Description Essay

1. Description Essay “Little strokes fell great oaks.” Benjamin Franklin

2. What is a Description Essay • A description essay appeals to the reader’s five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. • It paints a vivid picture with words. The writer’s purpose is to describe people, places, or objects as detailed as possible so that the readers are able to form a clear picture in their minds.

3. To write a description essay, it would be a good idea to follow the following steps . . . • Step one: Choose an interesting topic (a person, place or an object)

4. Step two: Decide on what kind of dominant impression you want to convey with your description • Examples: Topic—STC Pecan Campus Dominant Impression—STC Pecan Campus is vibrant. Topic—My Grandma Dominant Impression—My grandma is a strong woman.

5. Step three: Support the dominant impression with at least three major features. • Examples: • STC Pecan Campus is vibrant: one can sense the lively atmosphere by watching students busy socializing, faculty members busy conduction classes, and student activists organizing activities • My grandmother is a strong woman. Her strength lies in her intellectual power, her emotional steadiness and her good health.

6. Step four: Use descriptive details. The following are ways to provide descriptive details. • Vague: The tuna tasted strange. • Improved: The tuna tasted bitter and spoiled. • Vague: The closet smelled funny. • Improved: The closet smelled damp. • Vague: The old man smiled. • Improved: The wrinkled, gray-haired, old man grinned a toothless smile.

7. Use descriptive diction • 2). Replace being verbs (am, be, been, is, was, were) with descriptive action • words to improve a description essay. • Vague: Leo is having a conversation with Elizabeth. • Improved: Leo whispers secrets into Elizabeth’s ear. • Vague: The music is loud throughout the apartment. • Improved: The music blares throughout the apartment. • 3). Replace boring verbs with action verbs to further enrich the description • in the essay. • Vague: The salesman looked at Erika when she opened the door. • Improved: The salesman stared at Erika when she opened the door. • Vague: Paul’s hungry date ate the pastry. • Improved: Paul’s hungry date devoured the pastry. • 4). Avoid vague nouns, such as thing, stuff, and item. • Vague: Honesty is a thing that I admire. • Improved: Honesty is a trait that I admire. • Vague: Henry gave the stuff to his brother. • Improved: Henry gave the bag of books to his brother.

8. Writing Descriptive Essays • I. Introduction • 1. Lead-in: Introduce the person or place to be described in an interesting way. • 2. Transition: Explain how you get to know this person or place. • 3. Thesis Statement: • 1). Present the dominant impression of the person or place. • 2). Present the three features that support the dominant impression.

9. Body • Body Paragraph 1 • 1. Topic Sentence: Introduce the first feature. • 2. Supporting Details: Use descriptive details. • 3. Closing Remarks: Summarize this paragraph. • Body Paragraph 2 • 1. Topic Sentence: Introduce the second feature. • 2. Supporting Details: Use descriptive details. • 3. Closing Remarks: Summarize this paragraph. • Body Paragraph 3 • 1. Topic Sentence: Introduce the third feature. • 2. Supporting Details: Use descriptive details. • 3. Closing Remarks: Summarize this paragraph.

10. Conclusion • 1. Rephrase the thesis sentence. • 2. Restate the three features. • 3. Extend the significance of the description.