1. Prompt: Your teacher has given you an assignment to write a
narrative essay. Think about a time a person did something that
made a difference in your life. Write about that time. Be sure to
narrate an event or series of events and include specific details in
your response.
2. Prompt: Choose a vivid time from your childhood -- You might think
of the first time that you rode a school bus, of a time when you went
to the principal's office, the first A you earned on a test or paper,
earning money to buy something that you really wanted, and so on.
Narrate the events related to the childhood memory that you've
chosen so that your readers will understand why the event was
important and memorable.
3. Prompt: Think about a time you asked for something special. It may
have been something you asked for on your birthday or a something
you asked to do. Sometimes we get what we ask for. Sometimes we
don't. Write a narrative paper telling about one time you asked for
something. Tell what happened and how you felt about it.
4. Prompt: Think about a time you were nervous. It might have been
before a big test or a recital. It might have been the first time you
were up to bad, your first plane ride, or the first time you had to give a
speech in front of a class. Write a narrative paper about one time you
were nervous. Tell what happened and how you reacted.
5. Prompt: Your teacher has given you an assignment to write a
narrative essay. Think of a person who is now important to you or has
made a lasting impression on you. Write a story about how you came
to know that person and what that person did that impressed you. Be
sure to narrate an event or series of events and include specific
details in your response.
6. Prompt: Your teacher has given you an assignment to write a
narrative essay. Think about a time you did something even though it
was hard for you to do. Write a story about that time. Be sure to
narrate an event or series of events and include specific details in
your response.
Think about a time a person did something that made a difference in your
life. Write about that time. Be sure to narrate an event or series of events
and include specific details in your response.
 First Christmas after I got
married
 Old Apartment
 Neighbors & Community
 Conversation with Liz
 Teased me about tiny
tree
 Gift at my door
 Tree, Decorations
 New appreciation for my
“crazy” neighbors
What I Don’t Want
In this story, I’m going to tell you about something that
happened at Christmas after I got married.
My husband and I lived in an old apartment, and we had
some really weird neighbors. They were so crazy and strange.
They made us really nervous with all their bizarre actions.
One time, when I bought a tiny Christmas tree, one of my
neighbors teased me about it. She just teased me so much and
said that it was too little for a Christmas tree. It was like she
wouldn’t stop joking about it. She just didn’t like it.
The next day, when I got home, she left a Christmas tree
outside my door. She also left decorations. I put it up in my
apartment. It was pretty.
So that’s the story of the time that someone gave me
something that made a difference in my life. It was really cool.
What I Want
I trudged up the filthy steps of my first apartment building
with my arms full of groceries. It was snowing hard outside and
my hat, shoulders, and plastic bags were dusted with thick flakes.
Struggling to find my keys, I finally opened the cracked wooden
door and let my bundle fall heavily onto the old couch. I had been
married just over four months, and Christmas just didn’t feel like
Christmas.
We had moved into a shabby white apartment building back
in July after our wedding. At first we were charmed by the
decorative doorways and ancient closets, but that charm soon
wore off. We had nicknamed most of our neighbors. Crazy Liz
lived across the hall with her cat and was always pulling up her
pant legs to show us her injured knee. Singing Rodney was
located in the basement, and loved to belt out songs at the top of
his lungs at 3:00 in the morning after he’d had too much too drink.
Then, we had a homeless lady who camped in the tiny area just
behind our laundry room with only a blanket and some cigarettes.
Needless to say, we kept our eyes open and our doors locked.
On this particular day, only a few weeks away from
Christmas, I had picked up a tiny Christmas tree in the floral
department at Albertson’s. It was barely a foot high and was
strung with about a dozen tiny lights and some silver bows. I set it
on top of a bookshelf and was about to close my door when Liz
poked her head in.
“You call that a tree?” she asked.
“Sure,” I answered. “It’s all the tree I can afford this year.” Liz
said goodbye as she backed out of my living room and went
across the hall to her cat. I thought nothing more of the
conversation.
The next day, I stumbled up the steps again after a long day
of teaching at Clair E. Gale junior high. As usual, the bulb in the
entry light was out, and I held tightly to the railing to make it to the
second floor. Once there, however, I stopped dead in my tracks.
Leaning against my door was a thick, live pine tree about 5 feet
tall. In a bag beside it were Christmas lights, pink and silver tree
decorations, sparkly icicles, a tree stand, and even a shiny gold
star for the top of the tree. I looked quickly toward Liz’s door and
found her peeking out through a small crack, smiling like an
angel. “Merry Christmas, dear,” she said to me before she closed
her door.
Warmth filled me. At this moment, in my humble
circumstances, I couldn’t imagine a more perfect gift. It wasn’t just
Liz’s gift that made that first Christmas so special; it was the giant
gesture of a person with a heart the size of the tree she’d chosen.