<p>Prompt: American Essayist and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “A friend is Janus-faced*; he looks to the past and the future. He is a child of all my foregoing hours, the prophet of those to come” </p>
<p>Someone who has been that kind of friend to me is…</p>
<p>*Janus is the Roman god of entrances and exits of life. He is pictured with two faces, one facing forward, the other behind. January is named after him. </p>
<p>Assignment: discuss how the person you have indicated fulfills Emerson’s description of a friend. Support any generalizations you make with specific examples of things that your friend has said, special times, etc. </p>
<p>And then the example thesis the book provided was: My next-door neighbor and track coach is my “Janus-faced” friend because she knows the failures and achievements of my past, and because she helps me to overcome uncertainties of the future. </p>
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<p>I’m very introverted. The few friends I have I rarely get to see because they live out of state or go to a different school. How is one supposed to write an essay on friendship without resorting to sappiness and cliches?</p>