The Day English was a Nightmare to Me
creative narrative approximately 600 words. meant to reveal a real event that happened to you and which had a deep significance for you, even changed you and the way you look at yourself or the world around you. The self is at the center of narrative essays. All other factors (characters, circumstances) serve to help your readers and yourself understand how the experience has changed you. * Try to capture the central event and the events surrounding it in chronological order or some other order that makes sense to you and will make sense to your readers * Start with the setting (events, circumstances, persons involved) * Build the action in a rising way (the readers should be eager to read on, looking for the climax) * End with a resolution, a deep understanding of the importance of the event, an epiphany. This is the hardest part to write but it is the most significant part because it includes the reason why you presented this event in the first place. Pay special attention to it. * Give enough detail to recreate the event vividly. Avoid irrelevant information
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The Day English was a Nightmare to Me
“…..and most regrettably,†the English teacher pronounced somberly as he held the last paper in his hand, “there is a D minus in my class, the first ever since I was posted in this school.†His eyes searched the room curiously, and I knew who it was he was looking for; the only new student in the class, the newcomer who had interrupted his record.
“Six years.â€
I turned to look behind me, and the boy seated in the seat directly behind me had the grin of a Cheshire cat on his face. “I said six years; that is how long Mr. Jo has been teaching English in this school.†I quickly turned away, terrorized by the mockery in his eyes. Everyone was staring at me, and for the first time in my life, I wished I was never the center of attention. In my previous school, I enjoyed being the center of attention because it always involved respect and admiration. I was the house captain, the best chess player in the whole school, and if the teachers' reports were anything to go by, the best behaved student. This was a big change of scene and fortune. I knew I was not good in English, but I was not the worst either. In class standards, my performances hovered around “average,†and it never bothered me because it was “acceptable†in light of overall class performance. In any case, no one expected me to be good in English because they knew were my strengths lay- in math and sciences. That is where I believed my career rested-in the sciences.
“So who is Chang, Li Chang?†the teacher‘s voice and the mention of my name jolted me back to the present. I looked down and closed my eyes, and wished that this was a dream that will go away the moment I opened my eyes. “Li Chang?†the teacher called again, and I meekly tiptoed to the front to take my paper. In ordinary circumstances, the rustling of papers and shuffling of feet on the floor creates a lively environment to which one's senses are unconsciously attuned and used to. In this particular moment, however, the class was so silent that-to use a hyperbole I learned that night- you could hear the ants talk. Every eye was on me; taunting eyes, mocking eyes, but mercifully for me, a few pitying eyes too.
“Chang?†the teacher called out as I was about to snatch the paper from his hands and tiptoe back to my desk.
“Sir,†I responded in a barely audible whisper.
“You see me after class hours, okay?â€
“Yes Sir.†I took my paper and once again, avoided the mocking glances as I headed back to my seat.
“It's okay, don't sweat it, it happens once in a while.†This was from the girl seated next to me, the only friend I had created in my short time at the school. She patted my back as I sat down, and braved myself for another one hour of silent suffering.
“Alright,†the teacher began as he called the class to attention and the day's lesson. “As we learned yesterday, homonyms are words with……?†he paused to look at me, and I simply stared back in silence, until he nodded at the bully seated behind me. He shouted the answer in a manner more intended to show off than to make himself audible to the class. For the next one hour, I followed along like a robot, ge...