To sentimentalize something is to speak, write, or think about it as if only the good and happy parts were real. You polish the memory. You leave out the quarrel, the fear, the dull work. People sentimentalize childhood, village life, war, even their own family: the story becomes warmer than the thing. The verb can also mean to make a scene more tearful than it was — to dress it in feeling. It is usually a warning, not praise. British spelling often uses sentimentalise; both are the same verb. Though actually, you can sentimentalize with kind intent — you wanted to be gentle — and still mislead. The student-needed picture is: not a full look, a soft look.

把……寫得很感傷；美化、濫情化