descriptive writing

Goal: Descriptive writing vividly portrays a person, place, or thing in such a way
that the reader can visualize the topic and enter into the writer’s experience.
Characteristics: The general characteristics of descriptive writing include:

 elaborate use of sensory language

 rich, vivid, and lively detail
 figurative language such as simile, hyperbole, metaphor,
symbolism and personification
 showing, rather than telling through the use of  active verbs
and precise modifiers

Uses: Descriptive writing appears almost everywhere and is often included in other
genre, such as in a descriptive introduction of a character in a narrative.
Exercises:  Observe, and then describe an event.
 Think of a person or object that stands out in your memory. Write a
description of that subject.
 Find an example of descriptive writing; explain the elements that
make this a good example.

Additional A Lesson Plan: Writing to Photography

Internet sites: This lesson's goal is to improve students' writing by incorporating
photography into descriptive and narrative writing exercises.
Description Paragraph
Access a one-page article that offers tips on adding descriptive words.
Descriptive Writing with Virginia Hamilton
Maintained on Scholastic's website, this online tutorial includes a
teacher's guide and student resources for teaching this genre.
Descriptive Writing Resources
Visit this list for additional resources gathered by the Web English
Teacher.

As a rhetorical mode, description is not often used as the primary method of development. We
usually think of description as something that helps other rhetorical modes: for example, in a
narrative essay, description can make the setting or characters more vivid. In an analysis,
description can help us highlight the essential differences between two items we are discussing.
However, it is possible to use description as the primary method of development for an essay

For example, in a process paper, description can ensure that the audience understands the
finished product. In technical writing, it is often referred to as "describing a process." Still,
except for this one exception, to think of description as the primary method of development for
an essay may seem odd or impossible. It is not. Description can be a powerful method of
developing an essay if we keep in mind a few conventions of the form and think about a few
writing strategies as well.

Conventions of the Descriptive Essay

1. A descriptive essay has one, clear dominant impression. If, for example you are
describing the future, you must decide if the future is threatening or wonderful; in order
to have one dominant impression, it cannot be both. The dominant impression guides
your selection of detail and is the central idea you express in your thesis sentence.

2. Although most textbooks claim that descriptive essay can be either objective or
subjective, I am not sure that is really true. Here, I am thinking of Robert Pirsig's Zen and
the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Pirsig has a scene in which a student wants to write a
description of a building. Pirsig points out how futile and boring that is since in
describing just a single brick of the building one could take an eternity simply elucidating
all the different textures, patterns, and colors of that one brick. An objective description is
possible, in theory, but not in reality, he concludes. Because we are human. And in being
human, we also filter what we perceive. That is the reality of the human condition.
Therefore, the best descriptions, it seems to me, acknowledge the fact that human
attention is selective: we perceive those things that are most salient to us (for one reason
or another) and remember only those points. As writers, we can exploit that fact, and
write descriptions that build a pattern, a pattern that suggest a thesis, a point of view.

To me, this is what one means when one says that descriptions build upon a dominant
impression.

3. Because description is based upon our selective attention, description relies on emotion
and on our experiences to convey its point. As writers of description, we should try to
incorporate words (verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and nouns) that build an emotional state,
reflective of our experience and knowledge of the world.

4. The descriptive essay relies on concrete, specific detail to communicate its point.
Description can incorporate all the senses, or can focus on just one. If you do focus on
just one sensual impression, you should have a reason that ultimately is evident to the
reader for your narrow focus.

Strategies for Developing the Descriptive Essay

1. Be subtle. Write the small details first, and let those accumulate in your readers' minds so
that they come to see the dominant impression eventually. (Think of a mosaic here or a
jig-saw puzzle.)

2. Be consistent. Reread your description to ensure that each one of your smaller details is
indeed supporting the dominant impression.
 3. Be systematic. Move your reader through space and time in an orderly (chronological)
fashion. Move spatially in a recognizable pattern, such as from front to back, beginning
to end, left to right, start to destination.

4. Be aware of change. Everything changes. That might be the only consistent reality of life.
Use change as the controlling idea in your selection of images and details.

5. Be emotional. Remember that Aristotle, for good reason, taught us that there are three
avenues by which we can persuade the reader, including the heart. Use your emotional
response to your topic to guide your selection of details. Choose an emotion to be a
dominant theme in your description. Organize and select details around that dominant
emotion.

More than any other kind of writing, descriptive writing strives to invoke a vivid and involved
experience for the reader. It is often considered as one of the most creative forms of writing since
it is basically about being able to evoke emotions in the reader through the power of words. A
good descriptive essay, for instance, has the ability to arouse the reader’s senses and create a
lasting impact on his or her mind. This effect can be achieved not through statistics and facts, but
by detailed descriptions and observations.

As you start with your descriptive writing, one of the most important things is identifying exactly
what you are setting out to describe. Usually, a descriptive essay will include the depiction of the
following: a place, a person, a pet, an object, an experience, or a memory. Anything that you
experience or perceive about your subject can be the focal point of your descriptive writing.

While it can be a wonderful creative exercise to simply describe anything you observe, but in
descriptive writing, there is often a specific reason for writing whatever you have set out to
describe. Tapping into this reason can help you to keep the description focused and infuse your
language with a particular emotion or perspective.

For example, say you are writing a descriptive essay about your pet dog. You may have chosen
to write about how your dog looks and the way he interacts with you. Instead of merely giving a
general description of these features, you could convey how you love your dog’s intelligence and
lovingness. In order to achieve this, one of your paragraphs could focus on describing how your
dog’s eyes light up in pure joy whenever he sees you after an absence. You could also tell about
how he will nuzzle up close to you, nudging you gently with his cold nose, thumping his tail on
the floor, when you don’t pay attention to him because of being occupied with something else.

If there is one thing you need to keep in mind when you undertake any kind of descriptive
writing, it is the famous maxim – "Show, don’t tell." But, how does one show and not tell? Well,
take these two examples:

 I felt tired at work today.

  As the day wore on at work, I felt a cramp beginning to form at the nape of my neck, my
eyes began to feel droopy, and the computer screen in front of me began blurring.

While the first sentence merely tells your reader directly that you felt tired at work today, the
second one shows the reader how you grew tired. Effective descriptive writing is full of such
‘showing sentences’ because they allow readers to experience or imagine what the writer felt for
himself or herself.

However, care must be taken not to overdo it. Don’t just use descriptive words merely for the
sake of filling the page up. The writing must be able to draw in the reader, hence the writer
should say things that the reader can relate to or empathize with. An introductory backdrop can
often provide an effective setting for the remaining part of the piece. Great descriptive writing
have the ability of luring the reader, enticing him or her to continue reading right to the end.
While giving the details is important, it is how they are presented that makes the difference.

Hence, while writing, one of the most effective ways to make the experience you are describing
vivid for your reader is to use the five senses: smell, sight, sound, taste, and touch. When the
descriptions are focused on the senses, you provide specific and vivid details in such a way that it
shows your reader what you are describing.

Therefore, it is a good idea to take the time to brainstorm, before you actually begin writing. For
instance, if you are going to be writing about a flower arrangement, you could jot down a few
ideas before you start describing it, like: vase, color, types of flowers, leaves, stem, style, shape,
fresh, etc. Once you have the basic words, you could start writing descriptive sentences for each
one. Then, carry on from there.

Make the language as descriptive as you can. Hence, instead of using merely ‘horse’, why not
choose to use ‘mare’, ‘foal’ or ‘stallion’? Instead of bland ‘happy’, why not ‘joyous’, ‘glad’, or
‘delighted’? Or, why not ‘closefisted’, ‘niggardly’, or ‘miserly’ in place of insipid ‘ungenerous’?
Such word choices color the image you are trying to create in the reader’s mind and also provide
nuanced interpretations that help to serve your purpose better. The idea is to coax the reader to
not only enter but also become a part of the world you are trying to create.

Language that relates to powerful emotions such as love, hatred, admiration, or disgust can
convey the range and intensity of feeling. You can create a tremendous impact if you use a wide
spectrum of words which encompass all the senses.

Make the descriptive writing a rewarding experience, both for your reader and yourself. If you
like what you write, chances are high that your reader will too. As is evident, having a
comprehensive vocabulary is the key to good descriptive writing. But mere vocabulary will fall
short if your writing lacks passion, logic and interest. The trouble with descriptive writing is that
it can easily become an incoherent rambling of senses and emotions. To avoid that, present what
you are writing about in a logical and organized sequence of thoughts, so that the reader comes
away from it with a cogent sense of what you have attempted to describe.

By Rita Putatunda
A descriptive text is a text which lists the characteristics of something. Take an example, the
following is one of the text belongs to the descriptive text.

Prambanan Temple

Prambanan is the largest Hindu temple compound in Central Java in Indonesia, located
approximately 18 km east of Yogyakarta.

The temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the largest Hindu temples in south-
east Asia. It is characterised by its tall and pointed architecture, typical of Hindu temple
architecture, and by the 47m high central building inside a large complex of individual temples.

It was built around 850 CE by either Rakai Pikatan, king of the second Mataram dynasty, or
Balitung Maha Sambu, during the Sanjaya Dynasty. Not long after its construction, the temple
was abandoned and began to deteriorate. Reconstruction of the compound began in 1918. The
main building was completed in around 1953. Much of the original stonework has been stolen
and reused at remote construction sites. A temple will only be rebuilt if at least 75% of the
original stones are available, and therefore only the foundation walls of most of the smaller
shrines are now visible and with no plans for their reconstruction.

The temple was damaged during the earthquake in Java in 2006. Early photos suggest that
although the complex appears to be structurally intact, damage is significant. Large pieces of
debris, including carvings, were scattered over the ground. The temple has been closed to the
public until damage can be fully assessed. The head of Yogyakarta Archaeological Conservation
Agency stated that: “it will take months to identify the precise damage”. However, some weeks
later in 2006 the site re-opened for visitors. The immediate surroundings of the Hindu temples
remain off-limits for safety reasons.

We get the purpose from the text above that description is used in all forms of writing to create a
vivid impression of a person, place, object or event e.g. to: ·

 Describe a special place and explain why it is special.

 Describe the most important person in your live.
 Describe the animal’s habit in your report.

Descriptive writing or text is usually also used to help writer develop an aspect of their work, e.g.
to create a particular mood, atmosphere or describe a place so that the reader can create vivid
pictures of characters, places, objects etc. To complete our intention to, here are the
characteristics based on descriptive writing or text, below;
As a feature, description is a style of writing which can be useful for other variety of purposes as:

 To engage a reader’s attention

 To create characters
 To set a mood or create an atmosphere
 To being writing to life

While in language function, descriptive writing;

 Aims to show rather than tell the reader what something/someone is like
 Relies on precisely chosen vocabulary with carefully chosen adjectives and adverbs.
 Is focused and concentrates only on the aspects that add something to the main purpose
of the description.
 Sensory description-what is heard, seen, smelt, felt, tasted.Precise use of adjectives,
similes, metaphors to create images/pictures in the mind e.g. their noses were met with
the acrid smell of rotting flesh.
 Strong  development of the experience that “put the reader there” focuses on key details,
powerful verbs and precise nouns.

Beyond the characteristics stated on, descriptive writing also consists of generic structure in
range as:

1. General statement
2. Explanation
3. Closing

The description text has dominant language features as follows:

1. Using Simple Present Tense

2. Using action verbs
3. Using passive voice
4. Using noun phrase
5. Using adverbial phrase
6. Using technical terms
7. Using general and abstract noun
8. Using conjunction of time and cause-effect.