Observation Essay

1. Observation Essay Descriptive Writing

2. Criteria • Use Show Don’t Tell—Give sensory details (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch), use dialogue and names of items when appropriate. “Zoom in” on crucial details. • Use Figurative Language—Compare images when appropriate; use simile, build an extended metaphor, use sound devices. • Describe What is NOT There—step back and notice what is absent; what is not happening, or who is not present.

3. Note Changes in Form or Condition—even if the object seems static, unchanging, a good writer looks for change. Example: a six-inch purple iris that eight hours earlier was just a green bud. • Learn about your Subject—when appropriate, read about your subject, ask others, have a critical eye. • Write from a Distinct Point of View—A lover and a botanist, for example, see entirely different things in the same red rose. WHAT is seen depends on WHO is doing the seeing. • Consider writing from the perspective of the object (1st person) rather than just being the outside observer.

4. Focus on a Dominant Idea—Focus on the details that clarify the main ideas or discoveries. Include those details that support the dominant idea. • Don’t give a laundry list of details but put them together in a way that leads the reader to the dominant insight. • Ask yourself: What elements go together?

5. Topic Choices • Person, Place, or “Thing” • Object easiest to observe. • Person: He/she “doing” something. • Examples: Gang-gang in his garden; Dad at his computer researching • Something that can be seen and seen again. • NOT a memory (the beach, etc.) • Three-dimensional

6. Beautiful/Ugly Assignment • 50 pt. Assessment Grade • Minimum of 250 words (short write). • Avoid Clichés. • No TELL statements. • Avoid those adjective statements: “It was beautiful.” What does beautiful look like to you? • Dominate Idea/Insight • Stated or implied • Inductive: last paragraph/2-3 lines