Sample Descriptive Writing
Describing an aftermath of a party
By: Jason Ouyang
The sun has just climbed beyond the horizon. Everything seems to be sleepy. The mansion sits on the promontory, high above the sea. Pungent odor pervades every corners of it. With no beauty, comforts or leisure, but only a mess- immense chaos. Pushing the door, entering the house, the carbon oxide and smells of drugs are mixed in the air.
In the living room, red cups are everywhere, bottles of alcohol, coke, saliva and vomit are all over the ground, along with the remains of McDonald’s chicken and pizza. A man is napping on the couch, covered with feathers. There are pillows on the couch, but all are hollow, no wonder where the feathers come from.
In the kitchen, there is another magnificent performance. Max is punching on the other gaunt guy, a gang of people surrounding Max is cheering him up. He feels victorious and proud.
Going upstairs, a group of people gathers around and forms a circle. Two young people, might be a couple, are smacking lips while others are watching feverishly. Going farther, it is the owner’s bedroom, but half way there, a teenager is vomiting in the bathroom.
In the owner’s bedroom, the host and the hostess are having a massive fight. The host, Henry, smashes the bottle to the wall, Rachel, the hostess is screaming, shouting, swearing, and hiding away from the shattered bottle. What a wonderful view! Down the floor is Max taking out a gun, pointing towards the ceiling. Bang! Bang!
Sample Narrative Writing
Room in Maison of the Edbergs
By: Winnie Wang
It’s been three months since I started to work in Maison of the Edbergs. From verdant August with mid-summer breeze, to now, bleak November, my dull and oppressive daily routine wasn’t changing at all. Yet, all of a sudden it changed.
“Louisa, I suppose it’s time for you prepared starting cleaning rooms on the second floor.” It was Mrs. Edberg talking to me, on a windy afternoon. I bowed my head and saw her slender hands with leather gloves gracefully laying beneath her black flannel dress, slightly shivering. “Don’t ever be close to the room in the corner!” Her stern tone tore me back from reverie. I promised, but I am really, really curious.
One night, I decided to start an ‘adventure’. Wearing my shabby petticoat, I crept upstairs approaching the corner. The dim flickering candlelight warmed my shadow which was wandering back and forth. “Anita, is that you?” I was so frightened that the candle dropped from my hand. It was Mr. Edberg’s husky voice trembling. The silence kept for a while until I saw him tottered back to his chamber.
The moldy door squeaked when I opened. I tiptoed in, and the smell of the dust and aged cotton filled up my nose immediately which made me cough. I’d tell this was a lady’s chamber by the Rococo dressing table beside the bed. After scrutinizing the room, I noticed that a portrait of a couple was hanging on the wall. The scarlet paint came off a bit, like something in it was going to be revealed. However, the portrait astonished me that it was Mr. Edberg on the painting, not with Mrs. Edberg, but an elegant young lady. “Her name’s Anita, if you’re wondering.” A creepy silhouette suddenly emerged under the moonlight.
I stepped back and saw Mrs. Edberg’s mouth rose up with a strange angle. “Madame, I apologized for bursting into the room. I’ll never do that again.” She ignored me and kept muttering to herself, “A butcher’s daughter… How dared she fall in love with the heir of a Baron? It was doomed from the start.” I’d see the scorn in her eyes. “But they loved each other then… Where’s she now?” Mr. Edberg’s voice echoed in my mind. “She jumped out of this window ten years ago.” She pointed at the French window where the moonlight penetrated in. Both of us were taciturn.
Mrs. Edberg disappeared at the end of the corridor. I felt stiff in legs and stood alone in the room I wasn’t supposed to enter, at the midnight of November. Winter in the Maison of the Edbergs was extremely frosty, gloomy and ghastly.
Sample 1: Interview Writing -Question & Answer Style
Interview with Mr. Henry Mensah
By: Jessie Yang
On 8th May, we had a great opportunity to interview Mr. Henry Mensah.
Mark: Good afternoon Mr. Henry, I am Mark. I got a question. Why you come to China?
Mr. Henry: Well, I first learnt to know China through a book many years ago. I found out that China is attractive, and it is a beautiful country. Also, I’ve read a lot of Chinese literatures and I am trying to learn Chinese.
Aries: So, Mr. Henry, why do you choose to be a teacher in Ulinkcollege?
Mr. Henry: That’s a long story, so I try to make it short. I first got an email from an agency to ask me if I would want to be a teacher and teach English. I thought “Yes, I would like to be a teacher,” so I emailed them back. After that, they told me the school is in China, called UlinkCollege. I knew China and I googled UlinkCollege, I saw the website of ULink, and I like this school. Therefore, in one sunny afternoon, I came here and finally became a teacher in this school.
Kerry: Mr. Henry, I’ve read your intros that I knew one of your habit is to read books. I want to know what genre of books is your favorite.
Mr. Henry: Oh, my favorite genre is poetry, especially English poetry. Romance is also a good one.
Tracy: So, Mr. Henry, I knew that you are going to be our literature teacher. What kind of book do you recommend us to read and who is your favorite author?
Mr. Henry: Well let me see… I consider reading as a path to discover the world. So, you can read anything. Don’t limit yourself. Eventually, you are going to find the book that you love the most. My favorite author is Shakespeare. I consider him as the greatest author, or you guys can disagree, ha-ha!
Leo: I found that it is difficult for me to understand the books in English, so do you think whether it is necessary for us to read English literature?
Mr. Henry: Oh, that’s a hard question. English literature is hard, even for me. But more you read; the more you will understand. All you have to do is just to read, read and read. You must continue to read albeit it is difficult. Because that’s how you can make a progress. Reading English literature can help you to engage with people who speak English and make friends since you can use the language effectively.
Jessie: Mr. Henry, what kind of strategies you plan to use to help your students achieve their goals in literature class?
Mr. Henry: Ok, at the beginning of the class, I will give a prompt to my students and lead them into the topic. I hope my students can express themselves, to have their own point of view and we can make the class into a discussion group. I like my students to be hard-working and my students need to read a lot of books…
Time flies fast, though we still have many questions, we had to say goodbye to Mr. Henry. We all had a great time with Mr. Henry.
Sample 2: Interview Writing -Essay Style/ Feature Writing
“An Afternoon with Mr. Henry Mensah“
By: Winnie Wang
Mr. Henry, whose surname is Mensah, comes from Ghana, a small West African country called Ghana, where the lowest temperature is 22 ℃. His first language is Twi, but sitting elegantly in the middle of the classroom, Mr. Henry spoke English very fluently.
West Africa is a region which was greatly influenced by the Western missionaries. Mr. Henry, just like many of others, studied at a catholic school called St. Peter High School. As a person who has experienced both living as a student and a professor, this new English teacher in Ulink College gave his new students some advice on learning literature, which are reading more and listening to BBC news.
As an English teacher, Mr. Henry loves reading very much. His favourite genre of literature is poetry, especially of those romantic ones and those written by John Keats. In case of the novel, Jane Eyre is the one he likes the most. As a teacher, his passion in English Literature can be heard in every single word of him. Every student was listening with huge interest.
Though Mr. Henry is a very affable teacher, he still mentioned some of his expectations of the class. He first indicated that his class is one hundred percent democratic, which means everyone has the right to express their thoughts without being interrupted. He likes students who work hard, and challenge themselves. Besides, he wants his students to ask more questions in order to improve their English.
In the end, after finishing the interview, every student said, “Thank you” to the teacher and the applause lingered on. In the near future, it is no doubt that there is going to be full of laughter of students who love seeking new knowledge in Mr. Henry’s English class.
Sample 3: Interview Writing- Question and Answer Style
By :Humming Li
May 13th, 2019 An Afternoon with Mr. Henry Mensah
Q: What is it like to live in Ghana?
A: Ghana is a very small country in Africa. It is famous of its gold, soccer, and even oil, which was discovered recently. Ghana is very hot; the lowest temperature is 22 degrees Celsius. Ghana has a democratic system. There is parliament, president and many other positions in terms of political positions.
Q: Which genre do you like the most?
A: I love literature. I read many books about literature – there are English literature, African literature, Greek literature… But I like English literature the most, specifically English poetry. I love poems.
Q: How can students do well in literatures classes?
A: The only way to do well in literatures is to read. Always read more! One thing I like about literature is you can discover the worlds through books. For example, “Things Fall Apart”. You are sitting in a room reading books, but the book is taking you into the Nigerian culture, the Umuofia village, and it is also travelling through time, to many years ago.
If you are going to be in my class, I will ask you to read a lot. Maybe some of the books I like. I love Jane Eyre, Othello, and Hamlet.
Q: I read your background and found out that you were studying in St. Peter’s College, is it a Catholic school?
A: Yes, it is a Catholic school. There are many missionary colleges in Ghana. One special activity I used to do was I would go to the church very often and I still remember the red bricks it had.
Q: What is your impression on China before and after you came to China?
A: The first time I get to know about China was in the 1970s, I found China from a geographical book. After that, the Chinese government brought Ghana a gift, that was also one memory of me on China. I love reading, so the following things I know about China came from the books. Starting from the time China became the second strongest country in terms of economy, I started to read more about China to know more about it.
When I arrived at China a week ago, my impression is, this is such a beautiful country! Yeah, true. If the school needs me, and the Chinese government allows, I would like to stay in here forever.
Q: Why did you choose to be a teacher in ULC?
A: Well, it was a long story. Back in February, I received an e-mail from the Council of International School, which says if one is interested in having a job to teach English, or if you have a friend who loves to do so, please reply. I replied, and it asked if I would like to go to China, I replied yes. Then it told me the school is called Ulink College. As a researcher, I googled Ulink College and I saw a beautiful school. Then I typed in I would like to go to the school to teach, and it brought me here.
Q: How do you teach in class?
A: Well, I do not like to simply give information to the students in class. Instead, I would like to discover the world with the students together because I think this is how you learn. Talking about studying, I love students who are hard-working. I myself is a hard-working person.
Q: What are some things you like about China?
A: I love the Chinese food. I used to be in many other countries to teach, but there is one problem I always had to encounter, that is food. I could not get used to the food. But here, I do not see any problem at all. I like the food in the canteen and I would like to go back and have another bowl, but I do not think the they will let me.
Also, the weather here is good. As I said, the temperature in Ghana is very high, and it was so hot in there. I like this weather, it is not too hot.
How can students improve their English as a secondary English learner?
Read, read and read! Always read more and you will learn more things. I could open a book of Shakespeare right now and find another thing I have never realized. There will be a lot of reading in my class.
Q: How can students improve their English speaking when they are used to many informal words?
A: Go to YouTube website and type in BBC. Yes, by listening to news, it will help a lot because the people who are doing the broadcast usually has a very standard tone, which is very easy for the audience to understand and they use many formal vocabularies which will help you to also improve.
ULink College Wordsmith Society 2019 