Introduction
Descriptive Essay is a kind of an essay which uses illustrative language in describing a word.
The word DESCRIPTIVE is rooted from the word "to Describe". When we intend to explain a topic or to make it more apparent to whom we are talking to, we usually describe things, persons, places, sound and emotions or feelings.
More than many other types of essays, descriptive essays strive to create a deeply involved and vivid experience for the reader. Great descriptive essays achieve this affect not through facts and statistics but by using detailed observations and descriptions.
The use of the five senses have a great involvement when writing a descriptive essay. That is why reading a descriptive esay gets a reader more involved and active compared to the other forms of essays. Writing and Reading it somewhat like you are painting a canvass or looking at a picture.
Even more, the description helps set a mood by using more vivid language to complement the sensory-based description. Like for example,
'As the waves leisurely collided with the shore, I could hear the delicate lapping of the water as it met the sand. The smell of salt air and a warm afternoon wafted through the sky. Slowly, I awoke from my slumber, cuddled in a hammock that surrounded me like a cocoon. The warm sun brightly shone on my face and greeted me, 'Good afternoon'.'
The author shows us, rather than tells us, what the afternoon on a beach is like.
It is very helpful in developing one's creativity and imagination especially for high school students like you, who are known to be newfangled in artistry, ingenuity, and fantasy.
Task
What do you want to describe?
As you get started on your descriptive essay, it's important for you to identify exactly what you want to describe. Often, a descriptive essay will focus on portraying one of the following:
- a person
- a place
- a memory
- an experience
- an object
Ultimately, whatever you can perceive or experience can be the focus of your descriptive writing.
Why are you writing your descriptive essay?
It's a great creative exercise to sit down and simply describe what you observe. However, when writing a descriptive essay, you often have a particular reason for writing your description. Getting in touch with this reason can help you focus your description and imbue your language with a particular perspective or emotion.
Example: Imagine that you want to write a descriptive essay about your grandfather. You've chosen to write about your grandfather's physical appearance and the way that he interacts with people. However, rather than providing a general description of these aspects, you want to convey your admiration for his strength and kindness. This is your reason for writing the descriptive essay. To achieve this, you might focus one of your paragraphs on describing the roughness of his hands, roughness resulting from the labor of his work throughout his life, but you might also describe how he would hold your hands so gently with his rough hands when having a conversation with you or when taking a walk.
Process
How should you write your description?
If there's one thing you should remember as you write your descriptive essay, it's the famous saying: show don't tell. But what's the difference between showing and telling?
Consider these two simple examples:
- I grew tired after dinner.
- As I leaned back and rested my head against the top of the chair, my eyelids began to feel heavy, and the edges of the empty plate in front of me blurred with the white tablecloth.
The first sentence tells readers that you grew tired after dinner. The second sentenceshows readers that you grew tired. The most effective descriptive essays are loaded with such showing because they enable readers to imagine or experience something for themselves.
As you write your descriptive essay, the best way to create a vivid experience for your readers is to focus on the five senses.
- sight
- sound
- smell
- touch
- taste
When you focus your descriptions on the senses, you provide vivid and specific details that show your readers rather than tell your readers what you are describing.
Quick Tips for Writing Your Descriptive Essay
Writing a descriptive essay can be a rich and rewarding experience, but it can also feel a bit complicated. It's helpful, therefore, to keep a quick checklist of the essential questions to keep in mind as you plan, draft, and revise your essay.
Planning your descriptive essay:
- What or who do you want to describe?
- What is your reason for writing your description?
- What are the particular qualities that you want to focus on?
Drafting your descriptive essay:
- What sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures are important for developing your description?
- Which details can you include to ensure that your readers gain a vivid impression imbued with your emotion or perspective?
Revising your descriptive essay:
- Have you provided enough details and descriptions to enable your readers to gain a complete and vivid perception?
- Have you left out any minor but important details?
- Have you used words that convey your emotion or perspective?
- Are there any unnecessary details in your description?
- Does each paragraph of your essay focus on one aspect of your description?
- Are you paragraphs ordered in the most effective way?
Check out the websites provided in the Credits Page for more information. There are also suggested topics which you can use in writing your ddescriptive essay.
Evaluation
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Descriptive Essay Rubric |
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CRITERIA |
SELF-CHECK |
PARTNER CHECK |
*RATING |
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Gives sense of time, place, and characters through the use of rich sensory details, and dialogue, if appropriate. |
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1 2 3 4 5 |
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Does my description give interesting information about my topic? |
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1 2 3 4 5 |
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Have I used enough details to help readers picture out my topic? |
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1 2 3 4 5 |
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Uses well-organized paragraphs and a clear order of events |
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1 2 3 4 5 |
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Presents a single, clear focus in each paragraph |
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1 2 3 4 5 |
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Uses a variety of Sentence Structures and styles. |
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1 2 3 4 5 |
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