Pre-TOEFL writing, Why do people remember special gifts or presents that they have received?

Writing Topic

People remember special gifts or presents that they have received. Why? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

☆Let’s Think

Perhaps a special gift does not have to be something expensive or something for a special occasion. As long as it is special for the receiver, it will do as an example of a special present. Someone’s trash is another man’s treasure as a cheap snow sled for children was what a millionaire recalled in his deathbed in the movie Citizen Kane. Then thinking about the reason why the present is special for the person would provide the answer to this question.

                    

☆Words and Expressions

1.    A special gift evokes memories and feelings.

2.    A special gift helps you recall your beloved to your mind.

3.    A special gift reminds you of an important event in your life.

             

☆Sample Essay Structure

【Introduction = Outline】There seem to be many reasons why people remember special gifts that they have received but still some similarities may be found in them.

【Special Gifts】The idea that a certain gift is special is subjective. The value of a gift is decided by the value attached to it by the person who received it. Therefore, the intangible additional values of the gifts are the reasons why people remember some gifts as special.

【Case 1】Memory is a significant factor of the remembrance of a certain gift.

【Case 2】A present is also a memento of your beloved.

【Case 3】A gift associated with an extraordinary experience is remembered.  e.g. a girl who got trinkets like a piece of broken glass or a fish hook from a crow she was feeding

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】Sentiments and feelings attached to the gift seem to be the reason why a certain present stays in one’s mind forever.

Your Sample Essay Structure

【Introduction = Outline】

【Point 1】           

                                                                                                                                                      

【Point 2】

                     

【Point 3】

【Conclusion = Wrap-up】

                                                             

☆Sample Paragraph Development

Memory is a significant factor of the remembrance of a gift. The item triggers recollection of one’s past which has some meaning. A Christmas present I remember well reminds me of the happiest moments of my family, for example. I got it when I was six or seven years old. It was an alarm clock with the picture of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on its face. I remember that the item had attracted me in a store I visited with my family but what I remember most vividly about it is the smile and the excitement of my parents I saw and felt while they were making sure that I wanted it and when they watched me find it on the morning of the Christmas day. My family was not Christian but observed Christmas for the beauty of the event like all the other ordinary Japanese families. I think my parents celebrated the spirit of giving as they went through the joy of child-rearing. That mood of the happiest times of my family, containing pure delight and warm feelings, is wrapped around the tiny clock in my memory. Perhaps because good memories are related to our very existence, we never forget presents with them.