Discussion: Moment of TRANSCENDENCE in your life

The focus of your memoir will be on a moment of TRANSCENDENCE in your life.

What does that mean, exactly?

We sometimes hear or read the word in the context of spirituality, or religion. In the Catholic Dictionary, on Catholic Reference.net, you may read, “Only God is absolutely transcendent in being because he alone is infinite and perfect…” When we use the word “transcend” for human efforts, we mean “to go beyond, or to surpass mere excellence.”

Some athletes talk about the transcendent nature of being “in the zone,” where their bodies and the air and the sport become one, and normal motion seems to fall away. Writers, artists, actors, dancers, and singers talk about similar experiences, as do new fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers when they hold a brand new baby. Some people feel themselves “transported to another realm” when they see stars in a deep black desert sky, or a sunrise on a placid lake. Others feel a rush of transcendence in the midst of studying, figuring things out; or meditating in a chapel, or lending needed assistance to a neighbor or a friend.

Your assignment is to write a memoir of approximately 500-600 words about a transcendent experience, using specific description and clarity. Be sure that your reflection is written for an audience, and has a lesson (perhaps the one you took from the experience) for the reader that connects with your experience.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument. Get homework help here