TOEFL Class: Agent of Change Project

Purpose
Writing and speaking coherently are important parts of the TOEFL exam. This
assignment will help you practice constructing a structured essay and presenting your
ideas clearly to your classmates. At the same time, you will have the opportunity to
reflect on what it means to be a positive and solution-oriented member of your
community.
What
Agent: a person or thing that has the power to act.
Change: to make something different from what it was before; to transform something
You will focus on being an agent of change in your community. In other words, you will
find ways to change your actions and reactions on a daily basis in order to try to have a
positive effect in your social group or community.
How:
1. Think of a social group or community which you are part of. It could be your
family, friendship group, school community, or neighborhood community etc.
2. What are some problems or challenges that exist in this social group? Be specific
and think about problems that directly affect you or those around you.
3. Make a list of all the virtues (look at the positive adjectives worksheet) that you
want to see more of in your social group.
4. From your list of virtues, pick one that you personally struggle with the most.
5. Try to embody that virtue and show it to people around you every day for
10 days.
Example:
1. My neighborhood community (Las Casas and La Gasca)
2. There are elderly people I know who are lonely and disconnected from younger
generations.
3. Virtues: generosity, friendliness, openness, courage, service, patience, love.
4. Courage.
5. Ideas for ways I can start: I will start my project by being brave enough to call
and visit some of the elderly and lonely people whom I know (such as my
neighbors and family), even though I am nervous about speaking Farsi and
Spanish with them. I will also be bold enough to try having longer conversations
with my Ecuadorian family in Spanish and to connect with them more deeply. I
will have the courage to step outside of my comfort zone.
Tasks:
Daily Journal: write down 3-4 sentences every day describing what you did to
practice the virtue that day. What did you do? How did you feel? Did it affect you
or others in any way? Be specific.
**Deadline 1: Tuesday, November 1st, 2016. Bring your journal entries (you

should have 4 at this point) to class on Tuesday and be prepared to talk about
them with a partner in class.

Reflection Essay: write an essay describing your experience of practicing your

virtue. Use the essay questions and outline below to help you structure your
work. Your essay must be a minimum of 300 words.
**Deadline 2: Monday, November 7th, 2016. Bring your essay to class and be
prepared to briefly summarize your experience in front of the class.

Essay Outline
Introduction
Main idea - clearly define your social group and the virtue you were working on.
Purpose - why did you want to develop this particular virtue?
Paragraph 1
Detail 1 - how did you try to practice this virtue?
Give specific examples of different things you thought, said, and did. Look
back at your journal notes to help you.
Paragraph 2
Detail 2 - what happened when you tried to practice this virtue more?
How did you feel during the project? Did it have an effect on you or
others? If so, why? If not, why not? Look back at your journal notes to help
you.
Conclusion
Summary and looking forward - what did you learn from your project overall?
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Please complete both tasks fully by the deadlines stated.

This assignment will count as your attendance for two days (one
days worth of attendance for each task).