Descriptive essay writing

The descriptive essay is a genre of essay that asks the student to describe an object, person, place, experience, emotion, event, celebrations, etc.

2A MAKING DESCRIPTIONS INTERESTING

2.0 Descriptive detail

If you are describing a piece of lost property, you don’t need to worry about whether the reader will find your writing interesting. But if you are describing something when writing a magazine article or a story, the most important thing is to catch and hold the reader’s interest. Here is a checklist of ways to do this.

BORING	INTERESTING
Generalizing a large vegetable an old ship opinions	Being specific a three-quarter-pound sweet potato the Marie Celeste/ The Titanic Facts, observations, quotations
No ‘picture’ a glass of wine	Descriptive details a long stemmed glass of aromatic, golden Muscatel
Dull, unobservant vocabulary look ask	Precise words gaze, glance, stare, glare, peep beg, implore, request, demand, invite
Repetition car … car … car … car as well … as well … as well	Variation car … Ford … vehicle … car as well … also … What is more, …
Being predictable ‘There are five reasons why I like …’ stating the obvious; ‘received’ opinions ‘The fifth reason I like it is …’	Surprising the reader starting with something striking original thinking and observation saving something for the end
Always talking about yourself	Always thinking about your readers, and how to interest them

2.1 The five senses

In order to include specific, concrete details in your description, you must first observe in detail. Don’t forget there are five senses; you don’t have to limit yourself to visual description. Embellish the moment with senses.

It is easy to fall into an incoherent rambling of emotions and senses when writing a descriptive essay. However, you must strive to present an organized and logical description.

pleasant smells	unpleasant smells
scented candles aromatic oils fragrant perfume sweet-smelling flowers the rich aroma of fresh coffee a herb with a delicate fragrance a rose’s sweet perfume the scent of wild flowers scented candles	smelly cheese stinking fish musty old books acrid smoke nasty household odours the stench of rotting meat the stink of stale sweat the reek of beer and tobacco

(Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)