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"There was a God somewhere watching over us" -an experience that changed your life.


RyanVi16 12 / 91  
Oct 16, 2010   #1
Topic: Describe an experience that changed your life. (500 words)- Total: 523

Grammars and other feed back would greatly be appreciated. Thank you

I buried my nose into my father's damp, wrinkled shirt. The scent of fresh lumber, blended with the aroma of cheap washing detergent rushed through my lungs. I put my arms around Father's shoulders as my body swayed back and forth to the rhythm of the steps he took along the empty street. Distant echoes of footsteps belonging to the late-night pedestrians on concrete pavement interrupted the empty atmosphere.

My heart stopped. Perhaps it was just the sound of the incessant rain that separated my pulse from the silence of the night, or the water had drowned my agitated soul. I fell asleep as the silhouette of the moon rose above the black clouds.

I dreamed of the days that Father and I had spent together under the roof of our decrepit apartment, envisioned every mended part of the walls where the water had penetrated after each monsoon season. I missed the insipid meals of rice and soy sauce and Father's late night stories. The expression of the landlord when he slammed the door on us when we were short on rent disturbed the memory and became my darkest nightmare.

An icy drop of rain woke me up. Father was still walking, carrying me on his back. Street lamps flickered to life one after another until two lines of light ran through the endless pathway. I tried to recall when we ate our last meal. The thought of the taste and crispiness of hot bread made my mouth water.

We passed a nearby house that was celebrating a birthday party. I could see colorful balloons floating around the dining room. The fragrance of roasted beef covertly escaped the house into the cold and humid air. We waited until the Happy Birthday song had faded into the distance before we continued our journey. The song reminded me of the flute that Father carved out of wood for my sixth birthday. Even though only air would come out of those seven holes when I tried to blow on it, he would pretend to whistle along with the silent song.

How long had it been since Father started walking? Two...three hours? I tried not to let my tears mar his shirt and ruin its perfect smell. I prayed. Maybe God is watching over us at this moment. Maybe being homeless for a few days wouldn't be so bad after all. Maybe the midnight stars would fade, yield their place for the first rays of dawn. Maybe...

Eighty-three months later, I looked at the men sitting along the sidewalk from my car window. The dirty faces, the deep expressions engaged every corner of my memory. I couldn't describe the feeling. It wasn't pity; it wasn't pain, but rather nostalgia. I stepped out of the car and headed toward the homeless men. A little child about six years old reached them before me, talking and laughing with their poor souls. I smiled. It wasn't just me that changed from the inside, but the whole world has changed. It gave me hope that this wretched society is heading toward the light at the end of the tunnel.
maura 1 / 6  
Oct 16, 2010   #2
editing cont'd:

We passed athe window of a nearby house that still had its light on.;t here was a party. I

The aroma of roasted beef covertly escaped the house in to the cold and humid air of the October night.

I remembered my sixth birthday present, the most beautiful flute that Father especially madehad made especially for me.

But I could never be angry at the woman whom Father was in love with for the past fifteen years.

Two... no three hours? I tried not to let my tears bleed throughmar his shirt and ruin its perfect smell.

Maybe we could find a place to stay for tonight.

Maybe the midnight stars would be darkenfade , yield itstheir place for the first rays of dawn. Just maybe.

ok i admit i did a little style editing too, but not much. obviously, those are suggestions and you don't have to take them

Good luck, and your story is sincere and well-told :)
-Melissa
OP RyanVi16 12 / 91  
Oct 16, 2010   #3
Thank you so much for all your effort, you really did make this story sound so much better. My vocabulary is kinda limited so sometimes i use long description when a short word can express the same idea.

Thank you once again :)
EF_Kevin 8 / 13,321 129  
Oct 20, 2010   #4
Perhaps it was just the dripping sound of the incessant rain that separated my weak pulse from the dead silence of the night.

Too many adjectives. It gets repetitive. You have, like... 4 of them in this sentence.

I don't think it is supposed to be damped... just 'damp.'
wrinkled and damp shirt.

Perhaps she was happily enjoying a feast somewhere on the other side of the world and had forgotten about us.--- a little unclear... how about this:

Perhaps she was happily enjoying a feast somewhere on the other side of the world, having forgotten about us.

This is very good writing. You are doing what I used to do, though: using too many modifiers. You don't need an adjective for every noun. Take your writing to the next level by using fewer modifiers. :-)

Also, the main message or theme of the essay... is unclear. This is great description, but you can make it more meaningful by summing up the meaning of the essay and expressing it in one sentence that you add to the end of the first paragraph.
OP RyanVi16 12 / 91  
Oct 20, 2010   #5
Ok, newest revision for my essay :)

Thank you Kevin for pointing out my habit otherwise I would never see it. I wonder why my friends keep encouraging my weakness. I added a conclusion to the incomplete essay.
Nom Nom Nom - / 10  
Oct 21, 2010   #6
This essay is really great but I do agree with Kevin! You're going a bit overboard in some of your sentences, and your new revision conveyed your message better. I thought your essay was really heartfelt! :)
Shadow93 9 / 40  
Oct 21, 2010   #7
I have to disagree with above post. I enjoyed your first one a lot more. It is really really great writing. I especially enjoyed the last maybe part~~ very nice ending really makes a person pause and go *sniff*. However, what I might be curious though as an AO is how this experience changed your life. I know you tried to put how it changed you in your 2nd revision. But I felt it was not enough, or rather, not as good as the writing in your first attempt. I suggest you follow the grammar advice of above posters and incorporate the feelings that you experienced into something you learned.

For example, you might try to talk about how the walking in the moonlight and smelling roast beef gave you something much more than just the feeling of being hungry, or the feeling of loneliness. Perhaps you can talk about how this changed how you felt about your father, or how you began to see less fortunate people. I recommend you to still end with the maybe ending cause its really nice.

Think about it and good luck :)

P.S BTW. I love using adjectives too hehe, it really makes the essay sound better, though of course it might not be the best way to go :) But if I might offer some advice, I did not think your essay was excessive with adjectives, maybe a bit too much, but certainly within the acceptable levels :)

^_^
OP RyanVi16 12 / 91  
Oct 21, 2010   #8
Thank you for all your replies, since I am planning to use this essay for both college admission and scholarship, I think i can use both version. I think I will use the second one to admit to college since there are words limit and I have to be clear and straight to the point. My scholarship is to write a personal memoir and the word limit is much more flexible so I can use my first version and continue working on it, I don't need to tell the scholarship what changed me so i could take out the last paragraph and leave some sort of mystery to it. I know i love the conclusion to my first essay to ^_^
EF_Kevin 8 / 13,321 129  
Oct 21, 2010   #9
I wonder why my friends keep encouraging my weakness.

Yeah, I notice that friends are often willing to give a cigarette to a friend who is trying to quit, too! Well, if your friends are acting as enablers to support your modifier habit, they should be ashamed! ha ha, just kidding.

This is excellent. I tried to help you find 23 words to cut, but all the sentences seem necessary. I would not want you to give up any of them. But "I dreamed of" seems like something you could cut... You could shorten the sentence that begins with those words, I mean.

The ending makes it great, because it shows how this affected you.


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