Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Starting from the third grade, we were required to write an essay every week. My classmates were often at a loss for how to begin, and the teacher's instructions were quite simple. She provided us with sample essays for us to follow. Although the samples were the same, everyone's interpretations varied greatly, much like Shakespeare said, "A thousand people have a thousand Hamlets." The essays turned out to be a colorful mix, and sometimes, due to misunderstandings or careless mistakes, they resulted in quite a few laughs.
Even though I disliked this method of writing, I felt compelled to keep up with my peers and adhere to the path laid out by the teacher, all in an effort to uphold my "Model Student" reputation and satisfy my latent vanity. Gradually, I figured out a way to navigate this process: I would modify certain paragraphs of the sample essays using real experiences from my surroundings while keeping the main theme and central idea intact.
In fact, the requirements for essays at the elementary school level weren't too demanding. Generally speaking, aside from the clichéd phrases like "Under Chairman Hua's leadership, the Central Committee swiftly crushed the evil Gang of Four, bringing joy to the entire nation," there were mainly three categories: first, descriptive scenes such as hometowns or schools; second, descriptions of people, animals, or plants like teachers, classmates, and pets; and third, narratives about events such as collective labor or sports activities.
According to my understanding, this type of essay can completely start from one's own experiences, writing about what one observes and what feelings are most profound. However, the model essays provided by the teacher do not take into account everyone's experiences, nor do they consider the environment and scenery of our mountain village. They are filled with too much adult thinking and formal preaching. Students who cannot understand can only copy them; I, somewhat confused yet with my own thoughts, tried to add my observations and reflections within the boundaries set by the teacher. As a result, I became the top "essay expert" in the small circle of Osmanthus Primary School. I have written satisfactory works for all three types of essays mentioned earlier.
For the descriptive essay, the teacher initially provided phrases like "the Liao River flows gracefully, snow-capped peaks stand tall, the auditorium is spacious and bright, and the classrooms are clean with clear windows, where students sit orderly and listen attentively." However, I always felt this was somewhat exaggerated and never used such descriptions. In my eyes, the countryside is filled with small ditches that are knee-deep at most times, and during heavy rains, they become roaring and muddy floods; the Liao River is several miles away from us. The small hills are rolling but never truly towering; only a few bare stone mountains have that kind of stature. The auditorium is indeed grand but often extremely empty, used only during playtime or school assemblies—events that students dread facing. The classrooms are based on the old Long Ancestral Hall, where desks and chairs cannot even be arranged neatly; how can lively elementary school students ever sit in perfect order?
Therefore, I wrote about my hometown as a typical hilly village—ordinary yet revealing simple hearts; I depicted the school as lively yet somewhat chaotic, pulsating with vibrant energy. Sometimes, the teacher would read a few sentences from my work in class, while those who copied still failed to capture its essence.
In writing about characters, animals, and plants, teachers often guide us to portray a positive, uplifting, and grand image. They describe figures as "tall and robust, with thick eyebrows and bright eyes," or "round faces with sparkling eyes," sometimes adding "kind wrinkles and caring gazes." In the end, when students write about teachers, they seem to come from the same mold: male teachers are tall and serious, while female teachers are gentle and nurturing.
However, I have noticed that our male teachers are not all tall; aside from a couple of exceptions, most resemble the farmers in our yard, with some even being shorter. Female teachers are not always gentle either; often, they can be stricter than the male teachers. Yet, they write beautiful chalk letters on the blackboard, sing songs that sound like heavenly melodies, and solve complex math problems. Some of the younger teachers even play games and tell stories with us. Therefore, when I write about a teacher, anyone familiar with them can easily recognize who I am referring to. They might even tease each other about something they didn't know: "That day we all missed you; turns out you were playing with the kids by the osmanthus tree!"
When it comes to narrating events, teachers often talk about doing good deeds like helping elderly people cross the street or returning lost money to its owner. However, in our small village, there are no streets to walk on. The road at the Commune's Li Family Ferry Crossing is merely a dirt path leading to Youlan and Gaosha. It's rare for even a few vehicles to pass by in a day; cows and dogs stroll leisurely along it. There’s no chance for us students who take small paths to school to help any elderly folks cross the street.
As for finding money, people back then didn't have much money. In some families, they wouldn't possess more than ten yuan throughout the year, which they valued even more than their own lives. Who would easily pick up money on the roadside? However, whenever the teacher assigned topics like "A Small Incident" or "Unforgettable XX," there would always be about ten students who found money, and another ten who helped elderly people cross the street or fetched water for them. But not me; I truly encountered some unforgettable situations that could also be considered good deeds. For example, I once volunteered to guard the rice fields beside our yard to prevent chickens and ducks from ruining them, but I was scolded by Grandma Si for using small clods of dirt to drive away the chickens. Another instance was when I worked hard to earn money to buy my first fountain pen.
In this way, amidst the constraints of model essays and my own observations and reflections, I gradually learned how to write compositions.
Comment 0 Comment Count