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 
• Up to you!

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 

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.

Up to you!

Look at the example on the next slide, what could and should be improved? (you will get 3 minutes) make some small notes.

What could be improved?

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. 

 

improvements

rewriting exercise 

Rewrite the bad example given to you in a way you think is correct. You will get 10 minutes to do so. After the 10 minutes I will ask some of you guys to read aloud their new and improved essay. 

(bad example again on the next page)

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. 

 

Good luck !

You are going to write descriptive essay on your favourite food!