Alexandra is a firm believer in the idea that a person has the ability to change over time. Do you have a characteristic that you’d like to change for the better? Think about what you know about the idea of change, and write a 100- to 150-word paragraph describing something you want to change about yourself. Use specific details in your paragraph to support your answer.

                      WHAT I WANT TO CHANGE ABOUT MYSELF

I am a young man in my early twenties, I am a jovial person who relates well with people. However, there is a characteristic I want to change about myself which is my tendency to be quick-tempered.

I can go from 0-100 in under a second and the change from calmness to rage is always startling, even to myself. In this state, I am likely to cause damage that would be very costly. I remembered the last time I lost my temper, I used a baseball bat to smash the windscreen of someone's car. What happened that day was that the driver of the car hit the fender of my car in his drunken state and when I went up to him, he hurled abuses on me so I lost my cool, got a baseball bat, and completely destroyed his windscreen.

That action of mine was not without consequence as I was arrested and charged with violent conduct and assault, and ended up paying for the windscreen.

If I was more rational and level headed, all that could have been avoided. So, the character i want to change is my quick temper.

active voice: my father cut the tree.

passive voice: the tree was cut by my father.

active voice: people buy newspapers every day.

passive voice: newspapers are bought (by people) every day.

active voice: people have been using movies as political propaganda since world war ii.

passive voice: movies have been used as political propaganda since world war ii.

active voice: donna gave me my birthday present.

passive voice: i was given my birthday present (by donna). / my birthday present was given to me (by donna).

active voice: mom will leave the keys on the counter.

passive voice: the keys will be left (by mom) on the counter.

the words in parentheses are the agent of the passive voice and can be omitted when obvious, generic, or simply unnecessary.