Part 1. Definition
Read the given story and classify it as 'imagined', 'recalled', or 'retold'. If a story is imagined, the person who wrote the story is making it up, pretending they experienced it. If a story is recalled, the person who wrote the story really experienced it and is recalling it from memory. If a story is retold, it is a real memory like the 'recalled' stories, but written down much later after previously writing a 'recalled' story about the same events. So, recalled stories and retold stories will be fairly similar, in that they both were real experiences for the writer. Imagined stories have a more linear flow and contain more commonsense knowledge, whereas recalled stories are less connected and contain more specific concrete events. Additionally, higher levels of self reference are found in imagined stories. Between recalled and retold stories, retold stories flow significantly more linearly than recalled stories, and retold stories are significantly higher in scores for cognitive processes and positive tone.
Part 2. Example
Concerts are my most favorite thing, and my boyfriend knew it. That's why, for our anniversary, he got me tickets to see my favorite artist. Not only that, but the tickets were for an outdoor show, which I love much more than being in a crowded stadium. Since he knew I was such a big fan of music, he got tickets for himself, and even a couple of my friends. He is so incredibly nice and considerate to me and what I like to do. I will always remember this event and I will always cherish him. On the day of the concert, I got ready, and he picked me up and we went out to a restaurant beforehand. He is so incredibly romantic. He knew exactly where to take me without asking. We ate, laughed, and had a wonderful dinner date before the big event. We arrived at the concert and the music was so incredibly beautiful. I loved every minute of it. My friends, boyfriend, and I all sat down next to each other. As the music was slowly dying down, I found us all getting lost just staring at the stars. It was such an incredibly unforgettable and beautiful night.
Answer: imagined
Explanation: This is a good example because it really was an imagined story. The attributes that should tip you off are that the story is light on concrete events (they describe things in broad terms such as going to a restaurant and being at the stadium, but nothing specific about who was exactly where and anything specifically notable someone said or did) and heavy on references to the writer themselves and their internal feelings (they frequently repeat how much they loved it, how romantic they felt, how they cherished the night, etc). It's also very linear and structured, pointing to this being an imagined story. Additionally, the events and feelings described seem a little romanticized or idealized beyond what is usually a realistic circumstance.
Part 3. Exercise
My mother passed away at the end of March last year. My sister and I went to the cemetery where my father is buried to make arrangements to have her interred. It was a very sad, difficult week as she'd been on life support and we'd had to make the decision to remove her from the respirator. The doctors said she'd only live a few hours but she lived for several days and seemed really uncomfortable and in pain. It was a very difficult thing to watch and my sister and I were both kind of traumatized when we walked into our meeting with the funeral director. We knew that my mother had asked for a simple graveside service as most of her friends had passed away. We explained this to the funeral director and she really put pressure on us to upsell everything. We keep refusing, wanting to keep it simple, and this woman made us feel so uncomfortable - and cheap, which we aren't - that I was starting to get upset. After more than an hour of this woman pressuring us we finally made the arrangement we'd planned. We then went out to lunch just to recover from the verbal pummeling of this woman. The day finally arrived and after picking up flowers we got to the cemetery early. The service itself was nice. It was a pretty spring day and quite a few family members came. The funeral director was nice to us, which was a change from when we made the arrangements. Despite the awful experience of planning this it turned out well.
Answer:
retold