2. 1)What Is Descriptive Writing?
Descriptive writing creates a
picture of a person, place, thing, or
event. Description tells what
something
looks, sounds, smells, tastes, or feels
like.
3. 2) Elements of Descriptive Writing
Good descriptive writing is comprised of five
elements; Sensory Details, Figurative
Language, dominant impression, precise
language, and Careful Organization.
4. 1) Sensory Details
Good descriptive writing includes many vivid
sensory details that paint a picture and appeals to
all of the reader's senses of
sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste when
appropriate. Descriptive writing may also paint a
pictures of the feelings the person, place or thing
invokes the writer.
5. 2) Figurative Language
Good descriptive writing often makes use of figurative
language to help paint the picture in the reader's
mind. There are many ways to use figurative
language, and it is a talent that should be practiced until
perfected.
-A simile uses like or as to compare two unlike things.
Example: Her smile was like sunshine.
-A metaphor compares two unlike things without using
like or as:
Example: Her smile was a light that lit up the room.
-Personification suggests comparison between a
nonliving thing and a person by giving the nonliving
thing human traits.
6. 3) A DOMINANT IMPRESSION
When you plan a descriptive essay, your focus on
selecting details that help your readers see what you
see, feel what you feel, and experience what you
experience. Your goal is to create a single dominant
impression, a central theme or idea to which all the
details relate-for example, the liveliness of a street
scene or the quiet of a summer night. This dominant
impression unifies the description and gives readers an
overall sense of what the person, place, object, or scene
looks like(and perhaps what it sounds, smells, tastes, or
feels like). Sometimes_but not always_ your details will
support a thesis making a point about the subject you
are describing.
7. 4) PRECISE LANGUAGE
Good descriptive writing uses precise language.
Using specific words and phrases will help the
reader “see” what you are describing. If a word or
phrase is specific, it is exact and precise. The
opposite of specific language is language that is
vague, general, or fuzzy.
8. 5) CAREFUL ORGANIZATION
Good descriptive writing is organized. Some ways
to organize descriptive writing include:
of chronological (time), spatial (location), and order
importance.
10. Transitions used in descriptive writing
vary depending on whether you are
describing a person, a place, or a
thing. Here are some examples of
transitions that might be used in
descriptive contexts:
