How to write an essay that can only be 400 to 500 words and the title
must be I'm Unique Because.... ?

EssayEdge.com, a subsidiary of CyberEdit, provides an excellent
framework for developing essays of this type.  I will provide an
overview of important steps in the process, along with links to
relevant portions of their essay writing course.  At the time I am
writing this, the course is down for maintenance, so I am providing
links to the course through the Internet Archive Wayback Machine at
www.archive.org. To access the pages directly once they are back
online, simply select the portion of the link beginning with
www.essayedge.com through its end and paste it into the Address bar of
your browser.

The goal of this type of essay question is for the reader to gain an
understanding of your personality and traits.  In order to answer it
successfully, you must go through a process of self-discovery to
identify who you are and what makes you unique.  The page "Assess
Yourself" http://web.archive.org/web/20041012190546/www.essayedge.com/college/essayadvice/course/lo_assess.shtml
provides some techniques to help you answer this question.  One
technique that can be extremely effective is to ask your friends and
relatives what makes you unique or unusual.  A second technique is to
identify issues in your life that you feel strongly about -- think
about why these issues are important to you and how you feel about
them.  Another approach is to think about what you have accomplished
in your life so far; it need not necessarily be extremely important,
but everyone has some unique life experiences and skills.  Finally,
have you had contact with someone who has influenced you in some way
that has made you unique?  These approaches can prepare you to enter
the brainstorming process to develop a topic.

"Brainstorming a Topic"
http://web.archive.org/web/20041012194027/www.essayedge.com/college/essayadvice/course/lo_brainstorming.shtml
provides an extensive list of questions that you can answer to help
you come up with topics.  Your answers will undoubtedly help you
discover what makes you unique.  Some combination of your personal
capabilities, family background, accomplishments, and goals for your
life undoubtedly makes you unique and therefore interesting to the
reader.

Once you have identified several potential topics, you are ready to
identify the specific one you will write about.  "Selecting a Topic"
http://web.archive.org/web/20041010094640/www.essayedge.com/college/essayadvice/course/lo_topicselection.shtml
provides advice for culling your list of topics down to the best one
for your essay.  You want to select a topic that is interesting, gives
a complete picture of you, and, if this is a college application
essay, avoids negativity.

The remaining lessons in the Essay Help Course, available at
"Admissions Essay 101"
http://web.archive.org/web/20041011142524/www.essayedge.com/college/essayadvice/course/,
will help you to structure your essay.  A few important points,
particularly considering that the essay will not be very long.  It is
important that the introduction be fairly short, immediately grab the
reader's attention, and not be purely a summary of the essay.  It does
need to provide the reader with an indication of how you are going to
address the question.  You should use active voice, avoid wordiness,
and provide specific examples to support the argument you are making
in the body of the essay.  Avoid overly lengthy sentences, and employ
a variety of sentence structures.  Because you have relatively few
words to work with, each one needs to count.  Again, because the essay
is short, the conclusion does not need to be a summary, but should
instead bring closure to the essay.  Finally, as is the case with any
writing, you should carefully proofread for grammatical, spelling, and
typographical errors.

I hope the links and commentary I have provided will assist you in
writing your essay.  I would be happy to provide you with a detailed
critique and edit of your essay once you have written it if you would
post it to Google Answers as a new question with "Wonko" in the title.
 I have edited several hundred college application essays.

Sincerely,

Wonko

I dont think anyone has asked someone else what makes them unique for
$40. You're one of a kind.

Well, its a short essay that as far as grading is concerned, it
shouldnt worry you. Teachers are usually more lenient with topics that
writers can be very sensitive to.

In all likelyhood, your teacher wants to get to know the youths of his
classroom with a lighthearted enjoyment of ambitions and goals.


Write three or four paragraphs. Over exaggeration and comicaly zealous
egotism isnt really for the teacher to judge. They'll be paying
attention mostly to grammer and spelling so always have a few people
look over it. Enjoy writing it and your teacher will enjoy reading it.


And remember, you're unique... just like 'everyone else'.

A brief note to the last poster.
"They'll be paying
attention mostly to grammer and spelling so always have a few people
look over it."
Do as I say, not as I do.
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=grammer

This could be for a college application.  
If so, the readers will still be looking at grammar (!) and spelling,
but they will be at least as interested in how you describe yourself. 
Since you have to use that title, the first paragraph has to complete
the sentence, either starting with those words or with a sentence that
immediately picks up on their meaning.
This is not the moment for humor.  You are going to have to recognize
whatever it is about yourself that you can say is unique.
If this is for a college application, the readers will be pleased to
hear that you are the best in your class in some way, but they will be
just as interested in whatever facet of your life or character you
present that shows uniqueness in a positive way.  Once you have found
that, the rest of the essay should fall into place:  how, why, what
circumstances led to this, what you have done with it.  Give credit to
those who helped, or explain what difficulties you had to overcome, or
what you have gained from it.
That is all a bit nebulous, of course, since I don't know you.  Ask
those who do to help point out what they find unique about you: 
parents, teachers, friends, adults in church and organizations.

Good luck!