Topic: Describe a belonging or place that holds special meaning to you.
"A Friendly Clown"
"On one corner of my dresser sits a smiling toy clown on a tiny unicycle―a gift I received last
Christmas from a close friend. The clown's short yellow hair, made of yarn, covers its ears but is
parted above the eyes. The blue eyes are outlined in black with thin, dark lashes flowing from
the brows. It has cherry-red cheeks, nose, and lips, and its broad grin disappears into the wide,
white ruffle around its neck. The clown wears a fluffy, two-tone nylon costume. The left side of
the outfit is light blue, and the right side is red. The two colors merge in a dark line that runs
down the center of the small outfit. Surrounding its ankles and disguising its long black shoes
are big pink bows. The white spokes on the wheels of the unicycle gather in the center and
expand to the black tire so that the wheel somewhat resembles the inner half of a grapefruit.
The clown and unicycle together stand about a foot high. As a cherished gift from my good
friend Tran, this colorful figure greets me with a smile every time I enter my room."
"The Blond Guitar"
"My most valuable possession is an old, slightly warped blond guitar―the first instrument I
taught myself how to play. It's nothing fancy, just a Madeira folk guitar, all scuffed and scratched
and fingerprinted. At the top is a bramble of copper-wound strings, each one hooked through
the eye of a silver tuning key. The strings are stretched down a long, slim neck, its frets
tarnished, the wood worn by years of fingers pressing chords and picking notes. The body of the
Madeira is shaped like an enormous yellow pear, one that was slightly damaged in shipping.
The blond wood has been chipped and gouged to gray, particularly where the pick guard fell off
years ago. No, it's not a beautiful instrument, but it still lets me make music, and for that I will
always treasure it."
"Inside District School #7, Niagara County, New York"
by Joyce Carol Oates
"Inside, the school smelled smartly of varnish and wood smoke from the potbellied stove. On
gloomy days, not unknown in upstate New York in this region south of Lake Ontario and east of
Lake Erie, the windows emitted a vague, gauzy light, not much reinforced by ceiling lights. We
squinted at the blackboard, that seemed far away since it was on a small platform, where Mrs.
Dietz's desk was also positioned, at the front, left of the room. We sat in rows of seats, smallest
at the front, largest at the rear, attached at their bases by metal runners, like a toboggan; the
wood of these desks seemed beautiful to me, smooth and of the red-burnished hue of horse
chestnuts. The floor was bare wooden planks. An American flag hung limply at the far left of the
blackboard and above the blackboard, running across the front of the room, designed to draw
our eyes to it avidly, worshipfully, were paper squares showing that beautifully shaped script
known as Parker Penmanship."
"Gregory"
"Gregory is my beautiful gray Persian cat. He walks with pride and grace, performing a dance of
disdain as he slowly lifts and lowers each paw with the delicacy of a ballet dancer. His pride,
however, does not extend to his appearance, for he spends most of his time indoors watching
television and growing fat. He enjoys TV commercials, especially those for Meow Mix and 9
Lives. His familiarity with cat food commercials has led him to reject generic brands of cat food
in favor of only the most expensive brands. Gregory is as finicky about visitors as he is about
what he eats, befriending some and repelling others. He may snuggle up against your ankle,
begging to be petted, or he may imitate a skunk and stain your favorite trousers. Gregory does
not do this to establish his territory, as many cat experts think, but to humiliate me because he is
jealous of my friends. After my guests have fled, I look at the old fleabag snoozing and smiling
to himself in front of the television set, and I have to forgive him for his obnoxious, but
endearing, habits."