Writing to Describe

1. Writing to Describe English Language Paper 2: Choose to write either to explore or inform or describeor all three.

2. Writing to Describe • Effective writing makes you feel almost as if you're 'there' N.B. You are writing to describe; you are not telling a story.

3. How to approach your description • What does it look like? • What does it sound like? • What does it feellike? • What does it taste like? • What does it smell like?

4. KEY TERM! • IMAGERYWords can be chosen to create more than just meaning: they create feeling, too. Some words (or phrases) are able to create a particularly vivid sense such as a picture, a sound, a taste, etc. This effect is called imagery.

5. KEY TERM! • Imagery is a very important feature of descriptive writing and, especially, of poetry. The most common way by which a writer can create imagery is through the use of figurative language (figures of speech), typically through the use of metaphor, simile and personification.

6. An example… • Look closely at this kind of writing and you'll find lots of references to sensory things such as sounds and sights. • Read how writer Bruce Chatwin achieves this in the following short extract taken from his book, In Patagonia. • Look closely at the writing to detect his methods. Notice how Chatwin gives his reader the sense that he is showing us this woman rather than merely telling us about her; this is a key descriptive skill: show, don't tell!

7. She was waiting for me, a white face behind a dusty window. She smiled, her painted mouth unfurling as a red flag caught in a sudden breeze. Her hair was dyed dark-auburn. Her legs were a Mesopotamia of varicose veins. She still had the tatters of an extraordinary beauty. She had been making pastry and the grey dough clung to her hands. Her blood-red nails were cracked and chipped.

8. Sensory Writing Now, your turn. Describe a car journey. What might you see, touch, smell, taste and hear? Write one sentence to describe each of the senses. Look at the example given.

9. seen - Like a fiery red fist, the Ferrari Testarossa punched its way past our ageing Ford Fiesta...touched - the open window allowed a cool spring breeze to caress my cheeks...smelt- an ancient jalopy of a school bus spluttered along in front of us spewing out nauseous black clouds of exhaust... tasted- the bitter taste of the travel sickness pill still clung to back of my throat... heard- the screeching siren of an ambulance forced us to pull in and wait till it passed...

10. HOW TO WRITE DESCRIPTIVELY Imagine yourself to be a kind of 'human camera‘. With your searching zoom lens you are going to 'record' what is in the particular scene or situation the question asks you to describe. The ‘images' from your camera will provide the substance for what you describe.

11. HOW TO WRITE DESCRIPTIVELY Note: a good structure is crucial to a high grade. This can be achieved in several ways, for example, by describing each of the ‘images' from your location bylocation: 'In the corner...'; 'By the church wall...'; 'In the sky...'; 'Over there...';

12. other structures that work are: from inside to outside..., from then to now..., from the 'general' to the 'particular'. • Structure provides 'shape' to your writing and can gain many marks.

13. Never write in the form of a short story.

14. Instead of a story simply write a short piece of purely descriptive writing: 'zoom in' and 'focus' the lens of your 'camera' on the kind of scene asked in the exam question. Help your reader feel as if he or she were actually there, experiencing the scene being described.

15. In short exam answers of this kind, again, it can be best not to be a part of the action; instead, be merely an observer and a reporter of the event (so... no 'I saw...').

16. Past exam questions. • Describe the view from your bedroom window. • Describe your home. • Describe a nightmare world. • Describe a place that is special to you. • Describe a town at night. • Describe a visit to the doctor or dentist.

17. GRADE C: Begin to sustain readers Evidence of structure/ paragraphs linked Clear selection of vocabulary for effect Selection of detail to describe Description of e.g. atmosphere Discursive markers used to enhance organisation of the description GRADE B: Well structured, starting to use paragraphs to enhance meaning Increasing sophistication of vocabulary choice Detailed and well developed description or view Sentence variation/simile/metaphor Discursive markers coherently integrated What you need to do for a

18. Grade A: Coherently structured with evidence of conscious crafting Focus on the view with a wide range of interesting description Growing subtlety of purpose Fluent control of a range of devices and discursive markers Extensive vocabulary range Grade A*: Distinctive and consistently effective style Controlled and sustained crafting with highly effective and delightful vocabulary choices Strong personal style May use satire, irony, humour, always in context Ability to integrate complex details Seamless discursive markers Inventive structural / language devices

19. Exam instructions. • English Language Paper 2 Section B: Writing to explore, inform, describe. • 45 minutes for this section i.e. 5 minutes to plan and structure 35 minutes to write your description 5 minutes to check your work (SPAG) • Write approximately 2 sides of A4