home alone descriptive essay

Favorite Movie: “Home Alone” by John Hughes Essay

Recently, I have watched one of the most famous American movies produced by John Hughes’ Home Alone . It is indeed an excellent family comedy because it evokes all sorts of nostalgia. Mainly, it reminded me of the childhood times when my parents would leave me alone, and I could do anything I wanted. Yet, I had mixed emotions being on my own in the empty apartment – I could sense weird noises coming from the middle of nowhere, or it was simply my imagination getting on my nerves. As far as the audience is concerned, Home Alone is a traditional Christmas comedy; yet, I assume one can watch it any time of year just to make a day better and recall Christmas family evenings.

The main character is a young boy named Kevin who is featured by Macaulay Culkin. The guy is celebrating Christmas with his family, which enlarges since all the relatives gather for this winter holiday. Kevin dislikes being surrounded by numerous kids who constantly tease him and dreams that his family would disappear one day (Hughes). When his dream comes true, and he finds himself in the empty apartment, Kevin starts doing every little thing his parent would forbid: he eats ice cream for breakfast, plays video games, and watches violent films. While he is enjoying his loneliness, Kevin’s parents realize they accidentally left their child at home before flying to Paris for a Christmas trip (Hughes). Yet, Kevin demonstrates himself as a young but increasingly responsible housekeeper and even protects his home from burglars.

To my mind, the actors chosen to perform each character have done a perfect job since they have managed to transmit their feelings, intentions, and emotions to the audience. Despite the fact that the film is primarily associated with Macaulay Culkin, the rest of the actors have contributed significantly to the movie’s atmosphere. Joe Pecsi deserves special attention since his acting was stunning and witty. What makes the film unique is the character’s personal traits – they are all different, at times, contradictory, but they make up a real movie family. In general, the actors performed at a high level, which made the film increasingly believable and indeed brought it to life.

Not solely the plot and acting make the movie atmospheric, but the scriptwriters, camera operators, and composer just did a fantastic job to entertain the audience. I believe the scenario was well-elaborated because, despite numerous events, there was no confusion between the scenes and the heroes. Moreover, the dialogues are just witty and hilarious; it almost felt like a comedy show even in the appalling moments. The filmmakers ingeniously used camera angles to set the tone in the film. For instance, a spectator could observe adult characters from Kevin’s perspective and vice versa. Besides, there is a beautiful background music theme throughout the whole movie. It is almost like a second character who leads the audience through the story.

In conclusion, I would restate my viewpoint that this film can surely lift one’s mood. Everything seems perfectly balanced in the story: characters, acting, music, editing, dialogues, and other details. Actors played a major role in transmitting a true Christmas atmosphere to the audience. I would recommend watching this classic of the genre to those who have not done it yet because it evokes pleasant childhood memories.

Home Alone . Directed by John Hughes, performance by Macaulay Culkin, Hughes Entertaiment, 1990.

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1. IvyPanda . "Favorite Movie: "Home Alone" by John Hughes." October 30, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/favorite-movie-home-alone-by-john-hughes/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Favorite Movie: "Home Alone" by John Hughes." October 30, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/favorite-movie-home-alone-by-john-hughes/.

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"Home Alone" is a splendid movie title because it evokes all sorts of scary nostalgia. Being left home alone, when you were a kid, meant hearing strange noises and being afraid to look in the basement - but it also meant doing all the things that grownups would tell you to stop doing, if they were there. Things like staying up to watch Johnny Carson, eating all the ice cream, and sleeping in your parents' bed.

"Home Alone" is about an 8-year-old hero who does all of those things, but unfortunately he also single-handedly stymies two house burglars by booby-trapping the house. And they're the kinds of traps that any 8-year-old could devise, if he had a budget of tens of thousands of dollars and the assistance of a crew of movie special effects people.

The movie's screenplay is by John Hughes , who sometimes shows a genius for remembering what it was like to be young. His best movies, such as " Sixteen Candles ," " The Breakfast Club ," " Ferris Bueller's Day Off " and " Planes, Trains and Automobiles ," find a way to be funny while still staying somewhere within the boundaries of remote plausibility. This time, he strays so far from his premise that the movie suffers.

If "Home Alone" had limited itself to the things that might possibly happen to a forgotten 8-year-old, I think I would have liked it more. What I didn't enjoy was the subplot involving the burglars ( Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern ), who are immediately spotted by little Kevin (Macaulay Culkin), and made the targets of his cleverness.

The movie opens in the Chicago suburbs with a houseful of people on the eve of a big family Christmas vacation in Paris. There are relatives and kids everywhere, and when the family oversleeps and has to race to the airport, Kevin is somehow overlooked in the shuffle. When he wakes up later that morning, the house is empty. So he makes the best of it.

A real kid would probably be more frightened than this movie character, and would probably cry. He might also try calling someone, or asking a neighbor for help. But in the contrived world of this movie, the only neighbor is an old coot who is rumored to be the Snow Shovel Murderer, and the phone doesn't work. When Kevin's parents discover they've forgotten him, they find it impossible to get anyone to follow through on their panicked calls - if anyone did so, the movie would be over.

The plot is so implausible that it makes it hard for us to really care about the plight of the kid. What works in the other direction, however, and almost carries the day, is the gifted performance by young Macaulay Culkin, as Kevin. Culkin is the little boy who co-starred with John Candy in " Uncle Buck ," and here he has to carry almost the whole movie. He has lots of challenging acting scenes, and he's up to them. I'm sure he got lots of help from director Chris Columbus , but he's got the stuff to begin with. He's such a confident and gifted little actor that I'd like to see him in a story I could care more about.

"Home Alone" isn't that story. When the burglars invade Kevin's home, they find themselves running a gamut of booby traps so elaborate they could have been concocted by Rube Goldberg - or by the berserk father in " Last House on the Left ." Because all plausibility is gone, we sit back, detached, to watch stunt men and special effects guys take over a movie that promised to be the kind of story audiences could identify with.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film Credits

Home Alone (1990)

103 minutes

Joe Pesci as Harry

Daniel Stern as Marv

Roberts Blossom as Marley

MacAulay Culkin as Kevin

John Heard as Peter

Catherine O'Hara as Kate

John Candy as Gus Polinski

• John Williams

Photographed by

• Julio Macat

Directed by

• Chris Columbus
• Raja Gosnell

Written and Produced by

• John Hughes

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by Chris Columbus

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Written by Polly Barbour

It's Christmas, and there is so much to do, especially when your entire family is going on vacation. The McCallister family is headed to Paris to spend Christmas with family. Bratty eight year old Kevin McCallister (Macauley Culkin) gets into an argument with his older brother, Buzz, and is sent to bed early, wishing that his family would just disappear. Well, that's the thing about Christmas wishes - they have a magical tendency to come true. That night there is a power outage which re-sets all the appliances in the house, including the alarm clocks, which do not go off as planned. The family is left scrambling to make it to the airport in time to catch their flight accidentally leaving Kevin behind. His absence is not noticed until the plane is airborne, leaving his frantic parents trying desperately to book a flight home again as soon as they deplane in France.

Meanwhile, back at the McCallister home, Kevin thinks that his Christmas wish has come true when he realizes he is alone in the house. He does all of the things he is never allowed to do - bounces on the beds, uses Buzz's BB gun and eats junk food whilst watching gangster movies. However, he is also a little scared by Old Man Marley who lives next door because local myth tells it that the old man murdered his entire family years before; the appearance of him outside his house with a shovel makes Kevin very nervous. Then there is the matter of the Wet Bandits, Hal and Marv, who are in the middle of an inept, but determined, crime spree and are breaking into houses whilst people are away for the holidays.

Kevin overhears the bandits talking about breaking into the McCallister home on Christmas Eve, and as the man of the house in the absence of his father, he decides to stymie their efforts. He also runs into Old Man Marley watching a local choir performing in the church; they talk, and Kevin learns that the old man is actually very nice. He is watching the choir because his granddaughter is in it, and he doesn't get to see her anymore because he and his son had a big argument and no longer talk. Kevin advises him to reconcile with his son so that he can spend Christmas with his family. Kevin heads home after church and prepares to booby trap the house so that the bandits cannot break into it. He sprinkles broken tree ornaments that are made of glass underneath the windowsill so that when the men break in they will cut their feet; he also booby traps the cellar, causing Hal to break a tooth when a can of paint hits him in the face. They chase Kevin through the house and hang him on the towel hook behind the bathroom door when they catch him but he has already called 911. Kevin escapes the house with the burglars in hot pursuit, but Old Man Marley comes up behind them, knocking them out with a swing of his snow shovel, and taking Kevin home. The police arrive, and the burglars are arrested.

Kevin wakes up on Christmas morning hoping that his family will be home, but they are not, but he hears his mother open the front door and call his name. Kate McCallister has driven home with a performing band, squished tightly into the back of their RV, and is relieved to see her son again. Soon afterwards, the rest of the family, fresh from their flight from Paris, arrive. Even Buzz is pleased to see him. Kevin does not tell his family about his encounter with the Wet Bandits, but when his father finds the burglar's gold tooth on the floor he wonders what could be. Kevin sees Old Man Marley out of the window and sees that he has invited his son and the family over for Christmas; he watches as they reconcile and the old man greets his beloved granddaughter. The idyllic picture is interrupted as Buzz yells out to Kevin about the state of his room.

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Home Alone Questions and Answers

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The names of the characters who "go" on the trip include Peter McAllister (father), Kate McAllister (mother), Linnie, Buzz, and Megan.

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Study Guide for Home Alone

Home Alone study guide contains a biography of Chris Columbus, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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How To Write A Descriptive Essay?

26 April, 2020

11 minutes read

Author:  Tomas White

Descriptive essay is one of the hardest forms of writing. To master descriptive writing, you must be creative and craft a scene that all readers can picture with words alone. This freedom and creativity can make it one of the most rewarding and fun essays to write. It is the backbone of all artful writing like poetry, novels, and even television scripts. We prepared this guide for You to learn all you need to know about descriptive writing. Let's start!

What is a Descriptive Essay?

The goal of a descriptive essay is simple, choose a subject and describe it. The subject could be anything:

A descriptive essay is all about describing the subject in great detail. Being a type of expository writing , it gives you great freedom to paint a picture with your words, shares a once in a lifetime event with the reader or makes them feel something.  It is better to choose a descriptive essay topic that has lots of qualities to discuss for example a person might have a more interesting feature to describe than a paper towel. Choose a subject you connect with emotionally or have a personal history with. The best descriptions come from retelling an experience.

The Difference Between Descriptive and Narrative Essays

The main difference between descriptive and narrative essays lies in the structure and purpose of the essay. A descriptive essay is used to describe a subject to present a clear picture of it. As such, it only requires you to describe the item in a logic fashion. A narrative essay’s purpose is to tell a story. As such, it requires a plot and logical progression to an outcome. A person’s face can be the subject of a descriptive essay. But it would be hard to write a narrative piece that follows the person’s face as the central plot of a story.

Showing VS Telling

A descriptive essay values details over facts. This is also known as showing vs. telling. To  show  something is to describe using the five senses, how it looks, how it smells, how it tastes, how it feels and how it sounds. Imagine the reader as an alien, who has never experienced the subject for themselves. How would you describe it then?

To give you an understanding of how to differentiate between showing and telling I’ll write an example of a descriptive paper that describes my favorite place.

The above example tells you, as it doesn’t evoke any of your senses. It is a senseless description . It’s vague and hard to imagine.

This description is more detail and easier to imagine because of the following changes:

• The choice of words like ‘haven’ instead of ‘like’ add a showing element as it is showing in what way I like the library.
• Putting describers before items like ‘brightly colored’ books makes it easier to see.
• And choosing words with more like ‘towering’ instead of ‘tall’ makes the description less full.
• The description of the books shows what they do, not what they are. These are important points to consider when writing a descriptive essay.

A good exercise for descriptive writing and is to read descriptive essay examples and pick out the words that do the four points outlined above. Analyzing other’s descriptive writing will make your own descriptive work stronger. Can you pick out another place in the descriptive essay example above where those four changes occur and what it lends to the description?

Still having problems with your descriptive paper? All you need is to request help from our top-notch essay writing service and our essay writer make it for you !

How to Choose a Descriptive Essay Topic?

When deciding what to highlight about your topic, take a step back and look at what draws you to it. A campfire has bright, flickering colors, a satisfying crackling sound, and a sort of flow as it moves from the bottom to the tip of the flame. Place yourself in proximity to the subject and describe the parts that stimulate your senses the most.

Title Examples of Descriptive Essays

Here are some examples of descriptive essay topics that are fun to write:

Pick something you can see right now and think about how you’d describe that.

Related Posts: Argumentative essay topics | Compare&Contrast essay topics

How to Set Up a Proper Description?

Slow down and think about what you want to invoke. Don’t rush into a description or you’ll likely end up with something weaker than you could have. Take your topic aside and write some sentences describing how it charms each sense – the five senses being:

Keep a thesaurus on hand to switch some of the more basic words out. If you can read your paragraph back and vividly imagine the item you’ve described, you’ve done it.

How to write a Descriptive Essay Outline

Starting your descriptive essay without a plan can lead to a messy and sprawling description.  Learning to outline your ideas is just as important as knowing how to write them.

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 Creating an Introduction for a Descriptive Writing

Once you have chosen the subject to write you need to plan the introduction for your descriptive paper. An introduction needs to include a thesis statement and three features of the thing you are describing.   The introduction should start with a thesis statement that states how you feel about your topic. This should then be supported with three qualities defining those feelings.

These thesis statements aren’t meant to be complex. All they’re meant to do is to set up your reader for your descriptions. It is important to include three reasons that you can expand on describe in great detail as they will form the paragraphs of your descriptive paper.

Planning and Writing the Body of a Descriptive Essay

Looking at your thesis statement, take those three reasons and break them down into their own paragraphs. Describe hanging out with your friends at the beach, talk about the food you’d eat, the activities you’d participate in. Detail what huskies do when they’re energetic, what shows that they get along with other dogs?

It helps to write about each way you can describe an item on a separate sheet of paper. Use that sheet as your descriptive essay outline. Take each item and write what sense you can use to describe the item in each paragraph.

For example, if you want to talk about eating a popsicle on the beach you could include how cold against your tongue for touch, that it smelt and tasted like raspberries, it was a bright red, and shaped like a rocket for sight, and the sound you made it as you bit on it, or the sound you made as it rocketed into your mouth. Expand this into a paragraph keeping the most vivid description.

Force your reader to imagine these objects in their head. Help them visualize it, pour your vision into the paper and focus on both the small and the big details. Just don’t go overboard. It’s important to have a few great descriptors rather than a ton of average ones.

When describing an object, go about it in a practical sense. Don’t just throw details on the page, talk about them in order. Describe a mountain from its peak to it’s middle all the way down to its base. You wouldn’t go from the middle to the base to the peak, would you? This way, you’re keeping your reader engaged with the topic.

Concluding a Descriptive Essay

Concluding descriptive writing is easy. All you have to show why the subject you described is important to you. All you have to do is show the reader what you implied. Show why it has meaning, and why they should care.

Descriptive Essay Example

Drafting your essay.

Where the organization comes to fruition. When writing your essay, keep the reader in your head at all times. Constantly as yourself: “Is this vivid enough?” Don’t focus much on grammar, get the content onto the paper.

Questions to Ask Yourself

Once you’ve finished writing your essay, read it back and make sure it responds positively to each of these questions:

• Are these descriptions making my writing visual? Could I make them more vivid?
• Have I used these descriptions to detail my emotions to the reader?
• Do these descriptions convey each of the five senses?
• Have I gone into enough details in each paragraph?
• Are my descriptions in an orderly fashion?

If you believe your essay fits these criteria, then you’re good to go on the content side.

Perfecting the Essay

Read it through a couple more times. Take some time away from it and then come back with a fresh mindset.  Correct any grammar issues you see, and double check that it answers all of the questions mentioned above. Once that’s done, you’ll have an essay worthy of an A+ grade.

From Our Writers: Tips on How to Write a Good Descriptive Essay

• Be sensitive. Some writers are scared to show their true selves, but the point of a descriptive essay is to talk about how an object affects your senses and emotions. Keep this in mind during all stages of the essay.
• Put effort into unique descriptions. Don’t settle for standard words, spend some time searching out alternatives to common descriptive words. It will only help the reader envision your thoughts.
• Write about something that you care about. If you choose something you don’t have much personal experience with, you can’t truly write from the heart.

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Descriptive Essay

Definition of descriptive essay.

A descriptive essay , as the name implies, is a form of essay that describes something. In this genre , students are assigned the task of describing objects, things, places, experiences, persons, and situations. The students use sensory information to enable readers to use their five senses of touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight to understand the topic of the essay.

Qualities of a Descriptive Essay

• Clear and Concise
• Use of Images
• Use of Five Senses

As far as clear and concise language is concerned, it is necessary to describe things precisely. Imagery is used to make things seem real and remarkable. The use of the five senses creates the imagery, or a mental picture, for each reader.

Difference Between a Description and a Descriptive Essay

A description could be just a paragraph, or it could be longer, as needed to fully describe the thing. However, a descriptive essay has five paragraphs. It is written in a coherent way with a good thesis statement at the end of the introduction , three body paragraphs , and a conclusion .

Examples of Descriptive Essays in Literature

Example #1:  the corner store (by eudora welty).

“Our Little Store rose right up from the sidewalk; standing in a street of family houses, it alone hadn’t any yard in front, any tree or flower bed. It was a plain frame building covered over with brick. Above the door, a little railed porch ran across on an upstairs level and four windows with shades were looking out. But I didn’t catch on to those. Running in out of the sun, you met what seemed total obscurity inside. There were almost tangible smells — licorice recently sucked in a child’s cheek, dill pickle brine1 that had leaked through a paper sack in a fresh trail across the wooden floor, ammonia-loaded ice that had been hoisted from wet croker sacks and slammed into the icebox with its sweet butter at the door, and perhaps the smell of still untrapped mice.”

This description of the “Little Store” is not only clear and concise, but also has images and sensory information about the store building.

Example #2: And the Orchestra Played On (by Joanne Lipman)

“The hinges creaked when I opened the decrepit case. I was greeted by a cascade of loose horsehair — my bow a victim of mites, the repairman later explained. It was pure agony to twist my fingers into position. But to my astonishment and that of my teenage children — who had never heard me play — I could still manage a sound. “It turned out, a few days later, that there were 100 people just like me. When I showed up at a local school for rehearsal, there they were: five decades worth of former students. There were doctors and accountants, engineers and college professors. There were people who hadn’t played in decades, sitting alongside professionals like Mr. K.’s daughter Melanie, now a violinist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. There were generations of music teachers.”

In the first paragraph of this descriptive excerpt, the author clearly describes the decrepit nature of the violin case, as well as the damage time has done to the bow. The second paragraph is a description of the characters , and their similarities.  Both use sensory information for effective descriptions.

Example #3: Yarn (by Koyoko Mori)

“The yellow mittens I made in seventh-grade home economics proved that I dreamed in color. For the unit on knitting, we were 1 supposed to turn in a pair of mittens. The two hands had to be precisely the same size so that when we held them together, palm to palm, no extra stitches would stick out from the thumb, the tip of the fingers, or the cuff. Somewhere between making the fourth and the fifth mitten to fulfill this requirement, I dreamed that the ball of yellow yarn in my bag had turned green. Chartreuse, leaf, Granny Smith, lime, neon, acid green. The brightness was electric. I woke up knowing that I was, once again, doomed for a D in home ec.”

See the use of colors in this paragraph by Koyoko Mori. This is called “pure description,” in that the description appeals to the senses. The use of word “brightness” in the last line is striking one.

Example #4: The Taj Mahal (by Salman Rushdie)

“And this, finally, is why the Taj Mahal must be seen: to remind us that the world is real, that the sound is truer than the echo, the original more forceful than its image in a mirror. The beauty of beautiful things is still able, in these image-saturated times, to transcend imitations. And the Taj Mahal is, beyond the power of words to say it, a lovely thing, perhaps the loveliest of things.”

Check this short description of the Taj Mahal by Salman Rushdie. This description presents a different picture of the Taj Mahal.

Function of Descriptive Essay

A descriptive essay presents a person, place, or thing, in a way that readers feel as if it is in front of their eyes, or that they are tasting it, or that they can hear it, or that they can smell it. Writers use sensory information to describe object . The object of the writer is to present a picture of something as honestly as he can.

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Essays About Home: Top 5 Examples and 7 Writing Prompts

Writing essays about home depicts familial encounters that influence our identity. Discover our guide with examples and prompts to assist you with your next essay.

The literal meaning of home is a place where you live. It’s also called a domicile where people permanently reside, but today, people have different definitions for it. A home is where we most feel comfortable. It’s a haven, a refuge that provides security and protects us without judgment. 

Parents or guardians do their best to make a home for their children. They strive to offer their kids a stable environment so they can grow into wonderful adults. Dissecting what a home needs to ensure a family member feels safe is a vital part of writing essays about home.

5 Essay Examples

1. the unique feeling of home by anonymous on ivypanda.com, 2. where i call home by anonymous on gradesfixer.com, 3. a place i call home by anonymous on toppr.com, 4. the meaning of home by anonymous on ivypanda.com, 5. what makes a house a home for me by anonymous on gradesfixer.com, 1. true meaning of home, 2. the difference between a home and a house, 3. homes and emotions, 4. making our house feel like home, 6. home as a vital part of our lives, 7. a home for a kid.

“Nowadays, as I moved out, the place feels alien since I spend the whole time in the house during my visits to my parents. They treat me like a guest in their home – in a good sense; they try to be attentive to me and induce dialogue since I stay there for a short time, and they want to extract the maximum of their need for interaction with me.”

In this essay, a visit to the author’s parents’ house made them realize the many things they missed. They also can’t help but compare it to their current home. The writer states family conflict as the reason for their moving out and realizes how fast they adapted to their new environment. 

Returning to their childhood home brings out mixed emotions as they ponder over the lasting influence of their past on their present personality. The author recognizes the importance of the experiences they carry wherever they go. In the end, the writer says that a home is anywhere they can belong to themselves and interact with those they hold dear. You might be interested in these essays about city life .

“The noteworthy places where I lived are the places I have made my home: where I can walk around with a birds’ nest on my head and a pair of old sweatpants in the middle of summer, where I can strip myself bear of superficial emotions…”

The essay starts with vivid descriptions of the author’s home, letting the reader feel like they are in the same place as the narrator. The author also considers their grandmother’s and friend’s houses his home and shares why they feel this way. 

“My home is important to me because for better or worse, it helps me belong. It makes me understand my place in time and connect with the world and the universe at large. Thus, I am grateful to have a place I can call home.”

In this essay, the author is straightforward in sharing the features of their home life, including where their house is located, who lives in it, and other specific details that make it a home. It’s an ancestral home with vintage furniture that stands strong despite age. 

The writer boasts of their unrestricted use of the rooms and how they love every part of it. However, their best memories are linked to the house’s terrace, where their family frequently spends time together.

Looking for more? Check out these essays about dream house .

“Home is a word that means a lot in the life of every person. For some, this is a place to come after hard work to relax and feel comfortable. For others, this is a kind of intermediate point from which they can set off towards adventure.”

A home is where a person spends most of their life, but in this essay, the writer explains that the definition varies per an individual’s outlook. Thus, the piece incorporates various definitions and concepts from other writers. One of them is Veronica Greenwood , who associates homes with a steaming bowl of ramen because both provide warmth, comfort, and tranquility. The author concludes by recognizing individuals’ ever-changing feelings and emotions and how these changes affect their perception of the concept of a home.

“It is where the soul is…  what makes my house a home is walking through the front door on a Friday evening after praying Zuhr prayer in the masjid and coming back to the aroma of freshly cooked delicious biryani in the kitchen because my mom knows it’s my favorite meal.”

This essay reflects on the factors that shape a house to become a home. These factors include providing security, happiness, and comfort. The author explains that routine household activities such as cooking at home, watching children, and playing games significantly contribute to how a home is created. In the end, the writer says that a house becomes a home when you produce special memories with the people you love.

7 Prompts for Essays About Home

The definition of a home varies depending on one’s perspective. Use this prompt to discuss what the word “home” means to you. Perhaps home is filled with memories, sentimental items, or cozy decor, or maybe home is simply where your family is. Write a personal essay with your experiences and add the fond memories you have with your family home.

Check out our guide on how to write a personal essay .

Home and house are two different terms with deeper meanings. However, they are used interchangeably in verbal and written communication. A house is defined as a structure existing in the physical sense. Meanwhile, a home is where people feel like they belong and are free to be themselves.

In your essay, compare and contrast these words and discuss if they have the same meaning or not. Add some fun to your writing by interviewing people to gather opinions on the difference between these two words.

The emotions that we associate with our home can be influenced by our upbringing. In this essay, discuss how your childhood shaped how you view your home and include the reasons why. Split this essay into sections, each new section describing a different memory in your house. Make sure to include personal experiences and examples to support your feelings.

For example, if you grew up in a home that you associate positive memories with, you will have a happy and peaceful association with your home. However, if your upbringing had many challenging and stressful times, you may have negative emotions tied to the home.

The people inside our home play a significant role in how a house becomes a home. Parents, siblings, and pets are only some of those that influence a home. In this prompt, write about the items in your home, the people, and the activities that have made your house a home.

Describe your home in detail to make the readers understand your home life. Talk about the physical characteristics of your house, what the people you live with make you feel, and what you look forward to every time you visit your home. You can also compare it to your current home. For example, you can focus your essay on the differences between your childhood home and the place you moved in to start your independent life.

Home is the one place we always go back to; even if we visit other places, our home is waiting for our return. In this prompt, provide relevant statistics about how much time a person spends at home and ensure to consider relevant factors such as their profession and age group. Using these statistics, explain the importance of a home to the general population, including the indications of homelessness.

There are 135,000 children adopted in the US each year. These children become orphans for various reasons and are adopted by their guardians to support and guide them through life. For this prompt, find statistics showing the number of unaccompanied and homeless children.

Then, write down the government programs and organizations that aim to help these kids. In the later part of your essay, you can discuss tips on how a foster family can make their foster kids feel at home. For help picking your next essay topic, check out our 20 engaging essay topics about family .

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — House — What Does Home Mean to You

What Does Home Mean to You

• Categories: Hometown House Positive Psychology

About this sample

Words: 1251 |

Updated: 6 November, 2023

Words: 1251 | Pages: 3 | 7 min read

“What I love most about my home is who I share it with.” “There is nothing more important than a good, safe, secure home.” “Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to.”

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Works Cited

• Bachelard, G. (1994). The Poetics of Space. Beacon Press.
• Boyd, H. W., & Ray, M. J. (Eds.). (2019). Home and Identity in Late Life: International Perspectives. Policy Press.
• Casey, E. S. (2000). Remembering: A Phenomenological Study. Indiana University Press.
• Clark, C., & Murrell, S. A. (Eds.). (2008). Laughter, Pain, and Wonder: Shakespeare's Comedies and the Audience in the Playhouse. University of Delaware Press.
• Heidegger, M. (2010). Building, Dwelling, Thinking. In Poetry, Language, Thought (pp. 145-161). Harper Perennial Modern Classics.
• Kusenbach, M. (2003). Street Phenomenology: The Go-Along as Ethnographic Research Tool. Ethnography, 4(3), 455-485.
• Moore, L. J. (2000). Space, Text, and Gender: An Anthropological Study of the Marakwet of Kenya. Routledge.
• Rapport, N., & Dawson, A. (Eds.). (1998). Migrants of Identity: Perceptions of Home in a World of Movement. Berg Publishers.
• Schön, D. A. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Basic Books.
• Seamon, D. (Ed.). (2015). Place Attachment and Phenomenology: The Synergistic Dynamism of Place. Routledge.

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The night I was alone at home

• Word count: 1530
• Category: Home

A limited time offer! Get a custom sample essay written according to your requirements urgent 3h delivery guaranteed

The day wasn’t ordinary… It was extraordinary. The weather was awful and windy as if I was by the sea-side. I couldn’t see the road ahead of me as it was extremely hazy as if there was a snowy blizzard in front of my eyes. With the weather this bad, I somehow amazingly got home eventually.

As I entered the house, the hairs on my neck stood on end – something was wrong and I could feel it in my bones. I paused to listen into the darkness but I couldn’t quite work out what it was. I thought to myself “Forget it, you’re just being silly!” and made my way upstairs. As I was making my way upstairs I suddenly heard a loud noise as if something had dropped.

“Who’s there?” I squeaked as I got to the top of the stairs. Silence greeted my question as I heard nothing in response. As I tried looking around in the dark, I noticed the window at the top of the landing was wide open and the air freshener which was usually displayed on the window sill was lying on the floor.

“How did it get there and why on earth was my window open?” I asked myself. Maybe my Mum had forgotten to close it I tried reasoning myself as I pulled the window handle shut and putting the air freshener back in its place. I went to my room and laid on my bed for a while. As anxious as I was, funnily enough I was fast asleep within ten minutes without realizing what kind of nightmares lay ahead for me that night.

It was furry – a yellow hairy werewolf with eyes bright red and full of evil, sharp teeth with dripping blood from its mouth and it was just about ready to was ready to eat me alive. As he came closer I felt his smelly breath on my neck.. “Khrrrrrrrr” came the snarl..

That was when I suddenly woke up with a scream. A big gust of wind flew through my room and I realised it was my bedroom window which was wide open and the wind was gushing through. “How on Earth did that happen? I swear I just shut the other window earlier and this one was definitely shut?!”

I started questioning my own sanity.. “Was I going crazy? And forget that – was my dream real…? Or am I still dreaming?”

A moment later the clock struck midnight and the strange noises started. First it was the staircase creaking as if someone was walking on an old creaky floorboard. My heart skipped a beat and I yelped: “Mum is that you?” My Mum wasn’t supposed to be back from work until the following morning as she was doing the night shift that night at the hospital but maybe she had come home early..

Nobody answered and the wind blew past my curtains making them fly up. At this point I was still in my bed and somehow managed to gather strength and get to my light switch.

Click went the light switch.. but it was still dark though.. “It must be a power cut” I told myself. Or was it the creature I thought as my eyes ran over a yellow furry teddy in my room by the window.. I couldn’t help but think maybe someone had cut off the power supply.. but then why would someone do that to little old me??

The whole house was pitch-black and the only light coming inside the house was from the street lights in the street. I could hardly see anything but luckily I managed to feel the torch in my drawer. I switched it on and made my way downstairs to see if I could fix the electricity mains.

All of a sudden I saw a dark shadow rush by me and I felt a cold gust of wind going down my spine. “Hello, who’s there? This isn’t a joke anymore!” I shouted bravely.

My heart beat couldn’t help but start to increase rapidly. I started to take deeper breaths and my hands were shaking. I heard a disturbing and creepy voice and then out of nowhere, an echoing: “ha haaaa haaa haaaa haa haaaaaaaaaa”. It seemed the voice was echoing but I couldn’t say where the voice was coming from which was confusing and scaring me even more.

Then I heard a woman’s scream out of nowhere: “Helpppppppppp!!!”

The voice sounded familiar. Could it possibly be my mothers scream?! I ran into the living room where the scream came from. And that’s when my whole life changed. I saw my mother hanging from the ceiling like from one of those horror films! I couldn’t even scream as if I had no voice. The torch dropped out of my hand and I stood as still as a statue staring at my mother. Her mouth was frozen open as if she had tried to warn someone of something but didn’t get the chance to finish.

I couldn’t go on like this so screamed: “Why don’t you kill me as well, why don’t you?!” and as the words came out of my mouth, tears came through my eyes. I picked up my torch and started to run towards the front door. It seemed the corridor kept getting longer and longer. I was running and running and it felt like miles.

Was my mind playing tricks with me? Was I going crazy? And then out of nowhere, again I heard the screeching voice. But this time there was an even scarier thing to be scared about: The voice said: “The time has come to end for you. You run but you can’t hide mwaahahahahaaa………”

I could feel some thing behind me and that’s… when… I… met… it… face to face!

It had its red eyes gazing at me, razor-sharp teeth and blood dripping out of its mouth.

On one side of its face you could see its flesh like someone had peeled off the skin with a potato peeler. It came closer towards me with its mouth open and I froze, now knowing what to do. I was panicking and I suddenly reached for the necklace around my neck. It had a metal cross on it and the first thing I could think of was to scare off this beast so I thrust the cross towards the beast. The next thing I knew; blood started to squirt everywhere; I had stabbed him in the eye!

I didn’t wait around to see what happened next so I quickly turned around ready to run out the house… as I turned my back to see how close he was to me, I could see he wasn’t there. He has vanished into thin air within a blink of an eye.

Just when I thought I was OK and would be able to get away I felt something fall against me outside of the under-stair storage cupboard… it was my father – with blood all over his shirt and a knife sticking out from his stomach. I tried screaming but nothing came out of my mouth… No matter what I would try to do I knew I wouldn’t be able to escape this beast now! Nothing but prayer could help me now.

Abruptly I felt a cold grasp around my hand. I was trying to scream for help, but again no sound came out. “Son save your self, get away!!” my Dad whispered next to my ear as he took his last breath.

Suddenly the hallway started to get blurry and it seemed to lengthen again. “What in heaven’s name is happening to me…?” I thought as I saw a wave of blood rushing through the kitchen on my left side. Before I even had the chance of thinking of running away the wave got to me and struck me out cold.

That’s all I could remember from the nightmare as the sun streamed through my closed window. “Where am I? Am I in heaven?!” I asked myself in a croaky voice. My vision got clearer as my mind freshened and I could finally figure out that I was back in my room.

How could last night be possible? Was it all a dream or had it really happened? I heard the familiar rustling from the kitchen and guessed it was my Mum cooking breakfast for me.. I felt a sense of relief washing over me – “It probably was a bad dream after all then!” I reassured myself.

Relieved, I reached for a glass of water and as I drank from my glass, I felt something dripping – on top of my head. I put my hand on my hair thinking it was water somehow but it only took me a moment to bring back my hand to see it covered in blood.

As a shadow fell over me I felt something move in my doorway.. I looked up quickly and felt my heart drop as I realised what it was. It was the creature from my nightmare which meant my nightmare wasn’t actually a nightmare but reality after all.. And that meant the time for me had come to an end as well.. “God, help meeeeeeeeeeeeeee……….!!!!” I screamed as my last words echoed in my empty house.

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ENGLISH ESSAY CLASS 6

A Day Alone at Home

When I was alone at home one day, I was more excited than being afraid. My parents had gone for an invitation and had left me behind as I was not keen in going with them. I was feeling free like a bird and very independent for the first time in my life. I had some snacks that my mother had prepared along with a glass of hot chocolate, which is my favourite. I then sank into the couch and began reading one of my favourite stories of the Hardy Boys. I read the story book for about an hour and then decided to take a break. It was around 6:30 p.m. by then. My favourite television programme would begin at 7:00 p.m.; although my mother instructed me on the 'dos and don'ts of watching television. Any way for about another two hours I would be the master of my life! I peeped out of the window. There was the full moon shining brightly on the streets. Some children were playing badminton on a cool wintry night. A cool and fresh gust of wind was blowing through the window. I went to the kitchen and then to the refrigerator to find something to munch on. Finding something to eat, I returned to the hall room where I became a couch potato and watched my favourite Television programme. It was around 7:30 p.m. and I was sitting comfortably on the couch, when the lights went off. It was a power cut. Suddenly I found myself in darkness. What bad luck, I thought to myself. I went to find the emergency light to get rid of the darkness around me. I was feeling a bit afraid in the dark, but was finding the whole episode more like some sort of an adventure. Suddenly I heard a loud 'thud' on the door. My heart skipped a beat. I nervously peeped through the keyhole, but could not see anyone. Then again another loud knock! I immediately phoned by neighbour on the first floor, who said he was coming in a moment. In the mean time I held myself together and decided to open the door. I opened the door and saw no one; but I thought I saw something crawl into the room. It looked like some sort of animal, may be one or two. I ran down to call my neighbour and was relieved to see him climbing up the stairs. We both entered the house and heard some chattering in the kitchen. We peeped in slowly and saw two creatures sitting on the table in the kitchen. They looked like monkeys and indeed they were. Not knowing what to do, we decided to alert the neighbourhood. By now the power was restored and the monkeys came running right at us. Immediately I pulled out a sack from the shelf and threw it on the animal. My neighbour was quick to pounce on it and quickly tied up the sack. The other monkey managed to escape from the window. These two monkeys were tormenting the neighbourhood for quite some time; and now we had caught one! My parents had returned by then and when they heard the whole episode, they were happy to see me safe and sound. They thanked my neighbour too. The next day the authorities from the zoo came and took the monkey away. People in my neighbourhood were now talking about my brave endeavour of trapping the monkey. I was now the hero of the town!

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