How to Write a Descriptive Essay Essay

Edited by Nicole Eakin, Ben Rubenstein, Flickety, Kyrie Alazen and 28 others The key to writing the perfect descriptive essay is creating a vivid image in your reader’s mind using the five senses. Here are some steps to help you create a strong descriptive essay. Edit Steps Method 1 of 3: Prewriting for your Essay Pick a topic. Descriptive essays generally focus on a person, a place, an event, or a thing. Writers convey an idea about their topic by describing the topic for the reader in a ‘show, not tell’ manner. Showing and not telling means that you paint a picture for your reader. For example, instead of saying, â€Å"There were trees near the lake† you could say, â€Å"The lake stared through the trees, a wide grey eye trapped in a perpetual state of weeping.† Create a thesis statement. A thesis statement is the idea that governs the whole essay. It states the purpose of the paper and governs all of the information that is in the paper.[2] An example of a descriptive thesis statement is: My backyard is like a jungle. This thesis statement does not mean that your backyard is literally a jungle, but that the different aspects of your backyard make it seem like a jungle. Draw five columns on a piece of paper with each column labeled one of the five senses. These include taste, touch, sight, sound, and smell. This list will help you keep your thoughts straight when describing your essay. Using your five senses, write down sensations and feelings you associate with your topic. Review your list and choose the most dominant details to write about. These details should be the items that best support your thesis and are the most interesting. These details will be made into your body paragraphs. Create an outline that lists what each paragraph of your essay is going to  discuss. Typically, middle and high schoolers writing descriptive essays will be asked to write a 5 paragraph essay.College level students and above have more free-reign regarding how long to make their essays. 5 paragraph essays are structured to include an introductory paragraph that includes a thesis statement, three body paragraphs proving your thesis statement, and a concluding paragraph that summarizes what you have said in the rest of your essay. Method 2 of 3: Writing your essay Structure your essay in a way that makes sense for your topic. If you are writing about an event, give your paragraphs a chronological order. If you are writing about a place or thing, try ordering your paragraphs so that they go from general to specific.[6] Example: First paragraph: The things you notice when you look at a house from the outside. Second paragraph: The sights, sounds, smells, tastes, feelings etc. that you experience when you are inside the house. Third paragraph: A description of your favorite section of the house. Write your introductory paragraph. The introductory paragraph establishes the main ideas of the essay and sets the tone. This paragraph should include an introduction to your topic followed by your thesis statement. Create a topic sentence at the beginning of each body paragraph. This sentence lets your reader know what the paragraph is going to be about. It should be clear and concise. Each topic sentence should relate back to the thesis statement. Example: Thesis statement: My backyard is like a jungle that I love to explore. Topic Sentence: When I climb a tree in my backyard, I feel like I am climbing a tall jungle tree. Write your body paragraphs based on your topic sentences. Body paragraphs are where you get to prove that your thesis is true. Always keep in my mind that everything you write in your body paragraph should relate to your topic sentence and your thesis.[7] Example: The trees in my backyard are filled with the music of birds. Emeralds leaves sway in sun-filled breeze. Provide sensory details that support your thesis. Use literary tools like descriptive adjectives, similes, metaphors and personification. Smells (â€Å"The scent of the newly opened rose danced sweetly upon the wind.†) Sounds (â€Å"When she laughed, a wild array of exotic birds burst from within her; it was pretty to look at but there was a lot of squawking involved.†) Sights (â€Å"The beach curved into a smile above a flowing blue beard that sometimes grew too high and was then shaved away.†) Taste (â€Å"The sugar plum filled my mouth with memories of Christmas mornings long past.†) Touch (â€Å"The ferns brushed like a whisper against my skin.†) Write your conclusion. Your conclusion should summarize everything you have written in your essay. It should also restate your thesis. It is important to have a well-written conclusion because it is the last thing the reader will read, and will stay in his or her mind the longest. Method 3 of 3: Finalizing your essay Take a break from working after you have finished writing. Stepping away from your writing helps you to clear your head. You will be able to look at your essay the way your reader would look at it once you have taken a break from working on it. Read your essay with the reader in mind. Ask yourself: Does the essay unfold in a way that helps the reader understand the subject? Are any of the paragraphs more confusing than descriptive? Does the word choice and figurative language convey what you are trying to express about the topic? Are there enough details to give the reader a complete picture? Do the details in the essay help the reader understand what the topic means to the writer? Read your essay out loud. By reading out loud, you can more easily locate sections of the essay that might be awkward or confusing. Get someone else to read your essay. Does it make sense to them? Do they think you should add or delete anything? Proofread your essay for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. Delete  cliches. Tips Use all of the senses in a descriptive essay. Don’t use nondescript adjectives like â€Å"nice†. Use a thesaurus and get some new and interesting words, like â€Å"effervescent.† Try not to use the word â€Å"I† in your sentences. Descriptive Essays Summary: The Modes of Discourse—Exposition, Description, Narration, Argumentation (EDNA)—are common paper assignments you may encounter in your writing classes. Although these genres have been criticized by some composition scholars, the Purdue OWL recognizes the wide spread use of these approaches and students’ need to understand and produce them. What is a descriptive essay? The descriptive essay is a genre of essay that asks the student to describe something—object, person, place, experience, emotion, situation, etc. This genre encourages the student’s ability to create a written account of a particular experience. What is more, this genre allows for a great deal of artistic freedom (the goal of which is to paint an image that is vivid and moving in the mind of the reader). One might benefit from keeping in mind this simple maxim: If the reader is unable to clearly form an impression of the thing that you are describing, try, try again! Here are some guidelines for writing a descriptive essay. Take time to brainstorm If your instructor asks you to describe your favorite food, make sure that you jot down some ideas before you begin describing it. For instance, if you choose pizza, you might start by writing down a few words: sauce, cheese, crust, pepperoni, sausage, spices, hot, melted, etc. Once you have written down some words, you can begin by compiling descriptive lists for each one. Use clear and concise language. This means that words are chosen carefully, particularly for their relevancy in relation to that which you are intending to describe. Choose vivid  language. Why use horse when you can choose stallion? Why not use tempestuous instead of violent? Or why not miserly in place of cheap? Such choices form a firmer image in the mind of the reader and often times offer nuanced meanings that serve better one’s purpose. Use your senses! Remember, if you are describing something, you need to be appealing to the senses of the reader. Explain how the thing smelled, felt, sounded, tasted, or looked. Embellish the moment with senses. What were you thinking?! If you can describe emotions or feelings related to your topic, you will connect with the reader on a deeper level. Many have felt crushing loss in their lives, or ecstatic joy, or mild complacency. Tap into this emotional reservoir in order to achieve your full descriptive potential. Leave the reader with a clear impression. One of your goals is to evoke a strong sense of familiarity and appreciation in the reader. If your reader can walk away from the essay craving the very pizza you just described, you are on your way to writing effective descriptive essays. Be organized! 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 if the reader is to come away from the essay with a cogent sense of what it is you are attempting to describe. ï » ¿How to Write a Descriptive Essay Essay Descriptive essays are often subjective tasks. The first issue at hand is to make sure you know what type of paper you are writing. The descriptive essay is often creative, personal, or simply artistic. Discuss the assignment with your professor or teacher before you begin. Even though your descriptive essay is more personal than a standard five-paragraph or compare-contrast essay, there is still quite a bit of homework to be done. Here is a list of important rules to follow as your write this essay. 1. Understand the concept; 2. Do your research; 3. Outline the paper; 4. Write the paper; 5. Re-write the paper; 6. Edit (outside editors). Descriptive essays rely on their nominal stature. It is more important to use imagery and metaphorical language than scientific data. Descriptive essays are not mathematic entries, nor are they always factual. They are opinions. Consequently, you can try to write and describe anything you desire. You simply have to do it well. As horrible as that sounds, your professors and teachers will tell you the same thing. Here are some tips to remember when writing your descriptive essay: 1. Actually describe something; 2. Use concrete and abstract images; 3. Use concrete and abstract ideas; 4. Do not go overboard with adjectives and adverbs; 5. Do not go overboard with similes and metaphors; 6. Give it to someone else to see if your essay actually describes something. While it may seem rather vague initially, sometimes a descriptive essay can be the most liberating and pleasurable essay to write. You are just writing something as you see it. If you can prove and describe an idea or image in language, then you have accomplished your task. Documentation and hard research are not always necessary components (although they may be). What is a Descriptive Essay? http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/03/ The descriptive essay is a genre of essay that asks the student to describe an object, person, place, experience, emotion, situation, etc. This genre encourages the student’s ability to create a written account of a particular experience. What is more, this genre allows for a great deal of artistic freedom (the goal of which is to paint an image that is vivid and moving in the mind of the reader). One might benefit from keeping in mind this simple maxim: If the reader is unable to clearly form an impression of the thing that you are describing, try, try again! Here are some guidelines for writing a descriptive essay: Take time to brainstorm If your instructor asks you to describe your favorite food, make sure that you jot down some ideas before you begin describing it. For instance, if you choose pizza, you might start by writing down a few words: sauce, cheese, crust, pepperoni, sausage, spices, hot, melted, etc. Once you have written down some words, you can begin by compiling descriptive lists for each one. Use clear and concise language. This means that words are chosen carefully, particularly for their relevancy in relation to that which you are intending to describe. Choose vivid language. Why use ‘horse’ when you can choose ‘stallion’? Why not use ‘tempestuous’ instead of ‘violent’? Or why not ‘miserly’ in place of ‘cheap’? Such choices form a firmer image in the mind of the reader and often times offer nuanced meanings that serve better one’s purpose. Use your senses! Remember, if you are describing something, you need to be appealing to the senses of the reader. Explain how the thing smelled, felt, sounded, tasted, or looked. Embellish the moment with senses. What were you thinking?! If you can describe emotions or feelings related to your topic, you will connect with the reader on a deeper level. Many have felt crushing loss in their lives, or ecstatic joy, or mild complacency. Tap into this emotional reservoir in order to achieve your full descriptive potential. Leave the  reader with a clear impression. One of your goals is to evoke a strong sense of familiarity and appreciation in the reader. If your reader can walk away from the essay craving the very pizza you just described, you are on your way to writing effective descriptive essays. Be organized! 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 if the reader is to come away from the essay with a cogent sense of what it is you are attempting to describe. How to Write a Descriptive Essay by WriteExpress Staff Writers http://www.writeexpress.com/descriptive-essay.html More than many other types of essays, descriptive essays strive to create a deeply involved and vivid experience for the reader. Great descriptive essays achieve this affect not through facts and statistics but by using detailed observations and descriptions. What do you want to describe? As you get started on your descriptive essay, it’s important for you to identify exactly what you want to describe. Often, a descriptive essay will focus on portraying one of the following: a person a place a memory an experience an object Ultimately, whatever you can perceive or experience can be the focus of your descriptive writing. Why are you writing your descriptive essay? It’s a great creative exercise to sit down and simply describe what you observe. However, when writing a descriptive essay, you often have a particular reason for writing your description. Getting in touch with this reason can help you focus your description and imbue your language with a particular perspective or emotion. Example: Imagine that you want to write a  descriptive essay about your grandfather. You’ve chosen to write about your grandfather’s physical appearance and the way that he interacts with people. However, rather than providing a general description of these aspects, you want to convey your admiration for his strength and kindness. This is your reason for writing the descriptive essay. To achieve this, you might focus one of your paragraphs on describing the roughness of his hands, roughness resulting from the labor of his work throughout his life, but you might also describe how he would hold your hands so gently with his rough hands when having a conversation with you or when taking a walk. How should you write your description? If there’s one thing you should remember as you write your descriptive essay, it’s the famous saying: show don’t tell. But what’s the difference between showing and telling? Consider these two simple examples: 1. I grew tired after dinner. 2. As I leaned back and rested my head against the top of the chair, my eyelids began to feel heavy, and the edges of the empty plate in front of me blurred with the white tablecloth. The first sentence tells readers that you grew tired after dinner. The second sentence shows readers that you grew tired. The most effective descriptive essays are loaded with such showing because they enable readers to imagine or experience something for themselves. As you write your descriptive essay, the best way to create a vivid experience for your readers is to focus on the five senses. sight sound smell touch taste When you focus your descriptions on the senses, you provide vivid and specific details that show your readers rather than tell your readers what you are describing. Quick Tips for Writing Your Descriptive Essay Writing a descriptive essay can be a rich and rewarding experience, but it can also feel a bit complicated. It’s helpful, therefore, to keep a quick checklist of the essential questions to keep in mind as you plan, draft, and revise your essay. Planning your descriptive essay: What or who do you want to describe? What is your reason for writing your description? What are the particular qualities that you want to focus on? Drafting your descriptive essay: What sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures are important for developing your description? Which details can you include to ensure that your readers gain a vivid impression imbued with your emotion or perspective? Revising your descriptive essay: Have you provided enough details and descriptions to enable your readers to gain a complete and vivid perception? Have you left out any minor but important details? Have you used words that convey your emotion or perspective? Are there any unnecessary details in your description? Does each paragraph of your essay focus on one aspect of your description? Are you paragraphs ordered in the most effective way?