,  try to avoid any use of good, bad, things, stuff and a lot. These are particularly lazy, vague words which convey next to no meaning nor content.  You do not have to focus on this here, but do know that on the first essay, these words are forbidden.  J