Anglia: descriptive essay writing

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 4

descriptive essay writing 

Contents of this lesson

•  Definition
• 5 senses 
• Goal
• Issues that could be described in your essay
• Personal essay vs formal description 
• Outline
• Good example/ bad example 
• figures of speech + up to you

What do you think descriptive writing is?

Definition 

The definition of a descriptive essay is a type of composition or paper which describes an object, person, process, or event. The writer’s goal is to create a vivid reading experience, or to show instead of tell (metaphorically).

5 senses 

a descriptive essays usually appeals to the 5 senses.

1. smell
2. touch
3. taste
4. hearing
5. sight 

Choose an object in your room and use the 5 senses to describe it

Goal

 to paint a comprehensive picture for the reader by appealing to the five senses. Last but not least, your work should have a purpose. It could be anything from a lesson you learned from an experience, to a story of how an object impacted your life. It’s all about making your bright ideas come to life.

Issues that could be described in your essay

• A person: appearance, actions, behaviours, mood, and qualities of your chosen individual.
• A place: describe the beauty of a city fe. Rome or Paris
•  An event: Here you need to describe the story of what happened. It can be your last vacation, concert, wedding, anniversary, summer music festival, graduation day, or so on.
• An animal 
• An occupation
• A behavior 

personal essay vs formal description 

personal essay: Here you need to describe an experience using your feelings and responses. (5 senses)  use of vivid, evocative language .

A few examples of personal essay topics might be:

• Describing the experience of swimming in the azure sea in summer
  
• Explaining your favourite movie and its impact on you
  
• Reflecting on your birthday and all the things that have shaped you in the past

formal description: Rather than focusing on your own experience, you need to use specific categories of information to provide the fullest possible portrait of what you are describing

example:

• A descriptive essay about climate change, politics, or historical events.

Outline 

• Introduction (1 paragraph)

Grab the readers attention, make it lively, introduce us to the main topic (background information), thesis statement 

• Body paragraphs  (3 paragraphs)

topic sentence, sensory details, actual details

• conclusion (1 paragraph) 

summary of all the main points, clincher statement (uitsmijter)

Good example

What it is like to play rugby 

In the eyes of the untrained, a rugby game is just a bunch of huge individuals senselessly fighting one another, struggling to move an oval ball inch by inch down a field full of mud towards the goal line of the opposing team. Players don’t put on pads or get a timeout in the event of injuries. Yet rugby is a different thing, a gentleman’s sport—to those who understand it. While rugby appears rough, its players maintain good respect toward both teammates and opponents.

Why is this a good example of a descriptive essay?

Bad example

I was walking up the stairs. I felt bad. I had the chills. When I got up the stairs I looked at the people getting off and on with smiles on their faces. I was scared when I got on the ride. It was scary when I went up. I saw a long way at the top. I dropped down the hill fast. I yelled. At the end, I got off and smiled. 

 

Why is this a bad example of a descriptive essay?

Figures of speech 

• Metaphor --> He is a shining star.
• simile --> cold as ice, white as snow, slept like a log (as/like)
• hyperbole --> she could feed a whole army with that
• alliteration --> Dan's dog dove deep in the dam, drinking dirty water as he dove.
•  onomatopoeia -->The sheep went, “Baa.”    The best part about music class is that you can bang on the drum.
• Repetition

Up to you!

Do the assignment:

ASSIGNMENT: (150 – 170 words) 

 1. Describe a smartphone to a time traveler from the 1900s. 

 2. Describe the average human to an alien who has never  

    seen a person before.