Teacher: 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.
Teacher: Now, understand the problem? If you are still confused, see the following 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.
Solution: imagined
Reason: 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.

Now, solve this instance: For as long as I can remember I have loved to swim. My mom told me that bath time was always my favorite time because I would swim around in the bathtub and that's why she decided to put me into swimming. I was 8 years old when I had my first swim meet and I can remember it clear as day even though it happened over a decade ago. I remember diving into the pool and swimming as fast as I could and even taking peeks at the lanes on either side of me to see how I was doing overall. When I touched the wall at the end I thought I had lost and the first thing I told my mother when I got out of the pool was that I sucked. My coach reassured me that I was better than I thought and shortly thereafter I was bumped up into the bigger pool where all the 'big kids' practiced. I would go on to swim for this team for 10 years during the summer. When I started my freshman year of high school I tried out for my high school swim team and made it and then around the same time I joined a club team so I was swimming pretty much the entire year with not many breaks in between. When I was a senior in high school I was given the opportunity to go to schools on a scholarship for swimming but I decided to go to a school that I really wanted to go to even though they hadn't offered me a scholarship, but I was allowed to try out as a walk-on. When I started my freshman year of college, however, I changed my mind. I just felt like I couldn't do another four years and I really needed a break and I didn't want my college experience to be consumed by swimming so decided not to try out for the team. It was a really hard decision and I felt guilty. It was eating away at my subconscious and I would always have nightmares and I felt like I was punishing myself. It took a long time but I finally got the courage to get back in the water. Swimming is pretty much all I've really known so when I got back in the water it just felt right and I've been doing it ever since.
Student:
retold