This essay asks you to reflect on your own ethical values. As a writer, you have two options in crafting this essay:

1. You can narrate and reflect on the process of “coming to consciousness,” focusing on a personal experience(s) leading to a deeper awareness of a social or ethical issue or a more general commitment to social justice. For example, you might write about one or two key influences on your ethical development. The influence(s) may be person(s), experience(s), religion(s) or text(s) (e.g., books, films). You might write about the development of a generalized social consciousness, or focus on your experiences of becoming aware of social issues such as climate change, hunger, gender inequality, or unemployment.
2. You can focus on “ethics in action,” reflecting on an experience or moral choice that affirmed a personal commitment to particular ethical or social values. Some writers may choose a pivotal life choice or moral decision, while others focus on “everyday ethics,” smaller expressions of ethical values such as compassion, cooperation, or integrity in daily settings such as colleges, workplaces, homes, houses of worship, or playing fields. You might write about the difficulty of living up to your ethical standards, or narrate an internal struggle or confusion about what you believe in respect to a particular question or issue.

Be richly descriptive in your writing. Take the reader inside the experience(s) to appreciate its power. When focusing on an individual or a setting, for example, use rich description; include dialogue, if appropriate. Alternately, if you are writing about a film, book, or political speech, describe visual images, scenes, quotations, or excerpts to communicate the power of the text(s).