I have an English essay to do with the following statement:- Describe an episode in childhood, which .........

Question

left you with either pleasant or unpleasant memories.
What does it mean by episode? Could i write about a holiday or about going on a particular horse ride that i enjoyed which sticks in mind. Or do you think its asking for something a bit more meaningful.

Argh my life is so boring, i cannot think of anything to write about!!

Answer 1

You could write about either of those things. That is all it is asking - that you write about a memory.

Answer 2

You can write about both the holiday or the horse ride .... that is exactly what it means.
Your life is not boring.
But the way you will write it might just be that.
If you are bored, or treat the topic as boring, then everyone else will be too! The trick is to feel passion for anything, no matter how mundane it might seem, then make it shine for your readers.
Choose whichever experience felt that good to you, that you can still remember every sensation. Feel, think and live the passion and then write it. Don't worry about grammar or spelling, you can edit it later.
Let your heart flow out - what did you feel? What did you see? What did you hear? etc. Use as many of your senses as you can.
If you are really stumped, you can choose a situation which might have ended differently, just focus on your fears or anticipations at the time.
For example, when I was 10 years old I went on a class trip to the Isle of Wight. We spent some time at a local zoo on the mainland before getting the ferry.
My best friend, Irena, and I were bored and were fooling around on a low wall.
We both fell into a prairie dog enclosure whilst our other classmates moved on to board the ferry.
We didn't know what we had fallen into; we knew we were about to miss the ferry and get into big trouble with our teacher.
Either way, it seemed like an "Out of the frying pan and into the fire" situation.
It was a stupid, harmless situation which lots of kids get into and could be really boring if I told you that Irena and I fell into this field, and it was o,k, because it was just prairie dogs and we knew the teacher wouldn't let the ferry leave without us, so yes, it was just dumb.
But for Irena and myself, it wasn't like that - we had a lot of things going through our thoughts and emotions, and it was a bit scary.
If I chose to use this as an episode from my childhood, which it is, I might go for funny. I might exaggerate the thoughts and emotions etc. to make it really comic. Or I might go for scary.
It's the way you tell it that makes the difference!
If you have ever felt anything like that, you can build up a great story from it!
Trust yourself and let your imagination take over once you jot down the actual facts behind what happened.
Your facts (the reality of the situation) are your skeleton. and your view-point and expression will be the muscle and skin around it.
The skeleton might be ordinary, but YOU can make it not only live, but be a fresh and unique creation.
Good luck!
I'd like to read your essay ... I'm sure you'll write a really good one, because you wrote your question so well!

Answer 3

what your teacher is looking for is for you to write about something that happened in your childhood that sticks out in your mind that is either happy or sad.
A pet passing away
A family holiday and all the experiences on it first time you did something.
They are looking for that memory with all the emotions you had at that time did it change your life, did it make you do something you had never done before.
the horseride is a good idea perhaps the first time you went on a horse, how you felt, where you scared, excited, did it give you a love of horses that stayed with you today??
Where was the horse ride/ How did the horse ride come about what was horse called, what did it feel like hard soft what was horses name did it smell ect
You have not had a boring life I have never been on a horse and many people have not your teacher may not have so you can share the joy and experience of that ride.Put the person who is reading it in THAT saddle and take your teacher for a ride that is what she is after.

Answer 4

Write about a time in your life that really sticks in your memory. Make sure you describe how you felt, what others about you felt, that sort of thing. Remember, as essay is just a short story. It needs a beginning, a middle and an end. Think of it as something you want to tell a friend about over the phone then just give it more details.

Answer 5

They are looking for your ability to describe. Remember the key to any essay is to draw someone in with the first sentence then expand on the next 3 paragraphs or so, and leave it with something thought provoking. Episode is an event. Forget the pleasant stuff, that's boring. Write about the time you saw an adult picking their nose and describe how you thought only kids did that and how it made you realise that adults retain bad habits from childhood. Or write about a holiday you hadl or a fad or craze you had and how you have learnt from it but have moved on.

Answer 6

An episode is a one off happening. Don't be bored because you have to write something. Choose a pleasant memory.
(a) When you were a bridesmaid
(b) A special day at the zoo
(c) The first time you knew you could swim
(d) The day you had your little dog, tortoise, fish, birthday party.

Lots of ideas like that. Make is amusing if you, so the teacher can have a happy smile too.

J.

Answer 7

hi - by episode it means a time in your life rather than just one day or something

i agree the at the horse ride is not really what they are looking for

really they are looking for something that made an impact on you - both at the time and helped to shape you into the person you are now

i sure lots of things have happened to you and you are not boring - once you start thinking about it things will come

what about:

did you ever move house or school?
when you got your first pet
when a close relative died
when you got into a club or school that you really wanted
when you made a wish for something and it came true
a really memorable birthday or christmas and the people/memories associated with that
the first time you realised you were growing up

good luck with your essay
a

Answer 8

An episode would be something significant that happened to you - not an every day occurrence. Something that changed your life or your out-look on life, or made you think differently about something. The birth of a baby brother or sister/ moving house maybe, or separation/divorce of parents/ illness or death of a friend or relative/ getting a pet or the death of a pet/ Somebody leaving your life through moving away. Or even starting school, either for the first time when you was five (how you felt about leaving mum, were you frightened, excited, worried, did you enjoy it or not) , or starting secondary school.

Answer 9

Just pick anything. I recommend picking something smaller, rather than larger, because you can spend more time expanding the details. You might want to pick something meaningful, but that doesn't mean the events you just listed aren't. Why do you remember that ride? Just find an kind of significance in the experience, and develop into an essay.

Good luck!

Answer 10

Write about a boring day. List the things you did or didn't do. Tell how you felt about it. Tell what you wish you had done instead. You'll probably be the only one not to pick one particular incident and your essay will stand out!