The Path to Becoming an Essay Master: Advanced Level

Author: Han Hanzzi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: He was a passionate literature enthusiast, well-read, with a good memory, and often recited long passages from world literary classics to us. Under his influence, we learned the names and works of great Chinese and foreign writers such as Maupassant, Chekhov, Hugo, Jack London, Edgar Allan Poe, and Cao Xueqin. We realized that literature is a warm spring, and people's souls so desperately need such a spring to nourish them. Every lesson, when delivered by his mouth, was both interesting and full of life's philosophy. Especially when he spoke about the writing class he considered his life's work, his eyes shone so brightly, and his voice was so magnetic, sometimes sorrowful, sometimes joyful. Distinctive characters and incredible stories poured out of his mouth. These beautiful or sorrowful tales were mostly his works published in various newspapers and magazines. The students listened to his lectures with rapt attention, feeling that our Jin Fei teacher was truly amazing and cool. They were grateful to heaven for sending them such a wonderful Chinese teacher. They were truly blessed, and students from other classes envied them. Jin Fei teacher was also a very honest and sincere person, never hiding his opinions. His motto was "A gentleman has nothing he cannot confess to another," meaning that a person with an open heart can tell anything to others. From his mouth, we learned about his unique background: he came from a poor rural family in the Jiangnan region. His father fell ill and died when he was young, and he relied on his mother's hard work and the help of kind neighbors to grow up. Later, with extraordinary perseverance, he passed the college entrance exam and was assigned to teach at our middle school. "Although this world has various disasters and bad people, it is still beautiful, and people's hearts are kind. Love is everywhere. This is like us standing high to enjoy the scenery—the rosy clouds, flowing water, red peaches, and white willows—making us feel that the world is incredibly beautiful. When we think of this, a few small stones stepping on our feet no longer matter. What should people pursue in life? Pursue love, poetry, and passion." These words echoed in my ears and those of my classmates for a long time and were unforgettable. Jin Fei teacher gave us so much, but we truly understood his love and kindness only after that unexpected fight.
Second-Level Review: The second level of the main text contains so much content, but its essence is still a brief description. Why is it brief? Students can look at what the main text in this level mainly describes: from "He was a passionate literature enthusiast, well-read, with a good memory, and often recited long passages from world literary classics" to "Truly, we are grateful to heaven for sending us such a wonderful Chinese teacher. We are truly blessed, and students from other classes envy us." This section can be considered a smaller level within the second level of the main text, mainly describing Jin Fei teacher's characteristics in Chinese language teaching. He taught the students about the literary works of great Chinese and foreign writers. During writing class, he shared writing experiences with his own literary creations, which was not easy, as few Chinese teachers write for a living. Therefore, his writing class was very sincere and heartfelt, combined with his strong personal charm, which is why the students loved listening to his Chinese lessons so much. After all, Jin Fei was a Chinese language teacher, and his professional identity should focus on teaching. Therefore, when shaping the character of Jin Fei, how he teaches cannot be ignored. But writing only about how Jin Fei teaches would be too monotonous, making the character one-dimensional. Therefore, it is necessary to write a bit more about the teacher's life attitude and his background, so the character instantly becomes more well-rounded: from "Jin Fei teacher was also a very honest and sincere person" to "These words echoed in my ears and those of my classmates for a long time and were unforgettable." This level briefly touches on Jin Fei teacher's life attitude while incidentally mentioning his background. He was nurtured by countless acts of love, which made him a person with a fundamentally altruistic nature, hence his life attitude. This is a "kill two birds with one stone" writing technique, achieving the goal while saving. Students should ponder this carefully. The following transition sentence leads to the third level of the main text, which is the main content of this article: "Jin Fei teacher gave us so much, but we truly understood his love and his magnanimity and kindness only after that unexpected fight." The role of transition sentences in an article is very important. They can connect the following text, guiding the article to a substantial stage, or sometimes serve as a turning point, suddenly shifting the article to an unexpected event. Students should learn to use transition sentences. (The third level of the main text)
That was last Friday evening during self-study time. The students were quietly sitting in the classroom reviewing chemistry, preparing for the upcoming midterm exam. That evening's supervising teacher was our chemistry teacher, who had gone out for an errand, leaving the students to study on their own. Suddenly, the classroom door was violently pushed open by someone. "Social King" Li Ming, along with two young delinquents from society, stormed into the classroom. "Liu Ying, come out!" "Social King" Li Ming, with a cigarette in his mouth, a thin face with a sneering smirk, and two delinquents slouching by his side, swaggered around the classroom. Under the snow-white fluorescent lights, Liu Ying, sitting in the fifth row, turned pale. Liu Ying was a slender and unfortunate boy. His father was a famous real estate developer in our city, and his family was very wealthy. They had lived a happy life. But after his father got rich, he turned bad, cheated on his wife with her secretary, divorced his mother, and took his new wife abroad. After the divorce, Liu Ying had been living with his mother. "Social King" Li Ming, relying on his height and strength, had long bullied Liu Ying, who was weak in character and lacked a father's protection. He often demanded money and things from Liu Ying. If Liu Ying refused, Li Ming would beat and curse him. To avoid his mother's sadness, Liu Ying had reluctantly satisfied Li Ming's desires time and again. Since Jin Fei teacher became their homeroom teacher, Li Ming had somewhat restrained himself, but he had not fundamentally changed his bad habits. A few days ago, he had demanded 50 yuan from Liu Ying for his birthday, but Liu Ying firmly refused, so he came with people to fight. Liu Ying sat motionless in his seat, pale but determined. This infuriated the arrogant Li Ming, who rushed over, grabbed Liu Ying's collar, and yelled, "Liu Ying, don't think Jin Fei is backing you up and doesn't take me seriously. Today, I'll show you some strength!" With that, he punched Liu Ying in the mouth, and blood flowed from Liu Ying's lips. His two accomplices rushed over to help, grabbing Liu Ying's collar and dragging his arms, trying to drag him out of the school to deal with him. "Don't hit people!" "Li Ming, you're too unreasonable!" "You delinquents, get out!" Seeing their brazen behavior, the students were greatly enraged and rushed forward to protect Liu Ying. A few strong male students even fought with the two delinquents Li Ming had brought. The classroom turned into chaos, and a few timid female students cried out in fear. "Everyone stop!" Suddenly, a furious roar came from the classroom door. Jin Fei teacher arrived at this critical moment. His tall and straight figure stood at the classroom door, extending his arms like an iron tower, blocking the delinquents' escape route. His fiery eyes shone under his thick brows, exuding a powerful sense of awe. Li Ming instantly softened, loosening his grip on Liu Ying's collar. "Li Ming, sit back in your seat!" Jin Fei teacher's stern voice echoed like metal falling to the ground. Li Ming gritted his teeth, turning pale and white, and walked back to his seat.