The document provides examples of how to write different types of short anecdotes, including scary, love, funny, and embarrassing anecdotes. It includes outlines for each type of anecdote that suggest including descriptions of where one was, who one was with, when it happened, what one was doing, and what happened. Sample anecdotes are also provided for each type as examples.

1. How to Tell an Anecdote
Examples

2. Writing a short Scary Anecdote
I had just come home after watching the movie “Nightmare, Part IV” with my friends. Little did I know that I was going to have
the most terrifying night-mare of my own that night. I was walking down a deserted lane. Dark clouds were hanging in the sky
and soon, I felt raindrops on my cheeks. I opened my umbrella to protect myself from the rain. Lightning flashed brightly and
in the light I saw a woman wrapped in a cloak approaching me. She seemed to be in a great hurry. When she came up to me, I
found, to my horror, that she was an extremely old woman. In her arms was a baby boy. He looked chubby and sweet.
The old woman begged me to shelter them both under my umbrella until we got to the bus stop. I agreed and as we walked, the
woman complained that her baby was getting heavier and heavier. I looked at the baby and was surprised to find that he
seemed to have grown.
I offered to carry the baby for the old woman. She handed me the baby and then to my surprise, she ran away. As I ran after
her with the baby, my arms began to feel stiffer and stiffer. I looked down and was horrified to find that the baby seemed even
larger than before. He no longer looked angelic. His face had become thin and he began to age. Even as I looked, he grew and
grew.
Somehow, I knew that it was a dream. However, the terrifying part was, that I could not wake up from this nightmare. I froze at
the though of what the “baby” would do to me when he was fully grown.
I finally dropped the “baby” and ran for my life. Behind me, I could hear the wailing of the “baby”. The sound was a mixture of
a baby’s cries and an old man’s crackle. I risked a glimpse and almost died of fright. The monster was crawling after me like a
baby but its face was wrinkled. The combination was so hideous that I was jolted out of my dream.
I sat up on my bed, shuddering to think of the grotesque monster in my dream. I resolved never to watch horror movies at
night again.
Taken fromhttp://effective101.blogspot.mx/2010/04/describe-big-mistake-you-made.html
Outline:
1. Describe how you watched a horror movie before you slept.
2. Describe how you met an old woman and a baby in your dream.
3. Describe how you offered to carry the baby for the woman.
4. Describe how you noticed that the baby was growing and how it began like an old man.
5. Describe how you woke up and how you resolved never to watch horror movies at night again.

3. Writing a short Love Anecdote
A boy was dating a girl who always hurt him. One day, she broke up with him and told him, "I don't ever want to see you
again."
A few months later, the girl had a change of heart. She realized that she loved the boy, so she went back and said to him,
"Give me just one more chance. I love you and I need you. I promise that I will never hurt you again."
But the boy just laughed and said to her, "Only a fool would take back someone who hurt them so much."
The girl felt hopeless and began to cry, but the boy put his arms around her, held her tightly and said, "...and I am one of
those fools.“
Taken and adapted from: http://www.romanticlovemessages.com/cat/stories1.htm
Outline:
1. Describe where people were.
2. Describe who they were with.
3. Say when it happened.
4. Describe what they were doing
5. Describe what happened.

4. Writing a short Funny Anecdote
One dark, windy night, the town drunk was meandering his way home after the bar closed. Somehow he got turned around and
ended up walking through the churchyard instead of taking the road home.
The wind picked up and he thought he could hear a voice calling his name. Suddenly, the ground opened up in front of him, and
he fell down, down into an open grave! He could hear the voice clearer now, calling to him. He knew it was the devil, coming for
him just like the preacher said, on account of him being the town drunk.
The hole was very deep and inside it was pitch black. His eyes adjusted to the darkness after a few moments, and he made out a
form sitting in the darkness with him. It called his name, and he scrambled away in fear, trying to climb out of that terrible grave.
Then the figure spoke. "You can't get out," it said.
The drunk gave a shout of pure terror and leapt straight up more than six feet. He caught the edge of the hole in his hands,
scrambled out, and ran for home as fast as he could go.
Inside the open grave, his neighbor Charlie sighed in resignation. He'd fallen into the hole a few minutes before his friend and
had thought that together they might help each other climb out. Now he was going to have to wait until morning and get the
mortician to bring him a ladder.
Taken and adapted from: http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2011/09/the_brick_wall.html
Outline:
1. Describe where a person was.
2. Describe who that person was with.
3. Say when it happened.
4. Describe what the person was doing
5. Describe what happened.

5. Writing an Embarrasing Anecdote
Walking down the street one day, trying to impress this girl,
showing off a bit as you do, you know. And then smack bang!
Walked straight into a lamp post – fell over from the shock!
Wasn't good.
Taken and adapted from: http://wsdownload.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/pdf/2011/11/111101155642_bbc_ee_embarrassment.pdf
Outline:
1. Describe where you were.
2. Describe who you were with.
3. Say when it happened.
4. Describe what you were doing
5. Describe what happened.

6. The End